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SRIMAD BHAGAVATA by Krsna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
(Compiled and edited by Jay Mazo, International Gita Society)
CONTENTS
CANTO ONE
Chapter One Questions by the Sages 7
Chapter Two Divinity and Divine
Service 8
Chapter Three Krsna Is the Source of
All Incarnations 9
Chapter Four The Appearance of Sri
Narada 12
Chapter Five Narada's Instructions
on Srimad-Bhagavatam for Vyasadeva 13
Chapter Six Conversation Between
Narada and Vyasadeva 15
Chapter Seven The Son of Drona
Punished 17
Chapter Eight Prayers by Queen Kunti
and Pariksit Saved 19
Chapter Nine The Passing Away of
Bhismadeva in the Presence of Lord Krsna 21
Chapter Ten Departure of Lord Krsna
for Dvaraka 24
Chapter Eleven Lord Krsna's Entrance
into Dvaraka 25
Chapter Twelve Birth of Emperor
Pariksit 27
Chapter Thirteen Dhrtarastra Quits
Home 29
Chapter Fourteen The Disappearance
of Lord Krsna 32
Chapter Fifteen The Pandavas Retire
Timely 33
Chapter Sixteen How Pariksit
Received the Age of Kali 36
Chapter Seventeen Punishment and
Reward of Kali 38
Chapter Eighteen Maharaja Pariksit
Cursed by a Brahmana Boy 40
Chapter Nineteen The Appearance of
Sukadeva Gosvami 42
CANTO TWO
Chapter One The First Step in God
Realization 44
Chapter Two The Lord in the Heart 46
Chapter Three Pure Devotional
Service: The Change in Heart 48
Chapter Four The Process of Creation 49
Chapter Five The Cause of All Causes 51
Chapter Six Purusa-sukta Confirmed 53
Chapter Seven Scheduled Incarnations
with Specific Functions 55
Chapter Eight Questions by King
Pariksit 59
Chapter Nine Answers by Citing the
Lord's Version 60
Chapter Ten Bhagavatam Is the Answer
to All Questions 62
CANTO THREE
Chapter One Questions by Vidura 65
Chapter Two Remembrance of Lord
Krsna 67
Chapter Three Remembrance of Lord
Krsna 69
Chapter Four Vidura Approaches
Maitreya 70
Chapter Five Vidura's Talks with
Maitreya 72
Chapter Six Creation of the
Universal Form 75
Chapter Seven Further Inquires by
Vidura 76
Chapter Eight Manifestation of
Brahma from Garbhodakasayi Visnu 78
Chapter Nine Brahma's Prayers for
Creative Energy 80
Chapter Ten Divisions of the
Creation 83
Chapter Eleven Calculation of Time,
from the Atom 84
Chapter Twelve Creation of the
Kumaras and Others 86
Chapter Thirteen The Appearance of
Lord Varaha 88
Chapter Fourteen Pregnancy of Diti
in the Evening 91
Chapter Fifteen Description of the
Kingdom of God 93
Chapter Sixteen The Two Doorkeepers
of Vaikuntha, Cursed by the Sages 96
Chapter Seventeen Victory of
Hiranyaksa Over All the directions of the Universe 98
Chapter Eighteen The Battle Between
Lord Boar and the Demon Hiranyaksa 99
Chapter Nineteen The Killing of the
Demon Hiranyaksa 100
Chapter Twenty Conversation Between
Maitreya and Vidura 102
Chapter Twenty-one Conversation
Between Manu and Kardama 104
Chapter Twenty-two The Marriage of
Kardama Muni and Devahuti 107
Chapter Twenty-three Devahuti's
Lamentation 108
Chapter Twenty-four The Renunciation
of Kardama Muni 111
Chapter Twenty-five The Glories of
Devotional Service 113
Chapter Twenty-six Fundamental
Principles of Material Nature 115
Chapter Twenty-seven Understanding
Material Nature 119
Chapter Twenty-eight Kapila's Instructions
on the Execution of Devotional Service 120
Chapter Twenty-nine Explanation of
Devotional Service by Lord Kapila 122
Chapter Thirty Description by Lord
Kapila of Adverse Fruitive Activities 125
Chapter Thirty-one Lord Kapila's
Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities 126
Chapter Thirty-two Entanglement in
Fruitive Activities 129
Chapter Thirty-three Activities of
Kapila 131
CANTO FOUR
Chapter One Genealogical Table of
the Daughters of Manu 133
Chapter Two Daksa Curses Lord Siva 135
Chapter Three Talks Between Lord
Siva and Sati 137
Chapter Four Sati Quits Her Body 138
Chapter Five Frustration of the
Sacrifice of Daksa 140
Chapter Six Brahma Satisfies Lord
Siva 141
Chapter Seven The Sacrifice
Performed by Daksa 144
Chapter Eight Dhruva Maharaja Leaves
Home for the Forest 148
Chapter Nine Dhruva Maharaja Returns
Home 152
Chapter Ten Dhruva Maharaja's Fight
With the Yaksas 156
Chapter Eleven Svayambuva Manu
Advises Dhruva Maharaja to Stop Fighting 157
Chapter Twelve Dhruva Maharaja Goes
Back to Godhead 159
Chapter Thirteen Description of the
Descendants of Dhruva Maharaja 162
Chapter Fourteen The Story of King
Vena 164
Chapter Fifteen King Prthu's
Appearance and Coronation 167
Chapter Sixteen Praise of King Prthu
by the Professional Reciters 168
Chapter Seventeen Maharaja Prthu
Becomes Angry at the Earth 170
Chapter Eighteen Prthu Maharaja
Milks the Earth Planet 172
Chapter Nineteen King Prthu's One
Hundred Horse Sacrifices 173
Chapter Twenty Lord Visnu's
Appearance in the Sacrificial Arena 175
Chapter Twenty-one Instructions by
Maharaja Prthu 178
Chapter Twenty-two Prthu Maharaja's
Meeting with the Four Kumaras 181
Chapter Twenty-three Maharaja
Prthu's Going Back Home 184
Chapter Twenty-four Chanting the
Song Sung by Lord Siva 187
Chapter Twenty-five The Descriptions
of the Characteristics of King Puranjana 191
Chapter Twenty-six King Puranjana
Goes to Forest to Hunt, His Queen Becomes Angry 194
Chapter Twenty-seven Attack by
Candavega on City of Puranjana; Character of Kalakanya 196
Chapter Twenty-eight Puranjana
Becomes a Woman in the Next Life 197
Chapter Twenty-nine Talks Between
Narada and King Pracinabarhi 200
Chapter Thirty The Activities of the
Pracetas 205
Chapter Thirty-one Narada Instructs
the Pracetas 208
CANTO FIVE
Chapter One The Activities of
Maharaja Priyavrata 210
Chapter Two The Activities of
Maharaja Agnidhra 213
Chapter Three Rsabhadeva's
Appearance in the Womb of Merudevi, Wife of King Nabhi 215
Chapter Four The Characteristics of
Rsabhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead 217
Chapter Five Lord Rsabhadeva's
Teachings to His Sons 218
Chapter Six The Activities of Lord
Rsabhadeva 221
Chapter Seven The Activities of King
Bharata 223
Chapter Eight A Description of the
Character of Bharata Maharaja 224
Chapter Nine The Supreme Character
of Jada Bharata 226
Chapter Ten The Discussion Between
Jada Bharata and Maharaja Rahugana 228
Chapter Eleven Jada Bharata
Instructs King Rahugana 231
Chapter Twelve Conversation Between
Maharaja Rahugana and Jada Bharata 232
Chapter Thirteen Further Talks
Between King Rahugana and Jada Bharata 234
Chapter Fourteen The Material World
as the Great Forest of Enjoyment 236
Chapter Fifteen The Glories of the
Descendants of King Priyavrata 240
Chapter Sixteen A Description of
Jambudvipa 242
Chapter Seventeen The Descent of the
River Ganges 244
Chapter Eighteen The Prayers Offered
to the Lord by the Residents of Jambudvipa 246
Chapter Nineteen A Description of
the Island of Jambudvipa 249
Chapter Twenty Studying the
Structure of the Universe 252
Chapter Twenty-one The Movements of
the Sun 255
Chapter Twenty-two The Orbits of the
Planets 256
Chapter Twenty-three The Sisumara
Planetary Systems 258
Chapter Twenty-four The Subterranean
Heavenly Planets 259
Chapter Twenty-five The Glories of
Lord Ananta 262
Chapter Twenty-six A Description of
the Hellish Planets 263
CANTO SIX
Chapter One The History of the Life
of Ajamila 266
Chapter Two Ajamila Delivered by the
Visnudutas 270
Chapter Three Yamaraja Instructs His
Messengers 273
Chapter Four The Hamsa-guhya Prayers
Offrered to the Lord by Prajapati Daksa 275
Chapter Five Narada Muni Cursed by
Prajapati Daksa 279
Chapter Six The Progeny of the
Daughters of Daksa 282
Chapter Seven Indra Offends His
Spiritual Master, Brhaspati 283
Chapter Eight The Narayana-kavaca
Shield 285
Chapter Nine Appearance of the Demon
Vrtrasura 288
Chapter Ten The Battle Between the
Demigods and Vrtrasura 292
Chapter Eleven The Transcendental
Qualities of Vrtrasura 293
Chapter Twelve Vrtrasura's Glorious
Death 295
Chapter Thirteen King Indra
Afflicted by Sinful Reaction 297
Chapter Fourteen King Citraketu's
Lamentation 298
Chapter Fifteen The Saints Narada
and Angira Instruct King Citraketu 301
Chapter Sixteen King Citraketu Meets
the Supreme Lord 303
Chapter Seventeen Mother Parvati
Curses Citraketu 307
Chapter Eighteen Diti Vows to Kill
King Indra 309
Chapter Nineteen Performing the
Pumsavana Ritualistic Ceremony 313
CANTO SEVEN
Chapter One The Supreme Lord Is
Equal to Everyone 315
Chapter Two Hiranyakasipu, King of
the Demons 318
Chapter Three Hiranyakasipu's Plan
to Become Immortal 321
Chapter Four Hiranyakasipu
Terrorizes the Universe 323
Chapter Five Prahlada Maharaja, the
Saintly Son of Hiranyakasipu 326
Chapter Six Prahlada Instructs His
Demoniac Schoolmates 329
Chapter Seven What Prahlada Learned
in the Womb 331
Chapter Eight Lord Nrsimhadeva Slays
the King of the Demons 334
Chapter Nine Prahlada Pacifies Lord
Nrsimhadeva with Prayers 338
Chapter Ten Prahlada, the Best Among
Exalted Devotees 342
Chapter Eleven The Perfect Society:
Four Social Classes 345
Chapter Twelve The Perfect Society:
Four Spiritual Classes 347
Chapter Thirteen The Behavior of a
Perfect Person 349
Chapter Fourteen Ideal Family Life 351
Chapter Fifteen Instructions for
Civilized Human Beings 354
CANTO EIGHT
Chapter One The Manus,
Administrators of the Universe 359
Chapter Two The Elephant Gajendra's
Crisis 360
Chapter Three Gajendra's Prayers of
Surrender 362
Chapter Four Gajendra Returns to the
Spiritual World 364
Chapter Five The Demigods Appeal to
the Lord for Protection 365
Chapter Six The Demigods and Demons
Declare a Truce 368
Chapter Seven Lord Siva Saves the
Universe by Drinking Poison 370
Chapter Eight The Churning of the
Milk Ocean 372
Chapter Nine The Lord Incarnates as
Mohini-Murti 375
Chapter Ten The Battle Between the
Demigods and the Demons 376
Chapter Eleven King Indra
Annihilates the Demons 379
Chapter Twelve The Mohini-murti
Incarnation Bewilders Lord Siva 381
Chapter Thirteen Description of
Future Manus 384
Chapter Fourteen The System of
Universal Management 385
Chapter Fifteen Bali Maharaja
Conquers the Heavenly Planets 386
Chapter Sixteen Executing the
Payo-vrata Process of Worship 387
Chapter Seventeen The Supreme Lord
Agrees to Become Aditi's Son 390
Chapter Eighteen Lord Vamanadeva,
the Dwarf Incarnation 391
Chapter Nineteen Lord Vamanadeva
Begs Charity from Bali Maharaja 393
Chapter Twenty Bali Maharaja
Surrenders the Universe 395
Chapter Twenty-one Bali Maharaja
Arrested by the Lord 397
Chapter Twenty-two Bali Maharaja
Surrenders His Life 399
Chapter Twenty-three The Demigods
Regain the Heavenly Planets 401
Chapter Twenty-four Matsya, the
Lord's Fish Incarnation 402
CANTO NINE
Chapter One King Sudyumna Becomes a
Woman 405
Chapter Two The Dynasties of the
Sons of Manu 407
Chapter Three The Marriage of
Sukanya and Cyavana Muni 408
Chapter Four Ambarisa Maharaja
Offended by Durvasa Muni 410
Chapter Five Durvasa Muni's Life
Spared 414
Chapter Six The Downfall of Saubhari
Muni 415
Chapter Seven The Descendants of
King Mandhata 418
Chapter Eight The Sons of Sagara
Meet Lord Kapiladeva 419
Chapter Nine The Dynasty of Amsuman 420
Chapter Ten The Pastimes of the
Supreme Lord, Ramacandra 423
Chapter Eleven Lord Ramacandra Rules
the World 426
Chapter Twelve The Dynasty of Kusa,
the Son of Lord Ramacandra 428
Chapter Thirteen The Dynasty of
Maharaja Nimi 429
Chapter Fourteen King Pururava
Enchanted by Urvasi 430
Chapter Fifteen Parasurama, the
Lord's Warrior Incarnation 433
Chapter Sixteen Lord Parasurama
Destroys the World's Ruling Class 434
Chapter Seventeen The Dynasties of
the Sons of Pururava 436
Chapter Eighteen King Yayati Regains
His Youth 437
Chapter Nineteen King Yayati
Achieves Liberation 439
Chapter Twenty The Dynasty of Puru 441
Chapter Twenty-one The Dynasty of
Bharata 442
Chapter Twenty-two The Descendants
of Ajamidha 444
Chapter Twenty-three The Dynasties
of the Sons of Yayati 446
Chapter Twenty-four Krsna the
Supreme Personality of Godhead 448
CANTO TEN
Chapter One The Advent of Lord
Krsna: Introduction 450
Chapter Two Prayers by the Demigods
for Lord Krsna in the Womb 454
Chapter Three The Birth of Lord
Krsna 457
Chapter Four The Atrocities of King
Kamsa 459
Chapter Five The Meeting of Nanda
Maharaja and Vasudeva 462
Chapter Six The Killing of the Demon
Putana 463
Chapter Seven The Killing of the
Demon Trnavarta 465
Chapter Eight Lord Krsna Shows the
Universal Form Within His Mouth 468
Chapter Nine Mother Yasoda Binds
Lord Lord Krsna 471
Chapter Ten Deliverance of the Yamala-arjuna
Trees 472
Chapter Eleven The Childhood
Pastimes of Krsna 474
Chapter Twelve The Killing of the
Demon Aghasura 477
Chapter Thirteen The Stealing of the
Boys and Calves by Brahma 480
Chapter Fourteen Brahma's Prayers to
Lord Krsna 484
Chapter Fifteen The Killing of
Dhenuka, the Ass Demon 487
Chapter Sixteen Krsna Chastises the
Serpent Kaliya 490
Chapter Seventeen The History of
Kaliya 494
Chapter Eighteen Lord Balarama Slays
the Demon Pralamba 495
Chapter Nineteen Swallowing the
Forest Fire 496
Chapter Twenty The Rainy Season and
Autumn in Vrndavana 497
Chapter Twenty-One The Gopis Glorify
the Song of Krsna's Flute 499
Chapter Twenty-Two Krsna Steals the
Garments of the Unmarried Gopis 500
Chapter Twenty-Three The Brahmanas'
Wives Blessed 502
Chapter Twenty-Four Worshiping
Govardhana Hill 504
Chapter Twenty-Five Lord Krsna Lifts
Govardhana Hill 506
Chapter Twenty-Six Wonderful Krsna 507
ChapterTwenty-Seven Lord Indra and
Mother Surabhi Offer Prayers 509
Chapter Twenty-Eight Krsna Rescues
Nanda Maharaja from the Abode of Varuna 510
Chapter Twenty-Nine Krsna and the
Gopis Meet for the Rasa Dance 511
Chapter Thirty The Gopis Search for
Krsna 513
Chapter Thirty-One The Gopis' Songs
of Separation 515
Chapter Thirty-Two The Reunion 516
Chapter Thirty-Three The Rasa Dance 517
Chapter Thirty-Four Nanda Maharaja
Saved and Sankhacuda Slain 519
Chapter Thirty-Five The Gopis Sing
of Krsna as He Wanders in the Forest 520
Chapter Thirty-Six The Slaying of
Arista, the Bull Demon 521
Chapter Thirty-Seven The Killing of
the Demons Kesi and Vyoma 523
Chapter Thirty-Eight Akrura's
Arrival in Vrndavana 524
Chapter Thirty-Nine Akrura's Vision 526
Chapter Forty The Prayers of Akrura 529
Chapter Forty-One Krsna and Balarama
Enter Mathura 530
Chapter Forty-Two The Breaking of
the Sacrificial Bow 532
Chapter Forty-Three Krsna Kills the
Elephant Kuvalayapida 534
Chapter Forty-Four The Killing of
Kamsa 535
Chapter Forty-Five Krsna Rescues His
Teacher's Son 537
Chapter Forty-Six Uddhava Visits
Vrndavana 539
Chapter Forty-Seven The Song of the
Bee 541
Chapter Forty-Eight Krsna Pleases
His Devotees 544
Chapter Forty-Nine Akrura's Mission
in Hastinapura 546
Chapter Fifty Krsna Establishes the
City of Dvaraka 547
Chapter Fifty-One The Deliverance of
Mucukunda 549
Chapter Fifty-Two Rukmini's Message
to Lord Krsna 552
Chaptert Fifty-Three Krsna Kidnaps
Rukmini 553
Chapter Fifty-Four The Marriage of
Krsna and Rukmini 556
Chapter Fifty-Five The History of
Pradyumna 558
Chapter Fifty-Six The Syamantaka
Jewel 559
Chapter Fifty-Seven Satrajit
Murdered, the Jewel Returned 561
Chapter Fifty-Eight Krsna Marries
Five Princesses 563
Chapter Fifty-Nine The Killing of
the Demon Naraka 565
Chapter Sixty Lord Krsna Teases
Queen Rukmini 567
Chapter Sixty-One Lord Balarama
Slays Rukmi 570
Chapter Sixty-Two The Meeting of Usa
and Aniruddha 571
Chapter Sixty-Three Lord Krsna
Fights with Banasura 573
Chapter Sixty-Four The Deliverance
of King Nrga 575
Chapter Sixty-Five Lord Balarama
Visits Vrndavana 577
Chapter Sixty-Six Paundraka, the
False Vasudeva 578
Chapter Sixty-Seven Lord Balarama
Slays Dvivida Gorilla 580
Chaptrer Sixty-Eight The Marriage of
Samba 581
Chapter Sixty-Nine Narada Muni
Visits Lord Krsna's Palaces in Dvaraka 583
Chapter Seventy Lord Krsna's Daily
Activities 585
Chapter Seventy-One The Lord Travels
to Indraprastha 587
Chapter Seventy-Two The Slaying of
the Demon Jarasandha 589
Chapter Seventy-Three Lord Krsna
Blesses the Liberated Kings 591
Chapter Seventy-Four The Deliverance
of Sisupala at the Rajasuya Sacrifice 592
Chapter Seventy-Five Duryodhana
Humiliated 594
Chapter Seventy-Six The Battle
Between Salva and the Vrsnis 596
Chapter Seventy-Seven Lord Krsna
Slays the Demon Salva 597
Chapter Seventy-Eight The Killing of
Dantavakra, Viduratha and Romaharsana 599
Chapter Seventy-Nine Lord Balarama
Goes on Pilgrimage 600
Chapter Eighty The Brahmana Sudama
Visits Lord Krsna in Dvaraka 601
Chapter Eighty-One The Lord Blesses
Sudama Brahmana 603
Chapter Eighty-Two Krsna and
Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana 605
Chapter Eighty-Three Draupadi Meets
the Queens of Krsna 607
Chapter Eighty-Four The Sages'
Teachings at Kuruksetra 609
Chapter Eighty-Five Lord Krsna
Instructs Vasudeva and Retrieves Devaki's Sons 612
Chapter Eighty-Six Arjuna Kidnaps Subhadra, and Krsna Blesses
His Devotees 615
Chapter Eighty-Seven The Prayers of
the Personified Vedas 617
Chapter Eighty-Eight Lord Siva Saved
from Vrkasura 621
Chapter Eighty-Nine Krsna and Arjuna
Retrieve a Brahmana's Sons 623
Chapter Ninety Summary of Lord
Krsna's Glories 625
CANTO ELEVEN
Chapter One The Curse Upon the Yadu
Dynasty 627
Chapter Two Maharaja Nimi Meets the
Nine Yogendras 629
Chapter Three Liberation from the
Illusory Energy 632
Chaptrer Four Drumila Explains the
Incarnations of Godhead to King Nimi 636
Chapter Five Narada Concludes His
Teachings to Vasudeva 638
Chapter Six The Yadu Dynasty Retires
to Prabhasa 641
Chapter Seven Lord Krsna Instructs
Uddhava 643
Chapter Eight The Story of Pingala 647
Chapter Nine Detachment from All
that Is Material 650
Chapter Ten The Nature of Fruitive
Activity 652
Chapter Eleven The Symptoms of
Conditioned and Liberated Living Entities 654
Chapter Twelve Beyond Renunciation
and Knowledge 657
Chapter Thirteen The Hamsa-avatara
Answers the Questions of the Sons of Brahma 659
Chapter Fourteen Lord Krsna Explains
the Yoga System to Sri Uddhava 661
Chapter Fifteen Lord Krsna's
Description of Mystic Yoga Perfections 663
Chapter Sixteen The Lord's Opulence 665
Chapter Seventeen Lord Krsna's
Description of the Varnasrama System 667
Chapter Eighteen Description of
Varnasrama-dharma 670
Chapter Nineteen The Perfection of
Spiritual Knowledge 673
Chapter Twenty Pure Devotional Service
Surpasses Knowledge and Detachment 675
Chapter Twenty-One Lord Krsna's
Explanation of the Vedic Path 677
Chapter Twenty-Two Enumeration of
the Elements of Material Creation 679
Chapter Twenty-Three The Song of the
Avanti Brahmana 682
Chapter Twenty-Four The Philosophy
of Sankhya 685
Chapter Twenty-Five The Three Modes
of Nature and Beyond 687
Chapter Twenty-Six The Aila-gita 688
Chapter Twenty-Seven Lord Krsna's
Instructions on the Process of Deity Worship 690
Chapter Twenty-Eight Jnana-yoga 693
Chapter Twenty-Nine Bhakti-yoga 695
Chapter Thirty The Disappearance of
the Yadu Dynasty 698
Chapter Thirty-One The Disappearance
of Lord Sri Krsna 700
CANTO TWELVE
Chapter One The Degraded Dynasties
of Kali-yuga 701
Chapter Two The Symptoms of
Kali-yuga 702
Chapter Three The Bhumi-gita 704
Chapter Four The Four Categories of
Universal Annihilation 706
Chapter Five Sukadeva Gosvami's
Final Instructions to Maharaja Pariksit 708
Chapter Six Maharaja Pariksit Passes
Away 709
Chapter Seven The Puranic
Literatures 713
Chapter Eight Markandeya's Prayers
to Nara-Narayana Rsi 714
Chapter Nine Markandeya Rsi Sees the
Illusory Potency of the Lord 717
Chapter Ten Lord Siva and Uma
Glorify Markandeya Rsi 718
Chapter Eleven Summary Description
of the Mahapurusa 720
Chapter Twelve The Topics of
Srimad-Bhagavatam Summarized 722
Chapter Thirteen The Glories of
Srimad-Bhagavatam 725
CANTO
ONE
Chapter One Questions by the Sages
1. O my Lord, Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading
Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful
obeisances unto You. I
meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval
cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the
manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all
manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond
Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of
Brahmaji, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods
are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations
of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the
material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes
of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon
Him, Lord Sri Krsna, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode,
which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world.
I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.
2. Completely rejecting
all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana
propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are
fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion
for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This
beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity],
is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other
scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of
Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within
his heart.
3.
O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad-Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the
desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Sukadeva
Gosvami. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its
nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.
4.
Once, in a holy place in the forest of Naimisaranya, great sages headed by the
sage Saunaka assembled to perform a great thousand-year sacrifice for the
satisfaction of the Lord and His devotees.
5.
One day, after finishing their morning duties by burning a sacrificial fire and
offering a seat of esteem to Srila Suta Gosvami, the great sages made
inquiries, with great respect, about the following matters.
6.
The sages said: Respected Suta Gosvami, you are completely free from all vice.
You are well versed in all the scriptures famous for religious life, and in the
Puranas and the histories as well, for you have gone through them under proper
guidance and have also explained them.
7.
Being the eldest learned Vedantist, O Suta Gosvami, you are acquainted with the
knowledge of Vyasadeva, who is the incarnation of Godhead, and you also know
other sages who are fully versed in all kinds of physical and metaphysical
knowledge.
8.
And because you are submissive, your spiritual masters have endowed you with
all the favors bestowed upon a gentle disciple. Therefore you can tell us all
that you have scientifically learned from them.
9.
Please, therefore, being blessed with many years, explain to us, in an easily
understandable way, what you have ascertained to be the absolute and ultimate
good for the people in general.
10.
O learned one, in this iron age of Kali men have but short lives. They are
quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.
11.
There are many varieties of scriptures, and in all of them there are many
prescribed duties, which can be learned only after many years of study in their
various divisions. Therefore, O sage, please select the essence of all these
scriptures and explain it for the good of all living beings, that by such
instruction their hearts may be fully satisfied.
12.
All blessings upon you, O Suta Gosvami. You know for what purpose the
Personality of Godhead appeared in the womb of Devaki as the son of Vasudeva.
13.
O Suta Gosvami, we are eager to learn about the Personality of Godhead and His
incarnations. Please explain to us those teachings imparted by previous masters
[acaryas], for one is uplifted both by speaking them and by hearing them.
14.
Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death
can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Krsna,
which is feared by fear personified.
15.
O Suta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet
of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the
waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use.
16.
Who is there, desiring deliverance from the vices of the age of quarrel, who is
not willing to hear the virtuous glories of the Lord?
17.
His transcendental acts are magnificent and gracious, and great learned sages
like Narada sing of them. Please, therefore, speak to us, who are eager to hear
about the adventures He performs in His various incarnations.
18.
O wise Suta, please narrate to us the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme
Godhead's multi-incarnations. Such auspicious adventures and pastimes of the
Lord, the supreme controller, are performed by His internal powers.
19.
We never tire of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Personality of
Godhead, who is glorified by hymns and prayers. Those who have developed a
taste for transcendental relationships with Him relish hearing of His pastimes
at every moment.
20.
Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, along with Balarama, played like a
human being, and so masked He performed many superhuman acts.
21.
Knowing well that the age of Kali has already begun, we are assembled here in
this holy place to hear at great length the transcendental message of Godhead
and in this way perform sacrifice.
22.
We think that we have met Your Goodness by the will of providence, just so that
we may accept you as captain of the ship for those who desire to cross the
difficult ocean of Kali, which deteriorates all the good qualities of a human
being.
23.
Since Sri Krsna, the Absolute Truth, the master of all mystic powers, has
departed for His own abode, please tell us to whom the religious principles
have now gone for shelter.
Chapter Two Divinity and Divine Service
1. Ugrasrava [Suta
Gosvami], the son of Romaharsana, being fully satisfied by the perfect
questions of the brahmanas, thanked them and thus attempted to reply.
2.
Srila Suta Gosvami said: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto that great
sage [Sukadeva Gosvami] who can enter the hearts of all. When he went away to
take up the renounced order of life [sannyasa], leaving home without undergoing
reformation by the sacred thread or the ceremonies observed by the higher
castes, his father, Vyasadeva, fearing separation from him, cried out, "O
my son!" Indeed, only the trees, which were absorbed in the same feelings
of separation, echoed in response to the begrieved father.
3.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto him [Suka], the spiritual master of
all sages, the son of Vyasadeva, who, out of his great compassion for those
gross materialists who struggle to cross over the darkest regions of material
existence, spoke this most confidential supplement to the cream of Vedic
knowledge, after having personally assimilated it by experience.
4.
Before reciting this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is the very means of conquest,
one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead,
Narayana, unto Nara-narayana Rsi, the supermost human being, unto mother
Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, and unto Srila Vyasadeva, the author.
5.
O sages, I have been justly questioned by you. Your questions are worthy
because they relate to Lord Krsna and so are of relevance to the world's
welfare. Only questions of this sort are capable of completely satisfying the
self.
6.
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can
attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional
service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.
7.
By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, one
immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.
8.
The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are
only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of
the Personality of Godhead.
9.
All occupational engagements are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They
should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, according to sages,
one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use
material gain to cultivate sense gratification.
10.
Life's desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should
desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant
for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's
works.
11.
Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual
substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.
12.
The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and
detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in
terms of what he has heard from the Vedanta-sruti.
13.
O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest
perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own
occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the
Personality of Godhead.
14.
Therefore, with one-pointed attention, one should constantly hear about,
glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector
of the devotees.
15.
With sword in hand, intelligent men cut through the binding knots of
reactionary work [karma] by remembering the Personality of Godhead. Therefore,
who will not pay attention to His message?
16.
O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all
vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing
the messages of Vasudeva.
17.
Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in
everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire
for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge
to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and
chanted.
18.
By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service
to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely
destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised
with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.
19.
As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects
of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering,
disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he
becomes completely happy.
20.
Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been
enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive
scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation
from all material association.
21.
Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces.
The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master.
22.
Certainly, therefore, since time immemorial, all transcendentalists have been
rendering devotional service to Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, with
great delight, because such devotional service is enlivening to the self.
23.
The transcendental Personality of Godhead is indirectly associated with the
three modes of material nature, namely passion, goodness and ignorance, and
just for the material world's creation, maintenance and destruction He accepts
the three qualitative forms of Brahma, Visnu and Siva. Of these three, all
human beings can derive ultimate benefit from Visnu, the form of the quality of
goodness.
24.
Firewood is a transformation of earth, but smoke is better than the raw wood.
And fire is still better, for by fire we can derive the benefits of superior knowledge
[through Vedic sacrifices]. Similarly, passion [rajas] is better than ignorance
[tamas], but goodness [sattva] is best because by goodness one can come to
realize the Absolute Truth.
25.
Previously all the great sages rendered service unto the Personality of Godhead
due to His existence above the three modes of material nature. They worshiped
Him to become free from material conditions and thus derive the ultimate
benefit. Whoever follows such great authorities is also eligible for liberation
from the material world.
26.
Those who are serious about liberation are certainly nonenvious, and they
respect all. Yet they reject the horrible and ghastly forms of the demigods and
worship only the all-blissful forms of Lord Visnu and His plenary portions.
27.
Those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance worship the forefathers,
other living beings and the demigods who are in charge of cosmic activities,
for they are urged by a desire to be materially benefited with women, wealth,
power and progeny.
28-29.
In the revealed scriptures, the ultimate object of knowledge is Sri Krsna, the
Personality of Godhead. The purpose of performing sacrifice is to please Him.
Yoga is for realizing Him. All fruitive activities are ultimately rewarded by
Him only. He is supreme knowledge, and all severe austerities are performed to
know Him. Religion [dharma] is rendering loving service unto Him. He is the
supreme goal of life.
30.
In the beginning of the material creation, that Absolute Personality of Godhead
[Vasudeva], in His transcendental position, created the energies of cause and
effect by His own internal energy.
31.
After creating the material substance, the Lord [Vasudeva] expands Himself and
enters into it. And although He is within the material modes of nature and
appears to be; one of the created beings, He is always fully enlightened in His
transcendental position.
32.
The Lord, as Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and
so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a
second.
33.
The Supersoul enters into the bodies of the created beings who are influenced
by the modes of material nature and causes them to enjoy the effects of these
modes by the subtle mind.
34.
Thus the Lord of the universes maintains all planets inhabited by demigods, men
and lower animals. Assuming the roles of incarnations, He performs pastimes to
reclaim those in the mode of pure goodness.
Chapter Three Krsna Is the Source of All Incarnations
1.
Suta said: In the beginning of the creation, the Lord first expanded Himself in
the universal form of the purusa incarnation and manifested all the ingredients
for the material creation. And thus at first there was the creation of the
sixteen principles of material action. This was for the purpose of creating the
material universe.
2.
A part of the purusa lies down within the water of the universe, from the navel
lake of His body sprouts a lotus stem, and from the lotus flower atop this
stem, Brahma, the master of all engineers in the universe, becomes manifest.
3.
It is believed that all the universal planetary systems are situated on the
extensive body of the purusa, but He has nothing to do with the created
material ingredients. His body is eternally in spiritual existence par
excellence.
4.
The devotees, with their perfect eyes, see the transcendental form of the
purusa who has thousands of legs, thighs, arms and faces--all extraordinary. In
that body there are thousands of heads, ears, eyes and noses. They are
decorated with thousands of helmets and glowing earrings and are adorned with
garlands.
5.
This form [the second manifestation of the purusa] is the source and
indestructible seed of multifarious incarnations within the universe. From the
particles and portions of this form, different living entities, like demigods,
men and others, are created.
6.
First of all, in the beginning of creation, there were the four unmarried sons
of Brahma [the Kumaras], who, being situated in a vow of celibacy, underwent
severe austerities for realization of the Absolute Truth.
7.
The supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices accepted the incarnation of a boar [the
second incarnation], and for the welfare of the earth He lifted the earth from
the nether regions of the universe.
8.
In the millennium of the rsis, the Personality of Godhead accepted the third
empowered incarnation in the form of Devarsi Narada, who is a great sage among
the demigods. He collected expositions of the Vedas which deal with devotional
service and which inspire nonfruitive action.
9.
In the fourth incarnation, the Lord became Nara and Narayana, the twin sons of
the wife of King Dharma. Thus He undertook severe and exemplary penances to
control the senses.
10.
The fifth incarnation, named Lord Kapila, is foremost among perfected beings.
He gave an exposition of the creative elements and metaphysics to Asuri
Brahmana, for in course of time this knowledge had been lost.
11.
The sixth incarnation of the purusa was the son of the sage Atri. He was born
from the womb of Anasuya, who prayed for an incarnation. He spoke on the
subject of transcendence to Alarka, Prahlada and others [Yadu, Haihaya, etc.].
12.
The seventh incarnation was Yajna, the son of Prajapati Ruci and his wife
Akuti. He controlled the period during the change of the Svayambhuva Manu and
was assisted by demigods such as His son Yama.
13.
The eighth incarnation was King Rsabha, son of King Nabhi and his wife
Merudevi. In this incarnation the Lord showed the path of perfection, which is
followed by those who have fully controlled their senses and who are honored by
all orders of life.
14.
O brahmanas, in the ninth incarnation, the Lord, prayed for by sages, accepted
the body of a king [Prthu] who cultivated the land to yield various produces,
and for that reason the earth was beautiful and attractive.
15.
When there was a complete inundation after the period of the Caksusa Manu and
the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and
protected Vaivasvata Manu, keeping him up on a boat.
16.
The eleventh incarnation of the Lord took the form of a tortoise whose shell
served as a pivot for the Mandaracala Hill, which was being used as a churning
rod by the theists and atheists of the universe.
17.
In the twelfth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Dhanvantari, and in the
thirteenth He allured the atheists by the charming beauty of a woman and gave
nectar to the demigods to drink.
18.
In the fourteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Nrsimha and bifurcated the
strong body of the atheist Hiranyakasipu with His nails, just as a carpenter
pierces cane.
19.
In the fifteenth incarnation, the Lord assumed the form of a dwarf-brahmana
[Vamana] and visited the arena of sacrifice arranged by Maharaja Bali. Although
at heart He was willing to regain the kingdom of the three planetary systems,
He simply asked for a donation of three steps of land.
20.
In the sixteenth incarnation of the Godhead, the Lord [as Bhrgupati]
annihilated the administrative class [ksatriyas] twenty-one times, being angry
with them because of their rebellion against the brahmanas [the intelligent
class].
21.
Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, Sri Vyasadeva appeared
in the womb of Satyavati through Parasara Muni, and he divided the one Veda
into several branches and subbranches, seeing that the people in general were
less intelligent.
22.
In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rama. In order to
perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by
controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist King Ravana, who was
on the other side of the sea.
23.
In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord
Balarama and Lord Krsna in the family of Vrsni [the Yadu dynasty], and by so
doing He removed the burden of the world.
24.
Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the
son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those
who are envious of the faithful theist.
25.
Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take
His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Visnu Yasa. At this
time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers.
26.
O brahmanas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing
from inexhaustible sources of water.
27.
All the rsis, Manus, demigods and descendants of Manu, who are especially
powerful, are plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord.
This also includes the Prajapatis.
28.
All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions
of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krsna is the original
Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a
disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the
theists.
29.
Whoever carefully recites the mysterious appearances of the Lord, with devotion
in the morning and in the evening, gets relief from all miseries of life.
30.
The conception of the virat universal form of the Lord, as appearing in the
material world, is imaginary. It is to enable the less intelligent [and
neophytes] to adjust to the idea of the Lord's having form. But factually the
Lord has no material form.
31.
Clouds and dust are carried by the air, but less intelligent persons say that
the sky is cloudy and the air is dirty. Similarly, they also implant material
bodily conceptions on the spirit self.
32.
Beyond this gross conception of form is another, subtle conception of form
which is without formal shape and is unseen, unheard and unmanifest. The living
being has his form beyond this subtlety, otherwise he could not have repeated
births.
33.
Whenever a person experiences, by self-realization, that both the gross and
subtle bodies have nothing to do with the pure self, at that time he sees
himself as well as the Lord.
34.
If the illusory energy subsides and the living entity becomes fully enriched
with knowledge by the grace of the Lord, then he becomes at once enlightened
with self-realization and thus becomes situated in his own glory.
35.
Thus learned men describe the births and activities of the unborn and inactive,
which is undiscoverable even in the Vedic literatures. He is the Lord of the
heart.
36.
The Lord, whose activities are always spotless, is the master of the six senses
and is fully omnipotent with six opulences. He creates the manifested
universes, maintains them and annihilates them without being in the least
affected. He is within every living being and is always independent.
37.
The foolish with a poor fund of knowledge cannot know the transcendental nature
of the forms, names and activities of the Lord, who is playing like an actor in
a drama. Nor can they express such things, neither in their speculations nor in
their words.
38.
Only those who render unreserved, uninterrupted, favorable service unto the
lotus feet of Lord Krsna, who carries the wheel of the chariot in His hand, can
know the creator of the universe in His full glory, power and transcendence.
39.
Only by making such inquiries in this world can one be successful and perfectly
cognizant, for such inquiries invoke transcendental ecstatic love unto the
Personality of Godhead, who is the proprietor of all the universes, and
guarantee cent-percent immunity from the dreadful repetition of birth and
death.
40.
This Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled
by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good
of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful and all-perfect.
41.
Sri Vyasadeva delivered it to his son, who is the most respected among the
self-realized, after extracting the cream of all Vedic literatures and
histories of the universe.
42.
Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vyasadeva, in his turn delivered the Bhagavatam to
the great Emperor Pariksit, who sat surrounded by sages on the bank of the
Ganges, awaiting death without taking food or drink.
43.
This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after
the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion,
knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of
ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.
44.
O learned brahmanas, when Sukadeva Gosvami recited Bhagavatam there [in the
presence of Emperor Pariksit], I heard him with rapt attention, and thus, by
his mercy, I learned the Bhagavatam from that great and powerful sage. Now I
shall try to make you hear the very same thing as I learned it from him and as
I have realized it.
Chapter Four The Appearance of Sri Narada
1.
On hearing Suta Gosvami speak thus, Saunaka Muni, who was the elderly, learned
leader of all the rsis engaged in that prolonged sacrificial ceremony,
congratulated Suta Gosvami by addressing him as follows.
2.
Saunaka said: O Suta Gosvami, you are the most fortunate and respected of all
those who can speak and recite. Please relate the pious message of
Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was spoken by the great and powerful sage Sukadeva
Gosvami.
3.
In what period and at what place was this first begun, and why was this taken
up? From where did Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa, the great sage, get the inspiration
to compile this literature?
4.
His [Vyasadeva's] son was a great devotee, an equibalanced monist, whose mind
was always concentrated in monism. He was transcendental to mundane activities,
but being unexposed, he appeared like an ignorant person.
5.
While Sri Vyasadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were
bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Sri Vyasadeva himself
was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage
inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and
when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage
made such distinctions.
6.
How was he [Srila Sukadeva, the son of Vyasa] recognized by the citizens when
he entered the city of Hastinapura [now Delhi], after wandering in the
provinces of Kuru and Jangala, appearing like a madman, dumb and retarded?
7.
How did it so happen that King Pariksit met this great sage, making it possible
for this great transcendental essence of the Vedas [Bhagavatam] to be sung to
him?
8.
He [Sukadeva Gosvami] was accustomed to stay at the door of a householder only
long enough for a cow to be milked. And he did this just to sanctify the
residence.
9.
It is said that Maharaja Pariksit is a great first-class devotee of the Lord
and that his birth and activities are all wonderful. Please tell us about him.
10.
He was a great emperor and possessed all the opulences of his acquired kingdom.
He was so exalted that he was increasing the prestige of the Pandu dynasty. Why
did he give up everything to sit down on the bank of the Ganges and fast until
death?
11.
He was such a great emperor that all his enemies would come and bow down at his
feet and surrender all their wealth for their own benefit. He was full of youth
and strength, and he possessed insuperable kingly opulences. Why did he want to
give up everything, including his life?
12.
Those who are devoted to the cause of the Personality of Godhead live only for
the welfare, development and happiness of others. They do not live for any
selfish interest. So even though the Emperor [Pariksit] was free from all
attachment to worldly possessions, how could he give up his mortal body, which
was shelter for others?
13.
We know that you are expert in the meaning of all subjects, except some
portions of the Vedas, and thus you can clearly explain the answers to all the
questions we have just put to you.
14.
Suta Gosvami said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great
sage [Vyasadeva] was born to Parasara in the womb of Satyavati, the daughter of
Vasu.
15.
Once upon a time he [Vyasadeva], as the sun rose, took his morning ablution in
the waters of the Sarasvati and sat alone to concentrate.
16.
The great sage Vyasadeva saw anomalies in the duties of the millennium. This
happens on the earth in different ages, due to unseen forces in the course of
time.
17-18.
The great sage, who was fully equipped in knowledge, could see, through his
transcendental vision, the deterioration of everything material, due to the
influence of the age. He could also see that the faithless people in general
would be reduced in duration of life and would be impatient due to lack of
goodness. Thus he contemplated for the welfare of men in all statuses and
orders of life.
19.
He saw that the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas were means by which the
people's occupations could be purified. And to simplify the process he divided
the one Veda into four, in order to expand them among men.
20.
The four divisions of the original sources of knowledge [the Vedas] were made
separately. But the historical facts and authentic stories mentioned in the
Puranas are called the fifth Veda.
21.
After the Vedas were divided into four divisions, Paila Rsi became the
professor of the Rg Veda, Jaimini the professor of the Sama Veda, and
Vaisampayana alone became glorified by the Yajur Veda.
22.
The Sumantu Muni Angira, who was very devotedly engaged, was entrusted with the
Atharva Veda. And my father, Romaharsana, was entrusted with the Puranas and
historical records.
23.
All these learned scholars, in their turn, rendered their entrusted Vedas unto
their many disciples, grand-disciples and great grand-disciples, and thus the
respective branches of the followers of the Vedas came into being.
24.
Thus the great sage Vyasadeva, who is very kind to the ignorant masses, edited
the Vedas so they might be assimilated by less intellectual men.
25.
Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to
achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical
narration called the Mahabharata for women, laborers and friends of the
twice-born.
26.
O twice-born brahmanas, still his mind was not satisfied, although he engaged
himself in working for the total welfare of all people.
27.
Thus the sage, being dissatisfied at heart, at once began to reflect, because
he knew the essence of religion, and he said within himself:
28-29.
I have, under strict disciplinary vows, unpretentiously worshiped the Vedas,
the spiritual master and the altar of sacrifice. I have also abided by the
rulings and have shown the import of disciplic succession through the
explanation of the Mahabharata, by which even women, sudras and others [friends
of the twice-born] can see the path of religion.
30.
I am feeling incomplete, though I myself am fully equipped with everything
required by the Vedas.
31.
This may be because I did not specifically point out the devotional service of
the Lord, which is dear both to perfect beings and to the infallible Lord.
32.
As mentioned before, Narada reached the cottage of Krsnadvaipayana Vyasa on the
banks of the Sarasvati just as Vyasadeva was regretting his defects.
33.
At the auspicious arrival of Sri Narada, Sri Vyasadeva got up respectfully and
worshiped him, giving him veneration equal to that given to Brahmaji, the
creator.
Chapter Five Narada's Instructions on Srimad-Bhagavatam for Vyasadeva
1.
Suta Gosvami said: Thus the sage amongst the gods [Narada], comfortably seated
and apparently smiling, addressed the rsi amongst the brahmanas [Vedavyasa].
2.
Addressing Vyasadeva, the son of Parasara, Narada inquired: Are you satisfied
by identifying with the body or the mind as objects of self-realization?
3.
Your inquiries were full and your studies were also well fulfilled, and there
is no doubt that you have prepared a great and wonderful work, the Mahabharata,
which is full of all kinds of Vedic sequences elaborately explained.
4.
You have fully delineated the subject of impersonal Brahman as well as the
knowledge derived therefrom. Why should you be despondent in spite of all this,
thinking that you are undone, my dear prabhu?
5.
Sri Vyasadeva said: All you have said about me is perfectly correct. Despite
all this, I am not pacified. I therefore question you about the root cause of
my dissatisfaction, for you are a man of unlimited knowledge due to your being
the offspring of one [Brahma] who is self-born [without mundane father and
mother].
6.
My lord! Everything that is mysterious is known to you because you worship the
creator and destroyer of the material world and the maintainer of the spiritual
world, the original Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental to the three
modes of material nature.
7.
Like the sun, Your Goodness can travel everywhere in the three worlds, and like
the air you can penetrate the internal region of everyone. As such, you are as
good as the all-pervasive Supersoul. Please, therefore, find out the deficiency
in me, despite my being absorbed in transcendence under disciplinary
regulations and vows.
8.
Sri Narada said: You have not actually broadcast the sublime and spotless
glories of the Personality of Godhead. That philosophy which does not satisfy
the transcendental senses of the Lord is considered worthless.
9.
Although, great sage, you have very broadly described the four principles
beginning with religious performances, you have not described the glories of
the Supreme Personality, Vasudeva.
10.
Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can
sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly
persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect
persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any
pleasure there.
11.
On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the
transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the
unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words
directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this
world's misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though
imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are
thoroughly honest.
12.
Knowledge of self-realization, even though free from all material affinity,
does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible [God]. What,
then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from the
very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilized for the
devotional service of the Lord?
13.
O Vyasadeva, your vision is completely perfect. Your good fame is spotless. You
are firm in vow and situated in truthfulness. And thus you can think of the
pastimes of the Lord in trance for the liberation of the people in general from
all material bondage.
14.
Whatever you desire to describe that is separate in vision from the Lord simply
reacts, with different forms, names and results, to agitate the mind as the
wind agitates a boat which has no resting place.
15.
The people in general are naturally inclined to enjoy, and you have encouraged
them in that way in the name of religion. This is verily condemned and is quite
unreasonable. Because they are guided under your instructions, they will accept
such activities in the name of religion and will hardly care for prohibitions.
16.
The Supreme Lord is unlimited. Only a very expert personality, retired from the
activities of material happiness, deserves to understand this knowledge of
spiritual values. Therefore those who are not so well situated, due to material
attachment, should be shown the ways of transcendental realization, by Your
Goodness, through descriptions of the transcendental activities of the Supreme
Lord.
17.
One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional
service of the Lord may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet
there is no danger of his being unsuccessful. On the other hand, a nondevotee,
though fully engaged in occupational duties, does not gain anything.
18.
Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined should
endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable even by wandering
from the topmost planet [Brahmaloka] down to the lowest planet [Patala]. As far
as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained
automatically in course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries
even though we do not desire them.
19.
My dear Vyasa, even though a devotee of Lord Krsna sometimes falls down somehow
or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others
[fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of
the lotus feet of the Lord can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and
again.
20.
The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead is Himself this cosmos, and still He is
aloof from it. From Him only has this cosmic manifestation emanated, in Him it
rests, and unto Him it enters after annihilation. Your good self knows all
about this. I have given only a synopsis.
21.
Your Goodness has perfect vision. You yourself can know the Supersoul
Personality of Godhead because you are present as the plenary portion of the
Lord. Although you are birthless, you have appeared on this earth for the
well-being of all people. Please, therefore, describe the transcendental
pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna more vividly.
22.
Learned circles have positively concluded that the infallible purpose of the
advancement of knowledge, namely austerities, study of the Vedas, sacrifice,
chanting of hymns and charity, culminates in the transcendental descriptions of
the Lord, who is defined in choice poetry.
23.
O muni, in the last millennium I was born as the son of a certain maidservant
engaged in the service of brahmanas who were following the principles of
Vedanta. When they were living together during the four months of the rainy
season, I was engaged in their personal service.
24.
Although they were impartial by nature, those followers of the Vedanta blessed
me with their causeless mercy. As far as I was concerned, I was self-controlled
and had no attachment for sports, even though I was a boy. In addition, I was
not naughty, and I did not speak more than required.
25.
Once only, by their permission, I took the remnants of their food, and by so
doing all my sins were at once eradicated. Thus being engaged, I became
purified in heart, and at that time the very nature of the transcendentalist
became attractive to me.
26.
O Vyasadeva, in that association and by the mercy of those great Vedantists, I
could hear them describe the attractive activities of Lord Krsna And thus
listening attentively, my taste for hearing of the Personality of Godhead
increased at every step.
27.
O great sage, as soon as I got a taste for the Personality of Godhead, my
attention to hear of the Lord was unflinching. And as my taste developed, I
could realize that it was only in my ignorance that I had accepted gross and
subtle coverings, for both the Lord and I are transcendental.
28.
Thus during two seasons--the rainy season and autumn--I had the opportunity to
hear these great-souled sages constantly chant the unadulterated glories of the
Lord Hari. As the flow of my devotional service began, the coverings of the
modes of passion and ignorance vanished.
29.
I was very much attached to those sages. I was gentle in behavior, and all my
sins were eradicated in their service. In my heart I had strong faith in them.
I had subjugated the senses, and I was strictly following them with body and
mind.
30.
As they were leaving, those bhakti-vedantas, who are very kind to poor-hearted
souls, instructed me in that most confidential subject which is instructed by
the Personality of Godhead Himself.
31.
By that confidential knowledge, I could understand clearly the influence of the
energy of Lord Sri Krsna, the creator, maintainer and annihilator of
everything. By knowing that, one can return to Him and personally meet Him.
32.
O Brahmana Vyasadeva, it is decided by the learned that the best remedial
measure for removing all troubles and miseries is to dedicate one's activities
to the service of the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead [Sri Krsna].
33.
O good soul, does not a thing, applied therapeutically, cure a disease which
was caused by that very same thing?
34.
Thus when all a man's activities are dedicated to the service of the Lord,
those very activities which caused his perpetual bondage become the destroyer
of the tree of work.
35.
Whatever work is done here in this life for the satisfaction of the mission of
the Lord is called bhakti-yoga, or transcendental loving service to the Lord,
and what is called knowledge becomes a concomitant factor.
36.
While performing duties according to the order of Sri Krsna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, one constantly remembers Him, His names and His
qualities.
37.
Let us all chant the glories of Vasudeva along with His plenary expansions
Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarsana.
38.
Thus he is the actual seer who worships, in the form of transcendental sound
representation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, who has no material
form.
39.
O brahmana, thus by the Supreme Lord Krsna I was endowed first with the
transcendental knowledge of the Lord as inculcated in the confidential parts of
the Vedas, then with the spiritual opulences, and then with His intimate loving
service.
40.
Please, therefore, describe the Almighty Lord's activities which you have
learned by your vast knowledge of the Vedas, for that will satisfy the
hankerings of great learned men and at the same time mitigate the miseries of
the masses of common people who are always suffering from material pangs.
Indeed, there is no other way to get out of such miseries.
Chapter Six Conversation Between Narada and Vyasadeva
1.
Suta said: O brahmanas, thus hearing all about Sri Narada's birth and
activities, Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God and son of Satyavati, inquired as
follows.
2.
Sri Vyasadeva said: What did you [Narada] do after the departure of the great
sages who had instructed you in scientific transcendental knowledge before the
beginning of your present birth?
3.
O son of Brahma, how did you pass your life after initiation, and how did you
attain this body, having quit your old one in due course?
4.
O great sage, time annihilates everything in due course, so how is it that this
subject matter, which happened prior to this day of Brahma, is still fresh in
your memory, undisturbed by time?
5.
Sri Narada said: The great sages, who had imparted scientific knowledge of
transcendence to me, departed for other places, and I had to pass my life in
this way.
6.
I was the only son of my mother, who was not only a simple woman but a
maidservant as well. Since I was her only offspring, she had no other
alternative for protection: she bound me with the tie of affection.
7.
She wanted to look after my maintenance properly, but because she was not
independent, she was not able to do anything for me. The world is under the
full control of the Supreme Lord; therefore everyone is like a wooden doll in
the hands of a puppet master.
8.
When I was a mere child of five years, I lived in a brahmana school. I was
dependent on my mother's affection and had no experience of different lands.
9.
Once upon a time, my poor mother, when going out one night to milk a cow, was
bitten on the leg by a serpent, influenced by supreme time.
10.
I took this as the special mercy of the Lord, who always desires benediction
for His devotees, and so thinking, I started for the north.
11.
After my departure, I passed through many flourishing metropolises, towns,
villages, animal farms, mines, agricultural lands, valleys, flower gardens,
nursery gardens and natural forests.
12.
I passed through hills and mountains full of reservoirs of various minerals
like gold, silver and copper, and through tracts of land with reservoirs of
water filled with beautiful lotus flowers, fit for the denizens of heaven,
decorated with bewildered bees and singing birds.
13.
I then passed alone through many forests of rushes, bamboo, reeds, sharp grass,
weeds and caves, which were very difficult to go through alone. I visited deep,
dark and dangerously fearful forests, which were the play yards of snakes, owls
and jackals.
14.
Thus traveling, I felt tired, both bodily and mentally, and I was both thirsty
and hungry. So I took a bath in a river lake and also drank water. By
contacting water, I got relief from my exhaustion.
15.
After that, under the shadow of a banyan tree in an uninhabited forest I began
to meditate upon the Supersoul situated within, using my intelligence, as I had
learned from liberated souls.
16.
As soon as I began to meditate upon the lotus feet of the Personality of
Godhead with my mind transformed in transcendental love, tears rolled down my
eyes, and without delay the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna appeared on the
lotus of my heart.
17.
O Vyasadeva, at that time, being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of
happiness, every part of my body became separately enlivened. Being absorbed in
an ocean of ecstasy, I could not see both myself and the Lord.
18.
The transcendental form of the Lord, as it is, satisfies the mind's desire and
at once erases all mental incongruities. Upon losing that form, I suddenly got
up, being perturbed, as is usual when one loses that which is desirable.
19.
I desired to see again that transcendental form of the Lord, but despite my
attempts to concentrate upon the heart with eagerness to view the form again, I
could not see Him any more, and thus dissatisfied, I was very much aggrieved.
20.
Seeing my attempts in that lonely place, the Personality of Godhead, who is
transcendental to all mundane description, spoke to me with gravity and
pleasing words, just to mitigate my grief.
21.
O Narada [the Lord spoke], I regret that during this lifetime you will not be
able to see Me anymore. Those who are incomplete in service and who are not
completely free from all material taints can hardly see Me.
22.
O virtuous one, you have only once seen My person, and this is just to increase
your desire for Me, because the more you hanker for Me, the more you will be
freed from all material desires.
23.
By service of the Absolute Truth, even for a few days, a devotee attains firm
and fixed intelligence in Me. Consequently he goes on to become My associate in
the transcendental world after giving up the present deplorable material
worlds.
24.
Intelligence engaged in My devotion cannot be thwarted at any time. Even at the
time of creation, as well as at the time of annihilation, your remembrance will
continue by My mercy.
25.
Then that supreme authority, personified by sound and unseen by eyes, but most
wonderful, stopped speaking. Feeling a sense of gratitude, I offered my
obeisances unto Him, bowing my head.
26.
Thus I began chanting the holy name and fame of the Lord by repeated
recitation, ignoring all the formalities of the material world. Such chanting
and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are benedictory. So
doing, I traveled all over the earth, fully satisfied, humble and unenvious.
27.
And so, O Brahmana Vyasadeva, in due course of time I, who was fully absorbed
in thinking of Krsna and who therefore had no attachments, being completely
freed from all material taints, met with death, as lightning and illumination
occur simultaneously.
28.
Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of the
Personality of Godhead, I quit the body made of five material elements, and
thus all acquired fruitive results of work [karma] stopped.
29.
At the end of the millennium, when the Personality of Godhead Lord Narayana lay
down within the water of devastation, Brahma began to enter into Him along with
all creative elements, and I also entered through His breathing.
30.
After 4,300,000,000 solar years, when Brahma awoke to create again by the will
of the Lord, all the rsis like Marici, Angira, Atri and so on were created from
the transcendental body of the Lord, and I also appeared along with them.
31.
Since then, by the grace of the almighty Visnu, I travel everywhere without
restriction both in the transcendental world and in the three divisions of the
material world. This is because I am fixed in unbroken devotional service of
the Lord.
32.
And thus I travel, constantly singing the transcendental message of the glories
of the Lord, vibrating this instrument called a vina, which is charged with
transcendental sound and which was given to me by Lord Krsna.
33.
The Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, whose glories and activities are pleasing to hear,
at once appears on the seat of my heart, as if called for, as soon as I begin
to chant His holy activities.
34.
It is personally experienced by me that those who are always full of cares and
anxieties due to desiring contact of the senses with their objects can cross
the ocean of nescience on a most suitable boat--the constant chanting of the
transcendental activities of the Personality of Godhead.
35.
It is true that by practicing restraint of the senses by the yoga system one
can get relief from the disturbances of desire and lust, but this is not
sufficient to give satisfaction to the soul, for this [satisfaction] is derived
from devotional service to the Personality of Godhead.
36.
O Vyasadeva, you are freed from all sins. Thus I have explained my birth and
activities for self-realization, as you asked. All this will be conducive for
your personal satisfaction also.
37.
Suta Gosvami said: Thus addressing Vyasadeva, Srila Narada Muni took leave of
him, and vibrating on his vina instrument, he left to wander at his free will.
38.
All glory and success to Srila Narada Muni because he glorifies the activities
of the Personality of Godhead, and so doing he himself takes pleasure and also
enlivens all the distressed souls of the universe.
Chapter Seven The Son of Drona Punished
1.
Rsi Saunaka asked: O Suta, the great and transcendentally powerful Vyasadeva
heard everything from Sri Narada Muni. So after Narada's departure, what did
Vyasadeva do?
2.
Sri Suta said: On the western bank of the River Sarasvati, which is intimately
related with the Vedas, there is a cottage for meditation at Samyaprasa which
enlivens the transcendental activities of the sages.
3.
In that place, Srila Vyasadeva, in his own asrama, which was surrounded by
berry trees, sat down to meditate after touching water for purification.
4.
Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional
service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the
Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under
full control.
5.
Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the
three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and
thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.
6.
The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can
be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the
mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyasadeva compiled
this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.
7.
Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for
loving devotional service to Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and
fearfulness.
8.
The great sage Vyasadeva, after compiling the Srimad-Bhagavatam and revising
it, taught it to his own son, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, who was already engaged in
self-realization.
9.
Sri Saunaka asked Suta Gosvami: Sri Sukadeva Gosvami was already on the path of
self-realization, and thus he was pleased with his own self. So why did he take
the trouble to undergo the study of such a vast literature?
10.
All different varieties of atmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or
spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization,
though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed
devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord
possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including
liberated souls.
11.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, son of Srila Vyasadeva, was not only transcendentally
powerful. He was also very dear to the devotees of the Lord. Thus he underwent
the study of this great narration [Srimad-Bhagavatam].
12.
Suta Gosvami thus addressed the rsis headed by Saunaka: Now I shall begin the
transcendental narration of the Lord Sri Krsna and topics of the birth,
activities and deliverance of King Pariksit, the sage amongst kings, as well as
topics of the renunciation of the worldly order by the sons of Pandu.
13-14.
When the respective warriors of both camps, namely the Kauravas and the
Pandavas, were killed on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra and the dead warriors
obtained their deserved destinations, and when the son of Dhrtarastra fell down
lamenting, his spine broken, being beaten by the club of Bhimasena, the son of
Dronacarya [Asvatthama] beheaded the five sleeping sons of Draupadi and
delivered them as a prize to his master, foolishly thinking that he would be
pleased. Duryodhana, however, disapproved of the heinous act, and he was not
pleased in the least.
15.
Draupadi, the mother of the five children of the Pandavas, after hearing of the
massacre of her sons, began to cry in distress with eyes full of tears. Trying
to pacify her in her great loss, Arjuna spoke to her thus:
16.
O gentle lady, when I present you with the head of that brahmana, after
beheading him with arrows from my Gandiva bow, I shall then wipe the tears from
your eyes and pacify you. Then, after burning your sons' bodies, you can take
your bath standing on his head.
17.
Arjuna, who is guided by the infallible Lord as friend and driver, thus
satisfied the dear lady by such statements. Then he dressed in armor and armed
himself with furious weapons, and getting into his chariot, he set out to
follow Asvatthama, the son of his martial teacher.
18.
Asvatthama, the murderer of the princes, seeing from a great distance Arjuna
coming at him with great speed, fled in his chariot, panic stricken, just to
save his life, as Brahma fled in fear from Siva.
19.
When the son of the brahmana [Asvatthama] saw that his horses were tired, he
considered that there was no alternative for protection outside of his using
the ultimate weapon, the brahmastra [nuclear weapon].
20.
Since his life was in danger, he touched water in sanctity and concentrated
upon the chanting of the hymns for throwing nuclear weapons, although he did
not know how to withdraw such weapons.
21.
Thereupon a glaring light spread in all directions. It was so fierce that
Arjuna thought his own life in danger, and so he began to address Lord Sri
Krsna.
22.
Arjuna said: O my Lord Sri Krsna, You are the almighty Personality of Godhead.
There is no limit to Your different energies. Therefore only You are competent
to instill fearlessness in the hearts of Your devotees. Everyone in the flames
of material miseries can find the path of liberation in You only.
23.
You are the original Personality of Godhead who expands Himself all over the
creations and is transcendental to material energy. You have cast away the
effects of the material energy by dint of Your spiritual potency. You are
always situated in eternal bliss and transcendental knowledge.
24.
And yet, though You are beyond the purview of the material energy, You execute
the four principles of liberation characterized by religion and so on for the
ultimate good of the conditioned souls.
25.
Thus You descend as an incarnation to remove the burden of the world and to
benefit Your friends, especially those who are Your exclusive devotees and are
rapt in meditation upon You.
26.
O Lord of lords, how is it that this dangerous effulgence is spreading all
around? Where does it come from? I do not understand it.
27.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Know from Me that this is the act of
the son of Drona. He has thrown the hymns of nuclear energy [brahmastra], and
he does not know how to retract the glare. He has helplessly done this, being
afraid of imminent death.
28.
O Arjuna, only another brahmastra can counteract this weapon. Since you are
expert in the military science, subdue this weapon's glare with the power of
your own weapon.
29.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: Hearing this from the Personality of Godhead, Arjuna
touched water for purification, and after circumambulating Lord Sri Krsna, he
cast his brahmastra weapon to counteract the other one.
30.
When the rays of the two brahmastras combined, a great circle of fire, like the
disc of the sun, covered all outer space and the whole firmament of planets.
31.
All the population of the three worlds was scorched by the combined heat of the
weapons. Everyone was reminded of the samvartaka fire which takes place at the
time of annihilation.
32.
Thus seeing the disturbance of the general populace and the imminent
destruction of the planets, Arjuna at once retracted both brahmastra weapons,
as Lord Sri Krsna desired.
33.
Arjuna, his eyes blazing in anger like two red balls of copper, dexterously
arrested the son of Gautami and bound him with ropes like an animal.
34.
After binding Asvatthama, Arjuna wanted to take him to the military camp. The
Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, looking on with His lotus eyes, spoke to
angry Arjuna.
35.
Lord Sri Krsna said: O Arjuna, you should not show mercy by releasing this
relative of a brahmana [brahma-bandhu], for he has killed innocent boys in
their sleep.
36.
A person who knows the principles of religion does not kill an enemy who is
careless, intoxicated, insane, asleep, afraid or devoid of his chariot. Nor
does he kill a boy, a woman, a foolish creature or a surrendered soul.
37.
A cruel and wretched person who maintains his existence at the cost of others'
lives deserves to be killed for his own well-being, otherwise he will go down
by his own actions.
38.
Furthermore, I have personally heard you promise Draupadi that you would bring
forth the head of the killer of her sons.
39.
This man is an assassin and murderer of your own family members. Not only that,
but he has also dissatisfied his master. He is but the burnt remnants of his
family. Kill him immediately.
40.
Suta Gosvami said: Although Krsna, who was examining Arjuna in religion,
encouraged Arjuna to kill the son of Dronacarya, Arjuna, a great soul, did not
like the idea of killing him, although Asvatthama was a heinous murderer of
Arjuna's family members.
41.
After reaching his own camp, Arjuna, along with his dear friend and charioteer
[Sri Krsna], entrusted the murderer unto his dear wife, who was lamenting for
her murdered sons.
42.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: Draupadi then saw Asvatthama, who was bound with ropes
like an animal and silent for having enacted the most inglorious murder. Due to
her female nature, and due to her being naturally good and well-behaved, she
showed him due respects as a brahmana.
43.
She could not tolerate Asvatthama's being bound by ropes, and being a devoted
lady, she said: Release him, for he is a brahmana, our spiritual master.
44.
It was by Dronacarya's mercy that you learned the military art of throwing
arrows and the confidential art of controlling weapons.
45.
He [Dronacarya] is certainly still existing, being represented by his son. His
wife Krpi did not undergo a sati with him because she had a son.
46.
O most fortunate one who knows the principles of religion, it is not good for
you to cause grief to glorious family members who are always respectable and
worshipful.
47.
My lord, do not make the wife of Dronacarya cry like me. I am aggrieved for the
death of my sons. She need not cry constantly like me.
48.
If the kingly administrative order, being unrestricted in sense control,
offends the brahmana order and enrages them, then the fire of that rage burns
up the whole body of the royal family and brings grief upon all.
49.
Suta Gosvami said: O brahmanas, King Yudhisthira fully supported the statements
of the Queen, which were in accordance with the principles of religion and were
justified, glorious, full of mercy and equity, and without duplicity.
50.
Nakula and Sahadeva [the younger brothers of the King] and also Satyaki,
Arjuna, the Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krsna, son of Devaki, and the
ladies and others all unanimously agreed with the King.
51.
Bhima, however, disagreed with them and recommended killing this culprit who,
in an angry mood, had murdered sleeping children for no purpose and for neither
his nor his master's interest.
52.
Caturbhuja [the four-armed one], or the Personality of Godhead, after hearing
the words of Bhima, Draupadi and others, saw the face of His dear friend
Arjuna, and He began to speak as if smiling.
53-54.
The Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna said: A friend of a brahmana is not to be
killed, but if he is an aggressor he must be killed. All these rulings are in
the scriptures, and you should act accordingly. You have to fulfill your
promise to your wife, and you must also act to the satisfaction of Bhimasena
and Me.
55.
Just then Arjuna could understand the motive of the Lord by His equivocal
orders, and thus with his sword he severed both hair and jewel from the head of
Asvatthama.
56.
He [Asvatthama] had already lost his bodily luster due to infanticide, and now,
moreover, having lost the jewel from his head, he lost even more strength. Thus
he was unbound and driven out of the camp.
57.
Cutting the hair from his head, depriving him of his wealth and driving him
from his residence are the prescribed punishments for the relative of a
brahmana. There is no injunction for killing the body.
58.
Thereafter, the sons of Pandu and Draupadi, overwhelmed with grief, performed
the proper rituals for the dead bodies of their relatives.
Chapter Eight Prayers by Queen Kunti and Pariksit Saved
1.
Suta Gosvami said: Thereafter the Pandavas, desiring to deliver water to the
dead relatives who had desired it, went to the Ganges with Draupadi. The ladies
walked in front.
2.
Having lamented over them and sufficiently offered Ganges water, they bathed in
the Ganges, whose water is sanctified due to being mixed with the dust of the
lotus feet of the Lord.
3.
There sat the King of the Kurus, Maharaja Yudhisthira, along with his younger
brothers and Dhrtarastra, Gandhari, Kunti and Draupadi, all overwhelmed with
grief. Lord Krsna was also there.
4.
Citing the stringent laws of the Almighty and their reactions upon living
beings, Lord Sri Krsna and the munis began to pacify those who were shocked and
affected.
5.
The clever Duryodhana and his party cunningly usurped the kingdom of
Yudhisthira, who had no enemy. By the grace of the Lord, the recovery was
executed, and the unscrupulous kings who joined with Duryodhana were killed by
Him. Others also died, their duration of life having decreased for their rough
handling of the hair of Queen Draupadi.
6.
Lord Sri Krsna caused three well-performed Asvamedha-yajnas [horse sacrifices]
to be conducted by Maharaja Yudhisthira and thus caused his virtuous fame to be
glorified in all directions, like that of Indra, who had performed one hundred
such sacrifices.
7.
Lord Sri Krsna then prepared for His departure. He invited the sons of Pandu,
after having been worshiped by the brahmanas, headed by Srila Vyasadeva. The
Lord also reciprocated greetings.
8.
As soon as He seated Himself on the chariot to start for Dvaraka, He saw Uttara
hurrying toward Him in fear.
9.
Uttara said: O Lord of lords, Lord of the universe! You are the greatest of
mystics. Please protect me, for there is no one else who can save me from the
clutches of death in this world of duality.
10.
O my Lord, You are all-powerful. A fiery iron arrow is coming towards me fast.
My Lord, let it burn me personally, if You so desire, but please do not let it
burn and abort my embryo. Please do me this favor, my Lord.
11.
Suta Gosvami said: Having patiently heard her words, Lord Sri Krsna, who is
always very affectionate to His devotees, could at once understand that
Asvatthama, the son of Dronacarya, had thrown the brahmastra to finish the last
life in the Pandava family.
12.
O foremost among the great thinkers [munis] [Saunaka], seeing the glaring
brahmastra proceeding towards them, the Pandavas took up their five respective
weapons.
13.
The almighty Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, having observed that a great
danger was befalling His unalloyed devotees, who were fully surrendered souls,
at once took up His Sudarsana disc to protect them.
14.
The Lord of supreme mysticism, Sri Krsna, resides within everyone's heart as
the Paramatma. As such, just to protect the progeny of the Kuru dynasty, He
covered the embryo of Uttara by His personal energy.
15.
O Saunaka, although the supreme brahmastra weapon released by Asvatthama was
irresistible and without check or counteraction, it was neutralized and foiled
when confronted by the strength of Visnu [Lord Krsna].
16.
O brahmanas, do not think this to be especially wonderful in the activities of
the mysterious and infallible Personality of Godhead. By His own transcendental
energy, He maintains and annihilates all material things, although He Himself
is unborn.
17.
Thus saved from the radiation of the brahmastra, Kunti, the chaste devotee of
the Lord, and her five sons and Draupadi addressed Lord Krsna as He started for
home.
18.
Srimati Kunti said: O Krsna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the
original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world.
You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to
all.
19.
Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally
irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are
invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is
not recognized.
20.
You Yourself descend to propagate the transcendental science of devotional
service unto the hearts of the advanced transcendentalists and mental
speculators, who are purified by being able to discriminate between matter and
spirit. How, then, can we women know You perfectly?
21.
Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become
the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devaki, the boy of Nanda and the other
cowherd men of Vrndavana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses.
22.
My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a
depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus
flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus and whose feet are engraved with
lotuses.
23.
O Hrsikesa, master of the senses and Lord of lords, You have released Your
mother, Devaki, who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King
Kamsa, and me and my children from a series of constant dangers.
24.
My dear Krsna, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a
great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during
our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And
now You have saved us from the weapon of Asvatthama.
25.
I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could
see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see
repeated births and deaths.
26.
My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are
materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to
improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and
bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.
27.
My obeisances are unto You, who are the property of the materially
impoverished. You have nothing to do with the actions and reactions of the
material modes of nature. You are self-satisfied, and therefore You are the
most gentle and are master of the monists.
28.
My Lord, I consider Your Lordship to be eternal time, the supreme controller,
without beginning and end, the all-pervasive one. In distributing Your mercy,
You are equal to everyone. The dissensions between living beings are due to
social intercourse.
29.
O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be
human and are so misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You
have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial.
30.
Of course it is bewildering, O soul of the universe, that You work, though You
are inactive, and that You take birth, though You are the vital force and the
unborn. You Yourself descend amongst animals, men, sages and aquatics. Verily,
this is bewildering.
31.
My dear Krsna, Yasoda took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense,
and Your perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from
Your eyes. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This
sight is bewildering to me.
32.
Some say that the Unborn is born for the glorification of pious kings, and
others say that He is born to please King Yadu, one of Your dearest devotees.
You appear in his family as sandalwood appears in the Malaya hills.
33.
Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devaki prayed for You, You have taken
Your birth as their son. Undoubtedly You are unborn, yet You take Your birth
for their welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods.
34.
Others say that the world, being overburdened like a boat at sea, is much
aggrieved, and that Brahma, who is Your son, prayed for You, and so You have
appeared to diminish the trouble.
35.
And yet others say that You appeared to rejuvenate the devotional service of
hearing, remembering, worshiping and so on in order that the conditioned souls
suffering from material pangs might take advantage and gain liberation.
36.
O Krsna, those who continuously hear, chant and repeat Your transcendental
activities, or take pleasure in others' doing so, certainly see Your lotus
feet, which alone can stop the repetition of birth and death.
37.
O my Lord, You have executed all duties Yourself. Are you leaving us today,
though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to
protect us, now when all kings are at enmity with us?
38.
As the name and fame of a particular body is finished with the disappearance of
the living spirit, similarly if You do not look upon us, all our fame and
activities, along with the Pandavas and Yadus, will end at once.
39.
O Gadadhara [Krsna], our kingdom is now being marked by the impressions of Your
feet, and therefore it appears beautiful. But when You leave, it will no longer
be so.
40.
All these cities and villages are flourishing in all respects because the herbs
and grains are in abundance, the trees are full of fruits, the rivers are
flowing, the hills are full of minerals and the oceans full of wealth. And this
is all due to Your glancing over them.
41.
O Lord of the universe, soul of the universe, O personality of the form of the
universe, please, therefore, sever my tie of affection for my kinsmen, the
Pandavas and the Vrsnis.
42.
O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let
my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone
else.
43.
O Krsna, O friend of Arjuna, O chief amongst the descendants of Vrsni, You are
the destroyer of those political parties which are disturbing elements on this
earth. Your prowess never deteriorates. You are the proprietor of the
transcendental abode, and You descend to relieve the distresses of the cows, the
brahmanas and the devotees. You possess all mystic powers, and You are the
preceptor of the entire universe. You are the almighty God, and I offer You my
respectful obeisances.
44.
Suta Gosvami said: The Lord, thus hearing the prayers of Kuntidevi, composed in
choice words for His glorification, mildly smiled. That smile was as enchanting
as His mystic power.
45.
Thus accepting the prayers of Srimati Kuntidevi, the Lord subsequently informed
other ladies of His departure by entering the palace of Hastinapura. But upon
preparing to leave, He was stopped by King Yudhisthira, who implored Him
lovingly.
46.
King Yudhisthira, who was much aggrieved, could not be convinced, despite
instructions by great sages headed by Vyasa and the Lord Krsna Himself, the
performer of superhuman feats, and despite all historical evidence.
47.
King Yudhisthira, son of Dharma, overwhelmed by the death of his friends, was
aggrieved just like a common, materialistic man. O sages, thus deluded by
affection, he began to speak.
48.
King Yudhisthira said: O my lot! I am the most sinful man! Just see my heart,
which is full of ignorance! This body, which is ultimately meant for others,
has killed many, many phalanxes of men.
49.
I have killed many boys, brahmanas, well-wishers, friends, parents, preceptors
and brothers. Though I live millions of years, I will not be relieved from the
hell that awaits me for all these sins.
50.
There is no sin for a king who kills for the right cause, who is engaged in
maintaining his citizens. But this injunction is not applicable to me.
51.
I have killed many friends of women, and I have thus caused enmity to such an
extent that it is not possible to undo it by material welfare work.
52.
As it is not possible to filter muddy water through mud, or purify a wine-stained
pot with wine, it is not possible to counteract the killing of men by
sacrificing animals.
Chapter Nine The Passing Away of Bhismadeva in the Presence of Lord
Krsna
1.
Suta Gosvami said: Being afraid for having killed so many subjects on the Battlefield
of Kuruksetra, Maharaja Yudhisthira went to the scene of the massacre. There,
Bhismadeva was lying on a bed of arrows, about to pass away.
2.
At that time all his brothers followed him on beautiful chariots drawn by
first-class horses decorated with gold ornaments. With them were Vyasa and rsis
like Dhaumya [the learned priest of the Pandavas] and others.
3.
O sage amongst the brahmanas, Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, also
followed, seated on a chariot with Arjuna. Thus King Yudhisthira appeared very
aristocratic, like Kuvera surrounded by his companions [the Guhyakas].
4.
Seeing him [Bhisma] lying on the ground, like a demigod fallen from the sky,
the Pandava King Yudhisthira, along with his younger brothers and Lord Krsna,
bowed down before him.
5.
Just to see the chief of the descendants of King Bharata [Bhisma], all the
great souls in the universe, namely the rsis amongst the demigods, brahmanas
and kings, all situated in the quality of goodness, were assembled there.
6-7.
All the sages like Parvata Muni, Narada, Dhaumya, Vyasa the incarnation of God,
Brhadasva, Bharadvaja and Parasurama and disciples, Vasistha, Indrapramada,
Trita, Grtsamada, Asita, Kaksivan, Gautama, Atri, Kausika and Sudarsana were
present.
8.
And many others like Sukadeva Gosvami and other purified souls, Kasyapa and
Angirasa and others, all accompanied by their respective disciples, arrived
there.
9.
Bhismadeva, who was the best amongst the eight Vasus, received and welcomed all
the great and powerful rsis who were assembled there, for he knew perfectly all
the religious principles according to time and place.
10.
Lord Sri Krsna is situated in everyone's heart, yet He manifests His
transcendental form by His internal potency. This very Lord was sitting before
Bhismadeva, and since Bhismadeva knew of His glories, he worshiped Him duly.
11.
The sons of Maharaja Pandu were sitting silently nearby, overtaken with
affection for their dying grandfather. Seeing this, Bhismadeva congratulated
them with feeling. There were tears of ecstasy in his eyes, for he was
overwhelmed by love and affection.
12.
Bhismadeva said: Oh, what terrible sufferings and what terrible injustices you
good souls suffer for being the sons of religion personified. You did not
deserve to remain alive under those tribulations, yet you were protected by the
brahmanas, God and religion.
13.
As far as my daughter-in-law Kunti is concerned, upon the great General Pandu's
death, she became a widow with many children, and therefore she suffered
greatly. And when you were grown up she suffered a great deal also because of
your actions.
14.
In my opinion, this is all due to inevitable time, under whose control everyone
in every planet is carried, just as the clouds are carried by the wind.
15.
O how wonderful is the influence of inevitable time. It is
irreversible--otherwise, how can there be reverses in the presence of King
Yudhisthira, the son of the demigod controlling religion; Bhima, the great
fighter with a club; the great bowman Arjuna with his mighty weapon Gandiva;
and above all, the Lord, the direct well-wisher of the Pandavas?
16.
O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord [Sri Krsna]. Even though great
philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered.
17.
O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhisthira], I maintain, therefore,
that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan
of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head,
and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered
helpless.
18.
This Sri Krsna is no other than the inconceivable, original Personality of
Godhead. He is the first Narayana, the supreme enjoyer. But He is moving
amongst the descendants of King Vrsni just like one of us and He is bewildering
us with His self-created energy.
19.
O King, Lord Siva, Narada the sage amongst the demigods, and Kapila, the
incarnation of Godhead, all know very confidentially about His glories through
direct contact.
20.
O King, that personality whom, out of ignorance only, you thought to be your
maternal cousin, your very dear friend, well-wisher, counselor, messenger,
benefactor, etc., is that very Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.
21.
Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is present in everyone's heart.
He is equally kind to everyone, and He is free from the false ego of
differentiation. Therefore whatever He does is free from material inebriety. He
is equibalanced.
22.
Yet, despite His being equally kind to everyone, He has graciously come before
me while I am ending my life, for I am His unflinching servitor.
23.
The Personality of Godhead, who appears in the mind of the devotee by attentive
devotion and meditation and by chanting of the holy name, releases the devotee
from the bondage of fruitive activities at the time of his quitting the
material body.
24.
May my Lord, who is four-handed and whose beautifully decorated lotus face,
with eyes as red as the rising sun, is smiling, kindly await me at that moment
when I quit this material body.
25.
Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Yudhisthira, after hearing Bhismadeva speak in that
appealing tone, asked him, in the presence of all the great rsis, about the
essential principles of various religious duties.
26.
At Maharaja Yudhisthira's inquiry, Bhismadeva first defined all the
classifications of castes and orders of life in terms of the individual's
qualifications. Then he systematically, in twofold divisions, described
counteraction by detachment and interaction by attachment.
27.
He then explained, by divisions, acts of charity, the pragmatic activities of a
king and activities for salvation. Then he described the duties of women and
devotees, both briefly and extensively.
28.
Then he described the occupational duties of different orders and statuses of
life, citing instances from history, for he was himself well acquainted with
the truth.
29.
While Bhismadeva was describing occupational duties, the sun's course ran into
the northern hemisphere. This period is desired by mystics who die at their
will.
30.
Thereupon that man who spoke on different subjects with thousands of meanings
and who fought on thousands of battlefields and protected thousands of men,
stopped speaking and, being completely freed from all bondage, withdrew his
mind from everything else and fixed his wide-open eyes upon the original
Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, who stood before him, four-handed, dressed
in yellow garments that glittered and shined.
31.
By pure meditation, looking at Lord Sri Krsna, he at once was freed from all
material inauspiciousness and was relieved of all bodily pains caused by the
arrow wounds. Thus all the external activities of his senses at once stopped,
and he prayed transcendentally to the controller of all living beings while
quitting his material body.
32.
Bhismadeva said: Let me now invest my thinking, feeling and willing, which were
so long engaged in different subjects and occupational duties, in the
all-powerful Lord Sri Krsna. He is always self-satisfied, but sometimes, being
the leader of the devotees, He enjoys transcendental pleasure by descending on
the material world, although from Him only the material world is created.
33.
Sri Krsna is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in
His transcendental body, which resembles the bluish color of the tamala tree.
His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems [upper, middle and
lower]. May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with
paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire
fruitive results.
34.
On the battlefield [where Sri Krsna attended Arjuna out of friendship], the
flowing hair of Lord Krsna turned ashen due to the dust raised by the hoofs of
the horses. And because of His labor, beads of sweat wetted His face. All these
decorations, intensified by the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows, were enjoyed
by Him. Let my mind thus go unto Sri Krsna.
35.
In obedience to the command of His friend, Lord Sri Krsna entered the arena of
the Battlefield of Kuruksetra between the soldiers of Arjuna and Duryodhana,
and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His
merciful glance. This was done simply by His looking at the enemy. Let my mind
be fixed upon that Krsna.
36.
When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and
commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by
delivering transcendental knowledge. May His lotus feet always remain the
object of my attraction.
37.
Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the
chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes
to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.
38.
May He, Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who awards salvation, be my
ultimate destination. On the battlefield He charged me, as if angry because of
the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered, and His body was
smeared with blood due to the wounds.
39.
At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Sri Krsna, the
Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver of Arjuna
who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, who was
very careful to give protection to Arjuna's chariot by all means. Those who saw
Him on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra attained their original forms after death.
40.
Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Sri Krsna, whose motions and smiles of love
attracted the damsels of Vrajadhama [the gopis]. The damsels imitated the
characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rasa
dance].
41.
At the Rajasuya-yajna [sacrifice] performed by Maharaja Yudhisthira, there was
the greatest assembly of all the elite men of the world, the royal and learned
orders, and in that great assembly Lord Sri Krsna was worshiped by one and all
as the most exalted Personality of Godhead. This happened during my presence,
and I remembered the incident in order to keep my mind upon the Lord.
42.
Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Sri Krsna, now
present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality
in regard to His presence in everyone's heart, even in the hearts of the mental
speculators. He is in everyone's heart. The sun may be perceived differently,
but the sun is one.
43.
Suta Gosvami said: Thus Bhismadeva merged himself in the Supersoul, Lord Sri
Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with his mind, speech, sight and
actions, and thus he became silent, and his breathing stopped.
44.
Knowing that Bhismadeva had merged into the unlimited eternity of the Supreme
Absolute, all present there became silent like birds at the end of the day.
45.
Thereafter, both men and demigods sounded drums in honor, and the honest royal
order commenced demonstrations of honor and respect. And from the sky fell
showers of flowers.
46.
O descendant of Bhrgu [Saunaka], after performing funeral rituals for the dead
body of Bhismadeva, Maharaja Yudhisthira was momentarily overtaken with grief.
47.
All the great sages then glorified Lord Sri Krsna, who was present there, by
confidential Vedic hymns. Then all of them returned to their respective
hermitages, bearing always Lord Krsna within their hearts.
48.
Thereafter, Maharaja Yudhisthira at once went to his capital, Hastinapura,
accompanied by Lord Sri Krsna, and there he consoled his uncle and aunt
Gandhari, who was an ascetic.
49.
After this, the great religious King, Maharaja Yudhisthira, executed the royal
power in the kingdom strictly according to the codes and royal principles
approved by his uncle and confirmed by Lord Sri Krsna.
Chapter Ten Departure of Lord Krsna for Dvaraka
1.
Saunaka Muni asked: After killing his enemies who desired to usurp his rightful
inheritance, how did the greatest of all religious men, Maharaja Yudhisthira,
assisted by his brothers, rule his subjects? Surely he could not freely enjoy
his kingdom with unrestricted consciousness.
2.
Suta Gosvami said: Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is
the maintainer of the world, became pleased after reestablishing Maharaja
Yudhisthira in his own kingdom and after restoring the Kuru dynasty, which had
been exhausted by the bamboo fire of anger.
3.
Maharaja Yudhisthira, after being enlightened by what was spoken by Bhismadeva
and Lord Sri Krsna, the infallible, engaged himself in matters of perfect
knowledge because all his misgivings were eradicated. Thus he ruled over the
earth and seas and was followed by his younger brothers.
4.
During the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, the clouds showered all the water
that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of man in
profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to
moisten the grazing ground with milk.
5.
The rivers, oceans, hills, mountains, forests, creepers and active drugs, in
every season, paid their tax quota to the King in profusion.
6.
Because of the King's having no enemy, the living beings were not at any time
disturbed by mental agonies, diseases, or excessive heat or cold.
7.
Sri Hari, Lord Sri Krsna, resided at Hastinapura for a few months to pacify His
relatives and please His own sister [Subhadra].
8.
Afterwards, when the Lord asked permission to depart and the King gave it, the
Lord offered His respects to Maharaja Yudhisthira by bowing down at his feet,
and the King embraced Him. After this the Lord, being embraced by others and
receiving their obeisances, got into His chariot.
9-10.
At that time Subhadra, Draupadi, Kunti, Uttara, Gandhari, Dhrtarastra, Yuyutsu,
Krpacarya, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhimasena, Dhaumya and Satyavati all nearly
fainted because it was impossible for them to bear separation from Lord Krsna.
11-12.
The intelligent, who have understood the Supreme Lord in association with pure
devotees and have become freed from bad materialistic association, can never
avoid hearing the glories of the Lord, even though they have heard them only
once. How, then, could the Pandavas tolerate His separation, for they had been
intimately associated with His person, seeing Him face to face, touching Him,
conversing with Him, and sleeping, sitting and dining with Him?
13.
All their hearts were melting for Him on the pot of attraction. They looked at
Him without blinking their eyes, and they moved hither and thither in
perplexity.
14.
The female relatives, whose eyes were flooded with tears out of anxiety for
Krsna, came out of the palace. They could stop their tears only with great
difficulty. They feared that tears would cause misfortune at the time of
departure.
15.
While the Lord was departing from the palace of Hastinapura, different types of
drums --like the mrdanga, dhola, nagra, dhundhuri and dundubhi--and flutes of
different types, the vina, gomukha and bheri, all sounded together to show Him
honor.
16.
Out of a loving desire to see the Lord, the royal ladies of the Kurus got up on
top of the palace, and smiling with affection and shyness, they showered
flowers upon the Lord.
17.
At that time Arjuna, the great warrior and conqueror of sleep, who is the
intimate friend of the most beloved Supreme Lord, took up an umbrella which had
a handle of jewels and was embroidered with lace and pearls.
18.
Uddhava and Satyaki began to fan the Lord with decorated fans, and the Lord, as
the master of Madhu, seated on scattered flowers, commanded them along the
road.
19.
It was being heard here and there that the benedictions being paid to Krsna
were neither befitting nor unbefitting because they were all for the Absolute,
who was now playing the part of a human being.
20.
Absorbed in the thought of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, who is
glorified in select poetry, the ladies on the roofs of all the houses of
Hastinapura began to talk of Him. This talk was more attractive than the hymns
of the Vedas.
21.
They said: Here He is, the original Personality of Godhead as we definitely
remember Him. He alone existed before the manifested creation of the modes of
nature, and in Him only, because He is the Supreme Lord, all living beings
merge, as if sleeping at night, their energy suspended.
22.
The Personality of Godhead, again desiring to give names and forms to His parts
and parcels, the living entities, placed them under the guidance of material
nature. By His own potency, material nature is empowered to re-create.
23.
Here is the same Supreme Personality of Godhead whose transcendental form is
experienced by the great devotees who are completely cleansed of material
consciousness by dint of rigid devotional service and full control of life and
the senses. And that is the only way to purify existence.
24.
O dear friends, here is that very Personality of Godhead whose attractive and
confidential pastimes are described in the confidential parts of Vedic
literature by His great devotees. It is He only who creates, maintains and
annihilates the material world and yet remains unaffected.
25.
Whenever there are kings and administrators living like animals in the lowest
modes of existence, the Lord in His transcendental form manifests His supreme
power, the Truth Positive, shows special mercy to the faithful, performs
wonderful activities and manifests various transcendental forms as is necessary
in different periods and ages.
26.
Oh, how supremely glorified is the dynasty of King Yadu, and how virtuous is
the land of Mathura, where the supreme leader of all living beings, the husband
of the goddess of fortune, has taken His birth and wandered in His childhood.
27.
Undoubtedly it is wonderful that Dvaraka has defeated the glories of the
heavenly planets and has enhanced the celebrity of the earth. The inhabitants
of Dvaraka are always seeing the soul of all living beings [Krsna] in His
loving feature. He glances at them and favors them with sweet smiles.
28.
O friends, just think of His wives, whose hands He has accepted. How they must
have undergone vows, baths, fire sacrifices and perfect worship of the Lord of
the universe to constantly relish now the nectar from His lips [by kissing].
The damsels of Vrajabhumi would often faint just by expecting such favors.
29.
The children of these ladies are Pradyumna, Samba, Amba, etc: Ladies like
Rukmini, Satyabhama and Jambavati were forcibly taken away by Him from their
svayamvara ceremonies after He defeated many powerful kings, headed by
Sisupala. And other ladies were also forcibly taken away by Him after He killed
Bhaumasura and thousands of his assistants. All of these ladies are glorious.
30.
All these women auspiciously glorified their lives despite their being without
individuality and without purity. Their husband, the lotus-eyed Personality of
Godhead, never left them alone at home. He always pleased their hearts by
making valuable presentations.
31.
While the ladies of the capital of Hastinapura were greeting Him and talking in
this way, the Lord, smiling, accepted their good greetings, and casting the
grace of His glance over them, He departed from the city.
32.
Maharaja Yudhisthira, although no one's enemy, engaged four divisions of
defense [horse, elephant, chariot and army] to accompany Lord Krsna, the enemy
of the asuras [demons]. The Maharaja did this because of the enemy, and also
out of affection for the Lord.
33.
Out of profound affection for Lord Krsna, the Pandavas, who were of the Kuru
dynasty, accompanied Him a considerable distance to see Him off. They were
overwhelmed with the thought of future separation. The Lord, however, persuaded
them to return home, and He proceeded towards Dvaraka with His dear companions.
34-35.
O Saunaka, the Lord then proceeded towards Kurujangala, Pancala, Surasena, the
land on the bank of the River Yamuna, Brahmavarta, Kuruksetra, Matsya,
Sarasvata, the province of the desert and the land of scanty water. After
crossing these provinces He gradually reached the Sauvira and Abhira provinces,
then west of these, reached Dvaraka at last.
36. On His journey through these provinces
He was welcomed, worshiped and given various presentations. In the evening, in
all places, the Lord suspended His journey to perform evening rites. This was
regularly observed after sunset.
Chapter Eleven Lord
Krsna's Entrance into Dvaraka
1.
Suta Gosvami said: Upon reaching the border of His most prosperous metropolis,
known as the country of the Anartas [Dvaraka], the Lord sounded His auspicious
conchshell, heralding His arrival and
apparently
pacifying the dejection of the inhabitants.
2.
The white and fat-boweled conchshell, being gripped by the hand of Lord Krsna
and sounded by Him, appeared to be reddened by the touch of His transcendental
lips. It seemed that a white swan was playing in the stems of red lotus
flowers.
3.
The citizens of Dvaraka, having heard that sound which threatens fear
personified in the material world, began to run towards Him fast, just to have
a long desired audience with the Lord, who is the protector of all devotees.
4-5.
The citizens arrived before the Lord with their respective presentations,
offering them to the fully satisfied and self-sufficient one, who, by His own
potency, incessantly supplies others. These presentations were like the
offering of a lamp to the sun. Yet the citizens began to speak in ecstatic language
to receive the Lord, just as wards welcome their guardian and father.
6.
The citizens said: O Lord, You are worshiped by all demigods like Brahma, the
four Sanas and even the King of heaven. You are the ultimate rest for those who
are really aspiring to achieve the highest benefit of life. You are the supreme
transcendental Lord, and inevitable time cannot exert its influence upon You.
7.
O creator of the universe, You are our mother, well-wisher, Lord, father,
spiritual master and worshipable Deity. By following in Your footsteps we have
become successful in every respect. We pray, therefore, that You continue to
bless us with Your mercy.
8.
Oh, it is our good luck that we have come again today under Your protection by
Your presence, for Your Lordship rarely visits even the denizens of heaven. Now
it is possible for us to look into Your smiling face, which is full of
affectionate glances. We can now see Your transcendental form, full of all
auspiciousness.
9.
O lotus-eyed Lord, whenever You go away to Mathura, Vrndavana or Hastinapura to
meet Your friends and relatives, every moment of Your absence seems like a
million years. O infallible one, at that time our eyes become useless, as if
bereft of sun.
10.
O master, if You live abroad all the time, then we cannot look at Your
attractive face, whose smiles vanquish all our sufferings. How can we exist
without Your presence? Upon hearing their speeches, the Lord, who is very kind
to the citizens and the devotees, entered the city of Dvaraka and acknowledged
all their greetings by casting His transcendental glance over them.
11.
As Bhogavati, the capital of Nagaloka, is protected by the Nagas, so was
Dvaraka protected by the descendants of Vrsni--Bhoja, Madhu, Dasarha, Arha,
Kukura, Andhaka, etc.--who were as strong as Lord Krsna.
12.
The city of Dvarakapuri was filled with the opulences of all seasons. There
were hermitages, orchards, flower gardens, parks and reservoirs of water
breeding lotus flowers all over.
13.
The city gateway, the household doors and festooned arches along the roads were
all nicely decorated with festive signs like plantain trees and mango leaves,
all to welcome the Lord. Flags, garlands and painted signs and slogans all
combined to shade the sunshine.
14.
The highways, subways, lanes, markets and public meeting places were all
thoroughly cleansed and then moistened with scented water. And to welcome the
Lord, fruits, flowers and unbroken seeds were strewn everywhere.
15.
In each and every door of the residential houses, auspicious things like curd,
unbroken fruits, sugarcane and full waterpots with articles for worship,
incense and candles were all displayed.
16-17.
On hearing that the most dear Krsna was approaching Dvarakadhama, magnanimous
Vasudeva, Akrura, Ugrasena, Balarama (the superhumanly powerful), Pradyumna,
Carudesna and Samba the son of Jambavati, all extremely happy, abandoned
resting, sitting and dining.
18.
They hastened toward the Lord on chariots with brahmanas bearing flowers.
Before them were elephants, emblems of good fortune. Conchshells and bugles
were sounded, and Vedic hymns were chanted. Thus they offered their respects,
which were saturated with affection.
19.
At the same time, many hundreds of well-known prostitutes began to proceed on
various vehicles. They were all very eager to meet the Lord, and their
beautiful faces were decorated with dazzling earrings, which enhanced the
beauty of their foreheads.
20.
Expert dramatists, artists, dancers, singers, historians, genealogists and
learned speakers all gave their respective contributions, being inspired by the
superhuman pastimes of the Lord. Thus they proceeded on and on.
21.
Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, approached them and offered due honor
and respect to each and every one of the friends, relatives, citizens and all
others who came to receive and welcome Him.
22.
The Almighty Lord greeted everyone present by bowing His head, exchanging
greetings, embracing, shaking hands, looking and smiling, giving assurances and
awarding benedictions, even to the lowest in rank.
23.
Then the Lord personally entered the city accompanied by elderly relatives and
invalid brahmanas with their wives, all offering benedictions and singing the
glories of the Lord. Others also praised the glories of the Lord.
24.
When Lord Krsna passed over the public roads, all the ladies from the
respectable families of Dvaraka went up to the roofs of their palaces just to
have a look at the Lord. They considered this to be the greatest festival.
25.
The inhabitants of Dvaraka were regularly accustomed to look upon the reservoir
of all beauty, the infallible Lord, yet they were never satiated.
26.
The Lord's chest is the abode of the goddess of fortune. His moonlike face is
the drinking vessel for eyes which hanker after all that is beautiful. His arms
are the resting places for the administrative demigods. And His lotus feet are
the refuge of pure devotees who never talk or sing of any subject except His
Lordship.
27.
As the Lord passed along the public road of Dvaraka, His head was protected
from the sunshine by a white umbrella. White feathered fans moved in
semicircles, and showers of flowers fell upon the road. His yellow garments and
garlands of flowers made it appear as if a dark cloud were surrounded
simultaneously by sun, moon, lightning and rainbows.
28.
After entering the house of His father, He was embraced by the mothers present,
and the Lord offered His obeisances unto them by placing His head at their
feet. The mothers were headed by Devaki [His real mother].
29.
The mothers, after embracing their son, sat Him on their laps. Due to pure
affection, milk sprang from their breasts. They were overwhelmed with delight,
and the tears from their eyes wetted the Lord.
30.
Thereafter, the Lord entered His palaces, which were perfect to the fullest
extent. His wives lived in them, and they numbered over sixteen thousand.
31.
The queens of Lord Sri Krsna rejoiced within their minds to see their husband
home after a long period abroad. The queens got up at once from their seats and
meditations. As was socially customary, they covered their faces shyly and
looked about coyly.
32.
The insuperable ecstasy was so strong that the queens, who were shy, first
embraced the Lord in the innermost recesses of their hearts. Then they embraced
Him visually, and then they sent their sons to embrace Him [which is equal to
personal embracing]. But, O chief amongst the Bhrgus, though they tried to
restrain their feelings, they inadvertently shed tears.
33.
Although Lord Sri Krsna was constantly by their sides, as well as exclusively
alone, His feet appeared to them to be newer and newer. The goddess of fortune,
although by nature always restless and moving, could not quit the Lord's feet.
So what woman can be detached from those feet, having once taken shelter of them?
34.
The Lord was pacified after killing those kings who were burdensome to the
earth. They were puffed up with their military strength, their horses,
elephants, chariots, infantry, etc. He Himself was not a party in the fight. He
simply created hostility between the powerful administrators, and they fought
amongst themselves. He was like the wind which causes friction between bamboos
and so sparks a fire.
35.
That Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, out of His causeless mercy,
appeared on this planet by His internal potency and enjoyed Himself amongst
competent women as if He were engaging in mundane affairs.
36.
Although the queens' beautiful smiles and furtive glances were all spotless and
exciting, and although they could conquer Cupid himself by making him give up
his bow in frustration, and although even the tolerant Siva could fall victim
to them, still, despite all their magical feats and attractions, they could not
agitate the senses of the Lord.
37.
The common materialistic conditioned souls speculate that the Lord is one of
them. Out of their ignorance they think that the Lord is affected by matter,
although He is unattached.
38.
This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead: He is not affected by the
qualities of material nature, even though He is in contact with them.
Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord do not become
influenced by the material qualities.
39.
The simple and delicate women truly thought that Lord Sri Krsna, their beloved
husband, followed them and was dominated by them. They were unaware of the
extent of the glories of their husband, as the atheists are unaware of Him as
the supreme controller.
Chapter Twelve Birth of Emperor Pariksit
1.
The sage Saunaka said: The womb of Uttara, mother of Maharaja Pariksit, was
spoiled by the dreadful and invincible brahmastra weapon released by
Asvatthama. But Maharaja Pariksit was saved by the Supreme Lord.
2.
How was the great emperor Pariksit, who was a highly intelligent and great
devotee, born in that womb? How did his death take place, and what did he
achieve after his death?
3.
We all respectfully want to hear about him [Maharaja Pariksit] to whom Sukadeva
Gosvami imparted transcendental knowledge. Please speak on this matter.
4.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: Emperor Yudhisthira administered generously to everyone
during his reign. He was exactly like his father. He had no personal ambition
and was freed from all sorts of sense gratification because of his continuous
service unto the lotus feet of the Lord Sri Krsna.
5.
News even reached the celestial planets about Maharaja Yudhisthira's worldly
possessions, the sacrifices by which he would attain a better destination, his
queen, his stalwart brothers, his extensive land, his sovereignty over the
planet earth, and his fame, etc.
6.
O brahmanas, the opulence of the King was so enchanting that the denizens of
heaven aspired for it. But because he was absorbed in the service of the Lord,
nothing could satisfy him except the Lord's service.
7.
O son of Bhrgu [Saunaka], when the child Pariksit, the great fighter, was in
the womb of his mother, Uttara, and was suffering from the burning heat of the
brahmastra [thrown by Asvatthama], he could observe the Supreme Lord coming to
him.
8.
He [the Lord] was only thumb high, but He was all transcendental. He had a very
beautiful, blackish, infallible body, and He wore a dress of lightning yellow
and a helmet of blazing gold. Thus He was seen by the child.
9.
The Lord was enriched with four hands, earrings of molten gold and eyes blood
red with fury. As He loitered about, His club constantly encircled Him like a
shooting star.
10.
The Lord was thus engaged in vanquishing the radiation of the brahmastra, just
as the sun evaporates a drop of dew. He was observed by the child, who thought
about who He was.
11.
While thus being observed by the child, the Supreme Lord Personality of
Godhead, the Supersoul of everyone and the protector of the righteous, who
stretches in all directions and who is unlimited by time and space, disappeared
at once.
12.
Thereupon, when all the good signs of the zodiac gradually evolved, the heir
apparent of Pandu, who would be exactly like him in prowess, took birth.
13.
King Yudhisthira, who was very satisfied with the birth of Maharaja Pariksit,
had the purificatory process of birth performed. Learned brahmanas, headed by
Dhaumya and Krpa, recited auspicious hymns.
14.
Upon the birth of a son, the King, who knew how, where and when charity should
be given, gave gold, land, villages, elephants, horses and good food grains to
the brahmanas.
15.
The learned brahmanas, who were very satisfied with the charities of the King,
addressed him as the chief amongst the Purus and informed him that his son was
certainly in the line of descent from the Purus.
16.
The brahmanas said: This spotless son has been restored by the all-powerful and
all-pervasive Lord Visnu, the Personality of Godhead, in order to oblige you.
He was saved when he was doomed to be destroyed by an irresistible supernatural
weapon.
17.
For this reason this child will be well known in the world as one who is
protected by the Personality of Godhead. O most fortunate one, there is no
doubt that this child will become a first-class devotee and will be qualified
with all good qualities.
18.
The good King [Yudhisthira] inquired: O great souls, will he become as saintly
a king, as pious in his very name and as famous and glorified in his
achievements, as others who appeared in this great royal family?
19.
The learned brahmanas said: O son of Prtha, this child shall be exactly like
King Iksvaku, son of Manu, in maintaining all those who are born. And as for
following the brahminical principles, especially in being true to his promise,
he shall be exactly like Rama, the Personality of Godhead, the son of Maharaja Dasaratha.
20.
This child will be a munificent donor of charity and protector of the
surrendered, like the famous King Sibi of the Usinara country. And he will
expand the name and fame of his family like Bharata, the son of Maharaja
Dusyanta.
21.
Amongst great bowmen, this child will be as good as Arjuna. He will be as
irresistible as fire and as unsurpassable as the ocean.
22.
This child will be as strong as a lion, and as worthy a shelter as the Himalaya
Mountains. He will be forbearing like the earth, and as tolerant as his
parents.
23.
This child will be like his grandfather Yudhisthira or Brahma in equanimity of
mind. He will be munificent like the lord of the Kailasa Hill, Siva. And he
will be the resort of everyone, like the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Narayana, who is even the shelter of the goddess of fortune.
24.
This child will be almost as good as Lord Sri Krsna by following in His
footsteps. In magnanimity he will become as great as King Rantideva. And in
religion he will be like Maharaja Yayati.
25.
This child will be like Bali Maharaja in patience, a staunch devotee of Lord
Krsna like Prahlada Maharaja, a performer of many Asvamedha [horse] sacrifices
and a follower of the old and experienced men.
26.
This child will be the father of kings who will be like sages. For world peace
and for the sake of religion, he will be the chastiser of the upstarts and the
quarrelsome.
27.
After hearing about his death, which will be caused by the bite of a snake-bird
sent by a son of a brahmana, he will get himself freed from all material
attachment and surrender unto the Personality of Godhead, taking shelter of
Him.
28.
After inquiring about proper self-knowledge from the son of Vyasadeva, who will
be a great philosopher, he will renounce all material attachment and achieve a
life of fearlessness.
29.
Thus those who were expert in astrological knowledge and in performance of the
birth ceremony instructed King Yudhisthira about the future history of his
child. Then, being sumptuously remunerated, they all returned to their
respective homes.
30.
So his son would become famous in the world as Pariksit [examiner] because he
would come to examine all human beings in his search after that personality
whom he saw before his birth. Thus he would come to constantly contemplate Him.
31.
As the moon, in its waxing fortnight, develops day after day, so the royal
prince [Pariksit] very soon developed luxuriantly under the care and full
facilities of his guardian grandfathers.
32.
Just at this time, King Yudhisthira was considering performing a horse
sacrifice to get freed from sins incurred from fighting with kinsmen. But he
became anxious to get some wealth, for there were no surplus funds outside of
fines and tax collection.
33.
Understanding the hearty wishes of the King, his brothers, as advised by the
infallible Lord Krsna, collected sufficient riches from the North [left by King
Marutta].
34.
By those riches, the King could procure the ingredients for three horse
sacrifices. Thus the pious King Yudhisthira, who was very fearful after the
Battle of Kuruksetra, pleased Lord Hari, the Personality of Godhead.
35.
Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, being invited to the sacrifices by
Maharaja Yudhisthira, saw to it that they were performed by qualified
[twice-born] brahmanas. After that, for the pleasure of the relatives, the Lord
remained a few months.
36.
O Saunaka, thereafter the Lord, having bade farewell to King Yudhisthira,
Draupadi and other relatives, started for the city of Dvaraka, accompanied by
Arjuna and other members of the Yadu dynasty.
Chapter Thirteen Dhrtarastra Quits Home
1.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: While traveling on a pilgrimage, Vidura received
knowledge of the destination of the self from the great sage Maitreya and then
returned to Hastinapura. He became as well versed in the subject as he desired.
2.
After asking various questions and becoming established in the transcendental
loving service of Lord Krsna, Vidura retired from putting questions to Maitreya
Muni.
3-4.
When they saw Vidura return to the palace, all the inhabitants--Maharaja
Yudhisthira, his younger brothers, Dhrtarastra, Satyaki, Sanjaya, Krpacarya,
Kunti, Gandhari, Draupadi, Subhadra, Uttara, Krpi, many other wives of the
Kauravas, and other ladies with children--all hurried to him in great delight.
It so appeared that they had regained their consciousness after a long period.
5.
With great delight they all approached him, as if life had returned to their
bodies. They exchanged obeisances and welcomed each other with embraces.
6.
Due to anxieties and long separation, they all cried out of affection. King
Yudhisthira then arranged to offer sitting accommodations and a reception.
7.
After Vidura ate sumptuously and took sufficient rest, he was comfortably
seated. Then the King began to speak to him, and all who were present there
listened.
8.
Maharaja Yudhisthira said: My uncle, do you remember how you always protected
us, along with our mother, from all sorts of calamities? Your partiality, like
the wings of a bird, saved us from poisoning and arson.
9.
While traveling on the surface of the earth, how did you maintain your
livelihood? At which holy places and pilgrimage sites did you render service?
10.
My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified.
Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all
places into places of pilgrimage.
11.
My uncle, you must have visited Dvaraka. In that holy place are our friends and
well-wishers, the descendants of Yadu, who are always rapt in the service of
the Lord Sri Krsna. You might have seen them or heard about them. Are they all
living happily in their abodes?
12.
Thus being questioned by Maharaja Yudhisthira, Mahatma Vidura gradually
described everything he had personally experienced, except news of the
annihilation of the Yadu dynasty.
13.
Compassionate Mahatma Vidura could not stand to see the Pandavas distressed at
any time. Therefore he did not disclose this unpalatable and unbearable
incident because calamities come of their own accord.
14.
Thus Mahatma Vidura, being treated just like a godly person by his kinsmen,
remained there for a certain period just to rectify the mentality of his eldest
brother and in this way bring happiness to all the others.
15.
As long as Vidura played the part of a sudra, being cursed by Manduka Muni,
Aryama officiated at the post of Yamaraja to punish those who committed sinful
acts.
16.
Having won his kingdom and observed the birth of one grandson competent to
continue the noble tradition of his family, Maharaja Yudhisthira reigned
peacefully and enjoyed uncommon opulence in cooperation with his younger
brothers, who were all expert administrators to the common people.
17.
Insurmountable, eternal time imperceptibly overcomes those who are too much
attached to family affairs and are always engrossed in their thought.
18.
Mahatma Vidura knew all this, and therefore he addressed Dhrtarastra, saying:
My dear King, please get out of here immediately. Do not delay. Just see how
fear has overtaken you.
19.
This frightful situation cannot be remedied by any person in this material
world. My lord, it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as eternal time [kala]
that has approached us all.
20.
Whoever is under the influence of supreme kala [eternal time] must surrender
his most dear life, and what to speak of other things, such as wealth, honor,
children, land and home.
21.
Your father, brother, well-wishers and sons are all dead and passed away. You
yourself have expended the major portion of your life, your body is now
overtaken by invalidity, and you are living in the home of another.
22.
You have been blind from your very birth, and recently you have become hard of
hearing. Your memory is shortened, and your intelligence is disturbed. Your
teeth are loose, your liver is defective, and you are coughing up mucus.
23.
Alas, how powerful are the hopes of a living being to continue his life.
Verily, you are living just like a household dog and are eating remnants of
food given by Bhima.
24.
There is no need to live a degraded life and subsist on the charity of those
whom you tried to kill by arson and poisoning. You also insulted one of their
wives and usurped their kingdom and wealth.
25.
Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of
honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate
like an old garment.
26.
He is called undisturbed who goes to an unknown, remote place and, freed from
all obligations, quits his material body when it has become useless.
27.
He is certainly a first-class man who awakens and understands, either by
himself or from others, the falsity and misery of this material world and thus
leaves home and depends fully on the Personality of Godhead residing within his
heart.
28.
Please, therefore, leave for the North immediately, without letting your
relatives know, for soon that time will approach which will diminish the good
qualities of men.
29.
Thus Maharaja Dhrtarastra, the scion of the family of Ajamidha, firmly
convinced by introspective knowledge [prajna], broke at once the strong network
of familial affection by his resolute determination. Thus he immediately left
home to set out on the path of liberation, as directed by his younger brother
Vidura.
30.
The gentle and chaste Gandhari, who was the daughter of King Subala of Kandahar
[or Gandhara], followed her husband, seeing that he was going to the Himalaya
Mountains, which are the delight of those who have accepted the staff of the
renounced order like fighters who have accepted a good lashing from the enemy.
31.
Maharaja Yudhisthira, whose enemy was never born, performed his daily morning
duties by praying, offering fire sacrifice to the sun-god, and offering
obeisances, grains, cows, land and gold to the brahmanas. He then entered the
palace to pay respects to the elderly. However, he could not find his uncles or
aunt, the daughter of King Subala.
32.
Maharaja Yudhisthira, full of anxiety, turned to Sanjaya, who was sitting
there, and said: O Sanjaya, where is our uncle, who is old and blind?
33.
Where is my well-wisher, uncle Vidura, and mother Gandhari, who is very
afflicted due to all her sons' demise? My uncle Dhrtarastra was also very
mortified due to the death of all his sons and grandsons. Undoubtedly I am very
ungrateful. Did he, therefore, take my offenses very seriously and, along with
his wife, drown himself in the Ganges?
34.
When my father, Pandu, fell down and we were all small children, these two
uncles gave us protection from all kinds of calamities. They were always our
good well-wishers. Alas, where have they gone from here?
35.
Suta Gosvami said: Because of compassion and mental agitation, Sanjaya, not
having seen his own master, Dhrtarastra, was aggrieved and could not properly
reply to Maharaja Yudhisthira.
36.
First he slowly pacified his mind by intelligence, and wiping away his tears
and thinking of the feet of his master, Dhrtarastra, he began to reply to
Maharaja Yudhisthira.
37.
Sanjaya said: My dear descendant of the Kuru dynasty, I have no information of
the determination of your two uncles and Gandhari. O King, I have been cheated
by those great souls.
38.
While Sanjaya was thus speaking, Sri Narada, the powerful devotee of the Lord,
appeared on the scene carrying his tumburu. Maharaja Yudhisthira and his
brothers received him properly by getting up from their seats and offering
obeisances.
39.
Maharaja Yudhisthira said: O godly personality, I do not know where my two
uncles have gone. Nor can I find my ascetic aunt who is grief-stricken by the
loss of all her sons.
40.
You are like a captain of a ship in a great ocean and you can direct us to our
destination. Thus addressed, the godly personality, Devarsi Narada, greatest of
the philosopher devotees, began to speak.
41.
Sri Narada said: O pious King, do not lament for anyone, for everyone is under
the control of the Supreme Lord. Therefore all living beings and their leaders
carry on worship to be well protected. It is He only who brings them together
and disperses them.
42.
As a cow, bound through the nose by a long rope, is conditioned, so also human
beings are bound by different Vedic injunctions and are conditioned to obey the
orders of the Supreme.
43.
As a player sets up and disperses his playthings according to his own sweet
will, so the supreme will of the Lord brings men together and separates them.
44.
O King, in all circumstances, whether you consider the soul to be an eternal
principle, or the material body to be perishable, or everything to exist in the
impersonal Absolute Truth, or everything to be an inexplicable combination of
matter and spirit, feelings of separation are due only to illusory affection
and nothing more.
45.
Therefore give up your anxiety due to ignorance of the self. You are now
thinking of how they, who are helpless poor creatures, will exist without you.
46.
This gross material body made of five elements is already under the control of
eternal time [kala], action [karma] and the modes of material nature [guna].
How, then, can it, being already in the jaws of the serpent, protect others?
47.
Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid
of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the
strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another.
48.
Therefore, O King, you should look to the Supreme Lord only, who is one without
a second and who manifests Himself by different energies and is both within and
without.
49.
That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, in the guise of
all-devouring time [kala-rupa] has now descended on earth to eliminate the
envious from the world.
50.
The Lord has already performed His duties to help the demigods, and He is
awaiting the rest. You Pandavas may wait as long as the Lord is here on earth.
51.
O King, your uncle Dhrtarastra, his brother Vidura and his wife Gandhari have
gone to the southern side of the Himalaya Mountains, where there are shelters
of the great sages.
52.
The place is called Saptasrota ["divided by seven"] because there the
waters of the sacred Ganges were divided into seven branches. This was done for
the satisfaction of the seven great rsis.
53.
On the banks at Saptasrota, Dhrtarastra is now engaged in beginning
astanga-yoga by bathing three times daily, in the morning, noon and evening, by
performing the Agni-hotra sacrifice with fire and by drinking only water. This
helps one control the mind and the senses and frees one completely from
thoughts of familial affection.
54.
One who has controlled the sitting postures [the yogic asanas] and the
breathing process can turn the senses toward the Absolute Personality of
Godhead and thus become immune to the contaminations of the modes of material
nature, namely mundane goodness, passion and ignorance.
55.
Dhrtarastra will have to amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence and then
merge into the Supreme Being with knowledge of his qualitative oneness, as a
living entity, with the Supreme Brahman. Being freed from the blocked sky, he
will have to rise to the spiritual sky.
56.
He will have to suspend all the actions of the senses, even from the outside,
and will have to be impervious to interactions of the senses, which are
influenced by the modes of material nature. After renouncing all material
duties, he must become immovably established, beyond all sources of hindrances
on the path.
57.
O King, he will quit his body, most probably on the fifth day from today. And
his body will turn to ashes.
58.
While outside observing her husband, who will burn in the fire of mystic power
along with his thatched cottage, his chaste wife will enter the fire with rapt
attention.
59.
Vidura, being affected with delight and grief, will then leave that place of
sacred pilgrimage.
60.
Having spoken thus, the great sage Narada, along with his vina, ascended into
outer space. Yudhisthira kept his instruction in his heart and so was able to
get rid of all lamentations.
Chapter Fourteen The Disappearance of Lord Krsna
1.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: Arjuna went to Dvaraka to see Lord Sri Krsna and other
friends and also to learn from the Lord of His next activities.
2.
A few months passed, and Arjuna did not return. Maharaja Yudhisthira then began
to observe some inauspicious omens, which were fearful in themselves.
3.
He saw that the direction of eternal time had changed, and this was very
fearful. There were disruptions in the seasonal regularities. The people in
general had become very greedy, angry and deceitful. And he saw that they were
adopting foul means of livelihood.
4.
All ordinary transactions and dealings became polluted with cheating, even
between friends. And in familial affairs, there was always misunderstanding
between fathers, mothers and sons, between well-wishers, and between brothers.
Even between husband and wife there was always strain and quarrel.
5.
In course of time it came to pass that people in general became accustomed to
greed, anger, pride, etc. Maharaja Yudhisthira, observing all these omens,
spoke to his younger brother.
6.
Maharaja Yudhisthira said to his younger brother Bhimasena, I sent Arjuna to
Dvaraka to meet his friends and to learn from the Personality of Godhead Krsna
of His program of work.
7.
Since he departed, seven months have passed, yet he has not returned. I do not
know factually how things are going there.
8.
Is He going to quit His earthly pastimes, as Devarsi Narada indicated? Has that
time already arrived?
9.
From Him only, all our kingly opulence, good wives, lives, progeny, control
over our subjects, victory over our enemies, and future accommodations in
higher planets have become possible. All this is due to His causeless mercy
upon us.
10.
Just see, O man with a tiger's strength, how many miseries due to celestial
influences, earthly reactions and bodily pains--all very dangerous in
themselves--are foreboding danger in the near future by deluding our
intelligence.
11.
The left side of my body, my thighs, arms and eyes are all quivering again and
again. I am having heart palpitations due to fear. All this indicates
undesirable happenings.
12.
Just see, O Bhima, how the she jackal cries at the rising sun and vomits fire,
and how the dog barks at me fearlessly.
13.
O Bhimasena, tiger amongst men, now useful animals like cows are passing me on
my left side, and lower animals like the asses are circumambulating me. My
horses appear to weep upon seeing me.
14.
Just see! This pigeon is like a messenger of death. The shrieks of the owls and
their rival crows make my heart tremble. It appears that they want to make a
void of the whole universe.
15.
Just see how the smoke encircles the sky. It appears that the earth and mountains
are throbbing. Just hear the cloudless thunder and see the bolts from the blue.
16.
The wind blows violently, blasting dust everywhere and creating darkness.
Clouds are raining everywhere with bloody disasters.
17.
The rays of the sun are declining, and the stars appear to be fighting amongst
themselves. Confused living entities appear to be ablaze and weeping.
18.
Rivers, tributaries, ponds, reservoirs and the mind are all perturbed. Butter
no longer ignites fire. What is this extraordinary time? What is going to
happen?
19.
The calves do not suck the teats of the cows, nor do the cows give milk. They
are standing, crying, tears in their eyes, and the bulls take no pleasure in
the pasturing grounds.
20.
The Deities seem to be crying in the temple, lamenting and perspiring. They
seem about to leave. All the cities, villages, towns, gardens, mines and
hermitages are now devoid of beauty and bereft of all happiness. I do not know
what sort of calamities are now awaiting us.
21.
I think that all these earthly disturbances indicate some greater loss to the
good fortune of the world. The world was fortunate to have been marked with the
footprints of the lotus feet of the Lord. These signs indicate that this will
no longer be.
22.
O Brahmana Saunaka, while Maharaja Yudhisthira, observing the inauspicious
signs on the earth at that time, was thus thinking to himself, Arjuna came back
from the city of the Yadus [Dvaraka].
23.
When he bowed at his feet, the King saw that his dejection was unprecedented.
His head was down, and tears glided from his lotus eyes.
24.
Seeing Arjuna pale due to heartfelt anxieties, the King, remembering the
indications of the sage Narada, questioned him in the midst of friends.
25.
Maharaja Yudhisthira said: My dear brother, please tell me whether our friends
and relatives, such as Madhu, Bhoja, Dasarha, Arha, Satvata, Andhaka and the
members of the Yadu family are all passing their days in happiness.
26.
Is my respectable grandfather Surasena in a happy mood? And are my maternal
uncle Vasudeva and his younger brothers all doing well?
27.
His seven wives, headed by Devaki, are all sisters. Are they and their sons and
daughters-in-law all happy?
28-29.
Are Ugrasena, whose son was the mischievous Kamsa, and his younger brother
still living? Are Hrdika and his son Krtavarma happy? Are Akrura, Jayanta,
Gada, Sarana and Satrujit all happy? How is Balarama, the Personality of
Godhead and the protector of devotees?
30.
How is Pradyumna, the great general of the Vrsni family? Is He happy? And is
Aniruddha, the plenary expansion of the Personality of Godhead, faring well?
31.
Are all the chieftain sons of Lord Krsna, such as Susena, Carudesna, Samba the
son of Jambavati, and Rsabha, along with their sons, all doing well?
32-33.
Also, Srutadeva, Uddhava and others, Nanda, Sunanda and other leaders of
liberated souls who are constant companions of the Lord are protected by Lord
Balarama and Krsna. Are they all doing well in their respective functions? Do
they, who are all eternally bound in friendship with us, remember our welfare?
34.
Is Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who gives pleasure to the
cows, the senses and the brahmanas, who is very affectionate towards His
devotees, enjoying the pious assembly at Dvaraka Puri surrounded by friends?
35-36.
The original Personality of Godhead, the enjoyer, and Balarama, the primeval
Lord Ananta, are staying in the ocean of the Yadu dynasty for the welfare,
protection and general progress of the entire universe. And the members of the
Yadu dynasty, being protected by the arms of the Lord, are enjoying life like
the residents of the spiritual sky.
37.
Simply by administering comforts at the lotus feet of the Lord, which is the
most important of all services, the queens at Dvaraka, headed by Satyabhama,
induced the Lord to conquer the demigods. Thus the queens enjoy things which
are prerogatives of the wives of the controller of thunderbolts.
38.
The great heroes of the Yadu dynasty, being protected by the arms of Lord Sri
Krsna, always remain fearless in every respect. And therefore their feet
trample over the Sudharma assembly house, which the best demigods deserved but
which was taken away from them.
39.
My brother Arjuna, please tell me whether your health is all right. You appear
to have lost your bodily luster. Is this due to others disrespecting and
neglecting you because of your long stay at Dvaraka?
40.
Has someone addressed you with unfriendly words or threatened you? Could you
not give charity to one who asked, or could you not keep your promise to
someone?
41.
You are always the protector of the deserving living beings, such as brahmanas,
children, cows, women and the diseased. Could you not give them protection when
they approached you for shelter?
42.
Have you contacted a woman of impeachable character, or have you not properly
treated a deserving woman? Or have you been defeated on the way by someone who
is inferior or equal to you?
43.
Have you not taken care of old men and boys who deserve to dine with you? Have
you left them and taken your meals alone? Have you committed some unpardonable
mistake which is considered to be abominable?
44.
Or is it that you are feeling empty for all time because you might have lost
your most intimate friend, Lord Krsna? O my brother Arjuna, I can think of no other
reason for your becoming so dejected.
Chapter Fifteen The Pandavas Retire Timely
1.
Suta Gosvami said: Arjuna, the celebrated friend of Lord Krsna, was
grief-stricken because of his strong feeling of separation from Krsna, over and
above all Maharaja Yudhisthira's speculative inquiries.
2.
Due to grief, Arjuna's mouth and lotuslike heart had dried up. Therefore his
body lost all luster. Now, remembering the Supreme Lord, he could hardly utter
a word in reply.
3.
With great difficulty he checked the tears of grief that smeared his eyes. He
was very distressed because Lord Krsna was out of his sight, and he
increasingly felt affection for Him.
4.
Remembering Lord Krsna and His well-wishes, benefactions, intimate familial
relations and His chariot driving, Arjuna, overwhelmed and breathing very
heavily, began to speak.
5.
Arjuna said: O King! The Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari, who treated me
exactly like an intimate friend, has left me alone. Thus my astounding power,
which astonished even the demigods, is no longer with me.
6.
I have just lost Him whose separation for a moment would render all the
universes unfavorable and void, like bodies without life.
7.
Only by His merciful strength was I able to vanquish all the lusty princes
assembled at the palace of King Drupada for the selection of the bridegroom.
With my bow and arrow I could pierce the fish target and thereby gain the hand
of Draupadi.
8.
Because He was near me, it was possible for me to conquer with great dexterity
the powerful King of heaven, Indradeva, along with his demigod associates and
thus enable the fire-god to devastate the Khandava Forest. And only by His
grace was the demon named Maya saved from the blazing Khandava Forest, and thus
we could build our assembly house of wonderful architectural workmanship, where
all the princes assembled during the performance of Rajasuya-yajna and paid you
tributes.
9.
Your respectable younger brother, who possesses the strength of ten thousand
elephants, killed, by His grace, Jarasandha, whose feet were worshiped by many
kings. These kings had been brought for sacrifice in Jarasandha's
Mahabhairava-yajna, but they were thus released. Later they paid tribute to
Your Majesty.
10.
It was He only who loosened the hair of all the wives of the miscreants who
dared open the cluster of your Queen's hair, which had been nicely dressed and
sanctified for the great Rajasuya sacrificial ceremony. At that time she fell
down at the feet of Lord Krsna with tears in her eyes.
11.
During our exile, Durvasa Muni, who eats with his ten thousand disciples,
intrigued with our enemies to put us in dangerous trouble. At that time He
[Lord Krsna], simply by accepting the remnants of food, saved us. By His
accepting food thus, the assembly of munis, while bathing in the river, felt
sumptuously fed. And all the three worlds were also satisfied.
12.
It was by His influence only that in a fight I was able to astonish the
personality of god Lord Siva and his wife, the daughter of Mount Himalaya. Thus
he [Lord Siva] became pleased with me and awarded me his own weapon. Other
demigods also delivered their respective weapons to me, and in addition I was
able to reach the heavenly planets in this present body and was allowed a
half-elevated seat.
13.
When I stayed for some days as a guest in the heavenly planets, all the
heavenly demigods, including King Indradeva, took shelter of my arms, which
were marked with the Gandiva bow, to kill the demon named Nivatakavaca. O King,
descendant of Ajamidha, at the present moment I am bereft of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, by whose influence I was so powerful.
14.
The military strength of the Kauravas was like an ocean in which there dwelled
many invincible existences, and thus it was insurmountable. But because of His
friendship, I, seated on the chariot, was able to cross over it. And only by
His grace was I able to regain the cows and also collect by force many helmets
of the kings which were bedecked with jewels that were sources of all
brilliance.
15.
It was He only who withdrew the duration of life from everyone and who, in the
battlefield, withdrew the speculative power and strength of enthusiasm from the
great military phalanx made by the Kauravas, headed by Bhisma, Karna, Drona,
Salya, etc. Their arrangement was expert and more than adequate, but He [Lord
Sri Krsna], while going forward, did all this.
16.
Great generals like Bhisma, Drona, Karna, Bhurisrava, Susarma, Salya,
Jayadratha, and Bahlika all directed their invincible weapons against me. But
by His [Lord Krsna's] grace they could not even touch a hair on my head.
Similarly, Prahlada Maharaja, the supreme devotee of Lord Nrsimhadeva, was
unaffected by the weapons the demons used against him.
17.
It was by His mercy only that my enemies neglected to kill me when I descended
from my chariot to get water for my thirsty horses. And it was due to my lack
of esteem for my Lord that I dared engage Him as my chariot driver, for He is
worshiped and offered services by the best men to attain salvation.
18.
O King! His jokings and frank talks were pleasing and beautifully decorated
with smiles. His addresses unto me as "O son of Prtha, O friend, O son of
the Kuru dynasty," and all such heartiness are now remembered by me, and
thus I am overwhelmed.
19.
Generally both of us used to live together and sleep, sit and loiter together.
And at the time of advertising oneself for acts of chivalry, sometimes, if
there were any irregularity, I used to reproach Him by saying, "My friend,
You are very truthful." Even in those hours when His value was minimized,
He, being the Supreme Soul, used to tolerate all those utterings of mine,
excusing me exactly as a true friend excuses his true friend, or a father
excuses his son.
20.
O Emperor, now I am separated from my friend and dearmost well-wisher, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and therefore my heart appears to be void of
everything. In His absence I have been defeated by a number of infidel cowherd
men while I was guarding the bodies of all the wives of Krsna.
21.
I have the very same Gandiva bow, the same arrows, the same chariot drawn by
the same horses, and I use them as the same Arjuna to whom all the kings
offered their due respects. But in the absence of Lord Krsna, all of them, at a
moment's notice, have become null and void. It is exactly like offering
clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money with a magic wand or sowing seeds
on barren land.
22-23.
O King, since you have asked me about our friends and relatives in the city of
Dvaraka, I will inform you that all of them were cursed by the brahmanas, and
as a result they all became intoxicated with wine made of putrefied rice and
fought among themselves with sticks, not even recognizing one another. Now all
but four or five of them are dead and gone.
24.
Factually this is all due to the supreme will of the Lord, the Personality of
Godhead. Sometimes people kill one another, and at other times they protect one
another.
25-26.
O King, as in the ocean the bigger and stronger aquatics swallow up the smaller
and weaker ones, so also the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to lighten the
burden of the earth, has engaged the stronger Yadu to kill the weaker, and the
bigger Yadu to kill the smaller.
27.
Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of
Godhead [Govinda] because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving
the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space.
28.
Suta Gosvami said: Thus being deeply absorbed in thinking of the instructions
of the Lord, which were imparted in the great intimacy of friendship, and in
thinking of His lotus feet, Arjuna's mind became pacified and free from all
material contamination.
29.
Arjuna's constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna rapidly
increased his devotion, and as a result all the trash in his thoughts subsided.
30.
Because of the Lord's pastimes and activities and because of His absence, it
appeared that Arjuna forgot the instructions left by the Personality of
Godhead. But factually this was not the case, and again he became lord of his
senses.
31.
Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were
completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature
and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming
entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form.
32.
Upon hearing of Lord Krsna's returning to His abode, and upon understanding the
end of the Yadu dynasty's earthly manifestation, Maharaja Yudhisthira decided
to go back home, back to Godhead.
33.
Kunti, after overhearing Arjuna's telling of the end of the Yadu dynasty and
disappearance of Lord Krsna, engaged in the devotional service of the
transcendental Personality of Godhead with full attention and thus gained
release from the course of material existence.
34.
The supreme unborn, Lord Sri Krsna, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to
relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This
action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to
the controller.
35.
The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the
burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept
different ones, like the fish incarnation and others.
36.
When the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, left this earthly planet in His
selfsame form, from that very day Kali, who had already partially appeared,
became fully manifest to create inauspicious conditions for those who are
endowed with a poor fund of knowledge.
37.
Maharaja Yudhisthira was intelligent enough to understand the influence of the
age of Kali, characterized by increasing avarice, falsehood, cheating and
violence throughout the capital, state, home and among individuals. So he
wisely prepared himself to leave home, and he dressed accordingly.
38.
Thereafter, in the capital of Hastinapura, he enthroned his grandson, who was
trained and equally qualified, as the emperor and master of all land bordered
by the seas.
39.
Then he posted Vajra, the son of Aniruddha [grandson of Lord Krsna], at Mathura
as the King of Surasena. Afterwards Maharaja Yudhisthira performed a Prajapatya
sacrifice and placed in himself the fire for quitting household life.
40.
Maharaja Yudhisthira at once relinquished all his garments, belt and ornaments
of the royal order and became completely disinterested and unattached to
everything.
41.
Then he amalgamated all the sense organs into the mind, then the mind into
life, life into breathing, his total existence into the embodiment of the five
elements, and his body into death. Then, as pure self, he became free from the
material conception of life.
42.
Thus annihilating the gross body of five elements into the three qualitative
modes of material nature, he merged them in one nescience and then absorbed
that nescience in the self, Brahman, which is inexhaustible in all
circumstances.
43.
After that, Maharaja Yudhisthira dressed himself in torn clothing, gave up
eating all solid foods, voluntarily became dumb and let his hair hang loose.
All this combined to make him look like an urchin or madman with no occupation.
He did not depend on his brothers for anything. And, just like a deaf man, he
heard nothing.
44.
He then started towards the north, treading the path accepted by his
forefathers and great men, to devote himself completely to the thought of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he lived in that way wherever he went.
45.
The younger brothers of Maharaja Yudhisthira observed that the age of Kali had
already arrived throughout the world and that the citizens of the kingdom were
already affected by irreligious practice. Therefore they decided to follow in
the footsteps of their elder brother.
46.
They all had performed all the principles of religion and as a result rightly
decided that the lotus feet of the Lord Sri Krsna are the supreme goal of all.
Therefore they meditated upon His feet without interruption.
47-48.
Thus by pure consciousness due to constant devotional remembrance, they
attained the spiritual sky, which is ruled over by the Supreme Narayana, Lord
Krsna. This is attained only by those who meditate upon the one Supreme Lord
without deviation. This abode of the Lord Sri Krsna, known as Goloka Vrndavana,
cannot be attained by persons who are absorbed in the material conception of
life. But the Pandavas, being completely washed of all material contamination,
attained that abode in their very same bodies.
49.
Vidura, while on pilgrimage, left his body at Prabhasa. Because he was absorbed
in thought of Lord Krsna, he was received by the denizens of Pitrloka planet,
where he returned to his original post.
50.
Draupadi also saw that her husbands, without caring for her, were leaving home.
She knew well about Lord Vasudeva, Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. Both she
and Subhadra became absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and attained the same results
as their husbands.
51.
The subject of the departure of the sons of Pandu for the ultimate goal of
life, back to Godhead, is fully auspicious and is perfectly pure. Therefore
anyone who hears this narration with devotional faith certainly gains the
devotional service of the Lord, the highest perfection of life.
Chapter Sixteen How Pariksit Received the Age of Kali
1.
Suta Gosvami said: O learned brahmanas, Maharaja Pariksit then began to rule
over the world as a great devotee of the Lord under the instructions of the
best of the twice-born brahmanas. He ruled by those great qualities which were
foretold by expert astrologers at the time of his birth.
2.
King Pariksit married the daughter of King Uttara and begot four sons, headed by
Maharaja Janamejaya.
3.
Maharaja Pariksit, after having selected Krpacarya for guidance as his
spiritual master, performed three horse sacrifices on the banks of the Ganges.
These were executed with sufficient rewards for the attendants. And at these
sacrifices, even the common man could see demigods.
4.
Once, when Maharaja Pariksit was on his way to conquer the world, he saw the
master of Kali-yuga, who was lower than a sudra, disguised as a king and
hurting the legs of a cow and bull. The King at once caught hold of him to deal
sufficient punishment.
5.
Saunaka Rsi inquired: Why did Maharaja Pariksit simply punish him, since he was
the lowest of the sudras, having dressed as a king and having struck a cow on
the leg? Please describe all these incidents if they relate to the topics of
Lord Krsna.
6.
The devotees of the Lord are accustomed to licking up the honey available from
the lotus feet of the Lord. What is the use of topics which simply waste one's
valuable life?
7.
O Suta Gosvami, there are those amongst men who desire freedom from death and
get eternal life. They escape the slaughtering process by calling the
controller of death, Yamaraja.
8.
As long as Yamaraja, who causes everyone's death, is present here, no one shall
meet with death. The great sages have invited the controller of death,
Yamaraja, who is the representative of the Lord. Living beings who are under
his grip should take advantage by hearing the deathless nectar in the form of
this narration of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.
9.
Lazy human beings with paltry intelligence and a short duration of life pass
the night sleeping and the day performing activities that are for naught.
10.
Suta Gosvami said: While Maharaja Pariksit was residing in the capital of the
Kuru empire, the symptoms of the age of Kali began to infiltrate within the
jurisdiction of his state. When he learned about this, he did not think the
matter very palatable. This did, however, give him a chance to fight. He took
up his bow and arrows and prepared himself for military activities.
11.
Maharaja Pariksit sat on a chariot drawn by black horses. His flag was marked
with the sign of a lion. Being so decorated and surrounded by charioteers,
cavalry, elephants and infantry soldiers, he left the capital to conquer in all
directions.
12.
Maharaja Pariksit then conquered all parts of the earthly planet--Bhadrasva,
Ketumala, Bharata, the northern Kuru, Kimpurusa, etc.--and exacted tributes
from their respective rulers.
13-15.
Wherever the King visited, he continuously heard the glories of his great
forefathers, who were all devotees of the Lord, and also of the glorious acts
of Lord Krsna. He also heard how he himself had been protected by the Lord from
the powerful heat of the weapon of Asvatthama. People also mentioned the great
affection between the descendants of Vrsni and Prtha due to the latter's great
devotion to Lord Kesava. The King, being very pleased with the singers of such
glories, opened his eyes in great satisfaction. Out of magnanimity he was
pleased to award them very valuable necklaces and clothing.
16.
Maharaja Pariksit heard that out of His causeless mercy Lord Krsna [Visnu], who
is universally obeyed, rendered all kinds of service to the malleable sons of
Pandu by accepting posts ranging from chariot driver to president to messenger,
friend, night watchman, etc., according to the will of the Pandavas, obeying
them like a servant and offering obeisances like one younger in years. When he
heard this, Maharaja Pariksit became overwhelmed with devotion to the lotus
feet of the Lord.
17.
Now you may hear from me of what happened while Maharaja Pariksit was passing
his days hearing of the good occupations of his forefathers and being absorbed
in thought of them.
18.
The personality of religious principles, Dharma, was wandering about in the
form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow who
appeared to grieve like a mother who had lost her child. She had tears in her
eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned the earth as
follows.
19.
Dharma [in the form of a bull] asked: Madam, are you not hale and hearty? Why
are you covered with the shadow of grief? It appears by your face that you have
become black. Are you suffering from some internal disease, or are you thinking
of some relative who is away in a distant place?
20.
I have lost my three legs and am now standing on one only. Are you lamenting
for my state of existence? Or are you in great anxiety because henceforward the
unlawful meat-eaters will exploit you? Or are you in a sorry plight because the
demigods are now bereft of their share of sacrificial offerings because no
sacrifices are being performed at present? Or are you grieving for living
beings because of their sufferings due to famine and drought?
21.
Are you feeling compunction for the unhappy women and children who are left
forlorn by unscrupulous persons? Or are you unhappy because the goddess of
learning is being handled by brahmanas addicted to acts against the principles
of religion? Or are you sorry to see that the brahmanas have taken shelter of
administrative families that do not respect brahminical culture?
22.
The so-called administrators are now bewildered by the influence of this age of
Kali, and thus they have put all state affairs into disorder. Are you now
lamenting this disorder? Now the general populace does not follow the rules and
regulations for eating, sleeping, drinking, mating, etc., and they are inclined
to perform such anywhere and everywhere. Are you unhappy because of this?
23.
O mother earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, incarnated Himself as
Lord Sri Krsna just to unload your heavy burden. All His activities here are
transcendental, and they cement the path of liberation. You are now bereft of
His presence. You are probably now thinking of those activities and feeling
sorry in their absence.
24.
Mother, you are the reservoir of all riches. Please inform me of the root cause
of your tribulations by which you have been reduced to such a weak state. I
think that the powerful influence of time, which conquers the most powerful,
might have forcibly taken away all your fortune, which was adored even by the
demigods.
25.
The earthly deity [in the form of a cow] thus replied to the personality of
religious principles [in the form of a bull]: O Dharma, whatever you have
inquired from me shall be known to you. I shall try to reply to all those
questions. Once you too were maintained by your four legs, and you increased
happiness all over the universe by the mercy of the Lord.
26-30.
In Him reside (1) truthfulness, (2) cleanliness, (3) intolerance of another's
unhappiness, (4) the power to control anger, (5) self-satisfaction, (6)
straightforwardness, (7) steadiness of mind, (8) control of the sense organs,
(9) responsibility, (10) equality, (11) tolerance, (12) equanimity, (13)
faithfulness, (14) knowledge, (15) absence of sense enjoyment, (16) leadership,
(17) chivalry, (18) influence, (19) the power to make everything possible, (20)
the discharge of proper duty, (21) complete independence, (22) dexterity, (23)
fullness of all beauty, (24) serenity, (25) kindheartedness, (26) ingenuity,
(27) gentility, (28) magnanimity, (29) determination, (30) perfection in all
knowledge, (31) proper execution, (32) possession of all objects of enjoyment,
(33) joyfulness, (34) immovability, (35) fidelity, (36) fame, (37) worship,
(38) pridelessness, (39) being (as the Personality of Godhead), (40) eternity,
and many other transcendental qualities which are eternally present and never
to be separated from Him. That Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all
goodness and beauty, Lord Sri Krsna, has now closed His transcendental pastimes
on the face of the earth. In His absence the age of Kali has spread its
influence everywhere, so I am sorry to see this condition of existence.
31.
I am thinking about myself and also, O best amongst the demigods, about you, as
well as about all the demigods, sages, denizens of Pitrloka, devotees of the
Lord and all men obedient to the system of varna and asrama in human society.
32-33.
Laksmiji, the goddess of fortune, whose glance of grace was sought by demigods
like Brahma and for whom they surrendered many a day unto the Personality of
Godhead, gave up her own abode in the forest of lotus flowers and engaged
herself in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord. I was endowed with
specific powers to supersede the fortune of all the three planetary systems by
being decorated with the impressions of the flag, thunderbolt, elephant-driving
rod and lotus flower, which are signs of the lotus feet of the Lord. But at the
end, when I felt I was so fortunate, the Lord left me.
34.
O personality of religion, I was greatly overburdened by the undue military
phalanxes arranged by atheistic kings, and I was relieved by the grace of the
Personality of Godhead. Similarly you were also in a distressed condition,
weakened in your standing strength, and thus He also incarnated by His internal
energy in the family of the Yadus to relieve you.
35.
Who, therefore, can tolerate the pangs of separation from that Supreme
Personality of Godhead? He could conquer the gravity and passionate wrath of
His sweethearts like Satyabhama by His sweet smile of love, pleasing glance and
hearty appeals. When He traversed my [earth's] surface, I would be immersed in
the dust of His lotus feet and thus would be sumptuously covered with grass
which appeared like hairs standing on me out of pleasure.
36.
While the earth and the personality of religion were thus engaged in
conversation, the saintly King Pariksit reached the shore of the Sarasvati
River, which flowed towards the east.
Chapter Seventeen Punishment and Reward of Kali
1.
Suta Gosvami said: After reaching that place, Maharaja Pariksit observed that a
lower-caste sudra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and a bull with a
club, as if they had no owner.
2.
The bull was as white as a white lotus flower. He was terrified of the sudra
who was beating him, and he was so afraid that he was standing on one leg,
trembling and urinating.
3.
Although the cow is beneficial because one can draw religious principles from
her, she was now rendered poor and calfless. Her legs were being beaten by a
sudra. There were tears in her eyes, and she was distressed and weak. She was
hankering after some grass in the field.
4.
Maharaja Pariksit, well equipped with arrows and bow and seated on a
gold-embossed chariot, spoke to him [the sudra] with a deep voice sounding like
thunder.
5.
Oh, who are you? You appear to be strong and yet you dare kill, within my
protection, those who are helpless! By your dress you pose yourself to be a
godly man [king], but by your deeds you are opposing the principles of the
twice-born ksatriyas.
6.
You rogue, do you dare beat an innocent cow because Lord Krsna and Arjuna, the
carrier of the Gandiva bow, are out of sight? Since you are beating the
innocent in a secluded place, you are considered a culprit and therefore
deserve to be killed.
7.
Then he [Maharaja Pariksit] asked the bull: Oh, who are you? Are you a bull as
white as a white lotus, or are you a demigod? You have lost three of your legs
and are moving on only one. Are you some demigod causing us grief in the form
of a bull?
8.
Now for the first time in a kingdom well protected by the arms of the kings of
the Kuru dynasty, I see you grieving with tears in your eyes. Up till now no
one on earth has ever shed tears because of royal negligence.
9.
O son of Surabhi, you need lament no longer now. There is no need to fear this
low-class sudra. And, O mother cow, as long as I am living as the ruler and
subduer of all envious men, there is no cause for you to cry. Everything will
be good for you.
10-11.
O chaste one, the king's good name, duration of life and good rebirth vanish
when all kinds of living beings are terrified by miscreants in his kingdom. It
is certainly the prime duty of the king to subdue first the sufferings of those
who suffer. Therefore I must kill this most wretched man because he is violent
against other living beings.
12.
He [Maharaja Pariksit] repeatedly addressed and questioned the bull thus: O son
of Surabhi, who has cut off your three legs? In the state of the kings who are
obedient to the laws of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, there is no
one as unhappy as you.
13.
O bull, you are offenseless and thoroughly honest; therefore I wish all good to
you. Please tell me of the perpetrator of these mutilations, which blackmail
the reputation of the sons of Prtha.
14.
Whoever causes offenseless living beings to suffer must fear me anywhere and
everywhere in the world. By curbing dishonest miscreants, one automatically
benefits the offenseless.
15.
An upstart living being who commits offenses by torturing those who are
offenseless shall be directly uprooted by me, even though he be a denizen of
heaven with armor and decorations.
16.
The supreme duty of the ruling king is to give all protection to law-abiding
persons and to chastise those who stray from the ordinances of the scriptures
in ordinary times, when there is no emergency.
17.
The personality of religion said: These words just spoken by you befit a person
of the Pandava dynasty. Captivated by the devotional qualities of the Pandavas,
even Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, performed duties as a messenger.
18.
O greatest among human beings, it is very difficult to ascertain the particular
miscreant who has caused our sufferings, because we are bewildered by all the
different opinions of theoretical philosophers.
19.
Some of the philosophers, who deny all sorts of duality, declare that one's own
self is responsible for his personal happiness and distress. Others say that
superhuman powers are responsible, while yet others say that activity is
responsible, and the gross materialists maintain that nature is the ultimate
cause.
20.
There are also some thinkers who believe that no one can ascertain the cause of
distress by argumentation, nor know it by imagination, nor express it by words.
O sage amongst kings, judge for yourself by thinking over all this with your
own intelligence.
21.
Suta Gosvami said: O best among the brahmanas, the Emperor Pariksit, thus
hearing the personality of religion speak, was fully satisfied, and without
mistake or regret he gave his reply.
22.
The King said: O you, who are in the form of a bull! You know the truth of
religion, and you are speaking according to the principle that the destination
intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts is also intended for one who
identifies the perpetrator. You are no other than the personality of religion.
23.
Thus it is concluded that the Lord's energies are inconceivable. No one can
estimate them by mental speculation or by word jugglery.
24.
In the age of Satya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four
principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that
three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride,
lust for women, and intoxication.
25.
You are now standing on one leg only, which is your truthfulness, and you are
somehow or other hobbling along. But quarrel personified [Kali], flourishing by
deceit, is also trying to destroy that leg.
26.
The burden of the earth was certainly diminished by the Personality of Godhead
and by others as well. When He was present as an incarnation, all good was
performed because of His auspicious footprints.
27.
Now she, the chaste one, being unfortunately forsaken by the Personality of
Godhead, laments her future with tears in her eyes, for now she is being ruled
and enjoyed by lower-class men who pose as rulers.
28.
Maharaja Pariksit, who could fight one thousand enemies singlehandedly, thus
pacified the personality of religion and the earth. Then he took up his sharp
sword to kill the personality of Kali, who is the cause of all irreligion.
29.
When the personality of Kali understood that the King was willing to kill him,
he at once abandoned the dress of a king and, under pressure of fear,
completely surrendered to him, bowing his head.
30.
Maharaja Pariksit, who was qualified to accept surrender and worthy of being
sung in history, did not kill the poor surrendered and fallen Kali, but smiled
compassionately, for he was kind to the poor.
31.
The King thus said: We have inherited the fame of Arjuna; therefore since you
have surrendered yourself with folded hands you need not fear for your life.
But you cannot remain in my kingdom, for you are the friend of irreligion.
32.
If the personality of Kali, irreligion, is allowed to act as a man-god or an
executive head, certainly irreligious principles like greed, falsehood,
robbery, incivility, treachery, misfortune, cheating, quarrel and vanity will
abound.
33.
Therefore, O friend of irreligion, you do not deserve to remain in a place
where experts perform sacrifices according to truth and religious principles
for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
34.
In all sacrificial ceremonies, although sometimes a demigod is worshiped, the
Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead is worshiped because He is the Supersoul of
everyone, and exists both inside and outside like the air. Thus it is He only
who awards all welfare to the worshiper.
35.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: The personality of Kali, thus being ordered by Maharaja
Pariksit, began to tremble in fear. Seeing the King before him like Yamaraja,
ready to Kill him, Kali spoke to the King as follows.
36.
O Your Majesty, though I may live anywhere and everywhere under your order, I
shall but see you with bow and arrows wherever I look.
37.
Therefore, O chief amongst the protectors of religion, please fix some place
for me where I can live permanently under the protection of your government.
38.
Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, thus being petitioned by the personality
of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking,
prostitution and animal slaughter were performed.
39.
The personality of Kali asked for something more, and because of his begging,
the King gave him permission to live where there is gold because wherever there
is gold there is also falsity, intoxication, lust, envy and enmity.
40.
Thus the personality of Kali, by the directions of Maharaja Pariksit, the son
of Uttara, was allowed to live in those five places.
41.
Therefore, whoever desires progressive well-being, especially kings,
religionists, public leaders, brahmanas and sannyasis, should never come in contact
with the four above-mentioned irreligious principles.
42.
Thereafter the King reestablished the lost legs of the personality of religion
[the bull], and by encouraging activities he sufficiently improved the
condition of the earth.
43-44.
The most fortunate Emperor Maharaja Pariksit, who was entrusted with the
kingdom of Hastinapura by Maharaja Yudhisthira when he desired to retire to the
forest, is now ruling the world with great success due to his being glorified
by the deeds of the kings of the Kuru dynasty.
45.
Maharaja Pariksit, the son of Abhimanyu, is so experienced that by dint of his
expert administration and patronage, it has been possible for you to perform a
sacrifice such as this.
Chapter Eighteen Maharaja Pariksit Cursed by a Brahmana Boy
1.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: Due to the mercy of the Personality of Godhead, Sri
Krsna, who acts wonderfully, Maharaja Pariksit, though struck by the weapon of
the son of Drona in his mother's womb, could not be burned.
2.
Furthermore, Maharaja Pariksit was always consciously surrendered to the
Personality of Godhead, and therefore he was neither afraid nor overwhelmed by
fear due to a snake-bird which was to bite him because of the fury of a
brahmana boy.
3.
Furthermore, after leaving all his associates, the King surrendered himself as
a disciple to the son of Vyasa [Sukadeva Gosvami], and thus he was able to
understand the actual position of the Personality of Godhead.
4.
This was so because those who have dedicated their lives to the transcendental
topics of the Personality of Godhead, of whom the Vedic hymns sing, and who are
constantly engaged in remembering the lotus feet of the Lord, do not run the
risk of having misconceptions even at the last moment of their lives.
5.
As long as the great, powerful son of Abhimanyu remains the Emperor of the
world, there is no chance that the personality of Kali will flourish.
6.
The very day and moment the Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, left this
earth, the personality of Kali, who promotes all kinds of irreligious
activities, came into this world.
7.
Maharaja Pariksit was a realist, like the bees who only accept the essence [of
a flower]. He knew perfectly well that in this age of Kali, auspicious things
produce good effects immediately, whereas inauspicious acts must be actually
performed [to render effects]. So he was never envious of the personality of
Kali.
8.
Maharaja Pariksit considered that less intelligent men might find the
personality of Kali to be very powerful, but that those who are self-controlled
would have nothing to fear. The King was powerful like a tiger and took care
for the foolish, careless persons.
9.
O sages, as you did ask me, now I have described almost everything regarding
the narrations about Lord Krsna in connection with the history of the pious
Maharaja Pariksit.
10.
Those who are desirous of achieving complete perfection in life must
submissively hear all topics that are connected with the transcendental
activities and qualities of the Personality of Godhead, who acts wonderfully.
11.
The good sages said: O grave Suta Gosvami! May you live many years and have
eternal fame, for you are speaking very nicely about the activities of Lord
Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. This is just like nectar for mortal beings
like us.
12.
We have just begun the performance of this fruitive activity, a sacrificial
fire, without certainty of its result due to the many imperfections in our
action. Our bodies have become black from the smoke, but we are factually
pleased by the nectar of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, Govinda,
which you are distributing.
13.
The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be
compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and
what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which
are for those who are meant for death.
14.
The Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna [Govinda], is the exclusive shelter for
all great living beings, and His transcendental attributes cannot even be
measured by such masters of mystic powers as Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. Can
anyone who is expert in relishing nectar [rasa] ever be fully satiated by
hearing topics about Him?
15.
O Suta Gosvami, you are a learned and pure devotee of the Lord because the
Personality of Godhead is your chief object of service. Therefore please
describe to us the pastimes of the Lord, which are above all material
conception, for we are anxious to receive such messages.
16.
O Suta Gosvami, please describe those topics of the Lord by which Maharaja
Pariksit, whose intelligence was fixed on liberation, attained the lotus feet
of the Lord, who is the shelter of Garuda, the king of birds. Those topics were
vibrated by the son of Vyasa [Srila Sukadeva].
17.
Thus please narrate to us the narrations of the Unlimited, for they are
purifying and supreme. They were spoken to Maharaja Pariksit, and they are very
dear to the pure devotees, being full of bhakti-yoga.
18.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: O God, although we are born in a mixed caste, we are
still promoted in birthright simply by serving and following the great who are
advanced in knowledge. Even by conversing with such great souls, one can
without delay cleanse oneself of all disqualifications resulting from lower
births.
19.
And what to speak of those who are under the direction of the great devotees,
chanting the holy name of the Unlimited, who has unlimited potency? The
Personality of Godhead, unlimited in potency and transcendental by attributes,
is called the ananta [Unlimited].
20.
It is now ascertained that He [the Personality of Godhead] is unlimited and
there is none equal to Him. Consequently no one can speak of Him adequately.
Great demigods cannot obtain the favor of the goddess of fortune even by
prayers, but this very goddess renders service unto the Lord, although He is
unwilling to have such service.
21.
Who can be worthy of the name of the Supreme Lord but the Personality of
Godhead Sri Krsna? Brahmaji collected the water emanating from the nails of His
feet in order to award it to Lord Siva as a worshipful welcome. This very water
[the Ganges] is purifying the whole universe, including Lord Siva.
22.
Self-controlled persons who are attached to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna can all
of a sudden give up the world of material attachment, including the gross body
and subtle mind, and go away to attain the highest perfection of the renounced
order of life, by which nonviolence and renunciation are consequential.
23.
O rsis, who are as powerfully pure as the sun, I shall try to describe to you
the transcendental pastimes of Visnu as far as my knowledge is concerned. As
the birds fly in the sky as far as their capacity allows, so do the learned
devotees describe the Lord as far as their realization allows.
24-25.
Once upon a time Maharaja Pariksit, while engaged in hunting in the forest with
bow and arrows, became extremely fatigued, hungry and thirsty while following
the stags. While searching for a reservoir of water, he entered the hermitage
of the well-known Samika Rsi and saw the sage sitting silently with closed
eyes.
26.
The muni's sense organs, breath, mind and intelligence were all restrained from
material activities, and he was situated in a trance apart from the three
[wakefulness, dream and unconsciousness], having achieved a transcendental
position qualitatively equal with the Supreme Absolute.
27.
The sage, in meditation, was covered by the skin of a stag, and long,
compressed hair was scattered all over him. The King, whose palate was dry from
thirst, asked him for water.
28.
The King, not received by any formal welcome by means of being offered a seat,
place, water and sweet addresses, considered himself neglected, and so thinking
he became angry.
29.
O brahmanas, the King's anger and envy, directed toward the brahmana sage, were
unprecedented, being that circumstances had made him hungry and thirsty.
30.
While leaving, the King, being so insulted, picked up a lifeless snake with his
bow and angrily placed it on the shoulder of the sage. Then he returned to his
palace.
31.
Upon returning, he began to contemplate and argue within himself whether the
sage had actually been in meditation, with senses concentrated and eyes closed,
or whether he had just been feigning trance just to avoid receiving a lower
ksatriya.
32.
The sage had a son who was very powerful, being a brahmana's son. While he was
playing with inexperienced boys, he heard of his father's distress, which was
occasioned by the King. Then and there the boy spoke as follows.
33.
[The brahmana's son, Srngi, said:] O just look at the sins of the rulers who,
like crows and watchdogs at the door, perpetrate sins against their masters,
contrary to the principles governing servants.
34.
The descendants of the kingly orders are definitely designated as watchdogs,
and they must keep themselves at the door. On what grounds can dogs enter the
house and claim to dine with the master on the same plate?
35.
After the departure of Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead and supreme
ruler of everyone, these upstarts have flourished, our protector being gone.
Therefore I myself shall take up this matter and punish them. Just witness my
power.
36.
The son of the rsi, his eyes red-hot with anger, touched the water of the River
Kausika while speaking to his playmates and discharged the following
thunderbolt of words.
37.
The brahmana's son cursed the King thus: On the seventh day from today a
snake-bird will bite the most wretched one of that dynasty [Maharaja Pariksit]
because of his having broken the laws of etiquette by insulting my father.
38.
Thereafter, when the boy returned to the hermitage, he saw a snake on his
father's shoulder, and out of his grief he cried very loudly.
39.
O brahmanas, the rsi, who was born in the family of Angira Muni, hearing his
son crying, gradually opened his eyes and saw the dead snake around his neck.
40.
He threw the dead snake aside and asked his son why he was crying, whether
anyone had done him harm. On hearing this, the son explained to him what had
happened.
41.
The father heard from his son that the King had been cursed, although he should
never have been condemned, for he was the best amongst all human beings. The
rsi did not congratulate his son, but, on the contrary, began to repent,
saying: Alas! What a great sinful act was performed by my son. He has awarded
heavy punishment for an insignificant offense.
42.
O my boy, your intelligence is immature, and therefore you have no knowledge
that the king, who is the best amongst human beings, is as good as the
Personality of Godhead. He is never to be placed on an equal footing with
common men. The citizens of the state live in prosperity, being protected by
his unsurpassable prowess.
43.
My dear boy, the Lord, who carries the wheel of a chariot, is represented by
the monarchical regime, and when this regime is abolished the whole world
becomes filled with thieves, who then at once vanquish the unprotected subjects
like scattered lambs.
44.
Due to the termination of the monarchical regimes and the plundering of the
people's wealth by rogues and thieves, there will be great social disruptions.
People will be killed and injured, and animals and women will be stolen. And
for all these sins we shall be responsible.
45.
At that time the people in general will fall systematically from the path of a
progressive civilization in respect to the qualitative engagements of the
castes and the orders of society and the Vedic injunctions. Thus they will be
more attracted to economic development for sense gratification, and as a result
there will be an unwanted population on the level of dogs and monkeys.
46.
The Emperor Pariksit is a pious king. He is highly celebrated and is a
first-class devotee of the Personality of Godhead. He is a saint amongst
royalty, and he has performed many horse sacrifices. When such a king is tired
and fatigued, being stricken with hunger and thirst, he does not at all deserve
to be cursed.
47.
Then the rsi prayed to the all-pervading Personality of Godhead to pardon his
immature boy, who had no intelligence and who committed the great sin of cursing
a person who was completely free from all sins, who was subordinate and who
deserved to be protected.
48.
The devotees of the Lord are so forbearng that even though they are defamed,
cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or even killed, they are never inclined
to avenge themselves.
49.
The sage thus regretted the sin committed by his own son. He did not take the
insult paid by the King very seriously.
50.
Generally the transcendentalists, even though engaged by others in the
dualities of the material world, are not distressed. Nor do they take pleasure
[in worldly things], for they are transcendentally engaged.
Chapter Nineteen The Appearance of Sukadeva Gosvami
1.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: While returning home, the King [Maharaja Pariksit] felt
that the act he had committed against the faultless and powerful brahmana was
heinous and uncivilized. Consequently he was distressed.
2.
[King Pariksit thought:] Due to my neglecting the injunctions of the Supreme
Lord I must certainly expect some difficulty to overcome me in the near future.
I now desire without reservation that the calamity come now, for in this way I
may be freed of the sinful action and not commit such an offense again.
3.
I am uncivilized and sinful due to my neglect of brahminical culture, God consciousness
and cow protection. Therefore I wish that my kingdom, strength and riches burn
up immediately by the fire of the brahmana's wrath so that in the future I may
not be guided by such inauspicious attitudes.
4.
While the King was thus repenting, he received news of his imminent death,
which would be due to the bite of a snake-bird, occasioned by the curse spoken
by the sage's son. The King accepted this as good news, for it would be the
cause of his indifference toward worldly things.
5.
Maharaja Pariksit sat down firmly on the banks of the Ganges to concentrate his
mind in Krsna consciousness, rejecting all other practices of self-realization,
because transcendental loving service to Krsna is the greatest achievement,
superseding all other methods.
6.
The river [Ganges, by which the King sat to fast] carries the most auspicious
water, which is mixed with the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord and tulasi
leaves. Therefore that water sanctifies the three worlds inside and outside and
even sanctifies Lord Siva and other demigods. Consequently everyone who is
destined to die must take shelter of this river.
7.
Thus the King, the worthy descendant of the Pandavas, decided once and for all
and sat on the Ganges' bank to fast until death and give himself up to the
lotus feet of Lord Krsna, who alone is able to award liberation. So, freeing
himself from all kinds of associations and attachments, he accepted the vows of
a sage.
8.
At that time all the great minds and thinkers, accompanied by their disciples,
and sages who could verily sanctify a place of pilgrimage just by their
presence, arrived there on the plea of making a pilgrim's journey.
9-10.
From different parts of the universe there arrived great sages like Atri,
Cyavana, Saradvan, Aristanemi, Bhrgu, Vasistha, Parasara, Visvamitra, Angira,
Parasurama, Utathya, Indrapramada, Idhmavahu, Medhatithi, Devala, Arstisena,
Bharadvaja, Gautama, Pippalada, Maitreya, Aurva, Kavasa, Kumbhayoni, Dvaipayana
and the great personality Narada.
11.
There were also many other saintly demigods, kings and special royal orders
called arunadayas [a special rank of rajarsis] from different dynasties of
sages. When they all assembled together to meet the Emperor [Pariksit], he
received them properly and bowed his head to the ground.
12.
After all the rsis and others had seated themselves comfortably, the King,
humbly standing before them with folded hands, told them of his decision to
fast until death.
13.
The fortunate King said: Indeed, we are the most grateful of all the kings who
are trained to get favors from the great souls. Generally you [sages] consider
royalty as refuse to be rejected and left in a distant place.
14.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of both the transcendental
and mundane worlds, has graciously overtaken me in the form of a brahmana's
curse. Due to my being too much attached to family life, the Lord, in order to
save me, has appeared before me in such a way that only out of fear I will
detach myself from the world.
15.
O brahmanas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother
Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have
already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snake-bird--or
whatever magical thing the brahmana created--bite me at once. I only desire
that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Visnu.
16.
Again, offering obeisances unto all you brahmanas, I pray that if I should
again take my birth in the material world I will have complete attachment to
the unlimited Lord Krsna, association with His devotees and friendly relations
with all living beings.
17.
In perfect self-control, Maharaja Pariksit sat down on a seat of straw, with
straw-roots facing the east, placed on the southern bank of the Ganges, and he
himself faced the north. Just previously he had given charge of his kingdom
over to his son.
18.
Thus the King, Maharaja Pariksit, sat to fast until death. All the demigods of
the higher planets praised the King's actions and in pleasure continually
scattered flowers over the earth and beat celestial drums.
19.
All the great sages who were assembled there also praised the decision of
Maharaja Pariksit and they expressed their approval by saying, "Very
good." Naturally the sages are inclined to do good to common men, for they
have all the qualitative powers of the Supreme Lord. Therefore they were very
much pleased to see Maharaja Pariksit, a devotee of the Lord, and they spoke as
follows.
20.
[The sages said:] O chief of all the saintly kings of the Pandu dynasty who are
strictly in the line of Lord Sri Krsna! It is not at all astonishing that you
give up your throne, which is decorated with the helmets of many kings, to
achieve eternal association with the Personality of Godhead.
21.
We shall all wait here until the foremost devotee of the Lord, Maharaja
Pariksit, returns to the supreme planet, which is completely free from all
mundane contamination and all kinds of lamentation.
22.
All that was spoken by the great sages was very sweet to hear, full of meaning and
appropriately presented as perfectly true. So after hearing them, Maharaja
Pariksit, desiring to hear of the activities of Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality
of Godhead, congratulated the great sages.
23.
The King said: O great sages, you have all very kindly assembled here, having
come from all parts of the universe. You are all as good as supreme knowledge
personified, who resides in the planet above the three worlds [Satyaloka].
Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this
you have no interest, either in this life or in the next.
24.
O trustworthy brahmanas, I now ask you about my immediate duty. Please, after
proper deliberation, tell me of the unalloyed duty of everyone in all
circumstances, and specifically of those who are just about to die.
25.
At that moment there appeared the powerful son of Vyasadeva, who traveled over
the earth disinterested and satisfied with himself. He did not manifest any
symptoms of belonging to any social order or status of life. He was surrounded
with women and children, and he dressed as if others had neglected him.
26.
This son of Vyasadeva was only sixteen years old. His legs, hands, thighs,
arms, shoulders, forehead and the other parts of his body were all delicately
formed. His eyes were beautifully wide, and his nose and ears were highly
raised. He had a very attractive face, and his neck was well formed and
beautiful like a conchshell.
27.
His collarbone was fleshy, his chest broad and thick, his navel deep and his
abdomen beautifully striped. His arms were long, and curly hair was strewn over
his beautiful face. He was naked, and the hue of his body reflected that of
Lord Krsna.
28.
He was blackish and very beautiful due to his youth. Because of the glamor of
his body and his attractive smiles, he was pleasing to women. Though he tried
to cover his natural glories, the great sages present there were all expert in
the art of physiognomy, and so they honored him by rising from their seats.
29.
Maharaja Pariksit, who is also known as Visnurata [one who is always protected
by Visnu], bowed his head to receive the chief guest, Sukadeva Gosvami. At that
time all the ignorant women and boys ceased following Srila Sukadeva. Receiving
respect from all, Sukadeva Gosvami took his exalted seat.
30.
Sukadeva Gosvami was then surrounded by saintly sages and demigods just as the
moon is surrounded by stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. His presence
was gorgeous, and he was respected by all.
31.
The sage Sri Sukadeva Gosvami sat perfectly pacified, intelligent and ready to
answer any question without hesitation. The great devotee, Maharaja Pariksit,
approached him, offered his respects by bowing before him, and politely
inquired with sweet words and folded hands.
32.
The fortunate King Pariksit said: O brahmana, by your mercy only, you have
sanctified us, making us like unto places of pilgrimage, all by your presence
here as my guest. By your mercy, we, who are but unworthy royalty, become
eligible to serve the devotee.
33.
Simply by our remembering you, our houses become instantly sanctified. And what
to speak of seeing you, touching you, washing your holy feet and offering you a
seat in our home?
34.
Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of
Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of a man are immediately vanquished in
your presence, O saint! O great mystic!
35.
Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is very dear to the sons of King
Pandu, has accepted me as one of those relatives just to please His great
cousins and brothers.
36.
Otherwise [without being inspired by Lord Krsna] how is it that you have
voluntarily appeared here, though you are moving incognito to the common man
and are not visible to us who are on the verge of death?
37.
You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore
begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for
one who is about to die.
38.
Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and
also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.
39.
O powerful brahmana, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long
enough to milk a cow.
40.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: The King thus spoke and questioned the sage, using sweet
language. Then the great and powerful personality, the son of Vyasadeva, who
knew the principles of religion, began his reply.
CANTO TWO
Chapter One The First Step in God Realization
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, your question is glorious because it
is very beneficial to all kinds of people. The answer to this question is the
prime subject matter for hearing, and it is approved by all transcendentalists.
2.
Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of
ultimate truth, leave many subject matters for hearing in human society, O
Emperor.
3.
The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in
sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or
maintaining family members.
4.
Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being
too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife.
Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable
destruction.
5.
O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must
hear about, glorify and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the
Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries.
6.
The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of
matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of
occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of
life.
7.
O King Pariksit, mainly the topmost transcendentalists, who are above the
regulative principles and restrictions, take pleasure in describing the glories
of the Lord.
8.
At the end of the Dvapara-yuga, I studied this great supplement of Vedic
literature named Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is equal to all the Vedas, from my
father, Srila Dvaipayana Vyasadeva.
9.
O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence, yet I was
still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who is
described by enlightened verses.
10.
That very Srimad-Bhagavatam I shall recite before you because you are the most
sincere devotee of Lord Krsna. One who gives full attention and respect to
hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam achieves unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord, the
giver of salvation.
11.
O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the
great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all,
including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous
of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of
transcendental knowledge.
12.
What is the value of a prolonged life which is wasted, inexperienced by years
in this world? Better a moment of full consciousness, because that gives one a
start in searching after his supreme interest.
13.
The saintly King Khatvanga, after being informed that the duration of his life
would be only a moment more, at once freed himself from all material activities
and took shelter of the supreme safety, the Personality of Godhead.
14.
Maharaja Pariksit, now your duration of life is limited to seven more days, so
during this time you can perform all those rituals which are needed for the
best purpose of your next life.
15.
At the last stage of one's life, one should be bold enough not to be afraid of
death. But one must cut off all attachment to the material body and everything
pertaining to it and all desires thereof.
16.
One should leave home and practice self-control. In a sacred place he should
bathe regularly and sit down in a lonely place duly sanctified.
17.
After sitting in the above manner, make the mind remember the three
transcendental letters [a-u-m], and by regulating the breathing process,
control the mind so as not to forget the transcendental seed.
18.
Gradually, as the mind becomes progressively spiritualized, withdraw it from
sense activities, and by intelligence the senses will be controlled. The mind
too absorbed in material activities can be engaged in the service of the
Personality of Godhead and become fixed in full transcendental consciousness.
19.
Thereafter, you should meditate upon the limbs of Visnu, one after another,
without being deviated from the conception of the complete body. Thus the mind
becomes free from all sense objects. There should be no other thing to be
thought upon. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, is the
Ultimate Truth, the mind becomes completely reconciled in Him only.
20.
One's mind is always agitated by the passionate mode of material nature and
bewildered by the ignorant mode of nature. But one can rectify such conceptions
by the relation of Visnu and thus become pacified by cleansing the dirty things
created by them.
21.
O King, by this system of remembrance and by being fixed in the habit of seeing
the all-good personal conception of the Lord, one can very soon attain
devotional service to the Lord, under His direct shelter.
22.
The fortunate King Pariksit, inquiring further, said: O brahmana, please
describe in full detail how and where the mind has to be applied and how the
conception can be fixed so that the dirty things in a person's mind can be
removed.
23.
Sukadeva Gosvami answered: One should control the sitting posture, regulate the
breathing process by the yogic pranayama and thus control the mind and senses
and with intelligence apply the mind to the gross potencies of the Lord [called
the virat-rupa].
24.
This gigantic manifestation of the phenomenal material world as a whole is the
personal body of the Absolute Truth, wherein the universal resultant past,
present and future of material time is experienced.
25.
The gigantic universal form of the Personality of Godhead, within the body of
the universal shell, which is covered by sevenfold material elements, is the
subject for the virat conception.
26.
Persons who have realized it have studied that the planets known as Patala
constitute the bottoms of the feet of the universal Lord, and the heels and the
toes are the Rasatala planets. The ankles are the Mahatala planets, and His
shanks constitute the Talatala planets.
27.
The knees of the universal form are the planetary system of the name Sutala,
and the two thighs are the Vitala and Atala planetary systems. The hips are
Mahitala, and outer space is the depression of His navel.
28.
The chest of the Original Personality of the gigantic form is the luminary
planetary system, His neck is the Mahar planets, His mouth is the Janas
planets, and His forehead is the Tapas planetary system. The topmost planetary
system, known as Satyaloka, is the head of He who has one thousand heads.
29.
His arms are the demigods headed by Indra, the ten directional sides are His
ears, and physical sound is His sense of hearing. His nostrils are the two
Asvini-kumaras, and material fragrance is His sense of smell. His mouth is the
blazing fire.
30.
The sphere of outer space constitutes His eyepits, and the eyeball is the sun
as the power of seeing. His eyelids are both the day and night, and in the
movements of His eyebrows, the Brahma and similar supreme personalities reside.
His palate is the director of water, Varuna, and the juice or essence of
everything is His tongue.
31.
They say that the Vedic hymns are the cerebral passage of the Lord, and His
jaws of teeth are Yama, god of death, who punishes the sinners. The art of
affection is His set of teeth, and the most alluring illusory material energy
is His smile. This great ocean of material creation is but the casting of His
glance over us.
32.
Modesty is the upper portion of His lips, hankering is His chin, religion is
the breast of the Lord, and irreligion is His back. Brahmaji, who generates all
living beings in the material world, is His genitals, and the Mitra-varunas are
His two testicles. The ocean is His waist, and the hills and mountains are the
stacks of His bones.
33.
O King, the rivers are the veins of the gigantic body, the trees are the hairs
of His body, and the omnipotent air is His breath. The passing ages are His
movements, and His activities are the reactions of the three modes of material
nature.
34.
O best amongst the Kurus, the clouds which carry water are the hairs on His
head, the terminations of days or nights are His dress, and the supreme cause
of material creation is His intelligence. His mind is the moon, the reservoir
of all changes.
35.
The principle of matter [mahat-tattva] is the consciousness of the omnipresent
Lord, as asserted by the experts, and Rudradeva is His ego. The horse, mule,
camel and elephant are His nails, and wild animals and all quadrupeds are
situated in the belt zone of the Lord.
36.
Varieties of birds are indications of His masterful artistic sense. Manu, the
father of mankind, is the emblem of His standard intelligence, and humanity is
His residence. The celestial species of human beings, like the Gandharvas,
Vidyadharas, Caranas and angels, all represent His musical rhythm, and the
demoniac soldiers are representations of His wonderful prowess.
37.
The virat-purusa's face is the brahmanas, His arms are the ksatriyas, His
thighs are the vaisyas, and the sudras are under the protection of His feet.
All the worshipable demigods are also overtaken by Him, and it is the duty of
everyone to perform sacrifices with feasible goods to appease the Lord.
38.
I have thus explained to you the gross material gigantic conception of the
Personality of Godhead. One who seriously desires liberation concentrates his
mind on this form of the Lord, because there is nothing more than this in the
material world.
39.
One should concentrate his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who
alone distributes Himself in so many manifestations just as ordinary persons
create thousands of manifestations in dreams. One must concentrate the mind on
Him, the only all-blissful Absolute Truth. Otherwise one will be misled and
will cause his own degradation.
Chapter Two The Lord in the Heart
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Formerly, prior to the manifestation of the cosmos,
Lord Brahma, by meditating on the virat-rupa, regained his lost consciousness
by appeasing the Lord. Thus he was able to rebuild the creation as it was
before.
2.
The way of presentation of the Vedic sounds is so bewildering that it directs
the intelligence of the people to meaningless things like the heavenly
kingdoms. The conditioned souls hover in dreams of such heavenly illusory
pleasures, but actually they do not relish any tangible happiness in such
places.
3.
For this reason the enlightened person should endeavor only for the minimum
necessities of life while in the world of names. He should be intelligently
fixed and never endeavor for unwanted things, being competent to perceive
practically that all such endeavors are merely hard labor for nothing.
4.
When there are ample earthly flats to lie on, what is the necessity of cots and
beds? When one can use his own arms, what is the necessity of a pillow? When
one can use the palms of his hands, what is the necessity of varieties of
utensils? When there is ample covering, or the skins of trees, what is the
necessity of clothing?
5.
Are there no torn clothes lying on the common road? Do the trees, which exist
for maintaining others, no longer give alms in charity? Do the rivers, being
dried up, no longer supply water to the thirsty? Are the caves of the mountains
now closed, or, above all, does the Almighty Lord not protect the fully
surrendered souls? Why then do the learned sages go to flatter those who are
intoxicated by hard-earned wealth?
6.
Thus being fixed, one must render service unto the Supersoul situated in one's
own heart by His omnipotency. Because He is the Almighty Personality of
Godhead, eternal and unlimited, He is the ultimate goal of life, and by
worshiping Him one can end the cause of the conditioned state of existence.
7.
Who else but the gross materialists will neglect such transcendental thought
and take to the nonpermanent names only, seeing the mass of people fallen in
the river of suffering as the consequence of accruing the result of their own
work?
8.
Others conceive of the Personality of Godhead residing within the body in the
region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands carrying a
lotus, a wheel of a chariot, a conchshell and a club respectively.
9.
His mouth expresses His happiness. His eyes spread like the petals of a lotus,
and His garments, yellowish like the saffron of a kadamba flower, are bedecked
with valuable jewels. His ornaments are all made of gold, set with jewels, and
He wears a glowing head dress and earrings.
10.
His lotus feet are placed over the whorls of the lotuslike hearts of great
mystics. On His chest is the Kaustubha jewel, engraved with a beautiful calf,
and there are other jewels on His shoulders. His complete torso is garlanded
with fresh flowers.
11.
He is well decorated with an ornamental wreath about His waist and rings
studded with valuable jewels on His fingers. His leglets, His bangles, His
oiled hair, curling with a bluish tint, and His beautiful smiling face are all
very pleasing.
12.
The Lord's magnanimous pastimes and the glowing glancing of His smiling face
are all indications of His extensive benedictions. One must therefore
concentrate on this transcendental form of the Lord, as long as the mind can be
fixed on Him by meditation.
13.
The process of meditation should begin from the lotus feet of the Lord and
progress to His smiling face. The meditation should be concentrated upon the
lotus feet, then the calves, then the thighs, and in this way higher and
higher. The more the mind becomes fixed upon the different parts of the limbs,
one after another, the more the intelligence becomes purified.
14.
Unless the gross materialist develops a sense of loving service unto the
Supreme Lord, the seer of both the transcendental and material worlds, he
should remember or meditate upon the universal form of the Lord at the end of
his prescribed duties.
15.
O King, whenever the yogi desires to leave this planet of human beings, he
should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, but should comfortably
sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, should control the
senses by the mind.
16.
Thereafter, the yogi should merge his mind, by his unalloyed intelligence, into
the living entity, and then merge the living entity into the Superself. And by
doing this, the fully satisfied living entity becomes situated in the supreme
stage of satisfaction, so that he ceases from all other activities.
17.
In that transcendental state of labdhopasanti (full bliss), there is no
supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who
are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the
demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion,
nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the
material nature.
18.
The transcendentalists desire to avoid everything godless, for they know that
supreme situation in which everything is related with the Supreme Lord Visnu.
Therefore a pure devotee who is in absolute harmony with the Lord does not
create perplexities, but worships the lotus feet of the Lord at every moment,
taking them into his heart.
19.
By the strength of scientific knowledge, one should be well situated in
absolute realization and thus be able to extinguish all material desires. One
should then give up the material body by blocking the air hole [through which
stool is evacuated] with the heel of one's foot and by lifting the life air
from one place to another in the six primary places.
20.
The meditative devotee should slowly push up the life air from the navel to the
heart, from there to the chest and from there to the root of the palate. He
should search out the proper places with intelligence.
21.
Thereafter the bhakti-yogi should push the life air up between the eyebrows,
and then, blocking the seven outlets of the life air, he should maintain his
aim for going back home, back to Godhead. If he is completely free from all
desires for material enjoyment, he should then reach the cerebral hole and give
up his material connections, having gone to the Supreme.
22.
However, O King, if a yogi maintains a desire for improved material enjoyments,
like transference to the topmost planet, Brahmaloka, or the achievement of the
eightfold perfections, travel in outer space with the Vaihayasas, or a
situation in one of the millions of planets, then he has to take away with him
the materially molded mind and senses.
23.
The transcendentalists are concerned with the spiritual body. As such, by the
strength of their devotional service, austerities, mystic power and
transcendental knowledge, their movements are unrestricted, within and beyond
the material worlds. The fruitive workers, or the gross materialists, can never
move in such an unrestricted manner.
24.
O King, when such a mystic passes over the Milky Way by the illuminating
Susumna to reach the highest planet, Brahmaloka, he goes first to Vrisvanara,
the planet of the deity of fire, wherein he becomes completely cleansed of all
contaminations, and thereafter he still goes higher, to the circle of Sisumara,
to relate with Lord Hari, the Personality of Godhead.
25.
This Sisumara is the pivot for the turning of the complete universe, and it is
called the navel of Visnu [Garbhodakasayi Visnu]. The yogi alone goes beyond
this circle of Sisumara and attains the planet [Maharloka] where purified
saints like Bhrgu enjoy a duration of life of 4,300,000,0O0 solar years. This
planet is worshipable even for the saints who are transcendentally situated.
26.
At the time of the final devastation of the complete universe [the end of the
duration of Brahma's life], a flame of fire emanates from the mouth of Ananta
[from the bottom of the universe]. The yogi sees all the planets of the
universe burning to ashes, and thus he leaves for Satyaloka by airplanes used
by the great purified souls. The duration of life in Satyaloka is calculated to
be 15,480,000,000,000 years.
27.
In that planet of Satyaloka, there is neither bereavement, nor old age nor death.
There is no pain of any kind, and therefore there are no anxieties, save that
sometimes, due to consciousness, there is a feeling of compassion for those
unaware of the process of devotional service, who are subjected to
unsurpassable miseries in the material world.
28.
After reaching Satyaloka, the devotee is specifically able to be incorporated
fearlessly by the subtle body in an identity similar to that of the gross body,
and one after another he gradually attains stages of existence from earthly to
watery, fiery, glowing and airy, until he reaches the ethereal stage.
29.
The devotee thus surpasses the subtle objects of different senses like aroma by
smelling, the palate by tasting, vision by seeing forms, touch by contacting,
the vibrations of the ear by ethereal identification, and the sense organs by
material activities.
30.
The devotee, thus surpassing the gross and the subtle forms of coverings,
enters the plane of egoism. And in that status he merges the material modes of
nature [ignorance and passion] in this point of neutralization and thus reaches
egoism in goodness. After this, all egoism is merged in the mahat-tattva, and
he comes to the point of pure self-realization.
31.
Only the purified soul can attain the perfection of associating with the
Personality of Godhead in complete bliss and satisfaction in his constitutional
state. Whoever is able to renovate such devotional perfection is never again
attracted by this material world, and he never returns.
32.
Your Majesty Maharaja Pariksit, know that all that I have described in reply to
your proper inquiry is just according to the version of the Vedas, and it is
eternal truth. This was described personally by Lord Krsna unto Brahma, with
whom the Lord was satisfied upon being properly worshiped.
33.
For those who are wandering in the material universe, there is no more
auspicious means of deliverance than what is aimed at in the direct devotional
service of Lord Krsna.
34.
The great personality Brahma, with great attention and concentration of the
mind, studied the Vedas three times, and after scrutinizingly examining them,
he ascertained that attraction for the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna
is the highest perfection of religion.
35.
The Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krsna is in every living being along with
the individual soul. And this fact is perceived and hypothesized in our acts of
seeing and taking help from the intelligence.
36.
O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify
and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and
everywhere.
37.
Those who drink through aural reception, fully filled with the nectarean
message of Lord Krsna, the beloved of the devotees, purify the polluted aim of
life known as material enjoyment and thus go back to Godhead, to the lotus feet
of Him [the Personality of Godhead].
Chapter Three Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, as you have inquired from me as
to the duty of the intelligent man who is on the threshold of death, so I have
answered you.
2-7.
One who desires to be absorbed in the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence should
worship the master of the Vedas [Lord Brahma or Brhaspati, the learned priest],
one who desires powerful sex should worship the heavenly King, Indra, and one
who desires good progeny should worship the great progenitors called the
Prajapatis. One who desires good fortune should worship Durgadevi, the
superintendent of the material world. One desiring to be very powerful should
worship fire, and one who aspires only after money should worship the Vasus.
One should worship the Rudra incarnations of Lord Siva if he wants to be a
great hero. One who wants a large stock of grains should worship Aditi. One who
desires to attain the heavenly planets should worship the sons of Aditi. One
who desires a worldly kingdom should worship Visvadeva, and one who wants to be
popular with the general mass of population should worship the Sadhya demigod.
One who desires a long span of life should worship the demigods known as the
Asvini-kumaras, and a person desiring a strongly built body should worship the
earth. One who desires stability in his post should worship the horizon and the
earth combined. One who desires to be beautiful should worship the beautiful
residents of the Gandharva planet, and one who desires a good wife should
worship the Apsaras and the Urvasi society girls of the heavenly kingdom. One
who desires domination over others should worship Lord Brahma, the head of the
universe. One who desires tangible fame should worship the Personality of
Godhead, and one who desires a good bank balance should worship the demigod
Varuna. If one desires to be a greatly learned man he should worship Lord Siva,
and if one desires a good marital relation he should worship the chaste goddess
Uma, the wife of Lord Siva.
8.
One should worship Lord Visnu or His devotee for spiritual advancement in
knowledge, and for protection of heredity and advancement of a dynasty one
should worship the various demigods.
9.
One who desires domination over a kingdom or an empire should worship the
Manus. One who desires victory over an enemy should worship the demons, and one
who desires sense gratification should worship the moon. But one who desires
nothing of material enjoyment should worship the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
10.
A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material
desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means
worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.
11.
All the different kinds of worshipers of multidemigods can attain the highest
perfectional benediction, which is spontaneous attraction unflinchingly fixed
upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by the association of the pure
devotee of the Lord.
12.
Transcendental knowledge in relation with the Supreme Lord Hari is knowledge
resulting in the complete suspension of the waves and whirlpools of the
material modes. Such knowledge is self-satisfying due to its being free from material
attachment, and being transcendental it is approved by authorities. Who could
fail to be attracted?
13.
Saunaka said: The son of Vyasadeva, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, was a highly
learned sage and was able to describe things in a poetic manner. What did
Maharaja Pariksit again inquire from him after hearing all that he had said?
14.
O learned Suta Gosvami! Please continue to explain such topics to us because we
are all eager to hear. Besides that, topics which result in the discussion of
the Lord Hari should certainly be discussed in the assembly of devotees.
15.
Maharaja Pariksit, the grandson of the Pandavas, was from his very childhood a
great devotee of the Lord. Even while playing with dolls, he used to worship
Lord Krsna by imitating the worship of the family Deity.
16.
Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vyasadeva, was also full in transcendental
knowledge and was a great devotee of Lord Krsna, son of Vasudeva. So there must
have been discussion of Lord Krsna, who is glorified by great philosophers and in
the company of great devotees.
17.
Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of
everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good
Personality of Godhead.
18.
Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around
us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen?
19.
Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen
to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Sri Krsna, the deliverer from evils.
20.
One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts
of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy
songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess earholes like the holes of
snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog.
21.
The upper portion of the body, though crowned with a silk turban, is only a
heavy burden if not bowed down before the Personality of Godhead who can award
mukti [freedom]. And the hands, though decorated with glittering bangles, are
like those of a dead man if not engaged in the service of the Personality of
Godhead Hari.
22.
The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality
of Godhead Visnu [His forms, name, quality, etc.] are like those printed on the
plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places [where
the Lord is remembered] are considered to be like tree trunks.
23.
The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord's
pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has
never experienced the aroma of the tulasi leaves from the lotus feet of the
Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.
24.
Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one's chanting the holy
name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy takes place,
tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end.
25.
O Suta Gosvami, your words are pleasing to our minds. Please therefore explain
this to us as it was spoken by the great devotee Sukadeva Gosvami, who is very
expert in transcendental knowledge, and who spoke to Maharaja Pariksit upon
being asked.
Chapter Four The Process of Creation
1.
Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, the son of Uttara, after hearing the
speeches of Sukadeva Gosvami, which were all about the truth of the self,
applied his concentration faithfully upon Lord Krsna.
2.
Maharaja Pariksit, as a result of his wholehearted attraction for Lord Krsna,
was able to give up all deep-rooted affection for his personal body, his wife,
his children, his palace, his animals like horses and elephants, his treasury
house, his friends and relatives, and his undisputed kingdom.
3-4.
O great sages, the great soul Maharaja Pariksit, constantly rapt in thought of
Lord Krsna, knowing well of his imminent death, renounced all sorts of fruitive
activities, namely acts of religion, economic development and sense
gratification, and thus fixed himself firmly in his natural love for Krsna and
asked all these questions, exactly as you are asking me.
5.
Maharaja Pariksit said: O learned brahmana, you know everything because you are
without material contamination. Therefore whatever you have spoken to me
appears perfectly right. Your speeches are gradually destroying the darkness of
my ignorance, for you are narrating the topics of the Lord.
6.
I beg to know from you how the Personality of Godhead, by His personal
energies, creates these phenomenal universes as they are, which are
inconceivable even to the great demigods.
7.
Kindly describe how the Supreme Lord, who is all-powerful, engages His
different energies and different expansions in maintaining and again winding up
the phenomenal world in the sporting spirit of a player.
8.
O learned brahmana, the transcendental activities of the Lord are all
wonderful, and they appear inconceivable because even great endeavors by many
learned scholars have still proved insufficient for understanding them.
9.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one, whether He alone acts with the modes
of material nature, or simultaneously expands in many forms, or expands
consecutively to direct the modes of nature.
10.
Kindly clear up all these doubtful inquiries, because you are not only vastly
learned in the Vedic literatures and self-realized in transcendence, but are also
a great devotee of the Lord and are therefore as good as the Personality of
Godhead.
11.
Suta Gosvami said: When Sukadeva Gosvami was thus requested by the King to
describe the creative energy of the Personality of Godhead, he then
systematically remembered the master of the senses [Sri Krsna], and to reply
properly he spoke thus.
12.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme
Personality of Godhead who, for the creation of the material world, accepts the
three modes of nature. He is the complete whole residing within the body of
everyone, and His ways are inconceivable.
13.
I again offer my respectful obeisances unto the form of complete existence and
transcendence, who is the liberator of the pious devotees from all distresses
and the destroyer of the further advances in atheistic temperament of the
nondevotee-demons. For the transcendentalists who are situated in the topmost
spiritual perfection, He grants their specific destinations.
14.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto He who is the associate of the
members of the Yadu dynasty and who is always a problem for the nondevotees. He
is the supreme enjoyer of both the material and spiritual worlds, yet He enjoys
His own abode in the spiritual sky. There is no one equal to Him because His
transcendental opulence is immeasurable.
15.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna,
about whom glorification, remembrances, audience, prayers, hearing and worship
can at once cleanse the effects of all sins of the performer.
16.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto the all-auspicious
Lord Sri Krsna. The highly intellectual, simply by surrendering unto His lotus
feet, are relieved of all attachments to present and future existences and
without difficulty progress toward spiritual existence.
17.
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna
again and again because the great learned sages, the great performers of
charity, the great workers of distinction, the great philosophers and mystics,
the great chanters of the Vedic hymns and the great followers of Vedic
principles cannot achieve any fruitful result without dedication of such great
qualities to the service of the Lord.
18.
Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, members of the
Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking
shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg
to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
19.
He is the Supersoul and the Supreme Lord of all self-realized souls. He is the
personification of the Vedas, religious scriptures and austerities. He is
worshiped by Lord Brahma and Siva and all those who are transcendental to all
pretensions. Being so revered with awe and veneration, may that Supreme
Absolute be pleased with me.
20.
May Lord Sri Krsna, who is the worshipable Lord of all devotees, the protector
and glory of all the kings like Andhaka and Vrsni of the Yadu dynasty, the
husband of all goddesses of fortune, the director of all sacrifices and
therefore the leader of all living entities, the controller of all
intelligence, the proprietor of all planets, spiritual and material, and the
supreme incarnation on the earth (the supreme all in all), be merciful upon me.
21.
It is the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna who gives liberation. By thinking of
His lotus feet at every second, following in the footsteps of authorities, the
devotee in trance can see the Absolute Truth. The learned mental speculators,
however, think of Him according to their whims. May the Lord be pleased with
me.
22.
May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent
knowledge of Brahma from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge
of creation and of His own Self, and who appeared to be generated from the
mouth of Brahma, be pleased with me.
23.
May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who enlivens the materially created
bodies of the elements by lying down within the universe, and who in His purusa
incarnation causes the living being to be subjected to the sixteen divisions of
material modes which are his generator, be pleased to decorate my statements.
24.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of
Vasudeva who compiled the Vedic scriptures. The pure devotees drink up the
nectarean transcendental knowledge dropping from the lotuslike mouth of the
Lord.
25.
My dear King, Brahma, the firstborn, on being questioned by Narada, exactly
apprised him on this subject, as it was directly spoken by the Lord to His own
son, who was impregnated with Vedic knowledge from his very birth.
Chapter Five The Cause of All Causes
1.
Sri Narada Muni asked Brahmaji: O chief amongst the demigods, O firstborn
living entity, I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto you. Please tell me
that transcendental knowledge which specifically directs one to the truth of
the individual soul and the Supersoul.
2.
My dear father, please describe factually the symptoms of this manifest world.
What is its background? How is it created? How is it conserved? And under whose
control is all this being done?
3.
My dear father, all this is known to you scientifically because whatever was
created in the past, whatever will be created in the future, or whatever is
being created at present, as well as everything within the universe, is within
your grip, just like a walnut.
4.
My dear father, what is the source of your knowledge? Under whose protection
are you standing? And under whom are you working? What is your real position?
Do you alone create all entities with material elements by your personal
energy?
5.
As the spider very easily creates the network of its cobweb and manifests its
power of creation without being defeated by others, so also you yourself, by
employment of your self-sufficient energy, create without any other's help.
6.
Whatever we can understand by the nomenclature, characteristics and features of
a particular thing--superior, inferior or equal, eternal or temporary--is not
created from any source other than that of Your Lordship, thou so great.
7.
Yet we are moved to wonder about the existence of someone more powerful than
you when we think of your great austerities in perfect discipline, although
your good self is so powerful in the matter of creation.
8.
My dear father, you know everything, and you are the controller of all.
Therefore may all that I have inquired from you be kindly instructed to me so
that I may be able to understand it as your student.
9.
Lord Brahma said: My dear boy Narada, being merciful to all (including me) you
have asked all these questions because I have been inspired to see into the
prowess of the Almighty Personality of Godhead.
10.
Whatever you have spoken about me is not false because unless and until one is
aware of the Personality of Godhead, who is the ultimate truth beyond me, one
is sure to be illusioned by observing my powerful activities.
11.
I create after the Lord's creation by His personal effulgence [known as the
brahmajyoti], just as when the sun manifests its fire, the moon, the firmament,
the influential planets and the twinkling stars also manifest their brightness.
12.
I offer my obeisances and meditate upon Lord Krsna [Vasudeva], the Personality
of Godhead, whose invincible potency influences them [the less intelligent
class of men] to call me the supreme controller.
13.
The illusory energy of the Lord cannot take precedence, being ashamed of her
position, but those who are bewildered by her always talk nonsense, being
absorbed in thoughts of "It is I" and "It is mine."
14.
The five elementary ingredients of creation, the interaction thereof set up by
eternal time, and the intuition or nature of the individual living beings are
all differentiated parts and parcels of the Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva,
and in truth there is no other value in them.
15.
The Vedic literatures are made by and are meant for the Supreme Lord, the
demigods are also meant for serving the Lord as parts of His body, the
different planets are also meant for the sake of the Lord, and different
sacrifices are performed just to please Him.
16.
All different types of meditation or mysticism are means for realizing
Narayana. All austerities are aimed at achieving Narayana. Culture of
transcendental knowledge is for getting a glimpse of Narayana, and ultimately
salvation is entering the kingdom of Narayana.
17.
Inspired by Him only, I discover what is already created by Him [Narayana]
under His vision as the all-pervading Supersoul, and I also am created by Him
only.
18.
The Supreme Lord is pure spiritual form, transcendental to all material
qualities, yet for the sake of the creation of the material world and its
maintenance and annihilation, He accepts through His external energy the
material modes of nature called goodness, passion and ignorance.
19.
These three modes of material nature, being further manifested as matter,
knowledge and activities, put the eternally transcendental living entity under
conditions of cause and effect and make him responsible for such activities.
20.
O Brahmana Narada, the Superseer, the transcendent Lord, is beyond the
perception of the material senses of the living entities because of the
above-mentioned three modes of nature. But He is the controller of everyone,
including me.
21.
The Lord, who is the controller of all energies, thus creates, by His own
potency, eternal time, the fate of all living entities, and their particular
nature, for which they were created, and He again merges them independently.
22.
After the incarnation of the first purusa [Karanarnavasayi Visnu], the
mahat-tattva, or the principles of material creation, take place, and then time
is manifested, and in course of time the three qualities appear. Nature means
the three qualitative appearances. They transform into activities.
23.
Material activities are caused by the mahat-tattva's being agitated. At first
there is transformation of the modes of goodness and passion, and later--due to
the mode of ignorance--matter, its knowledge, and different activities of
material knowledge come into play.
24.
The self-centered materialistic ego, thus being transformed into three
features, becomes known as the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance in
three divisions, namely the powers that evolve matter, knowledge of material
creations, and the intelligence that guides such materialistic activities.
Narada, you are quite competent to understand this.
25.
From the darkness of false ego, the first of the five elements, namely the sky,
is generated. Its subtle form is the quality of sound, exactly as the seer is
in relationship with the seen.
26-29.
Because the sky is transformed, the air is generated with the quality of touch,
and by previous succession the air is also full of sound and the basic
principles of duration of life: sense perception, mental power and bodily
strength. When the air is transformed in course of time and nature's course,
fire is generated, taking shape with the sense of touch and sound. Since fire
is also transformed, there is a manifestation of water, full of juice and taste.
As previously, it also has form and touch and is also full of sound. And water,
being transformed from all variegatedness on earth, appears odorous and, as
previously, becomes qualitatively full of juice, touch, sound and form
respectively.
30.
From the mode of goodness the mind is generated and becomes manifest, as also
the ten demigods controlling the bodily movements. Such demigods are known as
the controller of directions, the controller of air, the sun-god, the father of
Daksa Prajapati, the Asvini-kumaras, the fire-god, the King of heaven, the
worshipable deity in heaven, the chief of the Adityas, and Brahmaji, the
Prajapati. All come into existence.
31.
By further transformation of the mode of passion, the sense organs like the
ear, skin, nose, eyes, tongue, mouth, hands, genitals, legs, and the outlet for
evacuating, together with intelligence and living energy, are all generated.
32.
O Narada, best of the transcendentalists, the forms of the body cannot take
place as long as these created parts, namely the elements, senses, mind and
modes of nature, are not assembled.
33.
Thus when all these became assembled by force of the energy of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, this universe certainly came into being by accepting
both the primary and secondary causes of creation.
34.
Thus all the universes remained thousands of eons within the water [the Causal
Ocean], and the Lord of living beings, entering in each of them, caused them to
be fully animated.
35.
The Lord [Maha-Visnu], although lying in the Causal Ocean, came out of it, and
dividing Himself as Hiranyagarbha, He entered into each universe and assumed
the virat-rupa, with thousands of legs, arms, mouths, heads, etc.
36.
Great philosophers imagine that the complete planetary systems in the universe
are displays of the different upper and lower limbs of the universal body of
the Lord.
37.
The brahmanas represent His mouth, the ksatriyas His arms, the vaisyas His
thighs, and the sudras are born of His legs.
38.
The lower planetary systems, up to the limit of the earthly stratum, are said
to be situated in His legs. The middle planetary systems, beginning from
Bhuvarloka, are situated in His navel. And the still higher planetary systems,
occupied by the demigods and highly cultured sages and saints, are situated in
the chest of the Supreme Lord.
39.
From the forefront of the chest up to the neck of the universal form of the
Lord are situated the planetary systems named Janaloka and Tapoloka, whereas
Satyaloka, the topmost planetary system, is situated on the head of the form.
The spiritual planets, however, are eternal.
40-41.
My dear son Narada, know from me that there are seven lower planetary systems
out of the total fourteen. The first planetary system, known as Atala, is
situated on the waist; the second, Vitala, is situated on the thighs; the
third, Sutala, on the knees; the fourth, Talatala, on the shanks; the fifth,
Mahatala, on the ankles; the sixth, Rasatala, on the upper portion of the feet;
and the seventh, Patala, on the soles of the feet. Thus the virat form of the
Lord is full of all planetary systems.
42.
Others may divide the whole planetary system into three divisions, namely the
lower planetary systems on the legs [up to the earth], the middle planetary
systems on the navel, and the upper planetary systems [Svarloka] from the chest
to the head of the Supreme Personality.
Chapter Six Purusa-sukta Confirmed
1.
Lord Brahma said: The mouth of the virat-purusa [the universal form of the
Lord] is the generating center of the voice, and the controlling deity is fire.
His skin and six other layers are the generating centers of the Vedic hymns,
and His tongue is the productive center of different foodstuffs and delicacies
for offering to the demigods, the forefathers and the general mass of people.
2.
His two nostrils are the generating centers of our breathing and of all other
airs, His smelling powers generate the Asvini-kumara demigods and all kinds of
medicinal herbs, and His breathing energies produce different kinds of
fragrance.
3.
His eyes are the generating centers of all kinds of forms, and they glitter and
illuminate. His eyeballs are like the sun and the heavenly planets. His ears
hear from all sides and are receptacles for all the Vedas, and His sense of
hearing is the generating center of the sky and of all kinds of sound.
4.
The air is the moving agent of all the planets, and as such the generating
centers for promotion to the deserving planets, the sacrifices, are His bodily
surface and are naturally the origin of all auspicious opportunities.
5.
The hairs on His body are the cause of all vegetation, particularly of those
trees which are required as ingredients for sacrifice. The hairs on His head
and face are reservoirs for the clouds, and His nails are the breeding ground
of electricity, stones and iron ores.
6.
The Lord's arms are the productive fields for the great demigods and other
leaders of the living entities who protect the general mass.
7. Thus the forward steps of the Lord are the
shelter for the upper, lower and heavenly planets, as well as for all that we
need. His lotus feet serve as protection from all kinds of fear.
8.
From the Lord's genitals originate water, semen, generatives, rains, and the
procreators. His genitals are the cause of a pleasure that counteracts the distress
of begetting.
9.
O Narada, the evacuating outlet of the universal form of the Lord is the abode
of the controlling deity of death, Mitra, and the evacuating hole and the
rectum of the Lord is the place of envy, misfortune, death, hell, etc.
10.
The back of the Lord is the place for all kinds of frustration and ignorance,
as well as for immorality. From His veins flow the great rivers and rivulets,
and on His bones are stacked the great mountains.
11.
The impersonal feature of the Lord is the abode of great oceans, and His belly
is the resting place for the materially annihilated living entities. His heart
is the abode of the subtle material bodies of living beings. Thus it is known
by the intelligent class of men.
12.
Also, the consciousness of that great personality is the abode of religious
principles--mine, yours, and those of the four bachelors Sanaka, Sanatana,
Sanat-kumara and Sanandana. That consciousness is also the abode of truth and
transcendental knowledge.
13-16.
Beginning from me [Brahma] down to you and Bhava [Siva], all the great sages
who were born before you, the demigods, the demons, the Nagas, the human
beings, the birds, the beasts, as well as the reptiles, etc., and all
phenomenal manifestations of the universes, namely the planets, stars,
asteroids, luminaries, lightning, thunder, and the inhabitants of the different
planetary systems, namely the Gandharvas, Apsaras, Yaksas, Raksas, Bhutaganas,
Uragas, Pasus, Pitas, Siddhas, Vidyadharas, Caranas, and all other different
varieties of living entities, including the birds, beasts, trees and everything
that be, are all covered by the universal form of the Lord at all times, namely
past, present and future, although He is transcendental to all of them,
eternally existing in a form not exceeding nine inches.
17.
The sun illuminates both internally and externally by expanding its radiation;
similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His universal form,
maintains everything in the creation both internally and externally.
18.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the controller of immortality and
fearlessness, and He is transcendental to death and the fruitive actions of the
material world. O Narada, O brahmana, it is therefore difficult to measure the
glories of the Supreme Person.
19.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is to be known as the supreme reservoir of
all material opulences by the one fourth of His energy in which all the living
entities exist. Deathlessness, fearlessness and freedom from the anxieties of
old age and disease exist in the kingdom of God, which is beyond the three
higher planetary systems and beyond the material coverings.
20.
The spiritual world, which consists of three fourths of the Lord's energy, is
situated beyond this material world, and it is especially meant for those who
will never be reborn. Others, who are attached to family life and who do not
strictly follow celibacy vows, must live within the three material worlds.
21.
By His energies, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead is thus comprehensively
the master in the activities of controlling and in devotional service. He is
the ultimate master of both nescience and factual knowledge of all situations.
22.
From that Personality of Godhead, all the universal globes and the universal
form with all material elements, qualities and senses are generated. Yet He is
aloof from such material manifestations, like the sun, which is separate from
its rays and heat.
23.
When I was born from the abdominal lotus flower of the Lord [Maha-Visnu], the
great person, I had no ingredients for sacrificial performances except the
bodily limbs of the great Personality of Godhead.
24.
For performing sacrificial ceremonies, one requires sacrificial ingredients,
such as flowers, leaves and straw, along with the sacrificial altar and a
suitable time [spring].
25.
Other requirements are utensils, grains, clarified butter, honey, gold, earth,
water, the Rg Veda, Yajur Veda and Sama Veda and four priests to perform the
sacrifice.
26.
Other necessities include invoking the different names of the demigods by
specific hymns and vows of recompense, in accordance with the particular
scripture, for specific purposes and by specific processes.
27.
Thus I had to arrange all these necessary ingredients and paraphernalia of
sacrifice from the personal bodily parts of the Personality of Godhead. By
invocation of the demigods' names, the ultimate goal, Visnu, was gradually
attained, and thus compensation and ultimate offering were complete.
28.
Thus I created the ingredients and paraphernalia for offering sacrifice out of
the parts of the body of the Supreme Lord, the enjoyer of the sacrifice, and I
performed the sacrifice to satisfy the Lord.
29.
My dear son, thereafter your nine brothers, who are the masters of living
creatures, performed the sacrifice with proper rituals to satisfy both the
manifested and nonmanifested personalities.
30.
Thereafter, the Manus, the fathers of mankind, the great sages, the
forefathers, the learned scholars, the Daityas and mankind performed sacrifices
meant to please the Supreme Lord.
31.
All the material manifestations of the universes are therefore situated in His
powerful material energies, which He accepts self-sufficiently, although He is
eternally without affinity for the material modes.
32.
By His will, I create, Lord Siva destroys, and He Himself, in His eternal form
as the Personality of Godhead, maintains everything. He is the powerful
controller of these three energies.
33.
My dear son, whatever you inquired from me I have thus explained unto you, and
you must know for certain that whatever there is (either as cause or as effect,
both in the material and spiritual worlds) is dependent on the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.
34.
O Narada, because I have caught hold of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Hari, with great zeal, whatever I say has never proved to have been
false. Nor is the progress of my mind ever deterred. Nor are my senses ever
degraded by temporary attachment to matter.
35.
Although I am known as the great Brahma, perfect in the disciplic succession of
Vedic wisdom, and although I have undergone all austerities and am an expert in
mystic powers and self-realization, and although I am recognized as such by the
great forefathers of the living entities, who offer me respectful obeisances,
still I cannot understand Him, the Lord, the very source of my birth.
36.
Therefore it is best for me to surrender unto His feet, which alone can deliver
one from the miseries of repeated birth and death. Such surrender is
all-auspicious and allows one to perceive all happiness. Even the sky cannot
estimate the limits of its own expansion. So what can others do when the Lord
Himself is unable to estimate His own limits?
37.
Since neither Lord Siva nor you nor I could ascertain the limits of spiritual
happiness, how can other demigods know it? And because all of us are bewildered
by the illusory external energy of the Supreme Lord, we can see only this
manifested cosmos according to our individual ability.
38.
Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Personality of
Godhead, whose incarnations and activities are chanted by us for glorification,
though He can hardly be fully known as He is.
39.
That supreme original Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, expanding His
plenary portion as Maha-Visnu, the first incarnation, creates this manifested
cosmos, but He is unborn. The creation, however, takes place in Him, and the
material substance and manifestations are all Himself. He maintains them for
some time and absorbs them into Himself again.
40-41.
The Personality of Godhead is pure, being free from all contaminations of
material tinges. He is the Absolute Truth and the embodiment of full and
perfect knowledge. He is all-pervading, without beginning or end, and without
rival. O Narada, O great sage, the great thinkers can know Him when completely
freed from all material hankerings and when sheltered under undisturbed
conditions of the senses. Otherwise, by untenable arguments, all is distorted,
and the Lord disappears from our sight.
42.
Karanarnavasayi Visnu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is
the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the
material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord,
Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and
nonmoving.
43-45.
I myself [Brahma], Lord Siva, Lord Visnu, great generators of living beings
like Daksa and Prajapati, yourselves [Narada and the Kumaras], heavenly
demigods like Indra and Candra, the leaders of the Bhurloka planets, the
leaders of the earthly planets, the leaders of the lower planets, the leaders
of the Gandharva planets, the leaders of the Vidyadhara planets, the leaders of
the Caranaloka planets, the leaders of the Yaksas, Raksas and Uragas, the great
sages, the great demons, the great atheists and the great spacemen, as well as
the dead bodies, evil spirits, satans, jinn, kusmandas, great aquatics, great
beasts and great birds, etc.--in other words, anything and everything which is
exceptionally possessed of power, opulence, mental and perceptual dexterity,
strength, forgiveness, beauty, modesty, opulence, and breeding, whether in form
or formless--may appear to be the specific truth and the form of the Lord, but
actually they are not so. They are only a fragment of the transcendental
potency of the Lord.
46.
O Narada, now I shall state, one after another, the transcendental incarnations
of the Lord known as lila-avataras. Hearing of their activities counteracts all
foul matters accumulated in the ear. These pastimes are pleasing to hear and
are to be relished. Therefore they are in my heart.
Chapter Seven Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions
1.
Lord Brahma said: When the unlimitedly powerful Lord assumed the form of a boar
as a pastime, just to lift the planet earth, which was drowned in the great
ocean of the universe called the Garbhodaka, the first demon [Hiranyaksa]
appeared, and the Lord pierced him with His tusk.
2.
The Prajapati first begot Suyajna, in the womb of his wife Akuti, and then
Suyajna begot demigods, headed by Suyama, in the womb of his wife Daksina.
Suyajna, as the Indradeva, diminished very great miseries in the three
planetary systems [upper, lower and intermediate], and because he so diminished
the miseries of the universe, he was later called Hari by the great father of
mankind, namely Svayambhuva Manu.
3.
The Lord then appeared as the Kapila incarnation, being the son of the
prajapati brahmana Kardama and his wife, Devahuti, along with nine other women
[sisters]. He spoke to His mother about self-realization, by which, in that
very lifetime, she became fully cleansed of the mud of the material modes and
thereby achieved liberation, the path of Kapila.
4.
The great sage Atri prayed for offspring, and the Lord, being satisfied with
him, promised to incarnate as Atri's son, Dattatreya [Datta, the son of Atri].
And by the grace of the lotus feet of the Lord, many Yadus, Haihayas, etc.,
became so purified that they obtained both material and spiritual blessings.
5.
To create different planetary systems I had to undergo austerities and penance,
and the Lord, thus being pleased with me, incarnated in four sanas [Sanaka,
Sanat-kumara, Sanandana and Sanatana]. In the previous creation the spiritual
truth was devastated, but the four sanas explained it so nicely that the truth
at once became clearly perceived by the sages.
6.
To exhibit His personal way of austerity and penance, He appeared in twin forms
as Narayana and Nara in the womb of Murti, the wife of Dharma and the daughter
of Daksa. Celestial beauties, the companions of Cupid, went to try to break His
vows, but they were unsuccessful, for they saw that many beauties like them
were emanating from Him, the Personality of Godhead.
7.
Great stalwarts like Lord Siva can, by their wrathful glances, overcome lust
and vanquish him, yet they cannot be free from the overwhelming effects of
their own wrath. Such wrath can never enter into the heart of Him [the Lord],
who is above all this. So how can lust take shelter in His mind?
8.
Being insulted by sharp words spoken by the co-wife of the king, even in his
presence, Prince Dhruva, though only a boy, took to severe penances in the
forest. And the Lord, being satisfied by his prayer, awarded him the Dhruva planet,
which is worshiped by great sages, both upward and downward.
9.
Maharaja Vena went astray from the path of righteousness, and the brahmanas
chastised him by the thunderbolt curse. By this King Vena was burnt with his
good deeds and opulence and was en route to hell. The Lord, by His causeless
mercy, descended as his son, by the name of Prthu, delivered the condemned King
Vena from hell, and exploited the earth by drawing all kinds of crops as
produce.
10.
The Lord appeared as the son of Sudevi, the wife of King Nabhi, and was known
as Rsabhadeva. He performed materialistic yoga to equibalance the mind. This
stage is also accepted as the highest perfectional situation of liberation,
wherein one is situated in one's self and is completely satisfied.
11.
The Lord appeared as the Hayagriva incarnation in a sacrifice performed by me
[Brahma]. He is the personified sacrifices, and the hue of His body is golden.
He is the personified Vedas as well, and the Supersoul of all demigods. When He
breathed, all the sweet sounds of the Vedic hymns came out of His nostrils.
12.
At the end of the millennium, the would-be Vaivasvata Manu, of the name
Satyavrata, would see that the Lord in the fish incarnation is the shelter of
all kinds of living entities, up to those in the earthly planets. Because of my
fear of the vast water at the end of the millennium, the Vedas come out of my
[Brahma's] mouth, and the Lord enjoys those vast waters and protects the Vedas.
13.
The primeval Lord then assumed the tortoise incarnation in order to serve as a
resting place [pivot] for the Mandara Mountain, which was acting as a churning
rod. The demigods and demons were churning the ocean of milk with the Mandara
Mountain in order to extract nectar. The mountain moved back and forth, scratching
the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was experiencing an
itching sensation.
14.
The Personality of Godhead assumed the incarnation of Nrsimhadeva in order to
vanquish the great fears of the demigods. He killed the king of the demons
[Hiranyakasipu], who challenged the Lord with a club in his hand, by placing
the demon on His thighs and piercing him with His nails, rolling His eyebrows
in anger and showing His fearful teeth and mouth.
15.
The leader of the elephants, whose leg was attacked in a river by a crocodile
of superior strength, was much aggrieved. Taking a lotus flower in his trunk,
he addressed the Lord, saying, "O original enjoyer, Lord of the universe!
O deliverer, as famous as a place of pilgrimage! All are purified simply by
hearing Your holy name, which is worthy to be chanted."
16.
The Personality of Godhead, after hearing the elephant's plea, felt that the
elephant needed His immediate help, for he was in great distress. Thus at once
the Lord appeared there on the wings of the king of birds, Garuda, fully
equipped with His weapon, the wheel [cakra]. With the wheel He cut to pieces
the mouth of the crocodile to save the elephant, and He delivered the elephant
by lifting him by his trunk.
17.
The Lord, although transcendental to all material modes, still surpassed all
the qualities of the sons of Aditi, known as the Adityas. The Lord appeared as
the youngest son of Aditi. And because He surpassed all the planets of the
universe, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the pretense of asking
for a measurement of three footsteps of land, He took away all the lands of
Bali Maharaja. He asked simply because without begging, no authority can take
one's rightful possession.
18.
Bali Maharaja, who put on his head the water washed from the lotus feet of the
Lord, did not think of anything besides his promise, in spite of being
forbidden by his spiritual master. The king dedicated his own personal body to
fulfill the measurement of the Lord's third step. For such a personality, even
the kingdom of heaven, which he conquered by his strength, was of no value.
19.
O Narada, you were taught about the science of God and His transcendental
loving service by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation of Hamsavatara.
He was very much pleased with you, due to your intense proportion of devotional
service. He also explained unto you, lucidly, the full science of devotional
service, which is especially understandable by persons who are souls
surrendered unto Lord Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead.
20.
As the incarnation of Manu, the Lord became the descendant of the Manu dynasty
and ruled over the miscreant kingly order, subduing them by His powerful wheel
weapon. Undeterred in all circumstances, His rule was characterized by His
glorious fame, which spread over the three lokas, and above them to the
planetary system of Satyaloka, the topmost in the universe.
21.
The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of
the ever-diseased living entities simply by his fame personified, and only
because of him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of
Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices,
and it is he only who inaugurated the medical science or the knowledge of medicine
in the universe.
22.
When the ruling administrators, who are known as the ksatriyas, turned astray
from the path of the Absolute Truth, being desirous to suffer in hell, the
Lord, in His incarnation as the sage Parasurama, uprooted those unwanted kings,
who appeared as the thorns of the earth. Thus He thrice seven times uprooted
the ksatriyas with His keenly sharpened chopper.
23.
Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in
the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under
the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived
there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was
very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great
offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.
24.
The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate
friend [Sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like
those of Mara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean,
trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics
like the sharks, snakes and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the
angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.
25.
When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried
the King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of
Ravana, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Ravana
therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the
fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his
laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased
with the tingling sound of the bow of Ramacandra, the Personality of Godhead.
26.
When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no
faith in God, the Lord, just to diminish the distress of the world, descends
with His plenary portion. The Lord comes in His original form, with beautiful
black hair. And just to expand His transcendental glories, He acts
extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.
27.
There is no doubt about Lord Krsna's being the Supreme Lord, otherwise how was
it possible for Him to kill a giant demon like Putana when He was just on the
lap of His mother, to overturn a cart with His leg when He was only three
months old, to uproot a pair of arjuna trees, so high that they touched the
sky, when He was only crawling? All these activities are impossible for anyone
other than the Lord Himself.
28.
Then also when the cowherd boys and their animals drank the poisoned water of
the River Yamuna, and after the Lord [in His childhood] revived them by His
merciful glance, just to purify the water of the River Yamuna He jumped into it
as if playing and chastised the venomous Kaliya snake, which was lurking there,
its tongue emitting waves of poison. Who can perform such herculean tasks but
the Supreme Lord ?
29.
On the very night of the day of the chastisement of the Kaliya snake, when the
inhabitants of Vrajabhumi were sleeping carefreely, there was a forest fire
ablaze due to dry leaves, and it appeared that all the inhabitants were sure to
meet their death. But the Lord, along with Balarama, saved them simply by
closing His eyes. Such are the superhuman activities of the Lord.
30.
When the cowherd woman [Krsna's foster mother, Yasoda] was trying to tie the
hands of her son with ropes, she found the rope to be always insufficient in
length, and when she finally gave up, Lord Krsna, by and by, opened His mouth,
wherein the mother found all the universes situated. Seeing this, she was
doubtful in her mind, but she was convinced in a different manner of the mystic
nature of her son.
31.
Lord Krsna saved His foster father, Nanda Maharaja, from the fear of the
demigod Varuna and released the cowherd boys from the caves of the mountain,
for they were placed there by the son of Maya. Also, to the inhabitants of
Vrndavana, who were busy working during daytime and sleeping soundly at night
because of their hard labor in the day, Lord Krsna awarded promotion to the
highest planet in the spiritual sky. All these acts are transcendental and
certainly prove without any doubt His Godhood.
32.
When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering
sacrifice to the heavenly King, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja
was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days.
Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up
the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven
years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.
33.
When the Lord was engaged in His pastimes of the rasa dance in the forest of
Vrndavana, enlivening the sexual desires of the wives of the inhabitants of
Vrndavana by sweet and melodious songs, a demon of the name Sankhacuda, a rich
follower of the treasurer of heaven [Kuvera], kidnapped the damsels, and the
Lord severed his head from his trunk.
34-35.
All demonic personalities like Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kesi, Arista, Canura,
Mustika, Kuvalayapida elephant, Kamsa, Yavana, Narakasura and Paundraka, great
marshals like Salva, Dvivida monkey and Balvala, Dantavakra, the seven bulls,
Sambara, Viduratha and Rukmi, as also great warriors like Kamboja, Matsya,
Kuru, Srnjaya and Kekaya, would all fight vigorously, either with the Lord Hari
directly or with Him under His names of Baladeva, Arjuna, Bhima, etc. And the
demons, thus being killed, would attain either the impersonal brahmajyoti or
His personal abode in the Vaikuntha planets.
36.
The Lord Himself in His incarnation as the son of Satyavati [Vyasadeva] will
consider his compilation of the Vedic literature to be very difficult for the
less intelligent persons with short life, and thus He will divide the tree of
Vedic knowledge into different branches, according to the circumstances of the
particular age.
37.
When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge,
annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on
well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder
their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on
subreligious principles.
38.
Thereafter, at the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject
of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of
the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the
hands of ministers elected from the lowborn sudra class or those less than
them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word,
at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser.
39.
At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [Brahma], and the
Prajapatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the
creation, there are Lord Visnu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the
kings of different planets. But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord
Siva and the atheists full of anger, etc. All of them are different
representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.
40.
Who can describe completely the prowess of Visnu? Even the scientist, who might
have counted the particles of the atoms of the universe, cannot do so. Because
it is He only who in His form of Trivikrama moved His leg effortlessly beyond
the topmost planet, Satyaloka, up to the neutral state of the three modes of
material nature. And all were moved.
41.
Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent
Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about
Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Sesa, has not been able to
reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of
the Lord with ten hundred faces.
42.
But anyone who is specifically favored by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of
Godhead, due to unalloyed surrender unto the service of the Lord, can overcome
the insurmountable ocean of illusion and can understand the Lord. But those who
are attached to this body, which is meant to be eaten at the end by dogs and
jackals, cannot do so.
43-45.
O Narada, although the potencies of the Lord are unknowable and immeasurable,
still, because we are all surrendered souls, we know how He acts through
yogamaya potencies. And, similarly, the potencies of the Lord are also known to
the all-powerful Siva, the great king of the atheist family, namely Prahlada
Maharaja, Svayambhuva Mahu, his wife Satarupa, his sons and daughters like
Priyavrata, Uttanapada, Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti, Pracinabarhi, Rbhu, Anga
the father of Vena, Maharaja Dhruva, Iksvaku, Aila, Mucukunda, Maharaja Janaka,
Gadhi, Raghu, Ambarisa, Sagara, Gaya, Nahusa, Mahdhata, Alarka, Satadhanve,
Anu, Rantideva, Bhisma, Bali, Amurttaraya, Dilipa, Saubhari, Utanka, Sibi,
Devala, Pippalada, Sarasvata, Uddhava, Parasara, Bhurisena, Vibhisana, Hanuman,
Sukadeva Gosvami, Arjuna, Arstisena, Vidura, Srutadeva, etc.
46.
Surrendered souls, even from groups leading sinful lives, such as women, the
laborer class, the mountaineers and the Siberians, or even the birds and
beasts, can also know about the science of Godhead and become liberated from
the clutches of the illusory energy by surrendering unto the pure devotees of
the Lord and by following in their footsteps in devotional service.
47.
What is realized as the Absolute Brahman is full of unlimited bliss without
grief. That is certainly the ultimate phase of the supreme enjoyer, the
Personality of Godhead. He is eternally void of all disturbances and fearless.
He is complete consciousness as opposed to matter. Uncontaminated and without
distinctions, He is the principle primeval cause of all causes and effects, in
whom there is no sacrifice for fruitive activities and in whom the illusory
energy does not stand.
48.
In such a transcendental state there is no need of artificial control of the
mind, mental speculation or meditation, as performed by the jnanis and yogis.
One gives up such processes, as the heavenly King, Indra, forgoes the trouble
to dig a well.
49.
The Personality of Godhead is the supreme master of everything auspicious
because the results of whatever actions are performed by the living being, in
either the material or spiritual existence, are awarded by the Lord. As such,
He is the ultimate benefactor. Every individual living entity is unborn, and
therefore even after the annihilation of the material elementary body, the
living entity exists, exactly like the air within the body.
50.
My dear son, I have now explained in brief the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
who is creator of the manifested worlds. Without Him, Hari, the Lord, there are
no other causes of the phenomenal and noumenal existences.
51.
O Narada, this science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam, was spoken to me in summary
by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it was spoken as the accumulation of
His diverse potencies. Please expand this science yourself.
52.
Please describe the science of Godhead with determination and in a manner by
which it will be quite possible for the human being to develop transcendental
devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead Hari, the Supersoul of every
living being and the summum bonum source of all energies.
53.
The Lord's activities in association with His different energies should be
described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the
Supreme Lord. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure
to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord.
Chapter Eight Questions by King Pariksit
1.
King Pariksit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami: How did Narada Muni, whose
hearers are as fortunate as those instructed by Lord Brahma, explain the
transcendental qualities of the Lord, who is without material qualities, and
before whom did he speak?
2.
The King said: I wish to know. Narrations concerning the Lord, who possesses
wonderful potencies, are certainly auspicious for living beings in all planets.
3.
O greatly fortunate Sukadeva Gosvami, please continue narrating
Srimad-Bhagavatam so that I can place my mind upon the Supreme Soul, Lord
Krsna, and, being completely freed from material qualities, thus relinquish
this body.
4.
Persons who hear Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly and are always taking the matter
very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna manifested in
their hearts within a short time.
5.
The sound incarnation of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Soul [i.e. Srimad-Bhagavatam],
enters into the heart of a self-realized devotee, sits on the lotus flower of
his loving relationship, and thus cleanses the dust of material association,
such as lust, anger and hankering. Thus it acts like autumnal rains upon pools
of muddy water.
6.
A pure devotee of the Lord whose heart has once been cleansed by the process of
devotional service never relinquishes the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, for they
fully satisfy him, as a traveler is satisfied at home after a troubled journey.
7.
O learned brahmana, the transcendental spirit soul is different from the
material body. Does he acquire the body accidentally or by some cause? Will you
kindly explain this, for it is known to you.
8.
If the Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whose abdomen the lotus stem
sprouted, is possessed of a gigantic body according to His own caliber and
measurement, then what is the specific difference between the body of the Lord
and those of common living entities?
9.
Brahma, who was not born of a material source but of the lotus flower coming
out of the navel abdomen of the Lord, is the creator of all those who are
materially born. Of course, by the grace of the Lord, Brahma was able to see
the form of the Lord.
10.
Please also explain the Personality of Godhead, who lies in every heart as the
Supersoul, and as the Lord of all energies, but is untouched by His external
energy.
11.
O learned brahmana, it was formerly explained that all the planets of the
universe with their respective governors are situated in the different parts of
the gigantic body of the virat-purusa. I have also heard that the different
planetary systems are supposed to be in the gigantic body of the virat-purusa.
But what is their actual position? Will you please explain that?
12.
Also please explain the duration of time between creation and annihilation, and
that of other subsidiary creations, as well as the nature of time, indicated by
the sound of past, present and future. Also, please explain the duration and
measurement of life of the different living beings known as the demigods, the
human beings, etc., in different planets of the universe.
13.
O purest of the brahmanas, please also explain the cause of the different
durations of time, both short and long, as well as the beginning of time,
following the course of action.
14.
Then again, kindly describe how the proportionate accumulation of the reactions
resulting from the different modes of material nature act upon the desiring
living being, promoting or degrading him among the different species of life,
beginning from the demigods down to the most insignificant creatures.
15.
O best of the brahmanas, please also describe how the creation of the globes
throughout the universe, the four directions of the heavens, the sky, the
planets, the stars, the mountains, the rivers, the seas and the islands, as
well as their different kinds of inhabitants, takes place.
16.
Also, please describe the inner and outer space of the universe by specific
divisions, as well as the character and activities of the great souls, and also
the characteristics of the different classifications of the castes and orders
of social life.
17.
Please explain all the different ages in the duration of the creation, and also
the duration of such ages. Also tell me about the different activities of the
different incarnations of the Lord in different ages.
18.
Please also explain what may generally be the common religious affiliations of
human society, as well as their specific occupational duties in religion, the
classification of the social orders as well as the administrative royal orders,
and the religious principles for one who may be in distress.
19.
Kindly explain all about the elementary principles of creation, the number of
such elementary principles, their causes, and their development, and also the
process of devotional service and the method of mystic powers.
20.
What are the opulences of the great mystics, and what is their ultimate
realization? How does the perfect mystic become detached from the subtle astral
body? What is the basic knowledge of the Vedic literatures, including the
branches of history and the supplementary Puranas?
21.
Please explain unto me how the living beings are generated, how they are
maintained, and how they are annihilated. Tell me also of the advantages and
disadvantages of discharging devotional service unto the Lord. What are the
Vedic rituals and injunctions of the supplementary Vedic rites, and what are
the procedures of religion, economic development and sense satisfaction?
22.
Please also explain how, merged in the body of the Lord, living beings are
created, and how the infidels appear in the world. Also please explain how the
unconditioned living entities exist.
23.
The independent Personality of Godhead enjoys His pastimes by His internal
potency and at the time of annihilation gives them up to the external potency,
and He remains a witness to it all.
24.
O great sage, representative of the Lord, kindly satisfy my inquisitiveness in
all that I have inquired from you and all that I may not have inquired from you
from the very beginning of my questionings. Since I am a soul surrendered unto
you, please impart full knowledge in this connection.
25.
O great sage, you are as good as Brahma, the original living being. Others
follow custom only, as followed by the previous philosophical speculators.
26.
O learned brahmana, because of my drinking the nectar of the message of the
infallible Personality of Godhead, which is flowing down from the ocean of your
speeches, I do not feel any sort of exhaustion due to my fasting.
27.
Suta Gosvami said: Thus Sukadeva Gosvami, being invited by Maharaja Pariksit to
speak on topics of the Lord Sri Krsna with the devotees, was very much pleased.
28.
He began to reply to the inquiries of Maharaja Pariksit by saying that the
science of the Personality of Godhead was spoken first by the Lord Himself to
Brahma when he was first born. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supplementary Vedic
literature, and it is just in pursuance of the Vedas.
29.
He also prepared himself to reply to all that King Pariksit had inquired from
him. Maharaja Pariksit was the best in the dynasty of the Pandus, and thus he
was able to ask the right questions from the right person.
Chapter Nine Answers by Citing the Lord's Version
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of
the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship
is just like a dreamer's seeing his own body working.
2.
The illusioned living entity appears in so many forms offered by the external
energy of the Lord. While enjoying in the modes of material nature, the encaged
living entity misconceives, thinking in terms of "I" and
"mine."
3.
As soon as the living entity becomes situated in his constitutional glory and
begins to enjoy the transcendence beyond time and material energy, he at once
gives up the two misconceptions of life [I and mine] and thus becomes fully
manifested as the pure self.
4.
O King, the Personality of Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord Brahma
because of his nondeceptive penance in bhakti-yoga, presented His eternal and
transcendental form before Brahma. And that is the objective goal for purifying
the conditioned soul.
5.
Lord Brahma, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not
trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the
material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative
work, nor could he find out the process for such creation.
6.
While thus engaged in thinking, in the water, Brahmaji heard twice from nearby
two syllables joined together. One of the syllables was taken from the
sixteenth and the other from the twenty-first of the sparsa alphabets, and both
joined to become the wealth of the renounced order of life.
7.
When he heard the sound, he tried to find the speaker, searching on all sides.
But when he was unable to find anyone besides himself, he thought it wise to
sit down on his lotus seat firmly and give his attention to the execution of
penance, as he was instructed.
8.
Lord Brahma underwent penances for one thousand years by the calculations of
the demigods. He heard this transcendental vibration from the sky, and he
accepted it as divine. Thus he controlled his mind and senses, and the penances
he executed were a great lesson for the living entities. Thus he is known as
the greatest of all ascetics.
9.
The Personality of Godhead, being thus very much satisfied with the penance of
Lord Brahma, was pleased to manifest His personal abode, Vaikuntha, the supreme
planet above all others. This transcendental abode of the Lord is adored by all
self-realized persons freed from all kinds of miseries and fear of illusory
existence.
10.
In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion
do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no
predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory,
external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the
demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees.
11.
The inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets are described as having a glowing
sky-bluish complexion. Their eyes resemble lotus flowers, their dress is of
yellowish color, and their bodily features very attractive. They are just the
age of growing youths, they all have four hands, they are all nicely decorated
with pearl necklaces with ornamental medallions, and they all appear to be
effulgent.
12.
Some of them are effulgent like coral and diamonds in complexion and have
garlands on their heads, blooming like lotus flowers, and some wear earrings.
13.
The Vaikuntha planets are also surrounded by various airplanes, all glowing and
brilliantly situated. These airplanes belong to the great mahatmas or devotees
of the Lord. The ladies are as beautiful as lightning because of their
celestial complexions, and all these combined together appear just like the sky
decorated with both clouds and lightning.
14.
The goddess of fortune in her transcendental form is engaged in the loving
service of the Lord's lotus feet, and being moved by the black bees, followers
of spring, she is not only engaged in variegated pleasure--service to the Lord,
along with her constant companions--but is also engaged in singing the glories
of the Lord's activities.
15.
Lord Brahma saw in the Vaikuntha planets the Personality of Godhead, who is the
Lord of the entire devotee community, the Lord of the goddess of fortune, the
Lord of all sacrifices, and the Lord of the universe, and who is served by the
foremost servitors like Nanda, Sunanda, Prabala and Arhana, His immediate
associates.
16.
The Personality of Godhead, seen leaning favorably towards His loving
servitors, His very sight intoxicating and attractive, appeared to be very much
satisfied. He had a smiling face decorated with an enchanting reddish hue. He
was dressed in yellow robes and wore earrings and a helmet on his head. He had
four hands, and His chest was marked with the lines of the goddess of fortune.
17.
The Lord was seated on His throne and was surrounded by different energies like
the four, the sixteen, the five, and the six natural opulences, along with
other insignificant energies of the temporary character. But He was the factual
Supreme Lord, enjoying His own abode.
18.
Lord Brahma, thus seeing the Personality of Godhead in His fullness, was
overwhelmed with joy within his heart, and thus in full transcendental love and
ecstasy, his eyes filled with tears of love. He thus bowed down before the
Lord. That is the way of the highest perfection for the living being
[paramahamsa].
19.
And seeing Brahma present before Him, the Lord accepted him as worthy to create
living beings, to be controlled as He desired, and thus being much satisfied
with him, the Lord shook hands with Brahma and, slightly smiling, addressed him
thus.
20.
The beautiful Personality of Godhead addressed Lord Brahma: O Brahma,
impregnated with the Vedas, I am very much pleased with your long accumulated
penance with the desire for creation. Hardly am I pleased with the pseudo
mystics.
21.
I wish you good luck. O Brahma, you may ask from Me, the giver of all
benediction, all that you may desire. You may know that the ultimate
benediction, as the result of all penances, is to see Me by realization.
22.
The highest perfectional ingenuity is the personal perception of My abodes, and
this has been possible because of your submissive attitude in the performance
of severe penance according to My order.
23.
O sinless Brahma, you may know from Me that it was I who first ordered you to
undergo penance when you were perplexed in your duty. Such penance is My heart
and soul, and therefore penance and I are nondifferent.
24.
I create this cosmos by such penance, I maintain it by the same energy, and I
withdraw it all by the same energy. Therefore the potential power is penance
only.
25.
Lord Brahma said: O Personality of Godhead, You are situated in every living
entity's heart as the supreme director, and therefore You are aware of all
endeavors by Your superior intelligence, without any hindrance whatsoever.
26.
In spite of that, my Lord, I am praying to You to kindly fulfill my desire. May
I please be informed how, in spite of Your transcendental form, You assume the
mundane form, although You have no such form at all.
27.
And [please inform me] how You, by Your own Self, manifest different energies
for annihilation, generation, acceptance and maintenance by combination and
permutation.
28.
O master of all energies, please tell me philosophically all about them. You
play like a spider that covers itself by its own energy, and Your determination
is infallible.
29.
Please tell me so that I may be taught in the matter by the instruction of the
Personality of Godhead and may thus act instrumentally to generate living
entities, without being conditioned by such activities.
30.
O my Lord, the unborn, You have shaken hands with me just as a friend does with
a friend [as if equal in position]. I shall be engaged in the creation of
different types of living entities, and I shall be occupied in Your service. I
shall have no perturbation, but I pray that all this may not give rise to
pride, as if I were the Supreme.
31.
The Personality of Godhead said: Knowledge about Me as described in the
scriptures is very confidential, and it has to be realized in conjunction with
devotional service. The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being
explained by Me. You may take it up carefully.
32.
All of Me, namely My actual eternal form and My transcendental existence,
color, qualities and activities--let all be awakened within you by factual
realization, out of My causeless mercy.
33.
Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the
creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature,
the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality
of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality
of Godhead.
34.
O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me,
has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to
be in darkness.
35.
O Brahma, please know that the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at
the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist
within everything created, and at the same time I am outside of everything.
36.
A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of
Godhead, most certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all
space and time, and both directly and indirectly.
37.
O Brahma, just follow this conclusion by fixed concentration of mind, and no
pride will disturb you, neither in the partial nor in the final devastation.
38.
Sukadeva Gosvami said to Maharaja Pariksit: The Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Hari, after being seen in His transcendental form, instructing Brahmaji, the
leader of the living entities, disappeared.
39.
On the disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, who is the
object of transcendental enjoyment for the senses of devotees, Brahma, with
folded hands, began to re-create the universe, full with living entities, as it
was previously.
40.
Thus once upon a time the forefather of living entities and the father of
religiousness, Lord Brahma, situated himself in acts of regulative principles,
desiring self-interest for the welfare of all living entities.
41.
Narada, the most dear of the inheritor sons of Brahma, always ready to serve
his father, strictly follows the instructions of his father by his mannerly
behavior, meekness and sense control.
42.
Narada very much pleased his father and desired to know all about the energies
of Visnu, the master of all energies, for Narada was the greatest of all sages
and greatest of all devotees, O King.
43.
The great sage Narada also inquired in detail from his father, Brahma, the
great-grandfather of all the universe, after seeing him well satisfied.
44.
Thereupon the supplementary Vedic literature, Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was
described by the Personality of Godhead and which contains ten characteristics,
was told with satisfaction by the father [Brahma] to his son Narada.
45.
In succession, O King, the great sage Narada instructed Srimad-Bhagavatam unto
the unlimitedly powerful Vyasadeva, who meditated in devotional service upon the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, on the bank of the River
Sarasvati.
46.
O King, your questions as to how the universe became manifested from the
gigantic form of the Personality of Godhead, as well as other questions, I
shall answer in detail by explanation of the four verses already mentioned.
Chapter Ten Bhagavatam Is the Answer to All Questions
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: In the Srimad-Bhagavatam there are ten divisions of
statements regarding the following: the creation of the universe, subcreation,
planetary systems, protection by the Lord, the creative impetus, the change of
Manus, the science of God, returning home, back to Godhead, liberation, and the
summum bonum.
2.
To isolate the transcendence of the summum bonum, the symptoms of the rest are
described sometimes by Vedic inference, sometimes by direct explanation, and
sometimes by summary explanations given by the great sages.
3.
The elementary creation of sixteen items of matter--namely the five elements
[fire, water, land, air and sky], sound, form, taste, smell, touch, and the
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin and mind--is known as sarga, whereas subsequent
resultant interaction of the modes of material nature is called visarga.
4.
The right situation for the living entities is to obey the laws of the Lord and
thus be in perfect peace of mind under the protection of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. The Manus and their laws are meant to give right
direction in life. The impetus for activity is the desire for fruitive work.
5.
The science of God describes the incarnations of the Personality of Godhead and
His different activities together with the activities of His great devotees.
6.
The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency,
with the mystic lying down of the Maha-Visnu is called the winding up of the
cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the
living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material
bodies.
7.
The supreme one who is celebrated as the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul is
the supreme source of the cosmic manifestation as well as its reservoir and
winding up. Thus He is the Supreme Fountainhead, the Absolute Truth.
8.
The individual person possessing different instruments of senses is called the
adhyatmic person, and the individual controlling deity of the senses is called
adhidaivic. The embodiment seen on the eyeballs is called the adhibhautic
person.
9.
All three of the above-mentioned stages of different living entities are interdependent.
In the absence of one, another is not understood. But the Supreme Being who
sees every one of them as the shelter of the shelter is independent of all, and
therefore He is the supreme shelter.
10.
After separating the different universes, the gigantic universal form of the
Lord [Maha-Visnu], which came out of the causal ocean, the place of appearance
for the first purusa-avatara, entered into each of the separate universes,
desiring to lie on the created transcendental water [Garbhodaka].
11.
That Supreme Person is not impersonal and therefore is distinctively a nara, or
person. Therefore the transcendental water created from the Supreme Nara is
known as nara. And because He lies down on that water, He is known as Narayana.
12.
One should definitely know that all material ingredients, activities, time and
modes, and the living entities who are meant to enjoy them all, exist by His
mercy only, and as soon as He does not care for them, everything becomes
nonexistent.
13.
The Lord, while lying on His bed of mystic slumber, generated the seminal
symbol, golden in hue, through external energy out of His desire to manifest
varieties of living entities from Himself alone.
14.
Just hear from me how the potency of His Lordship divides one into three, called
the controlling entities, the controlled entities and the material bodies, in
the manner mentioned above.
15.
From the sky situated within the transcendental body of the manifesting
Maha-Visnu, sense energy, mental force and bodily strength are all generated,
as well as the sum total of the fountainhead of the total living force.
16.
As the followers of a king follow their lord, similarly when the total energy
is in motion, all other living entities move, and when the total energy stops
endeavoring, all other living entities stop sensual activities.
17.
The living force, being agitated by the virat-purusa, generated hunger and
thirst, and when He desired to drink and eat, the mouth opened.
18.
From the mouth the palate became manifested, and thereupon the tongue was also
generated. After this all the different tastes came into existence so that the
tongue can relish them.
19.
When the Supreme desired to speak, speeches were vibrated from the mouth. Then
the controlling deity Fire was generated from the mouth. But when He was lying
in the water, all these functions remained suspended.
20.
Thereafter, when the supreme purusa desired to smell odors, the nostrils and
respiration were generated, the nasal instrument and odors came into existence,
and the controlling deity of air, carrying smell, also became manifested.
21.
Thus when everything existed in darkness, the Lord desired to see Himself and
all that was created. Then the eyes, the illuminating god Sun, the power of
vision and the object of sight all became manifested.
22.
By development of the desire of the great sages to know, the ears, the power of
hearing, the controlling deity of hearing, and the objects of hearing became
manifested. The great sages desired to hear about the Self.
23.
When there was a desire to perceive the physical characteristics of matter,
such as softness, hardness, warmth, cold, lightness and heaviness, the
background of sensation, the skin, the skin pores, the hairs on the body and
their controlling deities (the trees) were generated. Within and outside the
skin is a covering of air through which sense perception became prominent.
24.
Thereafter when the Supreme Person desired to perform varieties of work, the
two hands and their controlling strength, and Indra, the demigod in heaven,
became manifested, as also the acts dependent on both the hands and the
demigod.
25.
Thereupon, because of His desiring to control movement, His legs became
manifested, and from the legs the controlling deity named Visnu was generated.
By His personal supervision of this act, all varieties of human being are
busily engaged in dutiful occupational sacrifice.
26.
Thereupon, for sexual pleasure, begetting offspring and tasting heavenly
nectar, the Lord developed the genitals, and thus there is the genital organ
and its controlling deity, the Prajapati. The object of sexual pleasure and the
controlling deity are under the control of the genitals of the Lord.
27.
Thereafter, when He desired to evacuate the refuse of eatables, the evacuating
hole, anus, and the sensory organ thereof developed along with the controlling
deity Mitra. The sensory organ and the evacuating substance are both under the
shelter of the controlling deity.
28.
Thereafter, when He desired to move from one body to another, the navel and the
air of departure and death were combinedly created. The navel is the shelter
for both, namely death and the separating force.
29.
When there was a desire to have food and drink, the abdomen and the intestines
and also the arteries became manifested. The rivers and seas are the source of
their sustenance and metabolism.
30.
When there was a desire to think about the activities of His own energy, then
the heart (the seat of the mind), the mind, the moon, determination and all
desire became manifested.
31.
The seven elements of the body, namely the thin layer on the skin, the skin
itself, the flesh, blood, fat, marrow and bone, are all made of earth, water
and fire, whereas the life breath is produced by the sky, water and air.
32.
The sense organs are attached to the modes of material nature, and the modes of
material nature are products of the false ego. The mind is subjected to all
kinds of material experiences (happiness and distress), and the intelligence is
the feature of the mind's deliberation.
33.
Thus by all this, the external feature of the Personality of Godhead is covered
by gross forms such as those of planets, which were explained to you by me.
34.
Therefore beyond this [gross manifestation] is a transcendental manifestation
finer than the finest form. It has no beginning, no intermediate stage and no
end; therefore it is beyond the limits of expression or mental speculation and
is distinct from the material conception.
35.
Neither of the above forms of the Lord, as just described unto you from the
material angle of vision, is accepted by the pure devotees of the Lord who know
Him well.
36.
He, the Personality of Godhead, manifests Himself in a transcendental form,
being the subject of His transcendental name, quality, pastimes, entourage and
transcendental variegatedness. Although He is unaffected by all such
activities, He appears to be so engaged.
37-40.
O King, know from me that all living entities are created by the Supreme Lord
according to their past deeds. This includes Brahma and his sons like Daksa,
the periodical heads like Vaivasvata Manu, the demigods like Indra, Candra and
Varuna, the great sages like Bhrgu, Vyasa and Vasistha, the inhabitants of
Pitrloka and Siddhaloka, the Caranas, Gandharvas, Vidyadharas, Asuras, Yaksas,
Kinnaras and angels, the serpentines, the monkey-shaped Kimpurusas, the human
beings, the inhabitants of Matrloka, the demons, Pisacas, ghosts, spirits,
lunatics and evil spirits, the good and evil stars, the goblins, the animals in
the forest, the birds, the household animals, the reptiles, the mountains, the
moving and standing living entities, the living entities born from embryos,
from eggs, from perspiration and from seeds, and all others, whether they be in
the water, land or sky, in happiness, in distress or in mixed happiness and
distress. All of them, according to their past deeds, are created by the
Supreme Lord.
41.
According to the different modes of material nature--the mode of goodness, the
mode of passion and the mode of darkness--there are different living creatures,
who are known as demigods, human beings and hellish living entities. O King,
even a particular mode of nature, being mixed with the other two, is divided
into three, and thus each kind of living creature is influenced by the other
modes and acquires its habits also.
42.
He, the Personality of Godhead, as the maintainer of all in the universe,
appears in different incarnations after establishing the creation, and thus He
reclaims all kinds of conditioned souls amongst the humans, the nonhumans and
the demigods.
43.
Thereafter, at the end of the millennium, the Lord Himself in the form of
Rudra, the destroyer, will annihilate the complete creation as the wind
displaces the clouds.
44.
The great transcendentalists thus describe the activities of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, but the pure devotees deserve to see more glorious
things in transcendence, beyond these features.
45.
There is no direct engineering by the Lord for the creation and destruction of
the material world. What is described in the Vedas about His direct
interference is simply to counteract the idea that material nature is the
creator.
46.
This process of creation and annihilation described in summary herein is the
regulative principle during the duration of Brahma's one day. It is also the
regulative principle in the creation of mahat, in which the material nature is
dispersed.
47.
O King, I shall in due course explain the measurement of time in its gross and
subtle features with the specific symptoms of each, but for the present let me
explain unto you the Padma-kalpa.
48.
Saunaka Rsi, after hearing all about the creation, inquired from Suta Gosvami
about Vidura, for Suta Gosvami had previously informed him how Vidura left
home, leaving aside all his relatives, who were very difficult to leave.
49-50.
Saunaka Rsi said: Let us know, please, what topics were discussed between
Vidura and Maitreya, who talked on transcendental subjects, and what was
inquired by Vidura and replied by Maitreya. Also please let us know the reason
for Vidura's giving up the connection of his family members, and why he again
came home. Please also let us know the activities of Vidura while he was in the
places of pilgrimage.
51.
Sri Suta Gosvami explained: I shall now explain to you the very subjects explained
by the great sage in answer to King Pariksit's inquiries. Please hear them
attentively.
CANTO THREE
Chapter One Questions by Vidura
1. Sukadeva Gosvami
said: After renouncing his prosperous home and entering the forest, King
Vidura, the great devotee, asked this question of His Grace Maitreya Rsi.
2.
What else is there to say about the residential house of the Pandavas? Sri
Krsna, the Lord of everything, acted as your minister. He used to enter that
house as if it were His own, and He did not take any care of Duryodhana's
house.
3.
The King asked Sukadeva Gosvami: Where and when did the meeting and discussion
take place between Saint Vidura and His Grace Maitreya Muni? Kindly oblige, my
lord, and describe this to us.
4.
Saint Vidura was a great and pure devotee of the Lord, and therefore his
questions to His Grace Rsi Maitreya must have been very purposeful, on the
highest level, and approved by learned circles.
5.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: The great sage Sukadeva Gosvami was highly experienced
and was pleased with the King. Thus being questioned by the King, he said to
him, "Please hear the topics attentively."
6.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: King Dhrtarastra became blind under the influence of
impious desires to nourish his dishonest sons, and thus he set fire to the
lacquer house to burn his fatherless nephews, the Pandavas.
7.
The King did not forbid his son Duhsasana's abominable action of grabbing the
hair of Draupadi, the wife of the godly King Yudhisthira, even though her tears
washed the red dust on her breast.
8.
Yudhisthira, who was born without any enemy, was unfairly defeated in gambling.
But because he had taken the vow of truthfulness, he went off to the forest.
When he came back in due course and begged the return of his rightful share of
the kingdom, he was refused by Dhrtarastra, who was overwhelmed by illusion.
9.
Lord Krsna was sent by Arjuna into the assembly as the spiritual master of the
whole world, and although His words were heard by some [like Bhisma] as pure
nectar, it was not so for the others, who were completely bereft of the last
farthing of past pious works. The King [Dhrtarastra or Duryodhana] did not take
the words of Lord Krsna very seriously.
10.
When Vidura was invited by his elder brother [Dhrtarastra] for consultation, he
entered the house and gave instructions which were exactly to the point. His
advice is well known, and instructions by Vidura are approved by expert
ministers of state.
11.
[Vidura said:] You must now return the legitimate share to Yudhisthira, who has
no enemies and who has been forbearing through untold sufferings due to your
offenses. He is waiting with his younger brothers, among whom is the revengeful
Bhima, breathing heavily like a snake. Surely you are afraid of him.
12.
Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, has accepted the sons of Prtha as His
kinsmen, and all the kings of the world are with Lord Sri Krsna. He is present
in His home with all His family members, the kings and princes of the Yadu
dynasty, who have conquered an unlimited number of rulers, and He is their
Lord.
13.
You are maintaining offense personified, Duryodhana, as your infallible son,
but he is envious of Lord Krsna. And because you are thus maintaining a
nondevotee of Krsna, you are devoid of all auspicious qualities. Relieve yourself
of this ill fortune as soon as possible and do good to the whole family!
14.
While speaking thus, Vidura, whose personal character was esteemed by
respectable persons, was insulted by Duryodhana, who was swollen with anger and
whose lips were trembling. Duryodhana was in company with Karna, his younger
brothers and his maternal uncle Sakuni.
15.
Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that
he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown
up. Toss him out of the palace immediately and leave him with only his breath.
16.
Thus being pierced by arrows through his ears and afflicted to the core of his
heart, Vidura placed his bow on the door and quit his brother's palace. He was
not sorry, for he considered the acts of the external energy to be supreme.
17.
By his piety, Vidura achieved the advantages of the pious Kauravas. After
leaving Hastinapura, he took shelter of many places of pilgrimages, which are
the Lord's lotus feet. With a desire to gain a high order of pious life, he
traveled to holy places where thousands of transcendental forms of the Lord are
situated.
18.
He began to travel alone, thinking only of Krsna, through various holy places
like Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura. He traveled where the air, hill, orchard,
river and lake are all pure and sinless and where the forms of the Unlimited
decorate the temples. Thus he performed the pilgrim's progress.
19.
While so traversing the earth, he simply performed duties to please the Supreme
Lord Hari. His occupation was pure and independent. He was constantly
sanctified by taking his bath in holy places, although he was in the dress of a
mendicant and had no hair dressing nor a bed on which to lie. Thus he was
always unseen by his various relatives.
20.
Thus, when he was in the land of Bharatavarsa traveling to all the places of
pilgrimage, he visited Prabhasaksetra. At that time Maharaja Yudhisthira was
the emperor and held the world under one military strength and one flag.
21.
At the place of pilgrimage at Prabhasa, it came to his knowledge that all his
relatives had died due to violent passion, just as an entire forest burns due
to fire produced by the friction of bamboos. After this he proceeded west,
where the River Sarasvati flows.
22.
On the bank of the River Sarasvati there were eleven places of pilgrimage,
namely, (1) Trita, (2) Usana, (3) Mahu, (4) Prthu, (5) Agni, (6) Asita, (7)
Vayu, (8) Sudasa, (9) Go, (10) Guha and (11) Sraddhadeva. Vidura visited all of
them and duly performed rituals.
23.
There were also many other temples of various forms of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead Visnu, established by great sages and demigods. These temples were
marked with the chief emblems of the Lord, and they reminded one always of the
original Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna.
24.
Thereafter he passed through very wealthy provinces like Surat, Sauvira and
Matsya and through western India, known as Kurujangala. At last he reached the
bank of the Yamuna, where he happened to meet Uddhava, the great devotee of
Lord Krsna.
25.
Then, due to his great love and feeling, Vidura embraced him [Uddhava], who was
a constant companion of Lord Krsna and formerly a great student of Brhaspati's.
Vidura then asked him for news of the family of Lord Krsna, the Personality of
Godhead.
26.
[Please tell me] whether the original Personalities of Godhead, who incarnated
Themselves at the request of Brahma [who is born out of the lotus flower from
the Lord] and who have increased the prosperity of the world by elevating
everyone, are doing well in the house of Surasena.
27.
[Please tell me] whether the best friend of the Kurus, our brother-in-law
Vasudeva, is doing well. He is very munificent. He is like a father to his
sisters, and he is always pleasing to his wives.
28.
O Uddhava, please tell me how is Pradyumna, the commander-in-chief of the
Yadus, who was Cupid in a former life? Rukmini bore him as her son from Lord
Krsna, by the grace of brahmanas whom she pleased.
29.
O my friend, [tell me] whether Ugrasena, the King of the Satvatas, Vrsnis,
Bhojas and Dasarhas, is now doing well. He went far away from his kingdom,
leaving aside all hopes of his royal throne, but Lord Krsna again installed
him.
30.
O gentle one, does Samba fare well? He exactly resembles the son of the
Personality of Godhead. In a previous birth he was born as Karttikeya in the
womb of the wife of Lord Siva, and now he has been born in the womb of
Jambavati, the most enriched wife of Krsna.
31.
O Uddhava, does Yuyudhana fare well? He learned the intricacies of the military
art from Arjuna and attained the transcendental destination which is very
difficult to reach even for great renouncers.
32.
Please tell me whether Akrura, the son of Svaphalka, is doing well. He is a
faultless soul surrendered unto the Personality of Godhead. He once lost his
mental equilibrium due to his ecstasy of transcendental love and fell down on
the dust of a road which was marked with the footprints of Lord Krsna.
33.
As the Vedas are the reservoir of sacrificial purposes, so the daughter of King
Devaka-bhoja conceived the Supreme Personality of Godhead in her womb, as did
the mother of the demigods. Is she [Devaki] doing well?
34.
May I inquire whether Aniruddha is doing well? He is the fulfiller of all the
desires of the pure devotees and has been considered from yore to be the cause
of the Rg Veda, the creator of the mind and the fourth Plenary expansion of
Visnu.
35.
O sober one, others, such as Hrdika, Carudesna, Gada and the son of Satyabhama,
who accept Lord Sri Krsna as the soul of the self and thus follow His path
without deviation--are they well?
36.
Also let me inquire whether Maharaja Yudhisthira is now maintaining the kingdom
according to religious principles and with respect for the path of religion.
Formerly Duryodhana was burning with envy because Yudhisthira was being
protected by the arms of Krsna and Arjuna as if they were his own arms.
37.
[Please tell me] whether the unconquerable Bhima, who is like a cobra, has
released his long-cherished anger upon the sinners? The field of battle could
not tolerate even the wonderful playing of his club when he stepped on the
path.
38.
[Please tell me] whether Arjuna, whose bow bears the name Gandiva and who is
always famous amongst the chariot warriors for vanquishing his enemies, is
doing well. He once satisfied Lord Siva by covering him with arrows when Siva
came as an unidentified false hunter.
39.
Are the twin brothers who are protected by their brothers doing well? Just as
the eye is always protected by the eyelid, they are protected by the sons of
Prtha, who snatched back their rightful kingdom from the hands of their enemy
Duryodhana, just as Garuda snatched nectar from the mouth of Indra, the
thunderbolt carrier.
40.
O my lord, is Prtha still living? She lived only for the sake of her fatherless
children; otherwise it was impossible for her to live without King Pandu, who
was the greatest commander and who alone conquered the four directions simply
with the help of a second bow.
41.
O gentle one, I simply lament for he [Dhrtarastra] who rebelled against his
brother after death. By him I was driven out of my own house, although I am his
sincere well-wisher, because he accepted the line of action adopted by his own
sons.
42.
I am not astonished at this, having traveled over the world without being seen
by others. The activities of the Personality of Godhead, which are like those
of a man in this mortal world, are bewildering to others, but I know of His
greatness by His grace, and thus I am happy in all respects.
43.
Despite His being the Lord and being always willing to relieve the distress of
sufferers, He [Krsna] refrained from killing the Kurus, although they committed
all sorts of sins and although He saw other kings constantly agitating the
earth by their strong military movements carried out under the dictation of
three kinds of false pride.
44.
The appearance of the Lord is manifested for the annihilation of the upstarts.
His activities are transcendental and are enacted for the understanding of all
persons. Otherwise, since the Lord is transcendental to all material modes,
what purpose could He serve by coming to earth?
45.
O my friend, please, therefore, chant the glories of the Lord, who is meant to
be glorified in the places of pilgrimage. He is unborn, and yet He appears by
His causeless mercy upon the surrendered rulers of all parts of the universe.
Only for their interest did He appear in the family of His unalloyed devotees
the Yadus.
Chapter Two Remembrance of Lord Krsna
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: When the great devotee Uddhava was asked by Vidura
to speak on the messages of the dearest [Lord Krsna], Uddhava was unable to
answer immediately due to excessive anxiety at the remembrance of the Lord.
2.
He was one who even in his childhood, at the age of five years, was so absorbed
in the service of Lord Krsna that when he was called by his mother for morning
breakfast, he did not wish to have it.
3.
Uddhava thus served the Lord continually from childhood, and in his old age
that attitude of service never slackened. As soon as he was asked about the
message of the Lord, he at once remembered all about Him.
4.
For a moment he remained dead silent, and his body did not move. He became
absorbed in the nectar of remembering the Lord's lotus feet in devotional ecstasy,
and he appeared to be going increasingly deeper into that ecstasy.
5.
It was so observed by Vidura that Uddhava had all the transcendental bodily
changes due to total ecstasy, and he was trying to wipe away tears of
separation from his eyes. Thus Vidura could understand that Uddhava had
completely assimilated extensive love for the Lord.
6.
The great devotee Uddhava soon came back from the abode of the Lord to the
human plane, and wiping his eyes, he awakened his reminiscence of the past and
spoke to Vidura in a pleasing mood.
7.
Sri Uddhava said: My dear Vidura, the sun of the world, Lord Krsna, has set,
and our house has now been swallowed by the great snake of time. What can I say
to you about our welfare?
8.
This universe with all its planets is most unfortunate. And even more
unfortunate are the members of the Yadu dynasty because they could not identify
Lord Hari as the Personality of Godhead, any more than the fish could identify
the moon.
9.
The Yadus were all experienced devotees, learned and expert in psychic study.
Over and above this, they were always with the Lord in all kinds of
relaxations, and still they were only able to know Him as the one Supreme who
dwells everywhere.
10.
Under no circumstances can the words of persons bewildered by the illusory
energy of the Lord deviate the intelligence of those who are completely
surrendered souls.
11.
Lord Sri Krsna, who manifested His eternal form before the vision of all on the
earth, performed His disappearance by removing His form from the sight of those
who were unable to see Him [as He is] due to not executing required penance.
12.
The Lord appeared in the mortal world by His internal potency, yoga-maya. He
came in His eternal form, which is just suitable for His pastimes. These
pastimes were wonderful for everyone, even for those proud of their own
opulence, including the Lord Himself in His form as the Lord of Vaikuntha. Thus
His [Sri Krsna's] transcendental body is the ornament of all ornaments.
13.
All the demigods from the upper, lower and middle universal planetary systems
assembled at the altar of the rajasuya sacrifice performed by Maharaja
Yudhisthira. After seeing the beautiful bodily features of Lord Krsna, they all
contemplated that He was the ultimate dexterous creation of Brahma, the creator
of human beings.
14.
The damsels of Vraja, after pastimes of laughter, humor and exchanges of
glances, were anguished when Krsna left them. They used to follow Him with
their eyes, and thus they sat down with stunned intelligence and could not finish
their household duties.
15.
The Personality of Godhead, the all-compassionate controller of both the
spiritual and material creations, is unborn, but when there is friction between
His peaceful devotees and persons who are in the material modes of nature, He
takes birth just like fire, accompanied by the mahat-tattva.
16.
When I think of Lord Krsna--how He was born in the prison house of Vasudeva
although He is unborn, how He went away from His father's protection to Vraja
and lived there incognito out of fear of the enemy, and how, although
unlimitedly powerful, He fled from Mathura in fear--all these bewildering
incidents give me distress.
17.
Lord Krsna begged pardon from His parents for Their [Krsna's and Balarama's]
inability to serve their feet, due to being away from home because of great
fear of Kamsa. He said, "O mother, O father, please excuse Us for this
inability." All this behavior of the Lord gives me pain at heart.
18.
Who, after smelling the dust of His lotus feet even once, could ever forget it?
Simply by expanding the leaves of His eyebrows, Krsna has given the deathblow
to those who were burdening the earth.
19.
You have personally seen how the King of Cedi [Sisupala] achieved success in
yoga practice, although he hated Lord Krsna. Even the actual yogis aspire after
such success with great interest by performance of their various practices. Who
can tolerate separation from Him?
20.
Certainly others who were fighters on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra were
purified by the onslaught of Arjuna's arrows, and while seeing the lotuslike
face of Krsna, so pleasing to the eyes, they achieved the abode of the Lord.
21.
Lord Sri Krsna is the Lord of all kinds of threes and is independently supreme
by achievement of all kinds of fortune. He is worshiped by the eternal
maintainers of the creation, who offer Him the paraphernalia of worship by
touching their millions of helmets to His feet.
22.
Therefore, O Vidura, does it not pain us, His servitors, when we remember that
He [Lord Krsna] used to stand before King Ugrasena, who was sitting on the
royal throne, and used to submit explanations before him, saying, "O My
lord, please let it be known to you"?
23.
Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the
position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she
prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?
24.
I consider the demons, who are inimical toward the Lord, to be more than the
devotees because while fighting with the Lord, absorbed in thoughts of enmity,
they are able to see the Lord carried on the shoulder of Garuda, the son of
Tarksya [Kasyapa], and carrying the wheel weapon in His hand.
25.
The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, being prayed to by Brahma to bring
welfare to the earth, was begotten by Vasudeva in the womb of his wife Devaki
in the prison of the King of Bhoja.
26.
Thereafter, His father, being afraid of Kamsa, brought Him to the cow pastures
of Maharaja Nanda, and there He lived for eleven years like a covered flame
with His elder brother, Baladeva.
27.
In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded by cowherd boys and calves,
and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamuna River, through gardens densely
covered with trees and filled with vibrations of chirping birds.
28.
When the Lord displayed His activities just suitable for childhood, He was
visible only to the residents of Vrndavana. Sometimes He would cry and
sometimes laugh, just like a child, and while so doing He would appear like a
lion cub.
29.
While herding the very beautiful bulls, the Lord, who was the reservoir of all
opulence and fortune, used to blow His flute, and thus He enlivened His
faithful followers, the cowherd boys.
30.
The great wizards who were able to assume any form were engaged by the King of
Bhoja, Kamsa, to kill Krsna, but in the course of His pastimes the Lord killed
them as easily as a child breaks dolls.
31.
The inhabitants of Vrndavana were perplexed by great difficulties because a
certain portion of the Yamuna was poisoned by the chief of the reptiles
[Kaliya]. The Lord chastised the snake-king within the water and drove him
away, and after coming out of the river, He caused the cows to drink the water
and proved that the water was again in its natural state.
32.
The Supreme Lord, Krsna, desired to utilize the opulent financial strength of
Maharaja Nanda for worship of the cows, and also He wanted to give a lesson to
Indra, the King of heaven. Thus He advised His father to perform worship of go,
or the pasturing land and the cows, with the help of learned brahmanas.
33.
O sober Vidura, King Indra, his honor having been insulted, poured water
incessantly on Vrndavana, and thus the inhabitants of Vraja, the land of cows,
were greatly distressed. But the compassionate Lord Krsna saved them from
danger with His pastime umbrella, the Govardhana Hill.
34.
In the third season of the year, the Lord enjoyed as the central beauty of the
assembly of women by attracting them with His pleasing songs in an autumn night
brightened by moonshine.
Chapter Three Remembrance of Lord Krsna
1.
Sri Uddhava said: Thereafter Lord Krsna went to Mathura City with Sri Baladeva,
and to please Their parents They dragged Kamsa, the leader of public enemies,
down from his throne and killed him, pulling him along the ground with great
strength.
2.
The Lord learned all the Vedas with their different branches simply by hearing
them once from His teacher, Sandipani Muni, whom He rewarded by bringing back
his dead son from the region of Yamaloka.
3.
Attracted by the beauty and fortune of Rukmini, the daughter of King Bhismaka,
many great princes and kings assembled to marry her. But Lord Krsna, stepping
over the other hopeful candidates, carried her away as His own share, as Garuda
carried away nectar.
4.
By subduing seven bulls whose noses were not pierced, the Lord achieved the
hand of Princess Nagnijiti in the open competition to select her bridegroom.
Although the Lord was victorious, His competitors asked the hand of the
princess, and thus there was a fight. Well equipped with weapons, the Lord
killed or wounded all of them, but He was not hurt Himself.
5.
Just to please His dear wife, the Lord brought back the parijata tree from
heaven, just as an ordinary husband would do. But Indra, the King of heaven,
induced by his wives (henpecked as he was), ran after the Lord with full force
to fight Him.
6.
Narakasura, the son of Dharitri, the earth, tried to grasp the whole sky, and
for this he was killed by the Lord in a fight. His mother then prayed to the
Lord. This led to the return of the kingdom to the son of Narakasura, and thus
the Lord entered the house of the demon.
7.
There in the house of the demon, all the princesses kidnapped by Narakasura at
once became alert upon seeing the Lord, the friend of the distressed. They looked
upon Him with eagerness, joy and shyness and offered to be His wives.
8.
All those princesses were lodged in different apartments, and the Lord
simultaneously assumed different bodily expansions exactly matching each and
every princess. He accepted their hands in perfect rituals by His internal
potency.
9.
Just to expand Himself according to His transcendental features, the Lord begot
in each and every one of them ten offspring with exactly His own qualities.
10.
Kalayavana, the King of Magadha and Salva attacked the city of Mathura, but
when the city was encircled by their soldiers, the Lord refrained from killing
them personally, just to show the power of His own men.
11.
Of kings like Sambara, Dvivida, Bana, Mura, Balvala and many other demons, such
as Dantavakra, some He killed Himself, and some He caused to be killed by
others [Sri Baladeva, etc.].
12.
Then, O Vidura, the Lord caused all the kings, both the enemies and those on
the side of your fighting nephews, to be killed in the Battle of Kuruksetra.
All those kings were so great and strong that the earth seemed to shake as they
traversed the warfield.
13.
Duryodhana was bereft of his fortune and duration of life because of the
intricacy of ill advice given by Karna, Duhsasana and Saubala. When he lay on
the ground with his followers, his thighs broken although he was powerful, the
Lord was not happy to see the scene.
14.
[After the end of the Battle of Kuruksetra, the Lord said:] The abatement of
the earth's great burden, eighteen aksauhinis, has now been effected with the
help of Drona, Bhisma, Arjuna and Bhima. But what is this? There is still the
great strength of the Yadu dynasty, born of Myself, which may be a more
unbearable burden.
15.
When they quarrel among themselves, influenced by intoxication, with their eyes
red like copper because of drinking [madhu], then only will they disappear;
otherwise, it will not be possible. On My disappearance, this incident will
take place.
16.
Lord Sri Krsna, thus thinking to Himself, established Maharaja Yudhisthira in
the position of supreme control of the world in order to show the ideal of
administration on the path of piety.
17.
The embryo of Puru's descendant begotten by the great hero Abhimanyu in the
womb of Uttara, his wife, was burnt by the weapon of the son of Drona, but
later he was again protected by the Lord.
18.
The Supreme Lord induced the son of Dharma to perform three horse sacrifices,
and Maharaja Yudhisthira, constantly following Krsna, the Personality of
Godhead, protected and enjoyed the earth, assisted by his younger brothers.
19.
Simultaneously, the Personality of Godhead enjoyed life in the city of Dvaraka,
strictly in conformity with the Vedic customs of society. He was situated in
detachment and knowledge, as enunciated by the Sankhya system of philosophy.
20.
He was there in His transcendental body, the residence of the goddess of
fortune, with His usual gentle and sweetly smiling face, His nectarean words
and His flawless character.
21.
The Lord enjoyed His pastimes, both in this world and in other worlds [higher
planets], specifically in the association of the Yadu dynasty. At leisure hours
offered by night, He enjoyed the friendship of conjugal love with women.
22.
The Lord was thus engaged in household life for many, many years, but at last
His detachment from ephemeral sex life was fully manifested.
23.
Every living entity is controlled by a supernatural force, and thus his sense
enjoyment is also under the control of that supernatural force. No one,
therefore, can put his faith in Lord Krsna's transcendental sense activities
but one who has become a devotee of the Lord by rendering devotional service.
24.
Once upon a time, great sages were made angry by the sporting activities of the
princely descendants of the Yadu and Bhoja dynasties, and thus, as desired by
the Lord, the sages cursed them.
25.
A few months passed, and then, bewildered by Krsna, all the descendants of
Vrsni, Bhoja and Andhaka who were incarnations of demigods went to Prabhasa,
while those who were eternal devotees of the Lord did not leave but remained in
Dvaraka.
26.
After arriving there, all of them took bath, and with the water of this place
of pilgrimage they offered their respects to the forefathers, demigods and
great sages and thus satisfied them. They gave cows to the brahmanas in royal
charity.
27.
The brahmanas were not only given well-fed cows in charity, but also gold, gold
coins, bedding, clothing, animal-skin seats, blankets, horses, elephants, girls
and sufficient land for maintenance.
28.
Thereafter they offered the brahmanas highly delicious foodstuffs first offered
to the Personality of Godhead and offered their respectful obeisances by
touching their heads to the ground. They lived perfectly by protecting the cows
and the brahmanas.
Chapter Four Vidura Approaches Maitreya
1.
Sri Uddhava said: Thereafter, all of them [the descendants of Vrsni and Bhoja],
being permitted by the brahmanas, partook of the remnants of prasada and also
drank liquor made of rice. By drinking they all became delirious, and, bereft
of knowledge, they touched the cores of each other's hearts with harsh words.
2.
As by the friction of bamboos destruction takes place, so also, at sunset, by
the interaction of the faults of intoxication, all their minds became
unbalanced, and destruction took place.
3.
The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, after foreseeing the end [of His
family] by His internal potency, went to the bank of the River Sarasvati,
sipped water, and sat down underneath a tree.
4.
The Lord is the vanquisher of the distresses of one who is surrendered unto
Him. Thus He who desired to destroy His family told me previously to go to
Badarikasrama.
5.
Yet in spite of my knowing His desire [to destroy the dynasty], O Arindama
[Vidura], I followed Him because it was impossible for me to bear separation
from the lotus feet of the master.
6.
Thus following, I saw my patron and master [Lord Sri Krsna] sitting alone and
deeply thinking, taking shelter on the bank of the River Sarasvati although He
is the shelter of the goddess of fortune.
7.
The Lord's body is blackish, but is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and
very, very beautiful. His eyes are always peaceful, and they are reddish like
the rising morning sun. I could immediately recognize Him as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead by His four hands, different symbolic representations,
and yellow silk garments.
8.
The Lord was sitting, taking rest against a young banyan tree, with His right
lotus foot on His left thigh, and although He had left all household comforts,
He looked quite cheerful in that posture.
9.
At that time, after traveling in many parts of the world, Maitreya, a great
devotee of the Lord and a friend and well-wisher of the great sage
Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa, reached that spot out of his own perfect accord.
10.
Maitreya Muni was greatly attached to Him [the Lord], and he was listening in a
pleasing attitude, with his shoulder lowered. With a smile and a particular
glance upon me, having allowed me to rest, the Lord spoke as follows.
11.
O Vasu, I know from within your mind what you desired in the days of yore when
the Vasus and other demigods responsible for expanding the universal affairs
performed sacrifices. You particularly desired to achieve My association. This
is very difficult to obtain for others, but I award it unto you.
12.
O honest one, your present life is the last and the supermost because in this
term of life you have been awarded My ultimate favor. Now you can go to My
transcendental abode, Vaikuntha, by leaving this universe of conditioned living
entities. Your visit to Me in this lonely place because of your pure and
unflinching devotional service is a great boon for you.
13.
O Uddhava, in the lotus millennium in the days of yore, at the beginning of the
creation, I spoke unto Brahma, who is situated on the lotus that grows out of
My navel, about My transcendental glories, which the great sages describe as
Srimad-Bhagavatam.
14.
Uddhava said: O Vidura, when I was thus favored at every moment by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and addressed by Him with great affection, my words
failed in tears, and the hairs on my body erupted. After smearing my tears, I,
with folded hands, spoke like this.
15.
O my Lord, devotees who engage in the transcendental loving service of Your
lotus feet have no difficulty in achieving anything within the realm of the
four principles of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and
liberation. But, O great one, as far as I am concerned, I have preferred only
to engage in the loving service of Your lotus feet.
16.
My Lord, even the learned sages become disturbed in their intelligence when
they see that Your Greatness engages in fruitive work although You are free
from all desires, that You take birth although You are unborn, that You flee
out of fear of the enemy and take shelter in a fort although You are the
controller of invincible time, and that You enjoy householder life surrounded
by many women although You enjoy in Your Self.
17.
O my Lord, Your eternal Self is never divided by the influence of time, and
there is no limitation to Your perfect knowledge. Thus You were sufficiently
able to consult with Yourself, yet You called upon me for consultation, as if
bewildered, although You are never bewildered. And this act of Yours bewilders
me.
18.
My Lord, kindly explain to us, if You think us competent to receive it, that
transcendental knowledge which gives enlightenment about Yourself and which You
explained before to Brahmaji.
19.
When I thus expressed my heartfelt desires unto the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the lotus-eyed Lord instructed me about His transcendental situation.
20.
I have studied the path of understanding self-knowledge from my spiritual
master, the Personality of Godhead, and thus after circumambulating Him I have
come to this place, very much aggrieved due to separation.
21.
My dear Vidura, now I am mad for want of the pleasure of seeing Him, and just
to mitigate this I am now proceeding to Badarikasrama in the Himalayas for
association, as I have been instructed by Him.
22.
There in Badarikasrama the Personality of Godhead, in His incarnation as the
sages Nara and Narayana, has been undergoing great penance since time
immemorial for the welfare of all amiable living entities.
23.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: After hearing from Uddhava all about the
annihilation of his friends and relatives, the learned Vidura pacified his
overwhelming bereavement by dint of his transcendental knowledge.
24.
While Uddhava, the chief and most confidential amongst the devotees of the
Lord, was going away, Vidura, in affection and confidence, questioned him.
25.
Vidura said: O Uddhava, because the servants of Visnu, the Lord, wander in the
interest of serving others, it is quite fit that you kindly describe the
self-knowledge with which you have been enlightened by the Lord Himself.
26.
Sri Uddhava said: You may take lessons from the great learned sage Maitreya,
who is nearby and who is worshipable for reception of transcendental knowledge.
He was directly instructed by the Personality of Godhead while He was about to
quit this mortal world.
27.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, after thus discussing with Vidura the
transcendental name, fame, qualities, etc., on the bank of the Yamuna, Uddhava
was overwhelmed with great affliction. He passed the night as if it were a
moment, and thereafter he went away.
28.
The King inquired: At the end of the pastimes of the Lord of the three worlds,
Sri Krsna, and after the disappearance of the members of the Vrsni and Bhoja
dynasties, who were the best of the great commanders, why did Uddhava alone
remain?
29.
Sukadeva Gosvami replied: My dear King, the cursing of the brahmanas was only a
plea, but the actual fact was the supreme desire of the Lord. He wanted to
disappear from the face of the earth after dispatching His excessively numerous
family members. He thought to Himself as follows.
30.
Now I shall leave the vision of this mundane world, and I see that Uddhava, the
foremost of My devotees, is the only one who can be directly entrusted with
knowledge about Me.
31.
Uddhava is not inferior to Me in any way because he is never affected by the
modes of material nature. Therefore he may remain in this world in order to
disseminate specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead.
32.
Sukadeva Gosvami informed the King that Uddhava, being thus instructed by the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the source of all Vedic knowledge and
the spiritual master of the three worlds, reached the pilgrimage site of
Badarikasrama and engaged himself there in trance to satisfy the Lord.
33.
Vidura also heard from Uddhava about the appearance and disappearance of Lord
Krsna, the Supersoul, in the mortal world, which is a subject matter sought
after with great perseverance by the great sages.
34.
The Lord's glorious acts and His acceptance of various transcendental forms for
the performance of extraordinary pastimes in the mortal world are very
difficult for anyone other than His devotees to understand, and for the beasts
they are simply a mental disturbance.
35.
Understanding that he was remembered by Lord Krsna [while quitting this world],
Vidura began to cry loudly, overwhelmed by the ecstasy of love.
36.
After passing a few days on the bank of the River Yamuna, Vidura, the
self-realized soul, reached the bank of the Ganges, where the great sage
Maitreya was situated.
Chapter Five Vidura's Talks with Maitreya
1.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Vidura, the best amongst the Kuru dynasty, who was
perfect in devotional service to the Lord, thus reached the source of the
celestial Ganges River [Hardwar], where Maitreya, the great, fathomless learned
sage of the world, was seated. Vidura, who was perfect in gentleness and
satisfied in transcendence, inquired from him.
2.
Vidura said: O great sage, everyone in this world engages in fruitive
activities to attain happiness, but one finds neither satiation nor the
mitigation of distress. On the contrary, one is only aggravated by such
activities. Please, therefore, give us directions on how one should live for
real happiness.
3.
O my lord, great philanthropic souls travel on the earth on behalf of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are
averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.
4.
Therefore, O great sage, please give me instruction on the transcendental
devotional service of the Lord, so that He who is situated in the heart of
everyone can be pleased to impart, from within, knowledge of the Absolute Truth
in terms of the ancient Vedic principles delivered only to those who are
purified by the process of devotional service.
5.
O great sage, kindly narrate how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the
independent, desireless Lord of the three worlds and the controller of all
energies, accepts incarnations and creates the cosmic manifestation with
perfectly arranged regulative principles for its maintenance.
6.
He lies down on His own heart spread in the form of the sky, and thus placing
the whole creation in that space, He expands Himself into many living entities,
which are manifested as different species of life. He does not have to endeavor
for His maintenance, because He is the master of all mystic powers and the
proprietor of everything. Thus He is distinct from the living entities.
7.
You may narrate also about the auspicious characteristics of the Lord in His different
incarnations for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. Our
minds are never satisfied completely, although we continuously hear of His
transcendental activities.
8.
The Supreme King of all kings has created different planets and places of
habitation where living entities are situated in terms of the modes of nature
and work, and He has created their different kings and rulers.
9.
O chief amongst the brahmanas, please also describe how Narayana, the creator
of the universe and the self-sufficient Lord, has differently created the
natures, activities, forms, features and names of the different living
creatures.
10.
O my lord, I have repeatedly heard about these higher and lower statuses of
human society from the mouth of Vyasadeva, and I am quite satiated with all
these lesser subject matters and their happiness. They have not satisfied me
with the nectar of topics about Krsna.
11.
Who in human society can be satisfied without hearing sufficient talk of the
Lord, whose lotus feet are the sum total of all places of pilgrimage and who is
worshiped by great sages and devotees? Such topics can cut off one's bondage to
family affection simply by entering the holes of one's ears.
12.
Your friend the great sage Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa has already described the
transcendental qualities of the Lord in his great work the Mahabharata. But the
whole idea is to draw the attention of the mass of people to krsna-katha
[Bhagavad-gita] through their strong affinity for hearing mundane topics.
13.
For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, krsna-katha
gradually increases his indifference towards all other things. Such constant
remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna by the devotee who has achieved
transcendental bliss vanquishes all his miseries without delay.
14.
O sage, persons who because of their sinful activities are averse to the topics
of Transcendence and thus ignorant of the purpose of the Mahabharata
[Bhagavad-gita] are pitied by the pitiable. I also pity them because I see how
their duration of life is spoiled by eternal time while they involve themselves
in presentations of philosophical speculation, theoretical ultimate goals of
life, and different modes of ritual.
15.
O Maitreya, O friend of the distressed, the glories of the Supreme Lord can
alone do good for people all over the world. Therefore, just as bees collect
honey from flowers, kindly describe the essence of all topics--the topics of
the Lord.
16.
Kindly chant all those superhuman transcendental activities of the supreme
controller, the Personality of Godhead, who accepted incarnations fully
equipped with all potency for the full manifestation and maintenance of the
cosmic creation.
17.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: The great sage Maitreya Muni, after honoring Vidura very
greatly, began to speak, at Vidura's request, for the greatest welfare of all
people.
18.
Sri Maitreya said: O Vidura, all glory unto you. You have inquired from me of
the greatest of all goodness, and thus you have shown your mercy both to the world
and to me because your mind is always absorbed in thoughts of the
Transcendence.
19.
O Vidura, it is not at all wonderful that you have so accepted the Lord without
deviation of thought, for you were born from the semen of Vyasadeva.
20.
I know that you are now Vidura due to the cursing of Mandavya Muni and that
formerly you were King Yamaraja, the great controller of living entities after
their death. You were begotten by the son of Satyavati, Vyasadeva, in the kept
wife of his brother.
21.
Your good self is one of the eternal associates of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead for whose sake the Lord, while going back to His abode, left
instructions with me.
22.
I shall therefore describe to you the pastimes by which the Personality of
Godhead extends His transcendental potency for the creation, maintenance and
dissolution of the cosmic world as they occur one after another.
23.
The Personality of Godhead, the master of all living entities, existed prior to
the creation as one without a second. It is by His will only that creation is
made possible and again everything merges in Him. This Supreme Self is
symptomized by different names.
24.
The Lord, the undisputed proprietor of everything, was the only seer. The
cosmic manifestation was not present at that time, and thus He felt imperfect
without His plenary and separated parts and parcels. The material energy was
dormant, whereas the internal potency was manifested.
25.
The Lord is the seer, and the external energy, which is seen, works as both
cause and effect in the cosmic manifestation. O greatly fortunate Vidura, this
external energy is known as maya or illusion, and through her agency only is
the entire material manifestation made possible.
26.
The Supreme Living Being in His feature as the transcendental purusa
incarnation, who is the Lord's plenary expansion, impregnates the material
nature of three modes, and thus by the influence of eternal time the living
entities appear.
27.
Thereafter, influenced by the interactions of eternal time, the supreme sum
total of matter called the mahat-tattva became manifested, and in this
mahat-tattva the unalloyed goodness, the Supreme Lord, sowed the seeds of
universal manifestation out of His own body.
28.
Thereafter the mahat-tattva differentiated itself into many different forms as
the reservoir of the would-be entities. The mahat-tattva is chiefly in the mode
of ignorance, and it generates the false ego. It is a plenary expansion of the
Personality of Godhead, with full consciousness of creative principles and time
for fructification.
29.
Mahat-tattva, or the great causal truth, transforms into false ego, which is
manifested in three phases--cause, effect and the doer. All such activities are
on the mental plane and are based on the material elements, gross senses and
mental speculation. The false ego is represented in three different
modes--goodness, passion and ignorance.
30.
The false ego is transformed into mind by interaction with the mode of
goodness. All the demigods who control the phenomenal world are also products
of the same principle, namely the interaction of false ego and the mode of
goodness.
31.
The senses are certainly products of the mode of passion in false ego, and
therefore philosophical speculative knowledge and fruitive activities are
predominantly products of the mode of passion.
32.
The sky is a product of sound, and sound is the transformation of egoistic
passion. In other words, the sky is the symbolic representation of the Supreme
Soul.
33.
Thereafter the Personality of Godhead glanced over the sky, partly mixed with
eternal time and external energy, and thus developed the touch sensation, from
which the air in the sky was produced.
34.
Thereafter the extremely powerful air, interacting with the sky, generated the
form of sense perception, and the perception of form transformed into
electricity, the light to see the world.
35.
When electricity was surcharged in the air and was glanced over by the Supreme,
at that time, by a mixture of eternal time and external energy, there occurred
the creation of water and taste.
36.
Thereafter the water produced from electricity was glanced over by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and mixed with eternal time and external energy. Thus it
was transformed into the earth, which is qualified primarily by smell.
37.
O gentle one, of all the physical elements, beginning from the sky down to the
earth, all the inferior and superior qualities are due only to the final touch
of the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
38.
The controlling deities of all the above-mentioned physical elements are
empowered expansions of Lord Visnu. They are embodied by eternal time under the
external energy, and they are His parts and parcels. Because they were
entrusted with different functions of universal duties and were unable to
perform them, they offered fascinating prayers to the Lord as follows.
39.
The demigods said: O Lord, Your lotus feet are like an umbrella for the
surrendered souls, protecting them from all the miseries of material existence.
All the sages under that shelter throw off all material miseries. We therefore
offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet.
40.
O Father, O Lord, O Personality of Godhead, the living entities in the material
world can never have any happiness because they are overwhelmed by the three
kinds of miseries. Therefore they take shelter of the shade of Your lotus feet,
which are full of knowledge, and we also thus take shelter of them.
41.
The lotus feet of the Lord are by themselves the shelter of all places of
pilgrimage. The great clear-minded sages, carried by the wings of the Vedas,
always search after the nest of Your lotuslike face. Some of them surrender to
Your lotus feet at every step by taking shelter of the best of rivers [the
Ganges], which can deliver one from all sinful reactions.
42.
Simply by hearing about Your lotus feet with eagerness and devotion and by
meditating upon them within the heart, one at once becomes enlightened with
knowledge, and on the strength of detachment one becomes pacified. We must
therefore take shelter of the sanctuary of Your lotus feet.
43.
O Lord, You assume incarnations for the creation, maintenance and dissolution
of the cosmic manifestation, and therefore we all take shelter of Your lotus
feet because they always award remembrance and courage to Your devotees.
44.
O Lord, persons who are entangled by undesirable eagerness for the temporary
body and kinsmen, and who are bound by thoughts of "mine" and
"I," are unable to see Your lotus feet, although Your lotus feet are
situated within their own bodies. But let us take shelter of Your lotus feet.
45.
O great Supreme Lord, offensive persons whose internal vision has been too
affected by external materialistic activities cannot see Your lotus feet, but
they are seen by Your pure devotees, whose one and only aim is to
transcendentally enjoy Your activities.
46.
O Lord, persons who, because of their serious attitude, attain the stage of
enlightened devotional service achieve the complete meaning of renunciation and
knowledge and attain the Vaikunthaloka in the spiritual sky simply by drinking
the nectar of Your topics.
47.
Others, who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have
conquered over the modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also
enter into You, but for them there is much pain, whereas the devotee simply
discharges devotional service and thus feels no such pain.
48.
O Original Person, we are therefore but Yours only. Although we are Your
creatures, we are born one after another under the influence of the three modes
of nature, and for this reason we are separated in action. Therefore, after the
creation we could not act concertedly for Your transcendental pleasure.
49.
O unborn one, please enlighten us regarding the ways and means by which we can offer
You all enjoyable grains and commodities so that both we and all other living
entities in this world can maintain ourselves without disturbance and can
easily accumulate the necessities of life both for You and for ourselves.
50.
You are the original personal founder of all the demigods and the orders of
different gradations, yet You are the oldest and are unchanged. O Lord, You
have no source or superior. You have impregnated the external energy with the
semen of the total living entities, yet You are unborn.
51.
O Supreme Self, please give us, who are created in the beginning from the
mahat-tattva, the total cosmic energy, Your kind directions on how we shall
act. Kindly award us Your perfect knowledge and potency so that we can render
You service in the different departments of subsequent creation.
Chapter Six Creation of the Universal Form
1.
The Rsi Maitreya said: The Lord thus heard about the suspension of the
progressive creative functions of the universe due to the noncombination of His
potencies, such as the mahat-tattva.
2.
The Supreme Powerful Lord then simultaneously entered into the twenty-three
elements with the goddess Kali, His external energy, who alone amalgamates all
the different elements.
3.
Thus when the Personality of Godhead entered into the elements by His energy,
all the living entities were enlivened into different activities, just as one
is engaged in his work after awakening from sleep.
4.
When the twenty-three principal elements were set in action by the will of the
Supreme, the gigantic universal form, or the visvarupa body of the Lord, came
into existence.
5.
As the Lord, in His plenary portion, entered into the elements of the universal
creation, they transformed into the gigantic form in which all the planetary
systems and all movable and immovable creations rest.
6.
The gigantic virat-purusa, known as Hiranmaya, lived for one thousand celestial
years on the water of the universe, and all the living entities lay with Him.
7.
The total energy of the mahat-tattva, in the form of the gigantic virat-rupa,
divided Himself by Himself into the consciousness of the living entities, the
life of activity, and self-identification, which are subdivided into one, ten
and three respectively.
8.
The gigantic universal form of the Supreme Lord is the first incarnation and
plenary portion of the Supersoul. He is the Self of an unlimited number of
living entities, and in Him rests the aggregate creation, which thus
flourishes.
9.
The gigantic universal form is represented by three, ten and one in the sense
that He is the body and the mind and the senses, He is the dynamic force for
all movements by ten kinds of life energy, and He is the one heart where life
energy is generated.
10.
The Supreme Lord is the Supersoul of all the demigods entrusted with the task
of constructing the cosmic manifestation. Being thus prayed to [by the
demigods], He thought to Himself and thus manifested the gigantic form for
their understanding.
11.
Maitreya said: You may now hear from me how the Supreme Lord separated Himself
into the diverse forms of the demigods after the manifestation of the gigantic
universal form.
12.
Agni, or heat, separated from His mouth, and all the directors of material
affairs entered into it in their respective positions. By that energy the
living entity expresses himself in words.
13.
When the palate of the gigantic form was separately manifested, Varuna, the
director of air in the planetary systems, entered therein, and thus the living
entity has the facility to taste everything with his tongue.
14.
When the Lord's two nostrils separately manifested themselves, the dual
Asvini-kumaras entered them in their proper positions, and because of this the
living entities can smell the aromas of everything.
15.
Thereafter, the two eyes of the gigantic form of the Lord were separately
manifested. The sun, the director of light, entered them with the partial
representation of eyesight, and thus the living entities can have vision of
forms.
16.
When there was a manifestation of skin separated from the gigantic form, Anila,
the deity directing the wind, entered with partial touch, and thus the living
entities can realize tactile knowledge.
17.
When the ears of the gigantic form became manifested, all the controlling
deities of the directions entered into them with the hearing principles, by
which all the living entities hear and take advantage of sound.
18.
When there was a separate manifestation of skin, the controlling deities of
sensations and their different parts entered into it, and thus the living entities
feel itching and happiness due to touch.
19.
When the genitals of the gigantic form separately became manifest, then
Prajapati, the original living creature, entered into them with his partial
semen, and thus the living entities can enjoy sex pleasure.
20.
The evacuating channel separately became manifest, and the director named Mitra
entered into it with partial organs of evacuation. Thus the living entities are
able to pass stool and urine.
21.
Thereafter, when the hands of the gigantic form separately became manifested,
Indra, the ruler of the heavenly planets, entered into them, and thus the
living entity is able to transact business for his livelihood.
22.
Thereafter the legs of the gigantic form separately became manifest, and the
demigod named Visnu [not the Personality of Godhead] entered with partial
movement. This helps the living entity move to his destination.
23.
When the intelligence of the gigantic form separately became manifest, Brahma,
the lord of the Vedas, entered into it with the partial power of understanding,
and thus an object of understanding is experienced by the living entities.
24.
After that, the heart of the gigantic form separately manifested itself, and
into it entered the moon demigod with partial mental activity. Thus the living
entity can conduct his mental speculations.
25.
Thereafter the materialistic ego of the gigantic form separately manifested
itself, and into it entered Rudra, the controller of false ego, with his own
partial activities, by which the living entity transacts his objective actions.
26.
Thereafter, when His consciousness separately manifested itself, the total
energy, mahat-tattva, entered with His conscious part. Thus the living entity
is able to conceive specific knowledge.
27.
Thereafter, from the head of the gigantic form, the heavenly planets were
manifested, and from His legs the earthly planets and from His abdomen the sky
separately manifested themselves. Within them the demigods and others also were
manifested in terms of the modes of material nature.
28.
The demigods, qualified by the superexcellent quality of the mode of goodness,
are situated in the heavenly planets, whereas the human beings, because of
their nature in the mode of passion, live on the earth in company with their
subordinates.
29.
Living entities who are associates of Rudra develop in the third mode of
material nature, or ignorance. They are situated in the sky between the earthly
planets and the heavenly planets.
30.
O chief of the Kuru dynasty, the Vedic wisdom became manifested from the mouth
of the virat, the gigantic form. Those who are inclined to this Vedic knowledge
are called branmnas, and they are the natural teachers and spiritual masters of
all the orders of society.
31.
Thereafter the power of protection was generated from the arms of the gigantic
virat form, and in relation to such power the ksatriyas also came into
existence by following the ksatriya principle of protecting society from the
disturbance of thieves and miscreants.
32.
The means of livelihood of all persons, namely production of grains and their
distribution to the prajas, was generated from the thighs of the Lord's
gigantic form. The mercantile men who take charge of such execution are called
vaisyas.
33.
Thereafter, service was manifested from the legs of the Personality of Godhead
for the sake of perfecting the religious function. Situated on the legs are the
sudras, who satisfy the Lord by service.
34.
All these different social divisions are born, with their occupational duties
and living conditions, from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus for
unconditional life and self-realization one has to worship the Supreme Lord
under the direction of the spiritual master.
35.
O Vidura, who can estimate or measure the transcendental time, work and potency
of the gigantic form manifested by the internal potency of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead?
36.
In spite of my inability, whatever I have been able to hear [from the spiritual
master] and whatever I could assimilate I am now describing in glorification of
the Lord by pure speech, for otherwise my power of speaking would remain
unchaste.
37.
The highest perfectional gain of humanity is to engage in discussions of the
activities and glories of the Pious Actor. Such activities are so nicely
arranged in writing by the greatly learned sages that the actual purpose of the
ear is served just by being near them.
38.
O my son, the original poet, Brahma, after mature meditation for one thousand
celestial years, could know only that the glories of the Supreme Soul are
inconceivable.
39.
The wonderful potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is bewildering even
to the jugglers. That potential power is unknown even to the self-sufficient
Lord, so it is certainly unknown to others.
40.
Words, mind and ego, with their respective controlling demigods, have failed to
achieve success in knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, we
simply have to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him as a matter of sanity.
Chapter Seven Further Inquires by Vidura
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, while Maitreya, the great sage, was thus
speaking, Vidura, the learned son of Dvaipayana Vyasa, expressed a request in a
pleasing manner by asking this question.
2.
Sri Vidura said: O great brahmana, since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is
the complete spiritual whole and is unchangeable, how is He connected with the
material modes of nature and their activities? If this is His pastime, how do
the activities of the unchangeable take place and exhibit qualities without the
modes of nature?
3.
Boys are enthusiastic to play with other boys or with various diversions
because they are encouraged by desire. But there is no possibility of such
desire for the Lord because He is self-satisfied and detached from everything
at all times.
4.
By His self-sheltered potency of the three modes of material nature, the Lord
has caused the creation of this universe. By her He maintains the creation and
conversely dissolves it, again and again.
5.
The pure soul is pure consciousness and is never out of consciousness, either
due to circumstances, time, situations, dreams or other causes. How then does
he become engaged in nescience?
6.
The Lord, as the Supersoul, is situated in every living being's heart. Why then
do the living entities' activities result in misfortune and misery?
7.
O great and learned one, my mind is greatly illusioned by the distress of this
nescience, and I therefore request you to clear it up.
8.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, Maitreya, being thus agitated by the inquisitive
Vidura, at first seemed astonished, but then he replied to him without
hesitation, since he was fully God conscious.
9.
Sri Maitreya said: Certain conditioned souls put forward the theory that the
Supreme Brahman, or the Personality of Godhead, is overcome by illusion, or
maya, and at the same time they maintain that He is unconditioned. This is
against all logic.
10.
The living entity is in distress regarding his self-identity. He has no factual
background, like a man who dreams that he sees his head cut off.
11.
As the moon reflected on water appears to the seer to tremble due to being
associated with the quality of the water, so the self associated with matter
appears to be qualified as matter.
12.
But that misconception of self-identity can be diminished gradually by the
mercy of the Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, through the process of
devotional service to the Lord in the mode of detachment.
13.
When the senses are satisfied in the seer-Supersoul, the Personality of
Godhead, and merge in Him, all miseries are completely vanquished, as after a
sound sleep.
14.
Simply by chanting and hearing of the transcendental name, form, etc., of the
Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, one can achieve the cessation of unlimited
miserable conditions. Therefore what to speak of those who have attained
attraction for serving the flavor of the dust of the Lord's lotus feet?
15.
Vidura said: O powerful sage, my lord, all my doubts about the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and the living entities have now been removed by your
convincing words. My mind is now perfectly entering into them.
16.
O learned sage, your explanations are very good, as they should be.
Disturbances to the conditioned soul have no other basis than the movement of
the external energy of the Lord.
17.
Both the lowest of fools and he who is transcendental to all intelligence enjoy
happiness, whereas persons between them suffer the material pangs.
18.
But, my dear sir, I am obliged to you because now I can understand that this
material manifestation is without substance, although it appears real. I am
confident that by serving your feet it will be possible for me to give up the
false idea.
19.
By serving the feet of the spiritual master, one is enabled to develop
transcendental ecstasy in the service of the Personality of Godhead, who is the
unchangeable enemy of the Madhu demon and whose service vanquishes one's
material distresses.
20.
Persons whose austerity is meager can hardly obtain the service of the pure
devotees who are progressing on the path back to the kingdom of Godhead, the
Vaikunthas. Pure devotees engage one hundred percent in glorifying the Supreme
Lord, who is the Lord of the demigods and the controller of all living
entities.
21.
After creating the total material energy, the mahat-tattva, and thereby
manifesting the gigantic universal form with senses and sense organs, the
Supreme Lord entered within it.
22.
The purusa incarnation lying on the Causal Ocean is called the original purusa
in the material creations, and in His virat form, in whom all the planets and
their inhabitants live, He has many thousands of legs and hands.
23.
O great brahmana, you have told me that the gigantic virat form and His senses,
sense objects and ten kinds of life air exist with three kinds of life vigor. Now,
if you will, kindly explain to me the different powers of the specific
divisions.
24.
O my lord, I think that the process manifest in the forms of sons, grandsons
and family members has spread all over the universe in different varieties and
species.
25.
O learned brahmana, please describe how the leader of all the demigods, namely
Prajapati, Brahma, decided to establish the various Manus, the heads of the
ages. Please describe the Manus also, and please describe the descendants of
those Manus.
26.
O son of Mitra, kindly describe how the planets are situated above the earth as
well as underneath it, and also please mention their measurement as well as
that of the earthly planets.
27.
Also please describe the living beings under different classifications:
subhumans, humans, those born of the embryo, those born of perspiration, those
who are twice-born [birds], and the plants and vegetables. Kindly describe
their generations and subdivisions also.
28.
Please also describe the incarnations of the material modes of nature--Brahma,
Visnu and Mahesvara--and please describe the incarnation of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and His magnanimous activities.
29.
O great sage, kindly describe the divisions and orders of human society in
terms of symptoms, behavior and the characteristics of mental equilibrium and
sense control. Also please describe the births of the great sages and the
categorical divisions of the Vedas.
30.
Please also describe the expansions of different sacrifices and the paths of
mystic powers, analytical study of knowledge, and devotional service, all with
their respective regulations.
31.
Please also describe the imperfections and contradictions of the faithless
atheists, the situation of crossbreeding, and the movements of the living
entities in various species of life according to their particular modes of
nature and work.
32.
You may also describe the noncontradictory causes of religiosity, economic
development, sense gratification and salvation and also the different means of
livelihood and different processes of law and order as mentioned in the
revealed scriptures.
33.
Please also explain the regulations for offering respects to the forefathers,
the creation of the Pitrloka, the time schedule in the planets, stars and
luminaries, and their respective situations.
34.
Please also describe the fruitive results of charity and penance and of digging
reservoirs of water. Please describe the situation of persons who are away from
home and also the duty of a man in an awkward position.
35.
O sinless one, because the Personality of Godhead, the controller of all living
entities, is the father of all religion and all those who are candidates for
religious activities, kindly describe how He can be completely satisfied.
36.
O best among the brahmanas, those who are spiritual masters are very kind to
the needy. They are always kind to their followers, disciples and sons, and
without being asked by them, the spiritual master describes all that is
knowledge.
37.
Please describe how many dissolutions there are for the elements of material
nature and who survives after the dissolutions to serve the Lord while He is
asleep.
38.
What are the truths regarding the living entities and the Supreme Personality
of Godhead? What are their identities? What are the specific values in the
knowledge in the Vedas, and what are the necessities for the spiritual master
and his disciples?
39.
Spotless devotees of the Lord have mentioned the source of such knowledge. How
could one have knowledge of devotional service and detachment without the help
of such devotees?
40.
My dear sage, I have put all these questions before you with a view to knowing
the pastimes of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You are the friend of
all, so kindly describe them for all those who have lost their vision.
41.
O spotless one, your answers to all these questions will grant immunity from
all material miseries. Such charity is greater than all Vedic charities,
sacrifices, penances, etc.
42.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus the chief of the sages, who was always
enthusiastic about describing topics regarding the Personality of Godhead,
began to narrate the descriptive explanation of the Puranas, being so infused
by Vidura. He was very much enlivened by speaking on the transcendental
activities of the Lord.
Chapter Eight Manifestation of Brahma from Garbhodakasayi Visnu
1.
The great sage Maitreya Muni said to Vidura: The royal dynasty of King Puru is
worthy to serve the pure devotees because all the descendants of that family
are devoted to the Personality of Godhead. You are also born in that family,
and it is wonderful that because of your attempt the transcendental pastimes of
the Lord are becoming newer and newer at every moment.
2.
Let me now begin speaking on the Bhagavata Purana, which was directly spoken to
the great sages by the Personality of Godhead for the benefit of those who are
entangled in extreme miseries for the sake of very little pleasure.
3.
Some time ago, being inquisitive to know, Sanat-kumara, the chief of the
boy-saints, accompanied by other great sages, inquired exactly like you about
the truths regarding Vasudeva, the Supreme, from Lord Sankarsana, who is seated
at the bottom of the universe.
4.
At that time Lord Sankarsana was meditating upon His Supreme Lord, whom the
learned esteem as Lord Vasudeva, but for the sake of the advancement of the
great learned sages He slightly opened His lotus like eyes and began to speak.
5.
The sages came from the highest planets down to the lower region through the
water of the Ganges, and therefore the hair on their heads was wet. They
touched the lotus feet of the Lord, which are worshiped with various
paraphernalia by the daughters of the serpent-king when they desire good
husbands.
6.
The four Kumaras, headed by Sanat-kumara, who all knew the transcendental
pastimes of the Lord, glorified the Lord in rhythmic accents with selected
words full of affection and love. At that time Lord Sankarsana, with His
thousands of raised hoods, began to radiate an effulgence from the glowing
stones on His head.
7.
Lord Sankarsana thus spoke the purport of Srimad-Bhagavatam to the great sage
Sanat-kumara, who had already taken the vow of renunciation. Sanat-kumara also,
in his turn, when inquired of by Sankhyayana Muni, explained Srimad-Bhagavatam
as he had heard it from Sankarsana.
8.
The great sage Sankhyayana was the chief amongst the transcendentalists, and
when he was describing the glories of the Lord in terms of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
it so happened that my spiritual master, Parasara, and Brhaspati both heard
him.
9.
The great sage Parasara, as aforementioned, being so advised by the great sage
Pulastya, spoke unto me the foremost of the Puranas [Bhagavatam]. I shall also
describe this before you, my dear son, in terms of my hearing, because you are
always my faithful follower.
10.
At that time when the three worlds were submerged in water, Garbhodakasayi
Visnu was alone, lying on His bedstead, the great snake Ananta, and although He
appeared to be in slumber in His own internal potency, free from the action of
the external energy, His eyes were not completely closed.
11.
Just like the strength of fire within fuel wood, the Lord remained within the
water of dissolution, submerging all the living entities in their subtle
bodies. He lay in the self-invigorated energy called kala.
12.
The Lord lay down for four thousand yuga cycles in His internal potency, and by
His external energy He appeared to be sleeping within the water. When the
living entities were coming out for further development of their fruitive activities,
actuated by the energy called kala-sakti, He saw His transcendental body as
bluish.
13.
The subtle subject matter of creation, on which the Lord's attention was fixed,
was agitated by the material mode of passion, and thus the subtle form of creation
pierced through His abdomen.
14.
Piercing through, this sum total form of the fruitive activity of the living
entities took the shape of the bud of a lotus flower generated from the
Personality of Visnu, and by His supreme will it illuminated everything, like
the sun, and dried up the vast waters of devastation.
15.
Into that universal lotus flower Lord Visnu personally entered as the
Supersoul, and when it was thus impregnated with all the modes of material
nature, the personality of Vedic wisdom, whom we call the self-born, was
generated.
16.
Brahma, born out of the lotus flower, could not see the world, although he was
situated in the whorl. He therefore circumambulated all of space, and while
moving his eyes in all directions he achieved four heads in terms of the four
directions.
17.
Lord Brahma, situated in that lotus, could not perfectly understand the
creation, the lotus or himself. At the end of the millennium the air of
devastation began to move the water and the lotus in great circular waves.
18.
Lord Brahma, in his ignorance, contemplated: Who am I that am situated on the
top of this lotus? Wherefrom has it sprouted? There must be something
downwards, and that from which this lotus has grown must be within the water.
19.
Lord Brahma, thus contemplating, entered the water through the channel of the
stem of the lotus. But in spite of entering the stem and going nearer to the
navel of Visnu, he could not trace out the root.
20.
O Vidura, while searching in that way about his existence, Brahma reached his
ultimate time, which is the eternal wheel in the hand of Visnu and which
generates fear in the mind of the living entity like the fear of death.
21.
Thereafter, being unable to achieve the desired destination, he retired from
such searching and came back again to the top of the lotus. Thus, controlling
all objectives, he concentrated his mind on the Supreme Lord.
22.
At the end of Brahma's one hundred years, when his meditation was complete, he
developed the required knowledge, and as a result he could see in his head the
Supreme within himself, whom he could not see before with the greatest
endeavor.
23.
Brahma could see that on the water there was a gigantic lotuslike white
bedstead, the body of Sesa-naga, on which the Personality of Godhead was lying
alone. The whole atmosphere was illuminated by the rays of the jewels bedecking
the hood of Sesa-naga, and that illumination dissipated all the darkness of
those regions.
24.
The luster of the transcendental body of the Lord mocked the beauty of the coral
mountain. The coral mountain is very beautifully dressed by the evening sky,
but the yellow dress of the Lord mocked its beauty. There is gold on the summit
of the mountain, but the Lord's helmet, bedecked with jewels, mocked it. The
mountain's waterfalls, herbs, etc., with a panorama of flowers, seem like
garlands, but the Lord's gigantic body, and His hands and legs, decorated with
jewels, pearls, tulasi leaves and flower garlands, mocked the scene on the
mountain.
25.
His transcendental body, unlimited in length and breadth, occupied the three
planetary systems, upper, middle and lower. His body was self-illuminated by
unparalleled dress and variegatedness and was properly ornamented.
26.
The Lord showed His lotus feet by raising them. His lotus feet are the source
of all awards achieved by devotional service free from material contamination.
Such awards are for those who worship Him in pure devotion. The splendor of the
transcendental rays from His moonlike toenails and fingernails appeared like
the petals of a flower.
27.
He also acknowledged the service of the devotees and vanquished their distress
by His beautiful smile. The reflection of His face, decorated with earrings,
was so pleasing because it dazzled with the rays from His lips and the beauty of
His nose and eyebrows.
28.
O my dear Vidura, the Lord's waist was covered with yellow cloth resembling the
saffron dust of the kadamba flower, and it was encircled by a well-decorated
belt. His chest was decorated with the srivatsa marking and a necklace of
unlimited value.
29.
As a sandalwood tree is decorated with fragrant flowers and branches, the
Lord's body was decorated with valuable jewels and pearls. He was the
self-situated tree, the Lord of all others in the universe. And as a sandalwood
tree is covered with many snakes, so the Lord's body was also covered by the
hoods of Ananta.
30.
Like a great mountain, the Lord stands as the abode for all moving and
nonmoving living entities. He is the friend of the snakes because Lord Ananta
is His friend. As a mountain has thousands of golden peas, so the Lord was seen
with the thousands of golden-helmeted hoods of Ananta-naga; and as a mountain
is sometimes filled with jewels, so also His transcendental body was fully
decorated with valuable jewels. As a mountains is sometimes submerged in the
ocean water, so the Lord is sometimes submerged in the water of devastation.
31.
Lord Brahma, thus looking upon the Lord in the shape of a mountain, concluded
that He was Hari, the Personality of Godhead. He saw that the garland of
flowers on His chest glorified Him with Vedic wisdom in sweet songs and looked
very beautiful. He was protected by the Sudarsana wheel for fighting, and even
the sun, moon, air, fire, etc., could not have access to Him.
32.
When Lord Brahma, the maker of the universal destination, thus saw the Lord, be
simultaneously glanced over creation. Lord Brahma saw the lake in Lord Visnu's
navel, and the lotus flower, as well as the devastating water, the drying air
and the sky. All became visible to him.
33.
Lord Brahma, thus being surcharged with the mode of passion, became inclined to
create, and after seeing the five causes of creation indicated by the
Personality of Godhead, he began to offer his respectful prayers on the path of
the creative mentality.
Chapter Nine Brahma's Prayers for Creative Energy
1.
Lord Brahma said: O my Lord, today, after many, many years of penance, I have
come to know about You. Oh, how unfortunate the embodied living entities are
that they are unable to know Your personality! My Lord, You are the only
knowable object because there is nothing supreme beyond You. If there is
anything supposedly superior to You, it is not the Absolute. You exist as the
Supreme by exhibiting the creative energy of matter.
2.
The form which I see is eternally freed from material contamination and has
advented to show mercy to the devotees as a manifestation of internal potency.
This incarnation is the origin of many other incarnations, and I am born from
the lotus flower grown from Your navel home.
3.
O my Lord, I do not see a form superior to Your present form of eternal bliss
and knowledge. In Your impersonal Brahman effulgence in the spiritual sky,
there is no occasional change and no deterioration of internal potency. I
surrender unto You because whereas I am proud of my material body and senses,
Your Lordship is the cause of the cosmic manifestation and yet You are
untouched by matter.
4.
This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is equally auspicious for all the universes.
Since You have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom Your devotees
meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are
destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form
because of speculating on material topics.
5.
O my Lord, persons who smell the aroma of Your lotus feet, carried by the air
of Vedic sound through the holes of the ears, accept Your devotional service.
For them You are never separated from the lotus of their hearts.
6.
O my Lord, the people of the world are embarrassed by all material
anxieties--they are always afraid. They always try to protect wealth, body and
friends, they are filled with lamentation and unlawful desires and
paraphernalia, and they avariciously base their undertakings on the perishable
conceptions of "my" and "mine." As long as they do not take
shelter of Your safe lotus feet, they are full of such anxieties.
7.
O my Lord, persons who are bereft of the all-auspicious performance of chanting
and hearing about Your transcendental activities are certainly unfortunate and
are also bereft of good sense. They engage in inauspicious activities, enjoying
sense gratification for a very little while.
8.
O great actor, my Lord, all these poor creatures are constantly perplexed by
hunger, thirst, severe cold, secretion and bile, attacked by coughing winter,
blasting summer, rains and many other disturbing elements, and overwhelmed by
strong sex urges and indefatigable anger. I take pity on them, and I am very
much aggrieved for them.
9.
O my Lord, the material miseries are without factual existence for the soul.
Yet as long as the conditioned soul sees the body as meant for sense enjoyment,
he cannot get out of the entanglement of material miseries, being influenced by
Your external energy.
10.
Such nondevotees engage their senses in very troublesome and extensive work,
and they suffer insomnia at night because their intelligence constantly breaks
their sleep with various mental speculations. They are frustrated in all their
various plans by supernatural power. Even great sages, if they are against Your
transcendental topics, must rotate in this material world.
11.
O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona
fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat
there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the
particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.
12.
My Lord, You are not very much satisfied by the worship of the demigods, who
arrange for Your worship very pompously, with various paraphernalia, but who
are full of material hankerings. You are situated in everyone's heart as the
Supersoul just to show Your causeless mercy, and You are the eternal
well-wisher, but You are unavailable for the nondevotee.
13.
But the pious activities of the people, such as performance of Vedic rituals,
charity, austere penances, and transcendental service, performed with a view to
worship You and satisfy You by offering You the fruitive results, are also
beneficial. Such acts of religion never go in vain.
14.
Let me offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Transcendence, who is eternally
distinguished by His internal potency. His indistinguishable impersonal feature
is realized by intelligence for self-realization. I offer my obeisances unto
Him who by His pastimes enjoys the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the
cosmic manifestation.
15.
Let me take shelter of the lotus feet of Him whose incarnations, qualities and
activities are mysterious imitations of worldly affairs. One who invokes His
transcendental names, even unconsciously, at the time he quits this life, is
certainly washed immediately of the sins of many, many births and attains Him without
fail.
16.
Your Lordship is the prime root of the tree of the planetary systems. This tree
has grown by first penetrating the material nature in three trunks--as me, Siva
and You, the Almighty--for creation, maintenance and dissolution, and we three
have grown with many branches. Therefore I offer my obeisances unto You, the
tree of the cosmic manifestation.
17.
People in general all engage in foolish acts, not in the really beneficial
activities enunciated directly by You for their guidance. As long as their
tendency for foolish work remains powerful, all their plans in the struggle for
existence will be cut to pieces. I therefore offer my obeisances unto Him who
acts as eternal time.
18.
Your Lordship, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You who are indefatigable
time and the enjoyer of all sacrifices. Although I am situated in an abode
which will continue to exist for a time duration of two parardhas, although I
am the leader of all other planets in the universe, and although I have
undergone many, many years of penance for self-realization, still I offer my
respects unto You.
19.
O my Lord, by Your own will You appear in the various species of living
entities, among animals lower than human beings as well as among the demigods,
to perform Your transcendental pastimes. You are not affected by material
contamination. You come just to fulfill the obligations of Your own principles
of religion, and therefore, O Supreme Personality, I offer my obeisances unto
You for manifesting such different forms.
20. My Lord, You accept
the pleasure of sleeping in the water of devastation, where there are violent
waves, and You enjoy pleasure on the bed of snakes, showing the happiness of
Your sleep to intelligent persons. At that time, all the universal planets are stationed
within Your abdomen.
21.
O object of my worship, I am born from the house of Your lotus navel for the
purpose of creating the universe by Your mercy. All these planets of the
universe were stationed within Your transcendental abdomen while You were
enjoying sleep. Now, Your sleep having ended, Your eyes are open like
blossoming lotuses in the morning.
22.
Let the Supreme Lord be merciful towards me. He is the one friend and soul of
all living entities in the world, and He maintains all, for their ultimate
happiness, by His six transcendental opulences. May He be merciful towards me
so that I, as before, may be empowered with the introspection to create, for I
am also one of the surrendered souls who are dear to the Lord.
23.
The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is always the benefactor of the
surrendered souls. His activities are always enacted through His internal
potency, Rama, or the goddess of fortune. I pray only to engage in His service
in the creation of the material world, and I pray that I not be materially
affected by my works, for thus I may be able to give up the false prestige of
being the creator.
24.
The Lord's potencies are innumerable. As He lies down in the water of
devastation, I am born as the total universal energy from the navel lake in
which the lotus sprouts. I am now engaged in manifesting His diverse energies
in the form of the cosmic manifestation. I therefore pray that in the course of
my material activities I may not be deviated from the vibration of the Vedic hymns.
25.
The Lord, who is supreme and is the oldest of all, is unlimitedly merciful. I
wish that He may smilingly bestow His benediction upon me by opening His lotus
eyes. He can uplift the entire cosmic creation and remove our dejection by
kindly speaking His directions.
26.
The sage Maitreya said: O Vidura, after observing the source of his appearance,
namely the Personality of Godhead, Brahma prayed for His mercy as far as his
mind and words would permit him. Thus having prayed, he became silent, as if tired
from his activities of penance, knowledge and mental concentration.
27-28.
The Lord saw that Brahma was very anxious about the planning and construction
of the different planetary systems and was depressed upon seeing the
devastating water. He could understand the intention of Brahma, and thus He
spoke in deep, thoughtful words, removing all the illusion that had arisen.
29.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead then said: O Brahma, O depth of Vedic
wisdom, be neither depressed nor anxious about the execution of creation. What
you are begging from Me has already been granted before.
30.
O Brahma, situate yourself in penance and meditation and follow the principles
of knowledge to receive My favor. By these actions you will be able to
understand everything from within your heart.
31.
O Brahma, when you are absorbed in devotional service, in the course of your
creative activities, you will see Me in you and throughout the universe, and
you will see that you yourself, the universe and the living entities are all in
Me.
32.
You will see Me in all living entities as well as all over the universe, just
as fire is situated in wood. Only in that state of transcendental vision will
you be able to be free from all kinds of illusion.
33.
When you are free from the conception of gross and subtle bodies and when your
senses are free from all influences of the modes of material nature, you will
realize your pure form in My association. At that time you will be situated in
pure consciousness.
34.
Since you have desired to increase the population innumerably and expand your
varieties of service, you shall never be deprived in this matter because My
causeless mercy upon you will always increase for all time.
35.
You are the original rsi, and because your mind is always fixed on Me, even
though you will be engaged in generating various progeny, the vicious mode of
passion will never encroach upon you.
36.
Although I am not easily knowable by the conditioned soul, you have known Me
today because you know that My personality is not constituted of anything
material, and specifically not of the five gross and three subtle elements.
37.
When you were contemplating whether there was a source to the stem of the lotus
of your birth and you even entered into that stem, you could not trace out
anything. But at that time I manifested My form from within.
38.
O Brahma, the prayers that you have chanted praising the glories of My
transcendental activities, the penances you have undertaken to understand Me,
and your firm faith in Me--all these are to be considered My causeless mercy.
39.
I am very much pleased by your description of Me in terms of My transcendental
qualities, which appear mundane to the mundaners. I grant you all benedictions
in your desire to glorify all the planets by your activities.
40.
Any human being who prays like Brahma, and who thus worships Me, shall very
soon be blessed with the fulfillment of all his desires, for I am the Lord of
all benediction.
41.
It is the opinion of expert transcendentalists that the ultimate goal of
performing all traditional good works, penances, sacrifices, charities, mystic
activities, trances, etc., is to invoke My satisfaction.
42.
I am the Supersoul of every individual. I am the supreme director and the
dearest. People are wrongly attached to the gross and subtle bodies, but they
should be attached to Me only.
43.
By following My instructions you can now generate the living entities as
before, by dint of your complete Vedic wisdom and the body you have directly
received from Me, the supreme cause of everything.
44.
The sage Maitreya said: After instructing Brahma, the creator of the universe,
to expand, the primeval Lord, the Personality of Godhead in His personal form
as Narayana, disappeared.
Chapter Ten Divisions of the Creation
1.
Sri Vidura said: O great sage, please let me know how Brahma, the grandfather
of the planetary inhabitants, created the bodies of the living entities from
his own body and mind after the disappearance of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
2.
O greatly learned one, kindly eradicate all my doubts, and let me know of all
that I have inquired from you from the beginning to the end.
3.
Suta Gosvami said: O son of Bhrgu, the great sage Maitreya Muni, thus hearing
from Vidura, felt very much enlivened. Everything was in his heart, and thus he
began to reply to the questions one after another.
4.
The greatly learned sage Maitreya said: O Vidura, Brahma thus engaged himself
in penances for one hundred celestial years, as advised by the Personality of
Godhead, and applied himself in devotional service to the Lord.
5.
Thereafter Brahma saw that both the lotus on which he was situated and the
water on which the lotus was growing were trembling due to a strong, violent
wind.
6.
Long penance and transcendental knowledge of self-realization had matured
Brahma in practical knowledge, and thus he drank the wind completely, along
with the water.
7.
Thereafter he saw that the lotus on which he was situated was spread throughout
the universe, and he contemplated how to create all the planets, which were
previously merged in that very same lotus.
8.
Thus engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Brahma
entered into the whorl of the lotus, and as it spread all over the universe he
divided it into three divisions of worlds and later into fourteen divisions.
9.
Lord Brahma is the most exalted personality in the universe because of his
causeless devotional service unto the Lord in mature transcendental knowledge.
He therefore created all the fourteen planetary divisions for inhabitation by
the different types of living entities.
10.
Vidura inquired from Maitreya: O my lord, O greatly learned sage, kindly
describe eternal time, which is another form of the Supreme Lord, the wonderful
actor. What are the symptoms of that eternal time? Please describe them to us
in detail.
11.
Maitreya said: Eternal time is the primeval source of the interactions of the
three modes of material nature. It is unchangeable and limitless, and it works
as the instrument of the Supreme Personality of Godhead for His pastimes in the
material creation.
12.
This cosmic manifestation is separated from the Supreme Lord as material energy
by means of kala, which is the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Lord. It
is situated as the objective manifestation of the Lord under the influence of
the same material energy of Visnu.
13.
This cosmic manifestation is as it is now, it was the same in the past, and it
will continue in the same way in the future.
14.
There are nine different kinds of creations besides the one which naturally
occurs due to the interactions of the modes. There are three kinds of
annihilations due to eternal time, the material elements and the quality of
one's work.
15.
Of the nine creations, the first one is the creation of the mahat-tattva, or
the sum total of the material ingredients, wherein the modes interact due to
the presence of the Supreme Lord. In the second, the false ego is generated in
which the material ingredients, material knowledge and material activities
arise.
16.
The sense perceptions are created in the third creation, and from these the
elements are generated. The fourth creation is the creation of knowledge and of
working capacity.
17.
The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the
mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the
ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool.
18.
All the above are natural creations by the external energy of the Lord. Now
hear from me about the creations by Brahma, who is an incarnation of the mode
of passion and who, in the matter of creation, has a brain like that of the
Personality of Godhead.
19.
The seventh creation is that of the immovable entities, which are of six kinds:
the fruit trees without flowers, trees and plants which exist until the fruit
is ripe, creepers, pipe plants, creepers which have no support, and trees with
flowers and fruits.
20.
All the immovable trees and plants seek their subsistence upwards. They are
almost unconscious but have feelings of pain within. They are manifested in
variegatedness.
21.
The eighth creation is that of the lower species of life, and they are of
different varieties, numbering twenty-eight. They are all extensively foolish
and ignorant. They know their desirables by smell, but are unable to remember
anything within the heart.
22.
O purest Vidura, of the lower animals the cow, goat, buffalo, krsna stag, hog,
gavaya animal, deer, lamb and camel all have two hooves.
23.
The horse, mule, ass, gaura, sarabha bison and wild cow all have only one hoof.
Now you may hear from me about the animals who have five nails.
24.
The dog, jackal, tiger, fox, cat, rabbit, sajaru, lion, monkey, elephant,
tortoise, alligator, gosapa, etc., all have five nails in their claws. They are
known as panca-nakhas, or animals having five nails.
25.
The heron, vulture, crane, hawk, bhasa, bhalluka, peacock, swan, sarasa,
cakravaka, crow, owl and others are the birds.
26.
The creation of the human beings, who are of one species only and who stock
their eatables in the belly, is the ninth in the rotation. In the human race,
the mode of passion is very prominent. Humans are always busy in the midst of
miserable life, but they think themselves happy in all respects.
27.
O good Vidura, these last three creations and the creation of demigods (the
tenth creation) are vaikrta creations, which are different from the previously
described prakrta (natural) creations. The appearance of the Kumaras is both.
28-29.
The creation of the demigods is of eight varieties: (1) the demigods, (2) the
forefathers, (3) the asuras, or demons, (4) the Gandharvas and Apsaras, or
angels, (5) the Yaksas and Raksasas, (6) the Siddhas, Caranas and Vidyadharas,
(7) the Bhutas, Pretas and Pisacas, and (8) the superhuman beings, celestial
singers, etc. All are created by Brahma, the creator of the universe.
30.
Now I shall describe the descendants of the Manus. The creator, Brahma, as the
incarnation of the passion mode of the Personality of Godhead, creates the universal
affairs with unfailing desires in every millennium by the force of the Lord's
energy.
Chapter Eleven Calculation of Time, from the Atom
1.
The material manifestation's ultimate particle, which is indivisible and not
formed into a body, is called the atom. It exists always as an invisible
identity, even after the dissolution of all forms. The material body is but a
combination of such atoms, but it is misunderstood by the common man.
2.
Atoms are the ultimate state of the manifest universe. When they stay in their
own forms without forming different bodies, they are called the unlimited
oneness. There are certainly different bodies in physical forms, but the atoms
themselves form the complete manifestation.
3.
One can estimate time by measuring the movement of the atomic combination of
bodies. Time is the potency of the almighty Personality of Godhead, Hari, who
controls all physical movement although He is not visible in the physical
world.
4.
Atomic time is measured according to its covering a particular atomic space.
That time which covers the unmanifest aggregate of atoms is called the great
time.
5.
The division of gross time is calculated as follows: two atoms make one double
atom, and three double atoms make one hexatom. This hexatom is visible in the
sunshine which enters through the holes of a window screen. One can clearly see
that the hexatom goes up towards the sky.
6.
The time duration needed for the integration of three trasarenus is called a
truti, and one hundred trutis make one vedha. Three vedhas make one lava.
7.
The duration of time of three lavas is equal to one nimesa, the combination of
three nimesas makes one ksana, five ksanas combined together make one kastha,
and fifteen kasthas make one laghu.
8.
Fifteen laghus make one nadika, which is also called a danda. Two dandas make
one muhurta, and six or seven dandas make one fourth of a day or night,
according to human calculation.
9.
The measuring pot for one nadika, or danda, can be prepared with a
six-pala-weight [fourteen ounce] pot of copper, in which a hole is bored with a
gold probe weighing four masa and measuring four fingers long. When the pot is
placed on water, the time before the water overflows in the pot is called one
danda.
10.
It is calculated that there are four praharas, which are also called yamas, in
the day and four in the night of the human being. Similarly, fifteen days and
nights are a fortnight, and there are two fortnights, white and black, in a
month.
11.
The aggregate of two fortnights is one month, and that period is one complete
day and night for the Piri planets. Two of such months comprise one season, and
six months comprise one complete movement of the sun from south to north.
12.
Two solar movements make one day and night of the demigods, and that combination
of day and night is one complete calendar year for the human being. The human
being has a duration of life of one hundred years.
13.
Influential stars, planets, luminaries and atoms all over the universe are
rotating in their respective orbits under the direction of the Supreme,
represented by eternal kala.
14.
There are five different names for the orbits of the sun, moon, stars and
luminaries in the firmament, and they each have their own samvatsara.
15.
O Vidura, the sun enlivens all living entities with his unlimited heat and
light. He diminishes the duration of life of all living entities in order to
release them from their illusion of material attachment, and he enlarges the
path of elevation to the heavenly kingdom. He thus moves in the firmament with
great velocity, and therefore everyone should offer him respects once every
five years with all ingredients of worship.
16.
Vidura said: I now understand the life durations of the residents of the Pita
planets and heavenly planets as well as that of the human beings. Now kindly
inform me of the durations of life of those greatly learned living entities who
are beyond the range of a kalpa.
17.
O spiritually powerful one, you can understand the movements of eternal time,
which is the controlling form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because
you are a self-realized person, you can see everything by the power of mystic
vision.
18.
Maitreya said: O Vidura, the four millenniums are called the Satya, Treta,
Dvapara and Kali yugas. The aggregate number of years of all of these combined
is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.
19.
The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of the years of the
demigods; the duration of the Dvapara millennium equals 2,400 years; and that
of the Kali millennium is 1,200 years of the demigods.
20.
The transitional periods before and after every millennium, which are a few
hundred years as aforementioned, are known as yuga-sandhyas, or the
conjunctions of two millenniums, according to the expert astronomers. In those
periods all kinds of religious activities are performed.
21.
O Vidura, in the Satya millennium mankind properly and completely maintained
the principles of religion, but in other millenniums religion gradually
decreased by one part as irreligion was proportionately admitted.
22.
Outside of the three planetary systems [Svarga, Martya and Patala], the four
yugas multiplied by one thousand comprise one day on the planet of Brahma. A
similar period comprises a night of Brahma, in which the creator of the
universe goes to sleep.
23.
After the end of Brahma's night, the creation of the three worlds begins again
in the daytime of Brahma, and they continue to exist through the life durations
of fourteen consecutive Manus, or fathers of mankind.
24.
Each and every Manu enjoys a life of a little more than seventy-one sets of
four millenniums.
25.
After the dissolution of each and every Manu, the next Manu comes in order,
along with his descendants, who rule over the different planets; but the seven
famous sages, and demigods like Indra and their followers, such as the
Gandharvas, all appear simultaneously with Manu.
26.
In the creation, during Brahma's day, the three planetary systems--Svarga,
Martya and Parila--revolve, and the inhabitants, including the lower animals,
human beings, demigods and Pitas, appear and disappear in terms of their
fruitive activities.
27.
In each and every change of Manu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears by
manifesting His internal potency in different incarnations, as Manu and others.
Thus He maintains the universe by discovered power.
28.
At the end of the day, under the insignificant portion of the mode of darkness,
the powerful manifestation of the universe merges in the darkness of night. By
the influence of eternal time, the innumerable living entities remain merged in
that dissolution, and everything is silent.
29.
When the night of Brahma ensues, all the three worlds are out of sight, and the
sun and the moon are without glare, just as in the due course of an ordinary
night.
30.
The devastation takes place due to the fire emanating from the mouth of
Sankarsana, and thus great sages like Bhrgu and other inhabitants of Maharloka
transport themselves to Janaloka, being distressed by the warmth of the blazing
fire which rages through the three worlds below.
31.
At the beginning of the devastation all the seas overflow, and hurricane winds
blow very violently. Thus the waves of the seas become ferocious, and in no
time at all the three worlds are full of water.
32.
The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, lies down in the water on the
seat of Ananta, with His eyes closed, and the inhabitants of the Janaloka
planets offer their glorious prayers unto the Lord with folded hands.
33.
Thus the process of the exhaustion of the duration of life exists for every one
of the living beings, including Lord Brahma. One's life endures for only one
hundred years, in terms of the times in the different planets.
34.
The one hundred years of Brahma's life are divided into two parts, the first
half and the second half. The first half of the duration of Brahma's life is
already over, and the second half is now current.
35.
In the beginning of the first half of Brahma's life, there was a millennium
called Brahma-kalpa, wherein Lord Brahma appeared. The birth of the Vedas was
simultaneous with Brahma's birth.
36.
The millennium which followed the first Brahma millennium is known as the
Padma-kalpa because in that millennium the universal lotus flower grew out of
the navel reservoir of water of the Personality of Godhead, Hari.
37.
O descendant of Bharata, the first millennium in the second half of the life of
Brahma is also known as the Varaha millennium because the Personality of
Godhead appeared in that millennium as the hog incarnation.
38.
The duration of the two parts of Brahma's life, as above mentioned, is
calculated to be equal to one nimesa [less than a second] for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who is unchanging and unlimited and is the cause of all
causes of the universe.
39.
Eternal time is certainly the controller of different dimensions, from that of
the atom up to the superdivisions of the duration of Brahma's life; but,
nevertheless, it is controlled by the Supreme. Time can control only those who
are body conscious, even up to the Satyaloka or the other higher planets of the
universe.
40.
This phenomenal material world is expanded to a diameter of four billion miles,
as a combination of eight material elements transformed into sixteen further
categories, within and without, as follows.
41.
The layers or elements covering the universes are each ten times thicker than
the one before, and all the universes clustered together appear like atoms in a
huge combination.
42.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is therefore said to be the
original cause of all causes. Thus the spiritual abode of Visnu is eternal
without a doubt, and it is also the abode of Maha-Visnu, the origin of all
manifestations.
Chapter Twelve Creation of the Kumaras and Others
1.
Sri Maitreya said: O learned Vidura, so far I have explained to you the glories
of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His feature of kala. Now
you can hear from me about the creation of Brahma, the reservoir of all Vedic
knowledge.
2.
Brahma first created the nescient engagements like self-deception, the sense of
death, anger after frustration, the sense of false ownership, and the illusory
bodily conception, or forgetfulness of one's real identity.
3.
Seeing such a misleading creation as a sinful task, Brahma did not feel much
pleasure in his activity, and therefore he purified himself by meditation on
the Personality of Godhead. Then he began another term of creation.
4.
In the beginning, Brahma created four great sages named Sanaka, Sananda,
Sanatana and Sanat-kumara. All of them were unwilling to adopt materialistic
activities because they were highly elevated due to their semen's flowing
upwards.
5.
Brahma spoke to his sons after generating them. "My dear sons," he
said, "now generate progeny." But due to their being attached to
Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they aimed at liberation, and
therefore they expressed their unwillingness.
6.
On the refusal of the sons to obey the order of their father, there was much
anger generated in the mind of Brahma, which he tried to control and not
express.
7.
Although he tried to curb his anger, it came out from between his eyebrows, and
a child mixed blue and red was immediately generated.
8.
After his birth he began to cry: O destiny maker, teacher of the universe,
kindly designate my name and place.
9.
The all-powerful Brahma, who was born from the lotus flower, pacified the boy
with gentle words, accepting his request, and said: Do not cry. I shall
certainly do as you desire.
10.
Thereafter Brahma said: O chief of the demigods, you shall be called by the
name Rudra by all people because you have so anxiously cried.
11.
My dear boy, I have already selected the following places for your residence:
the heart, the senses, the air of life, the sky, the air, the fire, the water,
the earth, the sun, the moon and austerity.
12.
Lord Brahma said: My dear boy Rudra, you have eleven other names: Manyu, Manu,
Mahinasa, Mahan, Siva, Rtadhvaja, Ugrareta, Bhava, Kala, Vamadeva and
Dhrtavrata.
13.
O Rudra, you also have eleven wives, called the Rudranis, and they are as
follows: Dhi, Dhrti, Rasala, Uma, Niyut, Sarpi, Ila, Ambika, Iravati, Svadha
and Diksa.
14.
My dear boy, you may now accept all the names and places designated for you and
your different wives, and since you are now one of the masters of the living
entities, you may increase the population on a large scale.
15.
The most powerful Rudra, whose bodily color was blue mixed with red, created
many offspring exactly resembling him in features, strength and furious nature.
16.
The sons and grandsons generated by Rudra were unlimited in number, and when
they assembled together they attempted to devour the entire universe. When
Brahma, the father of the living entities, saw this, he became afraid of the
situation.
17.
Brahma told Rudra: O best among the demigods, there is no need for you to
generate living entities of this nature. They have begun to devastate
everything on all sides with the fiery flames from their eyes, and they have
even attacked me.
18.
My dear son, you had better situate yourself in penance, which is auspicious
for all living entities and which will bring all benediction upon you. By
penance only shall you be able to create the universe as it was before.
19.
By penance only can one even approach the Personality of Godhead, who is within
the heart of every living entity and at the same time beyond the reach of all
senses.
20.
Sri Maitreya said: Thus Rudra, having been ordered by Brahma, circumambulated
his father, the master of the Vedas. Addressing him with words of assent, he
entered the forest to perform austere penances.
21.
Brahma, who was empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thought of
generating living entities and begot ten sons for the extension of the
generations.
22.
Marici, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrgu, Vasistha, Daksa, and the
tenth son, Narada, were thus born.
23.
Narada was born from the deliberation of Brahma, which is the best part of the
body. Vasistha was born from his breathing, Daksa from a thumb, Bhrgu from his
touch, and Kratu from his hand.
24.
Pulastya was generated from the ears, Angira from the mouth, Atri from the
eyes, Marici from the mind and Pulaha from the navel of Brahma.
25.
Religion was manifested from the breast of Brahma, wherein is seated the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Narayana, and irreligion appeared from his back, where
horrible death takes place for the living entity.
26.
Lust and desire became manifested from the heart of Brahma, anger from between
his eyebrows, greed from between his lips, the power of speaking from his
mouth, the ocean from his penis, and low and abominable activities from his
anus, the source of all sins.
27.
Sage Kardama, husband of the great Devahuti, was manifested from the shadow of
Brahma. Thus all became manifested from either the body or the mind of Brahma.
28.
O Vidura, we have heard that Brahma had a daughter named Vak who was born from
his body and who attracted his mind toward sex, although she was not sexually
inclined towards him.
29.
Thus, finding their father so deluded in an act of immorality, the sages headed
by Marici, all sons of Brahma, spoke as follows with great respect.
30.
O father, this performance in which you are endeavoring to complicate yourself
was never attempted by any other Brahma, nor by anyone else, nor by you in
previous kalpas, nor will anyone dare to attempt it in the future. You are the
supreme being in the universe, so how is it that you want to have sex with your
daughter and cannot control your desire?
31.
Even though you are the most powerful being, this act does not suit you because
your character is followed for spiritual improvement by people in general.
32.
Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, who, by
His own effulgence, while situated in Himself, has manifested this cosmos. May
He also protect religion for all goodness.
33.
The father of all Prajapatis, Brahma, thus seeing all his Prajapati sons
speaking in that way, became very much ashamed and at once gave up the body he
had accepted. Later that body appeared in all directions as the dangerous fog
in darkness.
34.
Once upon a time, when Brahma was thinking of how to create the worlds as in
the past millennium, the four Vedas, which contain all varieties of knowledge,
became manifested from his four mouths.
35.
The four kinds of paraphernalia for conducting the fire sacrifice became
manifest: the performer [the chanter], the offerer, the fire, and the action
performed in terms of the supplementary Vedas. Also the four principles of
religiosity [truth, austerity, mercy and cleanliness] and the duties in the
four social orders all became manifest.
36.
Vidura said: O great sage whose only wealth is penance, kindly explain to me
how and with whose help Brahma established the Vedic knowledge which emanated
from his mouth.
37.
Maitreya said: Beginning from the front face of Brahma, gradually the four
Vedas--Rk, Yajur, Sama and Atharva--became manifest. Thereafter, Vedic hymns
which had not been pronounced before, priestly rituals, the subject matters of
the recitation, and transcendental activities were all established, one after
another.
38.
He also created the medical science, military art, musical art and
architectural science, all from the Vedas. They all emanated one after another,
beginning from the front face.
39.
Then he created the fifth Veda--the Puranas and the histories--from all his
mouths, since he could see all the past, present and future.
40.
All the different varieties of fire sacrifices [sodasi, uktha, purisi,
agnistoma, aptoryama, atiratra, vajapeya and gosava] became manifested from the
eastern mouth of Brahma.
41.
Education, charity, penance and truth are said to be the four legs of religion,
and to learn this there are four orders of life with different classifications
of castes according to vocation. Brahma created all these in systematic order.
42.
Then the thread ceremony for the twice-born was inaugurated, as were the rules
to be followed for at least one year after acceptance of the Vedas, rules for
observing complete abstinence from sex life, vocations in terms of Vedic
injunctions, various professional duties in household life, and the method of
maintaining a livelihood without anyone's cooperation by picking up rejected
grains.
43.
The four divisions of retired life are the vaikhanasas, valakhilyas, audumbaras
and phenapas. The four divisions of the renounced order of life are the
kuticakas, bahvodas, hamsas and niskriyas. All these were manifested from
Brahma.
44.
The science of logical argument, the Vedic goals of life, and also law and
order, moral codes, and the celebrated hymns bhuh, bhuvah and svah all became
manifested from the mouths of Brahma, and the pranava omkara was manifested
from his heart.
45.
Thereafter the art of literary expression, usnik, was generated from the hairs
on the body of the almighty Prajapati. The principal Vedic hymn, gayatri, was
generated from the skin, tristup from the flesh, anustup from the veins, and
jagati from the bones of the lord of the living entities.
46.
The art of writing verse, pankti, became manifested from the bone marrow, and
that of brhati, another type of verse, was generated from the life-breath of
the Lord of the living entities.
47.
Brahma's soul was manifested as the touch alphabets, his body as the vowels,
his senses as the sibilant alphabets, his strength as the intermediate
alphabets and his sensual activities as the seven notes of music.
48.
Brahma is the personal representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as
the source of transcendental sound and is therefore above the conception of
manifested and unmanifested. Brahma is the complete form of the Absolute Truth
and is invested with multifarious energies.
49.
Thereafter Brahma accepted another body, in which sex life was not forbidden,
and thus he engaged himself in the matter of further creation.
50.
O son of the Kurus, when Brahma saw that in spite of the presence of sages of
great potency there was no sufficient increase in population, he seriously
began to consider how the population could be increased.
51.
Brahma thought to himself: Alas, it is wonderful that in spite of my being
scattered all over, there is still insufficient population throughout the
universe. There is no other cause for this misfortune but destiny.
52.
While he was thus absorbed in contemplation and was observing the supernatural
power, two other forms were generated from his body. They are still celebrated
as the body of Brahma.
53.
The two newly separated bodies united together in a sexual relationship.
54.
Out of them, the one who had the male form became known as the Manu named
Svayambhuva, and the woman became known as Satarupa, the queen of the great
soul Manu.
55.
Thereafter, by sex indulgence, they gradually increased generations of
population one after another.
56.
O son of Bharata, in due course of time he [Manu] begot in Satarupa five
children--two sons, Priyavrata and Uttanapada, and three daughters, Akuti,
Devahuti and Prasuti.
57.
The father, Manu, handed over his first daughter, Akuti, to the sage Ruci, the
middle daughter, Devahuti, to the sage Kardama, and the youngest, Prasuti, to
Daksa. From them, all the world filled with population.
Chapter Thirteen The Appearance of Lord Varaha
1.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, after hearing all these most virtuous topics
from the sage Maitreya, Vidura inquired further on the topics of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, which he adored to hear.
2.
Vidura said: O great sage, what did Svayambhuva, the dear son of Brahma, do
after obtaining his very loving wife?
3.
O best of the virtuous, the original king of kings [Manu] was a great devotee
of the Personality of Godhead Hari, and thus it is worth hearing of his sublime
character and activities. Please describe them. I am very eager to hear.
4.
Persons who hear from a spiritual master with great labor and for a long time
must hear from the mouths of pure devotees about the character and activities
of pure devotees. Pure devotees always think within their hearts of the lotus
feet of the Personality of Godhead, who awards His devotees liberation.
5.
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: The Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna was pleased to
place His lotus feet on the lap of Vidura because Vidura was very meek and
gentle. The sage Maitreya was very pleased with Vidura's words, and, being
influenced by his spirit, he attempted to speak.
6.
The sage Maitreya said to Vidura: After his appearance, Manu, the father of
mankind, along with his wife, thus addressed the reservoir of Vedic wisdom,
Brahma, with obeisances and folded hands.
7.
You are the father of all living entities and the source of their subsistence
because they are all born of you. Please order us how we may be able to render
service unto you.
8.
O worshipful one, please give us your direction for the execution of duty
within our working capacity so that we can follow it for fame in this life and
progress in the next.
9.
Lord Brahma said: My dear son, O lord of the world, I am very pleased with you,
and I desire all blessings for both you and your wife. You have without
reservation surrendered yourself unto me with your heart for my instructions.
10.
O hero, your example is quite befitting a son in relationship with his father.
This sort of adoration for the superior is required. One who is beyond the
limit of envy and who is sane accepts the order of his father with great
delight and executes it to his full capacity.
11.
Since you are my very obedient son, I ask you to beget children qualified like
yourself in the womb of your wife. Rule the world in pursuance of the
principles of devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and
thus worship the Lord by performances of yajna.
12.
O King, if you can give proper protection to the living beings in the material
world, that will be the best service for me. When the Supreme Lord sees you to
be a good protector of the conditioned souls, certainly the master of the
senses will be very pleased with you.
13.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janardana [Lord Krsna], is the form to
accept all the results of sacrifice. If He is not satisfied, then one's labor
for advancement is futile. He is the ultimate Self, and therefore one who does
not satisfy Him certainly neglects his own interests.
14.
Sri Mahu said: O all-powerful lord, O killer of all sins, I shall abide by your
order. Now please let me know my place and that of the living entities born of
me.
15.
O master of the demigods, please attempt to lift the earth, which is merged in
the great water, because it is the dwelling place for all the living entities.
It can be done by your endeavor and by the mercy of the Lord.
16.
Sri Maitreya said: Thus, seeing the earth merged in the water, Brahma gave his
attention for a long time to how it could be lifted.
17.
Brahma thought: While I have been engaged in the process of creation, the earth
has been inundated by a deluge and has gone down into the depths of the ocean.
What can we do who are engaged in this matter of creation? It is best to let
the Almighty Lord direct us.
18.
O sinless Vidura, all of a sudden, while Brahma was engaged in thinking, a
small form of a boar came out of his nostril. The measurement of the creature
was not more than the upper portion of a thumb.
19.
O descendant of Bharata, while Brahma was observing Him, that boar became
situated in the sky in a wonderful manifestation as gigantic as a great
elephant.
20.
Struck with wonder at observing the wonderful boarlike form in the sky, Brahma,
with great brahmanas like Marici, as well as the Kumaras and Manu, began to
argue in various ways.
21.
Is this some extraordinary entity come in the pretense of a boar? It is very
wonderful that He has come from my nose.
22.
First of all this boar was seen no bigger than the tip of a thumb, and within a
moment He was as large as a stone. My mind is perturbed. Is He the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Visnu?
23.
While Brahma was deliberating with his sons, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Visnu, roared tumultuously like a great mountain.
24.
The omnipotent Supreme Personality of Godhead enlivened Brahma and the other
highly elevated brahmanas by again roaring with His uncommon voice, which
echoed in all directions.
25.
When the great sages and thinkers who are residents of Janaloka, Tapoloka and
Satyaloka heard the tumultuous voice of Lord Boar, which was the all-auspicious
sound of the all-merciful Lord, they chanted auspicious chants from the three
Vedas.
26.
Playing like an elephant, He entered into the water after roaring again in
reply to the Vedic prayers by the great devotees. The Lord is the object of the
Vedic prayers, and thus He understood that the devotees' prayers were meant for
Him.
27.
Before entering the water to rescue the earth, Lord Boar flew in the sky,
slashing His tail, His hard hairs quivering. His very glance was luminous, and
He scattered the clouds in the sky with His hooves and His glittering white
tusks.
28.
He was personally the Supreme Lord Visnu and was therefore transcendental, yet
because He had the body of a hog, He searched after the earth by smell. His
tusks were fearful, and He glanced over the devotee-brahmanas engaged in
offering prayers. Thus He entered the water.
29.
Diving into the water like a giant mountain, Lord Boar divided the middle of
the ocean, and two high waves appeared as the arms of the ocean, which cried
loudly as if praying to the Lord, "O Lord of all sacrifices, please do not
cut me in two! Kindly give me protection!"
30.
Lord Boar penetrated the water with His hooves, which were like sharp arrows,
and found the limits of the ocean, although it was unlimited. He saw the earth,
the resting place for all living beings, lying as it was in the beginning of
creation, and He personally lifted it.
31.
Lord Boar very easily took the earth on His tusks and got it out of the water.
Thus He appeared very splendid. Then, His anger glowing like the Sudarsana
wheel, He immediately killed the demon [Hiranyaksa], although he tried to fight
with the Lord.
32.
Thereupon Lord Boar killed the demon within the water, just as a lion kills an
elephant. The cheeks and tongue of the Lord became smeared with the blood of
the demon, just as an elephant becomes reddish from digging in the purple
earth.
33.
Then the Lord, playing like an elephant, suspended the earth on the edge of His
curved white tusks. He assumed a bluish complexion like that of a tamala tree,
and thus the sages, headed by Brahma, could understand Him to be the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord.
34.
All the sages uttered with great respect: O unconquerable enjoyer of all
sacrifices, all glories and all victories unto You! You are moving in Your form
of the personified Vedas, and in the hair holes of Your body the oceans are
submerged. For certain reasons [to uplift the earth] You have now assumed the
form of a boar.
35.
O Lord, Your form is worshipable by performances of sacrifice, but souls who
are simply miscreants are unable to see it. All the Vedic hymns, Gayatri and
others, are in the touch of Your skin. In Your bodily hairs is the kusa grass,
in Your eyes is the clarified butter, and in Your four legs are the four kinds
of fruitive activities.
36.
O Lord, Your tongue is a plate of sacrifice, Your nostril is another plate of
sacrifice, in Your belly is the eating plate of sacrifice, and another plate of
sacrifice is the holes of Your ears. In Your mouth is the Brahma plate of
sacrifice, Your throat is the plate of sacrifice known as soma, and whatever
You chew is known as agni-hotra.
37.
Moreover, O Lord, the repetition of Your appearance is the desire for all kinds
of initiation. Your neck is the place for three desires, and Your tusks are the
result of initiation and the end of all desires. Your tongue is the prior
activities of initiation, Your head is the fire without sacrifice as well as
the fire of worship, and Your living forces are the aggregate of all desires.
38.
O Lord, Your semen is the sacrifice called soma-yajna. Your growth is the
ritualistic performances of the morning. Your skin and touch sensations are the
seven elements of the agnistoma sacrifice. Your bodily joints are symbols of
various other sacrifices performed in twelve days. Therefore You are the object
of all sacrifices called soma and asoma, and You are bound by yajnas only.
39.
O Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are worshipable by
universal prayers, Vedic hymns and sacrificial ingredients. We offer our
obeisances unto You. You can be realized by the pure mind freed from all
visible and invisible material contamination. We offer our respectful
obeisances to You as the supreme spiritual master of knowledge in devotional
service.
40.
O lifter of the earth, the earth with its mountains, which You have lifted with
Your tusks, is situated as beautifully as a lotus flower with leaves sustained
by an infuriated elephant just coming out of the water.
41.
O Lord, as the peaks of great mountains become beautiful when decorated with
clouds, Your transcendental body has become beautiful because of Your lifting
the earth on the edge of Your tusks.
42.
O Lord, for the residential purposes of all inhabitants, both moving and
nonmoving, this earth is Your wife, and You are the supreme father. We offer
our respectful obeisances unto You, along with mother earth, in whom You have
invested Your own potency, just as an expert sacrificer puts fire in the arani
wood.
43.
Who else but You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could deliver the earth
from within the water? It is not very wonderful for You, however, because You
acted most wonderfully in the creation of the universe. By Your energy You have
created this wonderful cosmic manifestation.
44.
O Supreme Lord, undoubtedly we are inhabitants of the most pious planets--the
Jana, Tapas and Satya lokas--but still we have been purified by the drops of
water sprinkled from Your shoulder hairs by the shaking of Your body.
45.
O Lord, there is no limit to Your wonderful activities. Anyone who desires to
know the limit of Your activities is certainly nonsensical. Everyone in this
world is conditioned by the powerful mystic potencies. Please bestow Your
causeless mercy upon these conditioned souls.
46.
The sage Maitreya said: The Lord, being thus worshiped by all the great sages
and transcendentalists, touched the earth with His hooves and placed it on the
water.
47.
In this manner the Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, the maintainer of all
living entities, raised the earth from within the water, and having placed it
afloat on the water, He returned to His own abode.
48.
If one hears and describes in a devotional service attitude this auspicious
narration of Lord Boar, which is worthy of description, the Lord, who is within
the heart of everyone, is very pleased.
49.
Nothing remains unachieved when the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased
with someone. By transcendental achievement one understands everything else to
be insignificant. One who engages in transcendental loving service is elevated
to the highest perfectional stage by the Lord Himself, who is seated in
everyone's heart.
50.
Who, other than one who is not a human being, can exist in this world and not
be interested in the ultimate goal of life? Who can refuse the nectar of
narrations about the Personality of Godhead's activities, which by itself can
deliver one from all material pangs?
Chapter Fourteen Pregnancy of Diti in the Evening
1.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: After hearing from the great sage Maitreya about the
Lord's incarnation as Varaha, Vidura, who had taken a vow, begged him with
folded hands to please narrate further transcendental activities of the Lord,
since he [Vidura] did not yet feel satisfied.
2.
Sri Vidura said: O chief amongst the great sages, I have heard by disciplic
succession that Hiranyaksa, the original demon, was slain by the same form of
sacrifices, the Personality of Godhead [Lord Boar].
3.
What was the reason, O brahmana, for the fight between the demon king and Lord
Boar while the Lord was lifting the earth as His pastime?
4.
My mind has become very inquisitive, and therefore I am not satisfied with
hearing the narration of the Lord's appearance. Please, therefore, speak more
and more to a devotee who is faithful.
5.
The great sage Maitreya said: O warrior, the inquiry made by you is just
befitting a devotee because it concerns the incarnation of the Personality of
Godhead. He is the source of liberation from the chain of birth and death for
all those who are otherwise destined to die.
6.
By hearing these topics from the sage [Narada], the son of King Uttanapada
[Dhruva] was enlightened regarding the Personality of Godhead, and he ascended
to the abode of the Lord, placing his feet over the head of death.
7.
This history of the fight between the Lord as a boar and the demon Hiranyaksa
was heard by me in a year long ago as it was described by the foremost of the
demigods, Brahma, when he was questioned by the other demigods.
8.
Diti, daughter of Daksa, being afflicted with sex desire, begged her husband,
Kasyapa, the son of Marici, to have intercourse with her in the evening in
order to beget a child.
9.
The sun was setting, and the sage was sitting in trance after offering
oblations to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, whose tongue is the
sacrificial fire.
10.
In that place the beautiful Diti expressed her desire: O learned one, Cupid is
taking his arrows and distressing me forcibly, as a mad elephant troubles a
banana tree.
11.
Therefore you should be kind towards me by showing me complete mercy. I desire
to have sons, and I am much distressed by seeing the opulence of my co-wives.
By performing this act, you will become happy.
12.
A woman is honored in the world by the benediction of her husband, and a
husband like you will become famous by having children because you are meant
for the expansion of living entities.
13.
In days long ago, our father, the most opulent Daksa, who was affectionate to
his daughters, asked each of us separately whom we would prefer to select as
our husband.
14.
Our well-wishing father, Daksa, after knowing our intentions, handed over
thirteen of his daughters unto you, and since then we have all been faithful.
15.
O lotus-eyed one, kindly bless me by fulfilling my desire. When someone in distress
approaches a great person, his pleas should never go in vain.
16.
O hero [Vidura], Diti, being thus afflicted by the contamination of lust, and
therefore poor and talkative, was pacified by the son of Marici in suitable
words.
17.
O afflicted one, I shall forthwith gratify whatever desire is dear to you, for
who else but you is the source of the three perfections of liberation?
18.
As one can cross over the ocean with seagoing vessels, one can cross the
dangerous situation of the material ocean by living with a wife.
19.
O respectful one, a wife is so helpful that she is called the better half of a
man's body because of her sharing in all auspicious activities. A man can move
without anxiety entrusting all responsibilities to his wife.
20.
As a fort commander very easily conquers invading plunderers, by taking shelter
of a wife one can conquer the senses, which are unconquerable in the other
social orders.
21.
O queen of the home, we are not able to act like you, nor could we repay you
for what you have done, even if we worked for our entire life or even after
death. To repay you is not possible, even for those who are admirers of
personal qualities.
22.
Even though it is not possible to repay you, I shall satisfy your sex desire
immediately for the sake of begetting children. But you must wait for only a
few seconds so that others may not reproach me.
23.
This particular time is most inauspicious because at this time the
horrible-looking ghosts and constant companions of the lord of the ghosts are
visible.
24.
Lord Siva, the king of the ghosts, sitting on the back of his bull carrier,
travels at this time, accompanied by ghosts who follow him for their welfare.
25.
Lord Siva's body is reddish, and he is unstained, but he is covered with ashes.
His hair is dusty from the whirlwind dust of the burning crematorium. He is the
younger brother of your husband, and he sees with his three eyes.
26.
Lord Siva regards no one as his relative, yet there is no one who is not
connected with him; he does not regard anyone as very favorable or abominable.
We respectfully worship the remnants of his foodstuff, and we vow to accept
what is rejected by him.
27.
Although no one in the material world is equal to or greater than Lord Siva,
and although his unimpeachable character is followed by great souls to
dismantle the mass of nescience, he nevertheless remains as if a devil to give
salvation to all devotees of the Lord.
28.
Unfortunate, foolish persons, not knowing that he is engaged in his own self,
laugh at him. Such foolish persons engage in maintaining the body--which is
eatable by dogs--with dresses, ornaments, garlands and ointments.
29.
Demigods like Brahma also follow the religious rites observed by him. He is the
controller of the material energy, which causes the creation of the material
world. He is great, and therefore his devilish characteristics are simply
imitation.
30.
Maitreya said: Diti was thus informed by her husband, but she was pressed by
Cupid for sexual satisfaction. She caught hold of the clothing of the great
brahmana sage, just like a shameless public prostitute.
31.
Understanding his wife's purpose, he was obliged to perform the forbidden act,
and thus after offering his obeisances unto worshipable fate, he lay with her
in a secluded place.
32.
Thereafter the brahmana took his bath in the water and controlled his speech by
practicing trance, meditating on the eternal effulgence and chanting the holy
Gayatri hymns within his mouth.
33.
O son of the Bharata family, Diti, after this, went nearer to her husband, her
face lowered because of her faulty action. She spoke as follows.
34.
The beautiful Diti said: My dear brahmana, kindly see that my embryo is not
killed by Lord Siva, the lord of all living entities, because of the great
offense I have committed against him.
35.
Let me offer my obeisances unto the angry Lord Siva, who is simultaneously the
very ferocious great demigod and the fulfiller of all material desires. He is
all-auspicious and forgiving, but his anger can immediately move him to
chastise.
36.
Let him be pleased with us, since he is my brother-in-law, the husband of my
sister Sati. He is also the worshipable lord of all women. He is the
personality of all opulences and can show mercy towards women, who are excused
even by the uncivilized hunters.
37.
Maitreya said: The great sage Kasyapa thus addressed his wife, who was
trembling because of fear that her husband was offended. She understood that he
had been dissuaded from his daily duties of offering evening prayers, yet she
desired the welfare of her children in the world.
38.
The learned Kasyapa said: Because of your mind's being polluted, because of
defilement of the particular time, because of your negligence of my directions,
and because of your being apathetic to the demigods, everything was
inauspicious.
39.
O haughty one, you will have two contemptuous sons born of your condemned womb.
Unlucky woman, they will cause constant lamentation to all the three worlds!
40.
They will kill poor, faultless living entities, torture women and enrage the
great souls.
41.
At that time the Lord of the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who
is the well-wisher of all living entities, will descend and kill them, just as
Indra smashes the mountains with his thunderbolts.
42.
Diti said: It is very good that my sons will be magnanimously killed by the
arms of the Personality of Godhead with His Sudarsana weapon. O my husband, may
they never be killed by the wrath of the brahmana devotees.
43.
A person who is condemned by a brahmana or is always fearful to other living
entities is not favored either by those who are already in hell or by those in
the species in which he is born.
44-45.
The learned Kasyapa said: Because of your lamentation, penitence and proper
deliberation, and also because of your unflinching faith in the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and your adoration for Lord Siva and me, one of the sons
[Prahlada] of your son [Hiranyakasipu] will be an approved devotee of the Lord,
and his fame will be broadcast equally with that of the Personality of Godhead.
46.
In order to follow in his footsteps, saintly persons will try to emulate his
character by practicing freedom from animosity, just as the purifying processes
rectify gold of inferior quality.
47.
Everyone will be pleased with him because the Personality of Godhead, the
supreme controller of the universe, is always satisfied with a devotee who does
not wish for anything beyond Him.
48.
That topmost devotee of the Lord will have expanded intelligence and expanded
influence and will be the greatest of the great souls. Due to matured
devotional service, he will certainly be situated in transcendental ecstasy and
will enter the spiritual sky after quitting this material world.
49.
He will be a virtuously qualified reservoir of all good qualities; he will be
jolly and happy in others' happiness, distressed in others' distress, and will
have no enemies. He will be a destroyer of the lamentation of all the
universes, like the pleasant moon after the summer sun.
50.
Your grandson will be able to see, inside and outside, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, whose wife is the beautiful goddess of fortune. The Lord can assume
the form desired by the devotee, and His face is always beautifully decorated
with earrings.
51.
The sage Maitreya said: Hearing that her grandson would be a great devotee and
that her sons would be killed by Krsna, Diti was highly pleased in mind.
Chapter Fifteen Description of the Kingdom of God
1.
Sri Maitreya said: My dear Vidura, Diti, the wife of the sage Kasyapa, could
understand that the sons within her womb would be a cause of disturbance to the
demigods. As such, she continuously bore the powerful semen of Kasyapa Muni,
which was meant to give trouble to others, for one hundred years.
2.
By the force of the pregnancy of Diti, the light of the sun and moon was
impaired in all the planets, and the demigods of various planets, being
disturbed by that force, asked the creator of the universe, Brahma, "What
is this expansion of darkness in all directions?"
3.
The fortunate demigods said: O great one, just see this darkness, which you
know very well and which is causing us anxieties. Because the influence of time
cannot touch you, there is nothing unmanifest before you.
4.
O god of the demigods, sustainer of the universe, head jewel of all the
demigods in other planets, you know the intentions of all living entities, in
both the spiritual and material worlds.
5.
O original source of strength and scientific knowledge, all obeisances unto
you! You have accepted the differentiated mode of passion from the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. With the help of external energy you are born of the
unmanifested source. All obeisances unto you!
6.
O lord, all these planets exist within your self, and all the living entities
are generated from you. Therefore you are the cause of this universe, and
anyone who meditates upon you without deviation attains devotional service.
7.
There is no defeat in this material world for persons who control the mind and
senses by controlling the breathing process and who are therefore experienced,
mature mystics. This is because by such perfection in yoga they have attained
your mercy.
8.
All the living entities within the universe are conducted by the Vedic
directions, as a bull is directed by the rope attached to its nose. No one can
violate the rules laid down in the Vedic literatures. To the chief person, who
has contributed the Vedas, we offer our respect!
9.
The demigods prayed to Brahma: Please look upon us mercifully, for we have
fallen into a miserable condition; because of the darkness, all our work has
been suspended.
10.
As fuel overloads a fire, so the embryo created by the semen of Kasyapa in the
womb of Diti has caused complete darkness throughout the universe.
11.
Sri Maitreya said: Thus Lord Brahma, who is understood by transcendental
vibration, tried to satisfy the demigods, being pleased with their words of
prayer.
12.
Lord Brahma said: My four sons Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumara,
who were born from my mind, are your predecessors. Sometimes they travel
throughout the material and spiritual skies without any definite desire.
13.
After thus traveling all over the universes, they also entered into the
spiritual sky, for they were freed from all material contamination. In the
spiritual sky there are spiritual planets known as Vaikunthas, which are the
residence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees and are
worshiped by the residents of all the material planets.
14.
In the Vaikuntha planets all the residents are similar in form to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. They all engage in devotional service to the Lord
without desires for sense gratification.
15.
In the Vaikuntha planets is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the
original person and who can be understood through the Vedic literature. He is
full of the uncontaminated mode of goodness, with no place for passion or
ignorance. He contributes religious progress for the devotees.
16.
In those Vaikuntha planets there are many forests which are very auspicious. In
those forests the trees are desire trees, and in all seasons they are filled
with flowers and fruits because everything in the Vaikuntha planets is
spiritual and personal.
17.
In the Vaikuntha planets the inhabitants fly in their airplanes, accompanied by
their wives and consorts, and eternally sing of the character and activities of
the Lord, which are always devoid of all inauspicious qualities. While singing
the glories of the Lord, they deride even the presence of the blossoming
madhavi flowers, which are fragrant and laden with honey.
18.
When the king of bees hums in a high pitch, singing the glories of the Lord,
there is a temporary lull in the noise of the pigeon, the cuckoo, the crane,
the cakravaka, the swan, the parrot, the partridge and the peacock. Such
transcendental birds stop their own singing simply to hear the glories of the
Lord.
19.
Although flowering plants like the mandara, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka,
arna, punnaga, nagakesara, bakula, lily and parijata are full of transcendental
fragrance, they are still conscious of the austerities performed by tulasi, for
tulasi is given special preference by the Lord, who garlands Himself with
tulasi leaves.
20.
The inhabitants of Vaikuntha travel in their airplanes made of lapis lazuli,
emerald and gold. Although crowded by their consorts, who have large hips and
beautiful smiling faces, they cannot be stimulated to passion by their mirth
and beautiful charms.
21.
The ladies in the Vaikuntha planets are as beautiful as the goddess of fortune
herself. Such transcendentally beautiful ladies, their hands playing with
lotuses and their leg bangles tinkling, are sometimes seen sweeping the marble
walls, which are bedecked at intervals with golden borders, in order to receive
the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
22.
The goddesses of fortune worship the Lord in their own gardens by offering
tulasi leaves on the coral-paved banks of transcendental reservoirs of water.
While offering worship to the Lord, they can see on the water the reflection of
their beautiful faces with raised noses, and it appears that they have become
more beautiful because of the Lord's kissing their faces.
23.
It is very much regrettable that unfortunate people do not discuss the
description of the Vaikuntha planets but engage in topics which are unworthy to
hear and which bewilder one's intelligence. Those who give up the topics of
Vaikuntha and take to talk of the material world are thrown into the darkest
region of ignorance.
24.
Lord Brahma said: My dear demigods, the human form of life is of such
importance that we also desire to have such life, for in the human form one can
attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. If one in this human form of life
does not understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His abode, it is to
be understood that he is very much affected by the influence of external
nature.
25.
Persons whose bodily features change in ecstasy and who breathe heavily and
perspire due to hearing the glories of the Lord are promoted to the kingdom of
God, even though they do not care for meditation and other austerities. The
kingdom of God is above the material universes, and it is desired by Brahma and
other demigods.
26.
Thus the great sages, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumara, upon
reaching the above-mentioned Vaikuntha in the spiritual world by dint of their
mystic yoga performance, perceived unprecedented happiness. They found that the
spiritual sky was illuminated by highly decorated airplanes piloted by the best
devotees of Vaikuntha and was predominated by the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
27.
After passing through the six entrances of Vaikuntha-puri, the Lord's
residence, without feeling astonishment at all the decorations, they saw at the
seventh gate two shining beings of the same age, armed with maces and adorned
with most valuable jewelry, earrings, diamonds, helmets, garments, etc.
28.
The two doormen were garlanded with fresh flowers which attracted intoxicated
bees and which were placed around their necks and between their four blue arms.
From their arched eyebrows, discontented nostrils and reddish eyes, they
appeared somewhat agitated.
29.
The great sages, headed by Sanaka, had opened doors everywhere. They had no
idea of "ours" and "theirs." With open minds, they entered
the seventh door out of their own will, just as they had passed through the six
other doors, which were made of gold and diamonds.
30.
The four boy-sages, who had nothing to cover their bodies but the atmosphere,
looked only five years old, even though they were the oldest of all living
creatures and had realized the truth of the self. But when the porters, who
happened to possess a disposition quite unpalatable to the Lord, saw the sages,
they blocked their way with their staffs, despising their glories, although the
sages did not deserve such treatment at their hands.
31.
When the Kumaras, although by far the fittest persons, were thus forbidden
entrance by the two chief doorkeepers of Sri Hari while other divinities looked
on, their eyes suddenly turned red because of anger due to their great
eagerness to see their most beloved master, Sri Hari, the Personality of
Godhead.
32.
The sages said: Who are these two persons who have developed such a discordant
mentality even though they are posted in the service of the Lord in the highest
position and are expected to have developed the same qualities as the Lord? How
are these two persons living in Vaikuntha? Where is the possibility of an
enemy's coming into this kingdom of God? The Supreme Personality of Godhead has
no enemy. Who could be envious of Him? Probably these two persons are
imposters; therefore they suspect others to be like themselves.
33.
In the Vaikuntha world there is complete harmony between the residents and the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as there is complete harmony within space
between the big and the small skies. Why then is there a seed of fear in this
field of harmony? These two persons are dressed like inhabitants of Vaikuntha,
but wherefrom can their disharmony come into existence?
34.
Therefore let us consider how these two contaminated persons should be
punished. The punishment should be apt, for thus benefit can eventually be
bestowed upon them. Since they find duality in the existence of Vaikuntha life,
they are contaminated and should be removed from this place to the material
world, where the living entities have three kinds of enemies.
35.
When the doormen of Vaikunthaloka, who were certainly devotees of the Lord,
found that they were going to be cursed by the brahmanas, they at once became
very much afraid and fell down at the feet of the brahmanas in great anxiety,
for a brahmana's curse cannot be counteracted by any kind of weapon.
36.
After being cursed by the sages, the doormen said: It is quite apt that you
have punished us for neglecting to respect sages like you. But we pray that due
to your compassion at our repentance, the illusion of forgetting the Supreme
Personality of Godhead will not come upon us as we go progressively downward.
37.
At that very moment, the Lord, who is called Padmanabha because of the lotus
grown from His navel and who is the delight of the righteous, learned about the
insult offered by His own servants to the saints. Accompanied by His spouse,
the goddess of fortune, He went to the spot on those very feet sought for by
recluses and great sages.
38.
The sages, headed by Sanaka Rsi, saw that the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Visnu, who was formerly visible only within their hearts in ecstatic trance,
had now actually become visible to their eyes. As He came forward, accompanied
by His own associates bearing all paraphernalia, such as an umbrella and a
camara fan, the white bunches of hair moved very gently, like two swans, and
due to their favorable breeze the pearls garlanding the umbrella also moved,
like drops of nectar falling from the white full moon or ice melting due to a
gust of wind.
39.
The Lord is the reservoir of all pleasure. His auspicious presence is meant for
everyone's benediction, and His affectionate smiling and glancing touch the core
of the heart. The Lord's beautiful bodily color is blackish, and His broad
chest is the resting place of the goddess of fortune, who glorifies the entire
spiritual world, the summit of all heavenly planets. Thus it appeared that the
Lord was personally spreading the beauty and good fortune of the spiritual
world.
40.
He was adorned with a girdle that shone brightly on the yellow cloth covering
His large hips, and He wore a garland of fresh flowers which was distinguished
by humming bees. His lovely wrists were graced with bracelets, and He rested
one of His hands on the shoulder of Garuda, His carrier, and twirled a lotus
with another hand.
41.
His countenance was distinguished by cheeks that enhanced the beauty of His
alligator-shaped pendants, which outshone lightning. His nose was prominent,
and His head was covered with a gem-studded crown. A charming necklace hung
between His stout arms, and His neck was adorned with the gem known by the name
Kaustubha.
42.
The exquisite beauty of Narayana, being many times magnified by the
intelligence of His devotees, was so attractive that it defeated the pride of
the goddess of fortune in being the most beautiful. My dear demigods, the Lord
who thus manifested Himself is worshipable by me, by Lord Siva and by all of
you. The sages regarded Him with unsated eyes and joyously bowed their heads at
His lotus feet.
43.
When the breeze carrying the aroma of tulasi leaves from the toes of the lotus
feet of the Personality of Godhead entered the nostrils of those sages, they
experienced a change both in body and in mind, even though they were attached
to the impersonal Brahman understanding.
44.
The Lord's beautiful face appeared to them like the inside of a blue lotus, and
the Lord's smile appeared to be a blossoming jasmine flower. After seeing the
face of the Lord, the sages were fully satisfied, and when they wanted to see
Him further, they looked upon the nails of His lotus feet, which resembled
rubies. Thus they viewed the Lord's transcendental body again and again, and so
they finally achieved meditation on the Lord's personal feature.
45.
This is the form of the Lord which is meditated upon by the followers of the
yoga process, and it is pleasing to the yogis in meditation. It is not
imaginary but factual, as proved by great yogis. The Lord is full in eight
kinds of achievement, but for others these achievements are not possible in
full perfection.
46.
The Kumaras said: Our dear Lord, You are not manifested to rascals, even though
You are seated within the heart of everyone. But as far as we are concerned, we
see You face to face, although You are unlimited. The statements we have heard
about You from our father, Brahma, through the ears have now been actually
realized by Your kind appearance.
47.
We know that You are the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead,
who manifests His transcendental form in the uncontaminated mode of pure
goodness. This transcendental, eternal form of Your personality can be
understood only by Your mercy, through unflinching devotional service, by great
sages whose hearts have been purified in the devotional way.
48.
Persons who are very expert and most intelligent in understanding things as
they are engage in hearing narrations of the auspicious activities and pastimes
of the Lord, which are worth chanting and worth hearing. Such persons do not
care even for the highest material benediction, namely liberation, to say
nothing of other less important benedictions like the material happiness of the
heavenly kingdom.
49.
O Lord, we pray that You let us be born in any hellish condition of life, just
as long as our hearts and minds are always engaged in the service of Your lotus
feet, our words are made beautiful [by speaking of Your activities] just as
tulasi leaves are beautified when offered unto Your lotus feet, and as long as
our ears are always filled with the chanting of Your transcendental qualities.
50.
O Lord, we therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto Your eternal form as
the Personality of Godhead, which You have so kindly manifested before us. Your
supreme, eternal form cannot be seen by unfortunate, less intelligent persons,
but we are so much satisfied in our mind and vision to see it.
Chapter Sixteen The Two Doorkeepers of Vaikuntha, Cursed by the Sages
1.
Lord Brahma said: After thus congratulating the sages for their nice words, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose abode is in the kingdom of God, spoke as
follows.
2.
The Personality of Godhead said: These attendants of Mine, Jaya and Vijaya by
name, have committed a great offense against you because of ignoring Me.
3.
O great sages, I approve of the punishment that you who are devoted to Me have
meted out to them.
4.
To Me, the brahmana is the highest and most beloved personality. The disrespect
shown by My attendants has actually been displayed by Me because the doormen
are My servitors. I take this to be an offense by Myself; therefore I seek your
forgiveness for the incident that has arisen.
5.
A wrong act committed by a servant leads people in general to blame his master,
just as a spot of white leprosy on any part of the body pollutes all of the
skin.
6.
Anyone in the entire world, even down to the candala, who lives by cooking and
eating the flesh of the dog, is immediately purified if he takes bath in
hearing through the ear the glorification of My name, fame, etc. Now you have
realized Me without doubt; therefore I will not hesitate to lop off My own arm
if its conduct is found hostile to you.
7.
The Lord continued: Because I am the servitor of My devotees, My lotus feet
have become so sacred that they immediately wipe out all sin, and I have
acquired such a disposition that the goddess of fortune does not leave Me, even
though I have no attachment for her and others praise her beauty and observe
sacred vows to secure from her even a slight favor.
8.
I do not enjoy the oblations offered by the sacrificers in the sacrificial
fire, which is one of My own mouths, with the same relish as I do the
delicacies overflowing with ghee which are offered to the mouths of the
brahmanas who have dedicated to Me the results of their activities and who are
ever satisfied with My prasada.
9.
I am the master of My unobstructed internal energy, and the water of the Ganges
is the remnant left after My feet are washed. That water sanctifies the three
worlds, along with Lord Siva, who bears it on his head. If I can take the dust
of the feet of the Vaisnava on My head, who will refuse to do the same?
10.
The brahmanas, the cows and the defenseless creatures are My own body. Those
whose faculty of judgment has been impaired by their own sin look upon these as
distinct from Me. They are just like furious serpents, and they are angrily
torn apart by the bills of the vulturelike messengers of Yamaraja, the
superintendent of sinful persons.
11.
On the other hand, they captivate My heart who are gladdened in heart and who,
their lotus faces enlightened by nectarean smiles, respect the brahmanas, even
though the brahmanas utter harsh words. They look upon the brahmanas as My own
Self and pacify them by praising them in loving words, even as a son would
appease an angry father or as I am pacifying you.
12.
These servants of Mine have transgressed against you, not knowing the mind of
their master. I shall therefore deem it a favor done to Me if you order that,
although reaping the fruit of their transgression, they may return to My
presence soon and the time of their exile from My abode may expire before long.
13.
Brahma continued: Even though the sages had been bitten by the serpent of
anger, their souls were not satiated with hearing the Lord's lovely and
illuminating speech, which was like a series of Vedic hymns.
14.
The Lord's excellent speech was difficult to comprehend because of its
momentous import and its most profound significance. The sages heard it with
wide-open ears and pondered it as well. But although hearing, they could not
understand what He intended to do.
15.
The four brahmana sages were nevertheless extremely delighted to behold Him,
and they experienced a thrill throughout their bodies. They then spoke as
follows to the Lord, who had revealed the multiglories of the Supreme
Personality through His internal potency, yogamaya.
16.
The sages said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we are unable to know what
You intend for us to do, for even though You are the supreme ruler of all, You
speak in our favor as if we had done something good for You.
17.
O Lord, You are the supreme director of the brahminical culture. Your
considering the brahmanas to be in the highest position is Your example for
teaching others. Actually You are the supreme worshipable Deity, not only for
the gods but for the brahmanas also.
18.
You are the source of the eternal occupation of all living entities, and by
Your multimanifestations of Personalities of Godhead, You have always protected
religion. You are the supreme objective of religious principles, and in our
opinion You are inexhaustible and unchangeable eternally.
19.
Mystics and transcendentalists, by the mercy of the Lord, cross beyond
nescience by ceasing all material desires. It is not possible, therefore, that
the Supreme Lord can be favored by others.
20.
The goddess of fortune, Laksmi, the dust of whose feet is worn on the head by
others, waits upon You, as appointed, for she is anxious to secure a place in
the abode of the king of bees, who hovers on the fresh wreath of tulasi leaves
offered at Your feet by some blessed devotee.
21.
O Lord, You are exceedingly attached to the activities of Your pure devotees,
yet You are never attached to the goddesses of fortune who constantly engage in
Your transcendental loving service. How can You be purified, therefore, by the
dust of the path traversed by the brahmanas, and how can You be glorified or
made fortunate by the marks of Srivatsa on Your chest?
22.
O Lord, You are the personification of all religion. Therefore You manifest
Yourself in three millenniums, and thus You protect this universe, which
consists of animate and inanimate beings. By Your grace, which is of pure
goodness and is the bestower of all blessings, kindly drive away the elements
of rajas and tamas for the sake of the demigods and twice-born.
23.
O Lord, You are the protector of the highest of the twice-born. If You do not
protect them by offering worship and mild words, then certainly the auspicious
path of worship will be rejected by people in general, who act on the strength
and authority of Your Lordship.
24.
Dear Lord, You never want the auspicious path to be destroyed, for You are the
reservoir of all goodness. Just to benefit people in general, You destroy the
evil element by Your mighty potency. You are the proprietor of the three
creations and the maintainer of the entire universe. Therefore Your potency is
not reduced by Your submissive behavior. Rather, by submission You exhibit Your
transcendental pastimes.
25.
O Lord, whatever punishment You wish to award to these two innocent persons or
also to us we shall accept without duplicity. We understand that we have cursed
two faultless persons.
26.
The Lord replied: O brahmanas, know that the punishment you inflicted on them
was originally ordained by Me, and therefore they will fall to a birth in a
demoniac family. But they will be firmly united with Me in thought through
mental concentration intensified by anger, and they will return to My presence
shortly.
27.
Lord Brahma said: After seeing the Lord of Vaikuntha, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, in the self-illuminated Vaikuntha planet, the sages left that
transcendental abode.
28.
The sages circumambulated the Supreme Lord, offered their obeisances and
returned, extremely delighted at learning of the divine opulences of the
Vaisnava.
29.
The Lord then said to His attendants, Jaya and Vijaya: Depart this place, but
fear not. All glories unto you. Though I am capable of nullifying the brahmanas'
curse, I would not do so. On the contrary, it has My approval.
30.
This departure from Vaikuntha was foretold by Laksmi, the goddess of fortune.
She was very angry because when she left My abode and then returned, you
stopped her at the gate while I was sleeping.
31.
The Lord assured the two Vaikuntha inhabitants, Jaya and Vijaya: By practicing
the mystic yoga system in anger, you will be cleansed of the sin of disobeying
the brahmanas and within a very short time return to Me.
32.
After thus speaking at the door of Vaikuntha, the Lord returned to His abode,
where there are many celestial airplanes and all-surpassing wealth and
splendor.
33.
But those two gatekeepers, the best of the demigods, their beauty and luster
diminished by the curse of the brahmanas, became morose and fell from
Vaikuntha, the abode of the Supreme Lord.
34.
Then, as Jaya and Vijaya fell from the Lord's abode, a great roar of
disappointment arose from all the demigods, who were sitting in their splendid
airplanes.
35.
Lord Brahma continued: Those two principal doorkeepers of the Personality of
Godhead have now entered the womb of Diti, the powerful semen of Kasyapa Muni
having covered them.
36.
It is the prowess of these twin asuras [demons] that has disturbed you, for it
has minimized your power. There is no remedy within my power, however, for it
is the Lord Himself who desires to do all this.
37.
My dear sons, the Lord is the controller of the three modes of nature and is
responsible for the creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe. His
wonderful creative power, yogamaya, cannot be easily understood even by the
masters of yoga. That most ancient person, the Personality of Godhead, will
alone come to our rescue. What purpose can we serve on His behalf by deliberating
on the subject?
Chapter Seventeen Victory of Hiranyaksa Over All the directions of the
Universe
1.
Sri Maitreya said: The demigods, the inhabitants of the higher planets, were
freed from all fear upon hearing the cause of the darkness explained by Brahma,
who was born from Visnu. Thus they all returned to their respective planets.
2.
The virtuous lady Diti had been very apprehensive of trouble to the gods from
the children in her womb, and her husband predicted the same. She brought forth
twin sons after a full one hundred years of pregnancy.
3.
On the birth of the two demons there were many natural disturbances, all very
fearful and wonderful, in the heavenly planets, the earthly planets and in
between them.
4.
There were earthquakes along the mountains on the earth, and it appeared that
there was fire everywhere. Many inauspicious planets like Saturn appeared,
along with comets, meteors and thunderbolts.
5.
There blew winds which were most uninviting to the touch, hissing again and
again and uprooting gigantic trees. They had storms for their armies and clouds
of dust for their ensigns.
6.
The luminaries in the heavens were screened by masses of clouds, in which
lightning sometimes flashed as though laughing. Darkness reigned everywhere,
and nothing could be seen.
7.
The ocean with its high waves wailed aloud as if stricken with sorrow, and
there was a commotion among the creatures inhabiting the ocean. The rivers and
lakes were also agitated, and lotuses withered.
8.
Misty halos appeared around the sun and the moon during solar and lunar
eclipses again and again. Claps of thunder were heard even without clouds, and
sounds like those of rattling chariots emerged from the mountain caves.
9.
In the interior of the villages she-jackals yelled portentously, vomiting
strong fire from their mouths, and jackals and owls also joined them with their
cries.
10.
Raising their necks, dogs cried here and there, now in the manner of singing
and now of wailing.
11.
O Vidura, the asses ran hither and thither in herds, striking the earth with
their hard hooves and wildly braying.
12.
Frightened by the braying of the asses, birds flew shrieking from their nests,
while cattle in the cowsheds as well as in the woods passed dung and urine.
13.
Cows, terrified, yielded blood in place of milk, clouds rained pus, the images
of the gods in the temples shed tears, and trees fell down without a blast of
wind.
14.
Ominous planets such as Mars and Saturn shone brighter and surpassed the
auspicious ones such as Mercury, Jupiter and Venus as well as a number of lunar
mansions. Taking seemingly retrograde courses, the planets came in conflict
with one another.
15.
Marking these and many other omens of evil times, everyone but the four
sage-sons of Brahma, who were aware of the fall of Jaya and Vijaya and of their
birth as Diti's sons, was seized with fear. They did not know the secrets of
these potents and thought that the dissolution of the universe was at hand.
16.
These two demons who appeared in ancient times soon began to exhibit uncommon
bodily features; they had steellike frames which began to grow just like two
great mountains.
17.
Their bodies became so tall that they seemed to kiss the sky with the crests of
their gold crowns. They blocked the view of all directions and while walking
shook the earth at every step. Their arms were adorned with brilliant
bracelets, and they stood as if covering the sun with their waists, which were
bound with excellent and beautiful girdles.
18.
Kasyapa, Prajapati, the creator of the living entities, gave his twin sons
their names; the one who was born first he named Hiranyaksa, and the one who
was first conceived by Diti he named Hiranyakasipu.
19.
The elder child, Hiranyakasipu, was unafraid of death from anyone within the
three worlds because he received a benediction from Lord Brahma. He was proud
and puffed up due to this benediction and was able to bring all three planetary
systems under his control.
20.
His younger brother, Hiranyaksa, was always ready to satisfy his elder brother
by his activities. Hiranyaksa took a club on his shoulder and traveled all over
the universe with a fighting spirit just to satisfy Hiranyakasipu.
21.
Hiranyaksa's temper was difficult to control. He had anklets of gold tinkling
about his feet, he was adorned with a gigantic garland, and he rested his huge
mace on one of his shoulders.
22.
His mental and bodily strength as well as the boon conferred upon him had made
him proud. He feared death at the hands of no one, and there was no checking
him. The gods, therefore, were seized with fear at his very sight, and they hid
themselves even as snakes hide themselves for fear of Garuda.
23.
On not finding Indra and the other demigods, who had previously been
intoxicated with power, the chief of the Daityas, seeing that they had all
vanished before his might, roared loudly.
24.
After returning from the heavenly kingdom, the mighty demon, who was like an
elephant in wrath, for the sake of sport dived into the deep ocean, which was
roaring terribly.
25.
On his entering the ocean, the aquatic animals who formed the host of Varuna
were stricken with fear and ran far away. Thus Hiranyaksa showed his splendor
without dealing a blow.
26.
Moving about in the ocean for many, many years, the mighty Hiranyaksa smote the
gigantic wind-tossed waves again and again with his iron mace and reached
Vibhavari, the capital of Varuna.
27.
Vibhavari is the home of Varuna, lord of the aquatic creatures and guardian of
the lower regions of the universe, where the demons generally reside. There
Hiranyaksa fell at Varuna's feet like a lowborn man, and to make fun of him he
said with a smile, "Give me battle, O Supreme Lord!"
28.
You are the guardian of an entire sphere and a ruler of wide fame. Having
crushed the might of arrogant and conceited warriors and having conquered all
the Daityas and Danavas in the world, you once performed a Rajasuya sacrifice
to the Lord.
29.
Thus mocked by an enemy whose vanity knew no bounds, the worshipful lord of the
waters waxed angry, but by dint of his reason he managed to curb the anger that
had sprung up in him, and he replied: O dear one, we have now desisted from
warfare, having grown too old for combat.
30.
You are so skilled in war that I do not see anyone else but the most ancient
person, Lord Visnu, who can give satisfaction in battle to you. Therefore, O
chief of the asuras, approach Him, whom even heroes like you mention with
praise.
31.
Varuna continued: On reaching Him you will be rid of your pride at once and
will lie down on the field of battle, surrounded by dogs, for eternal sleep. It
is in order to exterminate wicked fellows like you and to show His grace to the
virtuous that He assumes His various incarnations like Varaha.
Chapter Eighteen The Battle Between Lord Boar and the Demon Hiranyaksa
1.
Maitreya continued: The proud and falsely glorious Daitya paid little heed to
the words of Varuna. O dear Vidura, he learned from Narada the whereabouts of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead and hurriedly betook himself to the depths
of the ocean.
2.
He saw there the all-powerful Personality of Godhead in His boar incarnation,
bearing the earth upward on the ends of His tusks and robbing him of his
splendor with His reddish eyes. The demon laughed: Oh, an amphibious beast!
3.
The demon addressed the Lord: O best of the demigods, dressed in the form of a
boar, just hear me. This earth is entrusted to us, the inhabitants of the lower
regions, and You cannot take it from my presence and not be hurt by me.
4.
You rascal, You have been nourished by our enemies to kill us, and You have
killed some demons by remaining invisible. O fool, Your power is only mystic,
so today I shall enliven my kinsmen by killing You.
5.
The demon continued: When You fall dead with Your skull smashed by the mace
hurled by my arms, the demigods and sages who offer You oblations and sacrifice
in devotional service will also automatically cease to exist, like trees
without roots.
6.
Although the Lord was pained by the shaftlike abusive words of the demon, He
bore the pain. But seeing that the earth on the ends of His tusks was
frightened, He rose out of the water just as an elephant emerges with its
female companion when assailed by an alligator.
7.
The demon, who had golden hair on his head and fearful tusks, gave chase to the
Lord while He was rising from the water, even as an alligator would chase an
elephant. Roaring like thunder, he said: Are You not ashamed of running away
before a challenging adversary? There is nothing reproachable for shameless
creatures!
8.
The Lord placed the earth within His sight on the surface of the water and
transferred to her His own energy in the form of the ability to float on the
water. While the enemy stood looking on, Brahma, the creator of the universe,
extolled the Lord, and the other demigods rained flowers on Him.
9.
The demon, who had a wealth of ornaments, bangles and beautiful golden armor on
his body, chased the Lord from behind with a great mace. The Lord tolerated his
piercing ill words, but in order to reply to him, He expressed His terrible
anger.
10.
The Personality of Godhead said: Indeed, We are creatures of the jungle, and We
are searching after hunting dogs like you. One who is freed from the
entanglement of death has no fear from the loose talk in which you are
indulging, for you are bound up by the laws of death.
11.
Certainly We have stolen the charge of the inhabitants of Rasatala and have
lost all shame. Although bitten by your powerful mace, I shall stay here in the
water for some time because, having created enmity with a powerful enemy, I now
have no place to go.
12.
You are supposed to be the commander of many foot soldiers, and now you may
take prompt steps to overthrow Us. Give up all your foolish talk and wipe out
the cares of your kith and kin by slaying Us. One may be proud, yet he does not
deserve a seat in an assembly if he fails to fulfill his promised word.
13.
Sri Maitreya said: The demon, being thus challenged by the Personality of
Godhead, became angry and agitated, and he trembled in anger like a challenged
cobra.
14.
Hissing indignantly, all his senses shaken by wrath, the demon quickly sprang
upon the Lord and dealt Him a blow with his powerful mace.
15.
The Lord, however, by moving slightly aside, dodged the violent mace-blow aimed
at His breast by the enemy, just as an accomplished yogi would elude death.
16.
The Personality of Godhead now exhibited His anger and rushed to meet the
demon, who bit his lip in rage, took up his mace again and began to repeatedly
brandish it about.
17.
Then with His mace the Lord struck the enemy on the right of his brow, but
since the demon was expert in fighting, O gentle Vidura, he protected himself
by a maneuver of his own mace.
18.
In this way, the demon Haryaksa and the Lord, the Personality of Godhead,
struck each other with their huge maces, each enraged and seeking his own
victory.
19.
There was keen rivalry between the two combatants; both had sustained injuries
on their bodies from the blows of each other's pointed maces, and each grew
more and more enraged at the smell of blood on his person. In their eagerness
to win, they performed maneuvers of various kinds, and their contest looked
like an encounter between two forceful bulls for the sake of a cow.
20.
O descendant of Kuru, Brahma, the most independent demigod of the universe,
accompanied by his followers, came to see the terrible fight for the sake of
the world between the demon and the Personality of Godhead, who appeared in the
form of a boar.
21.
After arriving at the place of combat, Brahma, the leader of thousands of sages
and transcendentalists, saw the demon, who had attained such unprecedented
power that no one could fight with him. Brahma then addressed Narayana, who was
assuming the form of a boar for the first time.
22-23.
Lord Brahma said: My dear Lord, this demon has proved to be a constant pinprick
to the demigods, the brahmanas, the cows and innocent persons who are spotless
and always dependent upon worshiping Your lotus feet. He has become a source of
fear by unnecessarily harassing them. Since he has attained a boon from me, he
has become a demon, always searching for a proper combatant, wandering all over
the universe for this infamous purpose.
24.
Lord Brahma continued: My dear Lord, there is no need to play with this
serpentine demon, who is always very skilled in conjuring tricks and is
arrogant, self-sufficient and most wicked.
25.
Brahma continued: My dear Lord, You are infallible. Please kill this sinful
demon before the demoniac hour arrives and he presents another formidable
approach favorable to him. You can kill him by Your internal potency without
doubt.
26.
My Lord, the darkest evening, which covers the world, is fast approaching.
Since You are the Soul of all souls, kindly kill him and win victory for the
demigods.
Chapter Nineteen The Killing of the Demon Hiranyaksa
1.
Sri Maitreya said: After hearing the words of Brahma, the creator, which were
free from all sinful purposes and as sweet as nectar, the Lord heartily laughed
and accepted his prayer with a glance laden with love.
2.
The Lord, who had appeared from the nostril of Brahma, sprang and aimed His
mace at the chin of His enemy, the Hiranyaksa demon, who was stalking
fearlessly before Him.
3.
Struck by the demon's mace, however, the Lord's mace slipped from His hand and
looked splendid as it fell down whirling. This was miraculous, for the mace was
blazing wonderfully.
4.
Even though the demon had an excellent opportunity to strike his unarmed foe
without obstruction, he respected the law of single combat, thereby kindling
the fury of the Supreme Lord.
5.
As the Lord's mace fell to the ground and a cry of alarm arose from the
witnessing crowd of gods and rsis, the Personality of Godhead acknowledged the
demon's love of righteousness and therefore invoked His Sudarsana discus.
6.
As the discus began to revolve in the Lord's hands and the Lord contended at
close quarters with the chief of His Vaikuntha attendants, who had been born as
Hiranyaksa, a vile son of Diti, there issued from every direction strange
expressions uttered by those who were witnessing from airplanes. They had no
knowledge of the Lord's reality, and they cried, "May victory attend You!
Pray dispatch him. Play no more with him."
7.
When the demon saw the Personality of Godhead, who had eyes just like lotus
petals, standing in position before him, armed with His Sudarsana discus, his
senses were overpowered by indignation. He began to hiss like a serpent, and he
bit his lip in great resentment.
8.
The demon, who had fearful tusks, stared at the Personality of Godhead as
though to burn Him. Springing into the air, he aimed his mace at the Lord,
exclaiming at the same time, "You are slain!"
9.
O saintly Vidura, while His enemy looked on, the Lord in His boar form, the
enjoyer of all sacrificial offerings, playfully knocked down the mace with His
left foot, even as it came upon Him with the force of a tempest.
10.
The Lord then said: "Take up your weapon and try again, eager as you are
to conquer Me." Challenged in these words, the demon aimed his mace at the
Lord and once more loudly roared.
11.
When the Lord saw the mace flying toward Him, He stood firmly where He was and
caught it with the same ease as Garuda, the king of birds, would seize a
serpent.
12.
His valor thus frustrated, the great demon felt humiliated and was put out of
countenance. He was reluctant to take back the mace when it was offered by the
Personality of Godhead.
13.
He now took a trident which was as rapacious as a flaming fire and hurled it
against the Lord, the enjoyer of all sacrifices, even as one would use penance
for a malevolent purpose against a holy brahmana.
14.
Hurled by the mighty demon with all his strength, the flying trident shone
brightly in the sky. The Personality of Godhead, however, tore it to pieces
with His discus Sudarsana, which had a sharp-edged rim, even as Indra cut off a
wing of Garuda.
15.
The demon was enraged when his trident was cut to pieces by the discus of the
Personality of Godhead. He therefore advanced toward the Lord and, roaring
aloud, struck his hard fist against the Lord's broad chest, which bore the mark
of Srivatsa. Then he went out of sight.
16.
Hit in this manner by the demon, O Vidura, the Lord, who had appeared as the
first boar, did not feel the least quaking in any part of His body, any more
than an elephant would when struck with a wreath of flowers.
17.
The demon, however, employed many conjuring tricks against the Personality of
Godhead, who is the Lord of yogamaya. At the sight of this the people were
filled with alarm and thought that the dissolution of the universe was near.
18.
Fierce winds began to blow from all directions, spreading darkness occasioned
by dust and hail storms; stones came in volleys from every corner, as if thrown
by machine guns.
19.
The luminaries in outer space disappeared due to the sky's being overcast with
masses of clouds, which were accompanied by lightning and thunder. The sky
rained pus, hair, blood, stool, urine and bones.
20.
O sinless Vidura, mountains discharged weapons of various kinds, and naked
demonesses armed with tridents appeared with their hair hanging loose.
21.
Cruel and savage slogans were uttered by hosts of ruffian Yaksas and Raksasas,
who all either marched on foot or rode on horses, elephants or chariots.
22.
The Lord, the personal enjoyer of all sacrifices, now discharged His beloved
Sudarsana, which was capable of dispersing the magical forces displayed by the
demon.
23.
At that very moment, a shudder suddenly ran through the heart of Diti, the
mother of Hiranyaksa. She recalled the words of her husband, Kasyapa, and blood
flowed from her breasts.
24.
When the demon saw his magic forces dispelled, he once again came into the
presence of the Personality of Godhead, Kesava, and, full of rage, tried to
embrace Him within his arms to crush Him. But to his great amazement he found
the Lord standing outside the circle of his arms.
25.
The demon now began to strike the Lord with his hard fists, but Lord Adhoksaja
slapped him in the root of the ear, even as Indra, the lord of the Maruts, hit
the demon Vrtra.
26.
Though struck indifferently by the Lord, the conqueror of all, the demon's body
began to wheel. His eyeballs bulged out of their sockets. His arms and legs
broken and the hair on his head scattered, he fell down dead, like a gigantic
tree uprooted by the wind.
27.
Aja [Brahma] and others arrived on the spot to see the fearfully tusked demon
lying on the ground, biting his lip. The glow of his face was yet unfaded, and
Brahma admiringly said: Oh, who could meet such blessed death?
28.
Brahma continued: He was struck by a forefoot of the Lord, whom yogis, seeking
freedom from their unreal material bodies, meditate upon in seclusion in mystic
trance. While gazing on His countenance, this crest jewel of Diti's sons has
cast off his mortal coil.
29.
These two personal assistants of the Supreme Lord, having been cursed, have
been destined to take birth in demoniac families. After a few such births, they
will return to their own positions.
30.
The demigods addressed the Lord: All obeisances unto You! You are the enjoyer
of all sacrifices, and You have assumed the form of a boar, in pure goodness,
for the purpose of maintaining the world. Fortunately for us, this demon, who
was a torment to the worlds, has been slain by You, and we too, O Lord, are now
at ease, in devotion to Your lotus feet.
31.
Sri Maitreya continued: After thus killing the most formidable demon
Hiranyaksa, the Supreme Lord Hari, the origin of the boar species, returned to
His own abode, where there is always an uninterrupted festival. The Lord was
praised by all the demigods, headed by Brahma.
32.
Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, I have explained to you the Personality of
Godhead's coming down as the first boar incarnation and killing in a great
fight a demon of unprecedented prowess as if he were just a plaything. This has
been narrated by me as I heard it from my predecessor spiritual master.
33.
Sri Suta Gosvami continued: My dear brahmana, Ksatta [Vidura] the great devotee
of the Lord achieved transcendental bliss by hearing the narration of the
pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the authoritative source of
the sage Kausarava [Maitreya], and he was very pleased.
34.
What to speak of hearing the pastimes of the Lord, whose chest is marked with
Srivatsa, people may take transcendental pleasure even in hearing of the works
and deeds of the devotees, whose fame is immortal.
35.
The Personality of Godhead delivered the king of the elephants, who was
attacked by an alligator and who meditated upon the lotus feet of the Lord. At
that time the female elephants who accompanied him were crying, and the Lord
saved them from the impending danger.
36.
What grateful soul is there who would not render his loving service to such a
great master as the Personality of Godhead? The Lord can be easily pleased by
spotless devotees who resort exclusively to Him for protection, though the
unrighteous man finds it difficult to propitiate Him.
37.
O brahmanas, anyone who hears, chants, or takes pleasure in the wonderful
narration of the killing of the Hiranyaksa demon by the Lord, who appeared as
the first boar in order to deliver the world, is at once relieved of the
results of sinful activities, even the killing of a brahmana.
38.
This most sacred narrative confers extraordinary merit, wealth, fame,
longevity, and all the objects of one's desire. On the field of battle it
promotes the strength of one's vital organs and organs of action. One who
listens to it at the last moment of his life is transferred to the supreme
abode of the Lord, O dear Saunaka.
Chapter Twenty Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura
1.
Sri Saunaka inquired: O Suta Gosvami, after the earth was again situated in its
orbit, what did Svayambhuva Manu do to show the path of liberation to persons
who were to take birth later on?
2.
Saunaka Rsi inquired about Vidura, who was a great devotee and friend of Lord
Krsna and who gave up the company of his elder brother because the latter,
along with his sons, played tricks against the desires of the Lord.
3.
Vidura was born from the body of Veda-vyasa and was not less than he. Thus he
accepted the lotus feet of Krsna wholeheartedly and was attached to His
devotees.
4.
Vidura was purified of all passion by wandering in sacred places, and at last
he reached Hardwar, where he met the great sage who knew the science of
spiritual life, and he inquired from him. Saunaka Rsi therefore asked: What
more did Vidura inquire from Maitreya?
5.
Saunaka inquired about the conversation between Vidura and Maitreya: There must
have been many narrations of the spotless pastimes of the Lord. The hearing of
such narrations is exactly like bathing in the water of the Ganges, for it can
free one from all sinful reactions.
6.
O Suta Gosvami, all good fortune to you! Please narrate the activities of the
Lord, which are all magnanimous and worth glorifying. What sort of devotee can
be satiated by hearing the nectarean pastimes of the Lord?
7.
On being asked to speak by the great sages of Naimisaranya, the son of
Romaharsana, Suta Gosvami, whose mind was absorbed in the transcendental
pastimes of the Lord, said: Please hear what I shall now speak.
8.
Suta Gosvami continued: Vidura, the descendant of Bharata, was delighted to
hear the story of the Lord, who, having assumed by His own divine potency the
form of a boar, had enacted the sport of lifting the earth from the bottom of
the ocean and indifferently killing the demon Hiranyaksa. Vidura then spoke to
the sage as follows.
9.
Vidura said: Since you know of matters inconceivable to us, tell me, O holy
sage, what did Brahma do to create living beings after evolving the Prajapatis,
the progenitors of living beings?
10.
Vidura inquired: How did the Prajapatis [such progenitors of living entities as
Marici and Svayambhuva Manu] create according to the instruction of Brahma, and
how did they evolve this manifested universe?
11.
Did they evolve the creation in conjunction with their respective wives, did
they remain independent in their action, or did they all jointly produce it?
12.
Maitreya said: When the equilibrium of the combination of the three modes of
nature was agitated by the unseen activity of the living entity, by Maha-Visnu
and by the force of time, the total material elements were produced.
13.
As impelled by the destiny of the jiva, the false ego, which is of three kinds,
evolved from the mahat-tattva, in which the element of rajas predominates. From
the ego, in turn, evolved many groups of five principles.
14.
Separately unable to produce the material universe, they combined with the help
of the energy of the Supreme Lord and were able to produce a shining egg.
15.
For over one thousand years the shiny egg lay on the waters of the Causal Ocean
in the lifeless state. Then the Lord entered it as Garbhodakasayi Visnu.
16.
From the navel of the Personality of Godhead Garbhodakasayi Visnu sprouted a
lotus flower effulgent like a thousand blazing suns. This lotus flower is the
reservoir of all conditioned souls, and the first living entity who came out of
the lotus flower was the omnipotent Brahma
17.
When that Supreme Personality of Godhead who is lying on the Garbhodaka Ocean
entered the heart of Brahma, Brahma brought his intelligence to bear, and with
the intelligence invoked he began to create the universe as it was before.
18.
First of all, Brahma created from his shadow the coverings of ignorance of the conditioned
souls. They are five in number and are called tamisra, andha-tamisra, tamas,
moha and maha-moha.
19.
Out of disgust, Brahma threw off the body of ignorance, and taking this
opportunity, Yaksas and Raksasas sprang for possession of the body, which
continued to exist in the form of night. Night is the source of hunger and
thirst.
20.
Overpowered by hunger and thirst, they ran to devour Brahma from all sides and
cried, "Spare him not! Eat him up!"
21.
Brahma, the head of the demigods, full of anxiety, asked them, "Do not eat
me, but protect me. You are born from me and have become my sons. Therefore you
are Yaksas and Raksasas."
22.
He then created the chief demigods, who were shining with the glory of
goodness. He dropped before them the effulgent form of daytime, and the
demigods sportingly took possession of it.
23.
Lord Brahma then gave birth to the demons from his buttocks, and they were very
fond of sex. Because they were too lustful, they approached him for copulation.
24.
The worshipful Brahma first laughed at their stupidity, but finding the
shameless asuras close upon him, he grew indignant and ran in great haste out
of fear.
25.
He approached the Personality of Godhead, who bestows all boons and who dispels
the agony of His devotees and of those who take shelter of His lotus feet. He
manifests His innumerable transcendental forms for the satisfaction of His
devotees.
26.
Lord Brahma, approaching the Lord, addressed Him thus: My Lord, please protect
me from these sinful demons, who were created by me under Your order. They are
infuriated by an appetite for sex and have come to attack me.
27.
My Lord, You are the only one capable of ending the affliction of the
distressed and inflicting agony on those who never resort to Your feet.
28.
The Lord, who can distinctly see the minds of others, perceived Brahma's
distress and said to him: "Cast off this impure body of yours." Thus
commanded by the Lord, Brahma cast off his body.
29.
The body given up by Brahma took the form of the evening twilight, when the day
and night meet, a time which kindles passion. The asuras, who are passionate by
nature, dominated as they are by the element of rajas, took it for a damsel,
whose lotus feet resounded with the tinkling of anklets, whose eyes were wide
with intoxication and whose hips were covered by fine cloth, over which shone a
girdle.
30.
Her breasts projected upward because of their clinging to each other, and they
were too contiguous to admit any intervening space. She had a shapely nose and
beautiful teeth; a lovely smile played on her lips, and she cast a sportful
glance at the asuras.
31.
Adorned with dark tresses, she hid herself, as it were, out of shyness. Upon
seeing that girl, the asuras were all infatuated with an appetite for sex.
32.
The demons praised her: Oh, what a beauty! What rare self-control! What a
budding youth! In the midst of us all, who are passionately longing for her,
she is moving about like one absolutely free from passion.
33.
Indulging in various speculations about the evening twilight, which appeared to
them endowed with the form of a young woman, the wicked-minded asuras treated
her with respect and fondly spoke to her as follows.
34.
Who are you, O pretty girl? Whose wife or daughter are you, and what can be the
object of your appearing before us? Why do you tantalize us, unfortunate as we
are, with the priceless commodity of your beauty?
35.
Whosoever you may be, O beautiful girl, we are fortunate in being able to see
you. While playing with a ball, you have agitated the minds of all onlookers.
36.
O beautiful woman, when you strike the bouncing ball against the ground with
your hand again and again, your lotus feet do not stay in one place. Oppressed
by the weight of your full-grown breasts, your waist becomes fatigued, and your
clear vision grows dull, as it were. Pray braid your comely hair.
37.
The asuras, clouded in their understanding, took the evening twilight to be a
beautiful woman showing herself in her alluring form, and they seized her.
38.
With a laugh full of deep significance, the worshipful Brahma then evolved by
his own loveliness, which seemed to enjoy itself by itself, the hosts of
Gandharvas and Apsaras.
39.
After that, Brahma gave up that shining and beloved form of moonlight.
Visvavasu and other Gandharvas gladly took possession of it.
40.
The glorious Brahma next evolved from his sloth the ghosts and fiends, but he
closed his eyes when he saw them stand naked with their hair scattered.
41.
The ghosts and hobgoblins took possession of the body thrown off in the form of
yawning by Brahma, the creator of the living entities. This is also known as
the sleep which causes drooling. The hobgoblins and ghosts attack men who are
impure, and their attack is spoken of as insanity.
42.
Recognizing himself to be full of desire and energy, the worshipful Brahma, the
creator of the living entities, evolved from his own invisible form, from his
navel, the hosts of Sadhyas and Pitas.
43.
The Pitas themselves took possession of the invisible body, the source of their
existence. It is through the medium of this invisible body that those well
versed in the rituals offer oblations to the Sadhyas and Pitas [in the form of
their departed ancestors] on the occasion of sraddha.
44.
Then Lord Brahma, by his ability to be hidden from vision, created the Siddhas
and Vidyadharas and gave them that wonderful form of his known as the
Antardhana.
45.
One day, Brahma, the creator of the living entities, beheld his own reflection
in the water, and admiring himself, he evolved Kimpurusas as well as Kinnaras
out of that reflection.
46.
The Kimpurusas and Kinnaras took possession of that shadowy form left by
Brahma. That is why they and their spouses sing his praises by recounting his
exploits at every daybreak.
47.
Once Brahma lay down with his body stretched at full length. He was very
concerned that the work of creation had not proceeded apace, and in a sullen
mood he gave up that body too.
48.
O dear Vidura, the hair that dropped from that body transformed into snakes,
and even while the body crawled along with its hands and feet contracted, there
sprang from it ferocious serpents and Nagas with their hoods expanded.
49.
One day Brahma, the self-born, the first living creature, felt as if the object
of his life had been accomplished. At that time he evolved from his mind the
Manus, who promote the welfare activities or the universe.
50.
The self-possessed creator gave them his own human form. On seeing the Manus,
those who had been created earlier--the demigods, the Gandharvas and so
on--applauded Brahma, the lord of the universe.
51.
They prayed: O creator of the universe, we are glad; what you have produced is
well done. Since ritualistic acts have now been established soundly in this
human form, we shall all share the sacrificial oblations.
52.
Having equipped himself with austere penance, adoration, mental concentration
and absorption in devotion, accompanied by dispassion, and having controlled
his senses, Brahma, the self-born living creature, evolved great sages as his
beloved sons.
53.
To each one of these sons the unborn creator of the universe gave a part of his
own body, which was characterized by deep meditation, mental concentration,
supernatural power, austerity, adoration and renunciation.
Chapter Twenty-one Conversation Between Manu and Kardama
1.
Vidura said: The line of Svayambhuva Manu was most esteemed. O worshipful sage,
I beg you--give me an account of this race, whose progeny multiplied through
sexual intercourse.
2.
The two great sons of Svayambhuva Manu--Priyavrata and Uttanapada--ruled the
world, consisting of seven islands, just according to religious principles.
3.
O holy brahmana, O sinless one, you have spoken of his daughter, known by the
name Devahuti, as the wife of the sage Kardama, the lord of created beings.
4.
How many offspring did that great yogi beget through the princess, who was
endowed with eightfold perfection in the yoga principles? Oh, pray tell me
this, for I am eager to hear it.
5.
O holy sage, tell me how the worshipful Ruci and Daksa, the son of Brahma, generated
children after securing as their wives the other two daughters of Svayambhuva
Manu.
6.
The great sage Maitreya replied: Commanded by Lord Brahma to beget children in
the worlds, the worshipful Kardama Muni practiced penance on the bank of the
River Sarasvati for a period of ten thousand years.
7.
During that period of penance, the sage Kardama, by worship through devotional
service in trance, propitiated the Personality of Godhead, who is the quick
bestower of all blessings upon those who flee to Him for protection.
8.
Then, in the Satya-yuga, the lotus-eyed Supreme Personality of Godhead, being
pleased, showed Himself to that Kardama Muni and displayed His transcendental
form, which can be understood only through the Vedas.
9.
Kardama Muni saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is free from material
contamination, in His eternal form, effulgent like the sun, wearing a garland
of white lotuses and water lilies. The Lord was clad in spotless yellow silk,
and His lotus face was fringed with slick dark locks of curly hair.
10.
Adorned with a crown and earrings, He held His characteristic conch, disc and
mace in three of His hands and a white lily in the fourth. He glanced about in
a happy, smiling mood whose sight captivates the hearts of all devotees.
11.
A golden streak on His chest, the famous Kaustubha gem suspended from His neck,
He stood in the air with His lotus feet placed on the shoulders of Garuda.
12.
When Kardama Muni actually realized the Supreme Personality of Godhead in
person, he was greatly satisfied because his transcendental desire was
fulfilled. He fell on the ground with his head bowed to offer obeisances unto
the lotus feet of the Lord. His heart naturally full of love of God, with
folded hands he satisfied the Lord with prayers.
13.
The great sage Kardama said: O supreme worshipful Lord, my power of sight is
now fulfilled, having attained the greatest perfection of the sight of You, who
are the reservoir of all existences. Through many successive births of deep
meditation, advanced yogis aspire to see Your transcendental form.
14.
Your lotus feet are the true vessel to take one across the ocean of mundane
nescience. Only persons deprived of their intelligence by the spell of the
deluding energy will worship those feet with a view to attain the trivial and
momentary pleasures of the senses, which even persons rotting in hell can
attain. However, O my Lord, You are so kind that You bestow mercy even upon
them.
15.
Therefore, desiring to marry a girl of like disposition who may prove to be a
veritable cow of plenty in my married life, to satisfy my lustful desire I too
have sought the shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the source of everything,
for You are like a desire tree.
16.
O my Lord, You are the master and leader of all living entities. Under Your
direction, all conditioned souls, as if bound by rope, are constantly engaged
in satisfying their desires. Following them, O embodiment of religion, I also
bear oblations for You, who are eternal time.
17.
However, persons who have given up stereotyped worldly affairs and the beastly
followers of these affairs, and who have taken shelter of the umbrella of Your
lotus feet by drinking the intoxicating nectar of Your qualities and activities
in discussions with one another, can be freed from the primary necessities of
the material body.
18.
Your wheel, which has three naves, rotates around the axis of the imperishable
Brahman. It has thirteen spokes, 360 joints, six rims and numberless leaves
carved upon it. Though its revolution cuts short the life-span of the entire
creation, this wheel of tremendous velocity cannot touch the life-span of the
devotees of the Lord.
19.
My dear Lord, You alone create the universes. O Personality of Godhead,
desiring to create these universes, You create them, maintain them and again
wind them up by Your own energies, which are under the control of Your second
energy, called yogamaya, just as a spider creates a cobweb by its own energy
and again winds it up.
20.
My dear Lord, although it is not Your desire, You manifest this creation of
gross and subtle elements just for our sensual satisfaction. Let Your causeless
mercy be upon us, for You have appeared before us in Your eternal form, adorned
with a splendid wreath of tulasi leaves.
21.
I continuously offer my respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet, of which it
is worthy to take shelter, because You shower all benedictions on the
insignificant. To give all living entities detachment from fruitive activity by
realizing You, You have expanded these material worlds by Your own energy.
22.
Maitreya resumed: Sincerely extolled in these words, Lord Visnu, shining very
beautifully on the shoulders of Garuda, replied with words as sweet as nectar.
His eyebrows moved gracefully as He looked at the sage with a smile full of
affection.
23.
The Supreme Lord said: Having come to know what was in your mind, I have
already arranged for that for which you have worshiped Me well through your
mental and sensory discipline.
24.
The Lord continued: My dear rsi, O leader of the living entities, for those who
serve Me in devotion by worshiping Me, especially persons like you who have
given up everything unto Me, there is never any question of frustration.
25.
The Emperor Svayambhuva Manu, the son of Lord Brahma, who is well known for his
righteous acts, has his seat in Brahmavarta and rules over the earth with its
seven oceans.
26.
The day after tomorrow, O brahmana, that celebrated emperor, who is expert in
religious activities, will come here with his queen, Satarupa, wishing to see
you.
27.
He has a grown-up daughter whose eyes are black. She is ready for marriage, and
she has good character and all good qualities. She is also searching for a good
husband. My dear sir, her parents will come to see you, who are exactly
suitable for her, just to deliver their daughter as your wife.
28.
That princess, O holy sage, will be just the type you have been thinking of in
your heart for all these long years. She will soon be yours and will serve you
to your heart's content.
29.
She will bring forth nine daughters from the seed sown in her by you, and
through the daughters you beget, the sages will duly beget children.
30.
With your heart cleansed by properly carrying out My command, resigning to Me
the fruits of all your acts, you will finally attain to Me.
31.
Showing compassion to all living entities, you will attain self-realization.
Giving assurance of safety to all, you will perceive your own self as well as
all the universes in Me, and Myself in you.
32.
O great sage, I shall manifest My own plenary portion through your wife,
Devahuti, along with your nine daughters, and I shall instruct her in the
system of philosophy that deals with the ultimate principles or categories.
33.
Maitreya went on: Thus having spoken to Kardama Muni, the Lord, who reveals
Himself only when the senses are in Krsna consciousness, departed from that
lake called Bindu-sarovara, which was encircled by the River Sarasvati.
34.
While the sage stood looking on, the Lord left by the pathway leading to
Vaikuntha, a path extolled by all great liberated souls. The sage stood
listening as the hymns forming the basis of the Sama Veda were vibrated by the
flapping wings of the Lord's carrier, Garuda.
35.
Then, after the departure of the Lord, the worshipful sage Kardama stayed on
the bank of Bindu-sarovara, awaiting the time of which the Lord had spoken.
36.
Svayambhuva Manu, with his wife, mounted his chariot, which was decorated with
golden ornaments. Placing his daughter on it with them, he began traveling all
over the earth.
37.
O Vidura, they reached the hermitage of the sage, who had just completed his
vows of austerity on the very day foretold by the Lord.
38-39.
The holy Lake Bindu-sarovara, flooded by the waters of the River Sarasvati, was
resorted to by hosts of eminent sages. Its holy water was not only auspicious
but as sweet as nectar. It was called Bindu-sarovara because drops of tears had
fallen there from the eyes of the Lord, who was overwhelmed by extreme
compassion for the sage who had sought His protection.
40.
The shore of the lake was surrounded by clusters of pious trees and creepers,
rich in fruits and flowers of all seasons, that afforded shelter to pious
animals and birds, which uttered various cries. It was adorned by the beauty of
groves of forest trees.
41.
The area resounded with the notes of overjoyed birds. Intoxicated bees wandered
there, intoxicated peacocks proudly danced, and merry cuckoos called one
another.
42-43.
Lake Bindu-sarovara was adorned by flowering trees such as kadamba, campaka,
asoka, karanja, bakula, asana, kunda, mandara, kutaja and young mango trees.
The air was filled with the pleasing notes of karandava ducks, plavas, swans,
ospreys, waterfowl, cranes, cakravakas and cakoras.
44.
Its shores abounded with deer, boars, porcupines, gavayas, elephants, baboons,
lions, monkeys, mongooses and musk deer.
45-47.
Entering that most sacred spot with his daughter and going near the sage, the
first monarch, Svayambhuva Manu, saw the sage sitting in his hermitage, having
just propitiated the sacred fire by pouring oblations into it. His body shone
most brilliantly; though he had engaged in austere penance for a long time, he
was not emaciated, for the Lord had cast His affectionate sidelong glance upon
him and he had also heard the nectar flowing from the moonlike words of the
Lord. The sage was tall, his eyes were large, like the petals of a lotus, and
he had matted locks on his head. He was clad in rags. Svayambhuva Manu
approached and saw him to be somewhat soiled, like an unpolished gem.
48.
Seeing that the monarch had come to his hermitage and was bowing before him,
the sage greeted him with benediction and received him with due honor.
49.
After receiving the sage's attention, the King sat down and was silent.
Recalling the instructions of the Lord, Kardama then spoke to the King as
follows, delighting him with his sweet accents.
50.
The tour you have undertaken, O lord, is surely intended to protect the
virtuous and kill the demons, since you embody the protecting energy of Sri
Hari.
51.
You assume, when necessary, the part of the sun-god; the moon-god; Agni, the
god of fire; Indra, the lord of paradise; Vayu, the wind-god; Yama, the god of
punishment; Dharma, the god of piety; and Varuna, the god presiding over the
waters. All obeisances to you, who are none other than Lord Visnu!
52-54.
If you did not mount your victorious jeweled chariot, whose mere presence
threatens culprits, if you did not produce fierce sounds by the twanging of
your bow, and if you did not roam about the world like the brilliant sun,
leading a huge army whose trampling feet cause the globe of the earth to
tremble, then all the moral laws governing the varnas and asramas created by
the Lord Himself would be broken by the rogues and rascals.
55.
If you gave up all thought of the world's situation, unrighteousness would
flourish, for men who hanker only after money would be unopposed. Such
miscreants would attack, and the world would perish.
56.
In spite of all this, I ask you, O valiant King, the purpose for which you have
come here. Whatever it may be, we shall carry it out without reservation.
Chapter Twenty-two The Marriage of Kardama Muni and Devahuti
1.
Sri Maitreya said: After describing the greatness of the Emperor's manifold
qualities and activities, the sage became silent, and the Emperor, feeling
modesty, addressed him as follows.
2.
Manu replied: To expand himself in Vedic knowledge, Lord Brahma, the
personified Veda, from his face created you, the brahmanas, who are full of
austerity, knowledge and mystic power and are averse to sense gratification.
3.
For the protection of the brahmanas, the thousand-legged Supreme Being created
us, the ksatriyas, from His thousand arms. Hence the brahmanas are said to be
His heart and the ksatriyas His arms.
4.
That is why the brahmanas and ksatriyas protect each other, as well as
themselves; and the Lord Himself, who is both the cause and effect and is yet
immutable, protects them through each other.
5.
Now I have resolved all my doubts simply by meeting you, for Your Lordship has
very kindly and clearly explained the duty of a king who desires to protect his
subjects.
6.
It is my good fortune that I have been able to see you, for you cannot easily
be seen by persons who have not subdued the mind or controlled the senses. I am
all the more fortunate to have touched with my head the blessed dust of your
feet.
7.
I have fortunately been instructed by you, and thus great favor has been
bestowed upon me. I thank God that I have listened with open ears to your pure
words.
8.
O great sage, graciously be pleased to listen to the prayer of my humble self,
for my mind is troubled by affection for my daughter.
9.
My daughter is the sister of Priyavrata and Uttanapada. She is seeking a
suitable husband in terms of age, character and good qualities.
10.
The moment she heard from the sage Narada of your noble character, learning,
beautiful appearance, youth and other virtues, she fixed her mind upon you.
11.
Therefore please accept her, O chief of the brahmanas, for I offer her with
faith and she is in every respect fit to be your wife and take charge of your
household duties.
12.
To deny an offering that has come of itself is not commendable even for one
absolutely free from all attachment, much less one addicted to sensual
pleasure.
13.
One who rejects an offering that comes of its own accord but later begs a boon
from a miser thus loses his widespread reputation, and his pride is humbled by
the neglectful behavior of others.
14.
Svayambhuva Manu continued: O wise man, I heard that you were prepared to
marry. Please accept her hand, which is being offered to you by me, since you
have not taken a vow of perpetual celibacy.
15.
The great sage replied: Certainly I have a desire to marry, and your daughter
has not yet married or given her word to anyone. Therefore our marriage
according to the Vedic system can take place.
16.
Let your daughter's desire for marriage, which is recognized in the Vedic
scriptures, be fulfilled. Who would not accept her hand? She is so beautiful
that by her bodily luster alone she excels the beauty of her ornaments.
17.
I have heard that Visvavasu, the great Gandharva, his mind stupefied with
infatuation, fell from his airplane after seeing your daughter playing with a
ball on the roof of the palace, for she was indeed beautiful with her tinkling
ankle bells and her eyes moving to and fro.
18.
What wise man would not welcome her, the very ornament of womanhood, the
beloved daughter of Svayambhuva Manu and sister of Uttanapada? Those who have
not worshiped the gracious feet of the goddess of fortune cannot even perceive
her, yet she has come of her own accord to seek my hand.
19.
Therefore I shall accept this chaste girl as my wife, on the condition that
after she bears semen from my body, I shall accept the life of devotional
service accepted by the most perfect human beings. That process was described
by Lord Visnu. It is free from envy.
20.
The highest authority for me is the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead,
from whom this wonderful creation emanates and in whom its sustenance and
dissolution rest. He is the origin of all Prajapatis, the personalities meant
to produce living entities in this world.
21.
Sri Maitreya said: O great warrior Vidura, the sage Kardama said this much only
and then became silent, thinking of his worshipable Lord Visnu, who has a lotus
on His navel. As he silently smiled, his face captured the mind of Devahuti,
who began to meditate upon the great sage.
22.
After having unmistakably known the decision of the Queen, as well as that of
Devahuti, the Emperor most gladly gave his daughter to the sage, whose host of
virtues was equaled by hers.
23.
Empress Satarupa lovingly gave most valuable presents, suitable for the
occasion, such as jewelry, clothes and household articles, in dowry to the
bride and bridegroom.
24.
Thus relieved of his responsibility by handing over his daughter to a suitable
man, Svayambhuva Manu, his mind agitated by feelings of separation, embraced
his affectionate daughter with both his arms.
25.
The Emperor was unable to bear the separation of his daughter. Therefore tears
poured from his eyes again and again, drenching his daughter's head as he
cried, "My dear mother! My dear daughter!"
26-27.
After asking and obtaining the great sage's permission to leave, the monarch
mounted his chariot with his wife and started for his capital, followed by his
retinue. Along the way he saw the prosperity of the tranquil seers' beautiful
hermitages on both the charming banks of the Sarasvati, the river so agreeable
to saintly persons.
28.
Overjoyed to know of his arrival, his subjects came forth from Brahmavarta to
greet their returning lord with songs, prayers and musical instruments.
29-30.
The city of Barhismati, rich in all kinds of wealth, was so called because Lord
Visnu's hair dropped there from His body when He manifested Himself as Lord
Boar. As He shook His body, this very hair fell and turned into blades of
evergreen kusa grass and kasa [another kind of grass used for mats], by means
of which the sages worshiped Lord Visnu after defeating the demons who had
interfered with the performance of their sacrifices.
31.
Manu spread a seat of kusas and kasas and worshiped the Lord, the Personality
of Godhead, by whose grace he had obtained the rule of the terrestrial globe.
32.
Having entered the city of Barhismati, in which he had previously lived, Manu
entered his palace, which was filled with an atmosphere that eradicated the
three miseries of material existence.
33.
Emperor Svayambhuva Manu enjoyed life with his wife and subjects and fulfilled
his desires without being disturbed by unwanted principles contrary to the
process of religion. Celestial musicians and their wives sang in chorus about
the pure reputation of the Emperor, and early in the morning, every day, he
used to listen to the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with a
loving heart.
34.
Thus Svayambhuva Mahu was a saintly king. Although absorbed in material
happiness, he was not dragged to the lowest grade of life, for he always
enjoyed his material happiness in a Krsna conscious atmosphere.
35.
Consequently, although his duration of life gradually came to an end, his long
life, consisting of a Mahvantara era, was not spent in vain, since he ever
engaged in hearing, contemplating, writing down and chanting the pastimes of
the Lord.
36.
He passed his time, which lasted seventy-one cycles of the four ages [71 x
4,320,000 years], always thinking of Vasudeva and always engaged in matters
regarding Vasudeva. Thus he transcended the three destinations.
37.
Therefore, O Vidura, how can persons completely under the shelter of Lord Krsna
in devotional service be put into miseries pertaining to the body, the mind,
nature, and other men and living creatures?
38.
In reply to questions asked by certain sages, he [Svayambhuva Manu], out of
compassion for all living entities, taught the diverse sacred duties of men in
general and the different varnas and asramas.
39.
I have spoken to you of the wonderful character of Svayambhuva Manu, the
original king, whose reputation is worthy of description. Please hear as I
speak of the flourishing of his daughter Devahuti.
Chapter Twenty-three Devahuti's Lamentation
1.
Maitreya continued: After the departure of her parents, the chaste woman
Devahuti, who could understand the desires of her husband, served him
constantly with great love, as Bhavani, the wife of Lord Siva, serves her
husband.
2.
O Vidura, Devahuti served her husband with intimacy and great respect, with
control of the senses, with love and with sweet words.
3.
Working sanely and diligently, she pleased her very powerful husband, giving up
all lust, pride, envy, greed, sinful activities and vanity.
4-5.
The daughter of Manu, who was fully devoted to her husband, looked upon him as
greater even than providence. Thus she expected great blessings from him.
Having served him for a long time, she grew weak and emaciated due to her
religious observances. Seeing her condition, Kardama, the foremost of celestial
sages, was overcome with compassion and spoke to her in a voice choked with
great love.
6.
Kardama Muni said: O respectful daughter of Svayambhuva Manu, today I am very
much pleased with you for your great devotion and most excellent loving
service. Since the body is so dear to embodied beings, I am astonished that you
have neglected your own body to use it on my behalf.
7.
Kardama Muni continued: I have achieved the blessings of the Lord in
discharging my own religious life of austerity, meditation and Krsna
consciousness. Although you have not yet experienced these achievements, which
are free from fear and lamentation, I shall offer them all to you because you
are engaged in my service. Now just look at them. I am giving you the
transcendental vision to see how nice they are.
8.
Kardama Muni continued: What is the use of enjoyments other than the Lord's
grace? All material achievements are subject to be annihilated simply by a
movement of the eyebrows of Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By
your principles of devotion to your husband, you have achieved and can enjoy
transcendental gifts very rarely obtained by persons proud of aristocracy and
material possessions.
9.
Upon hearing the speaking of her husband, who excelled in knowledge of all
kinds of transcendental science, innocent Devahuti was very satisfied. Her
smiling face shining with a slightly bashful glance, she spoke in a choked
voice because of great humility and love.
10.
Sri Devahuti said: My dear husband, O best of brahmanas, I know that you have
achieved perfection and are the master of all the infallible mystic powers
because you are under the protection of yogamaya, the transcendental nature.
But you once made a promise that our bodily union should now fulfill, since
children are a great quality for a chaste woman who has a glorious husband.
11.
Devahuti continued: My dear lord, I am struck by excited emotion for you.
Therefore kindly make what arrangements must be made according to the
scriptures so that my skinny body, emaciated through unsatisfied passion, may
be rendered fit for you. Also, my lord, please think of a suitable house for
this purpose.
12.
Maitreya continued: O Vidura, seeking to please his beloved wife, the sage
Kardama exercised his yogic power and instantly produced an aerial mansion that
could travel at his will.
13.
It was a wonderful structure, bedecked with all sorts of jewels, adorned with
pillars of precious stones, and capable of yielding whatever one desired. It
was equipped with every form of furniture and wealth, which tended to increase
in the course of time.
14-15.
The castle was fully equipped with all necessary paraphernalia, and it was
pleasing in all seasons. It was decorated all around with flags, festoons and
artistic work of variegated colors. It was further embellished with wreaths of
charming flowers that attracted sweetly humming bees and with tapestries of
linen, silk and various other fabrics.
16.
The palace looked charming, with beds, couches, fans and seats, all separately
arranged in seven stories.
17.
Its beauty was enhanced by artistic engravings here and there on the walls. The
floor was of emerald, with coral daises.
18.
The palace was very beautiful, with its coral thresholds at the entrances and
its doors bedecked with diamonds. Gold pinnacles crowned its domes of sapphire.
19.
With the choicest rubies set in its diamond walls, it appeared as though
possessed of eyes. It was furnished with wonderful canopies and greatly
valuable gates of gold.
20.
Here and there in that palace were multitudes of live swans and pigeons, as
well as artificial swans and pigeons so lifelike that the real swans rose above
them again and again, thinking them live birds like themselves. Thus the palace
vibrated with the sounds of these birds.
21.
The castle had pleasure grounds, resting chambers, bedrooms and inner and outer
yards designed with an eye to comfort. All this caused astonishment to the sage
himself.
22.
When he saw Devahuti looking at the gigantic, opulent palace with a displeased
heart, Kardama Muni could understand her feelings because he could study the
heart of anyone. Thus he personally addressed his wife as follows.
23.
My dear Devahuti, you look very much afraid. First bathe in Lake
Bindu-sarovara, created by Lord Visnu Himself, which can grant all the desires
of a human being, and then mount this airplane.
24.
The lotus-eyed Devahuti accepted the order of her husband. Because of her dirty
dress and the locks of matted hair on her head, she did not look very
attractive.
25.
Her body was coated with a thick layer of dirt, and her breasts were
discolored. She dove, however, into the lake, which contained the sacred waters
of the Sarasvati.
26.
In a house inside the lake she saw one thousand girls, all in the prime of
youth and fragrant like lotuses.
27.
Seeing her, the damsels suddenly rose and said with folded hands, "We are your
maidservants. Tell us what we can do for you."
28.
The girls, being very respectful to Devahuti, brought her forth, and after
bathing her with valuable oils and ointments, they gave her fine, new, spotless
cloth to cover her body.
29.
They then decorated her with very excellent and valuable jewels, which shone
brightly. Next they offered her food containing all good qualities, and a
sweet, inebriating drink called asavam.
30.
Then in a mirror she beheld her own reflection. Her body was completely freed
from all dirt, and she was adorned with a garland. Dressed in unsullied robes
and decorated with auspicious marks of tilaka, she was served very respectfully
by the maids.
31.
Her entire body, including her head, was completely bathed, and she was decorated
all over with ornaments. She wore a special necklace with a locket. There were
bangles on her wrists and tinkling anklets of gold about her ankles.
32.
About her hips she wore a girdle of gold, set with numerous jewels, and she was
further adorned with a precious pearl necklace and auspicious substances.
33.
Her countenance shone, with beautiful teeth and charming eyebrows. Her eyes,
distinguished by lovely moist corners, defeated the beauty of lotus buds. Her
face was surrounded by dark curling tresses.
34.
When she thought of her great husband, the best of the sages, Kardama Muni, who
was very dear to her, she, along with all the maidservants, at once appeared
where he was.
35.
She was amazed to find herself surrounded by a thousand maids in the presence
of her husband and to witness his yogic power.
36-37.
The sage could see that Devahuti had washed herself clean and was shining forth
as though no longer his former wife. She had regained her own original beauty
as the daughter of a prince. Dressed in excellent robes, her charming breasts
duly girded, she was waited upon by a thousand Gandharva girls. O destroyer of
the enemy, his fondness for her grew, and he placed her on the aerial mansion.
38.
Though seemingly attached to his beloved consort while served by the Gandharva
girls, the sage did not lose his glory, which was mastery over his self. In the
aerial mansion Kardama Muni with his consort shone as charmingly as the moon in
the midst of the stars in the sky, which causes rows of lilies to open in ponds
at night.
39.
In that aerial mansion he traveled to the pleasure valleys of Mount Meru, which
were rendered all the more beautiful by cool, gentle, fragrant breezes that
stimulated passion. In these valleys, the treasurer of the gods, Kuvera,
surrounded by beautiful women and praised by the Siddhas, generally enjoys
pleasure. Kardama Muni also, surrounded by the beautiful damsels and his wife,
went there and enjoyed for many, many years.
40.
Satisfied by his wife, he enjoyed in that aerial mansion not only on Mount Meru
but in different gardens known as Vaisrambhaka, Surasana, Nandana,
Puspabhadraka and Caitrarathya, and by the Manasa-sarovara Lake.
41.
He traveled in that way through the various planets, as the air passes
uncontrolled in every direction. Coursing through the air in that great and
splendid aerial mansion, which could fly at his will, he surpassed even the
demigods.
42.
What is difficult to achieve for determined men who have taken refuge of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead's lotus feet? His feet are the source of sacred
rivers like the Ganges, which put an end to the dangers of mundane life.
43.
After showing his wife the globe of the universe and its different
arrangements, full of many wonders, the great yogi Kardama Muni returned to his
own hermitage.
44.
After coming back to his hermitage, he divided himself into nine personalities
just to give pleasure to Devahuti, the daughter of Manu, who was eager for sex
life. In that way he enjoyed with her for many, many years, which passed just
like a moment.
45.
In that aerial mansion, Devahuti, in the company of her handsome husband,
situated on an excellent bed that increased sexual desires, could not realize
how much time was passing.
46.
While the couple, who eagerly longed for sexual pleasure, were thus enjoying
themselves by virtue of mystic powers, a hundred autumns passed like a brief
span of time.
47.
The powerful Kardama Muni was the knower of everyone's heart, and he could
grant whatever one desired. Knowing the spiritual soul, he regarded her as half
of his body. Dividing himself into nine forms, he impregnated Devahuti with
nine discharges of semen.
48.
Immediately afterward, on the same day, Devahuti gave birth to nine female
children, all charming in every limb and fragrant with the scent of the red
lotus flower.
49.
When she saw her husband about to leave home, she smiled externally, but at
heart she was agitated and distressed.
50.
She stood and scratched the ground with her foot, which was radiant with the
luster of her gemlike nails. Her head bent down, she spoke in slow yet charming
accents, suppressing her tears.
51.
Sri Devahuti said: My lord, you have fulfilled all the promises you gave me,
yet because I am your surrendered soul, you should give me fearlessness too.
52.
My dear brahmana, as far as your daughters are concerned, they will find their
own suitable husbands and go away to their respective homes. But who will give
me solace after your departure as a sannyasi?
53.
Until now we have simply wasted so much of our time in sense gratification,
neglecting to cultivate knowledge of the Supreme Lord.
54.
Not knowing your transcendental situation, I have loved you while remaining
attached to the objects of the senses. Nonetheless, let the affinity I have
developed for you rid me of all fear.
55.
Association for sense gratification is certainly the path of bondage. But the
same type of association, performed with a saintly person, leads to the path of
liberation, even if performed without knowledge.
56.
Anyone whose work is not meant to elevate him to religious life, anyone whose
religious ritualistic performances do not raise him to renunciation, and anyone
situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be considered dead, although he is
breathing.
57.
My lord, surely I have been solidly cheated by the insurmountable illusory
energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for in spite of having obtained
your association, which gives liberation from material bondage, I did not seek
such liberation.
Chapter Twenty-four The Renunciation of Kardama Muni
1.
Recalling the words of Lord Visnu, the merciful sage Kardama replied as follows
to Svayambhuva Manu's praiseworthy daughter, Devahuti, who was speaking words
full of renunciation.
2.
The sage said: Do not be disappointed with yourself, O princess. You are
actually praiseworthy. The infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead will
shortly enter your womb as your son.
3.
You have undertaken sacred vows. God will bless you. Hence you should worship
the Lord with great faith, through sensory control, religious observances,
austerities and gifts of your money in charity.
4.
The Personality of Godhead, being worshiped by you, will spread my name and
fame. He will vanquish the knot of your heart by becoming your son and teaching
knowledge of Brahman.
5.
Sri Maitreya said: Devahuti was fully faithful and respectful toward the
direction of her husband, Kardama, who was one of the Prajapatis, or generators
of human beings in the universe. O great sage, she thus began to worship the
master of the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in
everyone's heart.
6.
After many, many years, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Madhusudana, the
killer of the demon Madhu, having entered the semen of Kardama, appeared in
Devahuti just as fire comes from wood in a sacrifice.
7.
At the time of His descent on earth, demigods in the form of raining clouds
sounded musical instruments in the sky. The celestial musicians, the Gandharvas,
sang the glories of the Lord, while celestial dancing girls known as Apsaras
danced in joyful ecstasy.
8.
At the time of the Lord's appearance, the demigods flying freely in the sky
showered flowers. All the directions, all the waters and everyone's mind became
very satisfied.
9.
Brahma, the first-born living being, went along with Marici and other sages to
the place of Kardama's hermitage, which was surrounded by the River Sarasvati.
10.
Maitreya continued: O killer of the enemy, the unborn Lord Brahma, who is
almost independent in acquiring knowledge, could understand that a portion of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His quality of pure existence, had
appeared in the womb of Devahuti just to explain the complete state of
knowledge known as sankhya-yoga.
11.
After worshiping the Supreme Lord with gladdened senses and a pure heart for
His intended activities as an incarnation, Brahma spoke as follows to Kardama
and Devahuti.
12.
Lord Brahma said: My dear son Kardama, since you have completely accepted my
instructions without duplicity, showing them proper respect, you have worshiped
me properly. Whatever instructions you took from me you have carried out, and
thereby you have honored me.
13.
Sons ought to render service to their father exactly to this extent. One should
obey the command of his father or spiritual master with due deference, saying,
"Yes, sir."
14.
Lord Brahma then praised Kardama Muni's nine daughters, saying: All your
thin-waisted daughters are certainly very chaste. I am sure they will increase
this creation by their own descendants in various ways.
15.
Therefore, today please give away your daughters to the foremost of the sages,
with due regard for the girls' temperaments and likings, and thereby spread
your fame all over the universe.
16.
O Kardama, I know that the original Supreme Personality of Godhead has now
appeared as an incarnation by His internal energy. He is the bestower of all
desired by the living entities, and He has now assumed the body of Kapila Muni.
17.
By mystic yoga and the practical application of knowledge from the scriptures,
Kapila Muni, who is characterized by His golden hair, His eyes just like lotus
petals and His lotus feet, which bear the marks of lotus flowers, will uproot
the deep-rooted desire for work in this material world.
18.
Lord Brahma then told Devahuti: My dear daughter of Manu, the same Supreme
Personality of Godhead who killed the demon Kaitabha is now within your womb.
He will cut off all the knots of your ignorance and doubt. Then He will travel
all over the world.
19.
Your son will be the head of all the perfected souls. He will be approved by
the acaryas expert in disseminating real knowledge, and among the people He
will be celebrated by the name Kapila. As the son of Devahuti, He will increase
your fame.
20.
Sri Maitreya said: After thus speaking to Kardama Muni and his wife Devahuti,
Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, who is also known as Hamsa, went back
to the highest of the three planetary systems on his swan carrier with the four
Kumaras and Narada.
21.
O Vidura, after the departure of Brahma, Kardama Muni, having been ordered by
Brahma, handed over his nine daughters, as instructed, to the nine great sages
who created the population of the world.
22-23.
Kardama Muni handed over his daughter Kala to Marici, and another daughter,
Anasuya, to Atri. He delivered Sraddha to Angira, and Havirbhu to Pulastya. He
delivered Gati to Pulaha, the chaste Kriya to Kratu, Khyati to Bhrgu, and
Arundhati to Vasistha.
24.
He delivered Santi to Atharva. Because of Santi, sacrificial ceremonies are
well performed. Thus he got the foremost brahmanas married, and he maintained
them along with their wives.
25.
Thus married, the sages took leave of Kardama and departed full of joy, each
for his own hermitage, O Vidura.
26.
When Kardama Muni understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the chief
of all the demigods, Visnu, had descended, Kardama approached Him in a secluded
place, offered obeisances and spoke as follows.
27.
Kardama Muni said: Oh, after a long time the demigods of this universe have
become pleased with the suffering souls who are in material entanglement
because of their own misdeeds.
28.
After many births, mature yogis, by complete trance in yoga, endeavor in
secluded places to see the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
29.
Not considering the negligence of ordinary householders like us, that very same
Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in our homes just to support His
devotees.
30.
Kardama Muni said: You, my dear Lord, who are always increasing the honor of
Your devotees, have descended in my home just to fulfill Your word and
disseminate the process of real knowledge.
31.
My dear Lord, although You have no material form, You have Your own innumerable
forms. They truly are Your transcendental forms, which are pleasing to Your
devotees.
32.
My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the reservoir that always deserves to receive
worshipful homage from all great sages eager to understand the Absolute Truth.
You are full in opulence, renunciation, transcendental fame, knowledge,
strength and beauty, and therefore I surrender myself unto Your lotus feet.
33.
I surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descended in the form of
Kapila, who is independently powerful and transcendental, who is the Supreme
Person and the Lord of the sum total of matter and the element of time, who is
the fully cognizant maintainer of all the universes under the three modes of
material nature, and who absorbs the material manifestations after their
dissolution.
34.
Today I have something to ask from You, who are the Lord of all living
entities. Since I have now been liberated by You from my debts to my father,
and since all my desires are fulfilled, I wish to accept the order of an
itinerant mendicant. Renouncing this family life, I wish to wander about, free
from lamentation, thinking always of You in my heart.
35.
The Personality of Godhead Kapila said: Whatever I speak, whether directly or
in the scriptures, is authoritative in all respects for the people of the
world. O Muni, because I told you before that I would become your son, I have
descended to fulfill this truth.
36.
My appearance in this world is especially to explain the philosophy of Sankhya,
which is highly esteemed for self-realization by those desiring freedom from
the entanglement of unnecessary material desires.
37.
This path of self-realization, which is difficult to understand, has now been
lost in the course of time. Please know that I have assumed this body of Kapila
to introduce and explain this philosophy to human society again.
38.
Now, being sanctioned by Me, go as you desire, surrendering all your activities
to Me. Conquering insurmountable death, worship Me for eternal life.
39.
In your own heart, through your intellect, you will always see Me, the supreme
self-effulgent soul dwelling within the hearts of all living entities. Thus you
will achieve the state of eternal life, free from all lamentation and fear.
40.
I shall also describe this sublime knowledge, which is the door to spiritual
life, to My mother, so that she also can attain perfection and
self-realization, ending all reactions to fruitive activities. Thus she also
will be freed from all material fear.
41.
Sri Maitreya said: Thus when Kardama Muni, the progenitor of human society, was
spoken to in fullness by his son, Kapila, he circumambulated Him, and with a
good, pacified mind he at once left for the forest.
42.
The sage Kardama accepted silence as a vow in order to think of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and take shelter of Him exclusively. Without
association, he traveled over the surface of the globe as a sannyasi, devoid of
any relationship with fire or shelter.
43.
He fixed his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman, who is
beyond cause and effect, who manifests the three modes of material nature, who
is beyond those three modes, and who is perceived only through unfailing
devotional service.
44.
Thus he gradually became unaffected by the false ego of material identity and
became free from material affection. Undisturbed, equal to everyone and without
duality, he could indeed see himself also. His mind was turned inward and was
perfectly calm, like an ocean unagitated by waves.
45.
He thus became liberated from conditioned life and became self-situated in
transcendental devotional service to the Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, the
omniscient Supersoul within everyone.
46.
He began to see that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is seated in everyone's
heart, and that everyone is existing on Him, because He is the Supersoul of
everyone.
47.
Freed from all hatred and desire, Kardama Muni, being equal to everyone because
of discharging uncontaminated devotional service, ultimately attained the path
back to Godhead.
Chapter Twenty-five The Glories of Devotional Service
1.
Sri Saunaka said: Although He is unborn, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
took birth as Kapila Muni by His internal potency. He descended to disseminate
transcendental knowledge for the benefit of the whole human race.
2.
Saunaka continued: There is no one who knows more than the Lord Himself. No one
is more worshipable or more mature a yogi than He. He is therefore the master
of the Vedas, and to hear about Him always is the actual pleasure of the
senses.
3.
Therefore please precisely describe all the activities and pastimes of the
Personality of Godhead, who is full of self-desire and who assumes all these
activities by His internal potency.
4.
Sri Suta Gosvami said: The most powerful sage Maitreya was a friend of Vyasadeva.
Being encouraged and pleased by Vidura's inquiry about transcendental
knowledge, Maitreya spoke as follows.
5.
Maitreya said: When Kardama left for the forest, Lord Kapila stayed on the
strand of the Bindu-sarovara to please His mother, Devahuti.
6.
When Kapila, who could show her the ultimate goal of the Absolute Truth, was
sitting leisurely before her, Devahuti remembered the words Brahma had spoken
to her, and she therefore began to question Kapila as follows.
7.
Devahuti said: I am very sick of the disturbance caused by my material senses,
for because of this sense disturbance, my Lord, I have fallen into the abyss of
ignorance.
8.
Your Lordship is my only means of getting out of this darkest region of
ignorance because You are my transcendental eye, which, by Your mercy only, I
have attained after many, many births.
9.
You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the origin and Supreme Lord of all
living entities. You have arisen to disseminate the rays of the sun in order to
dissipate the darkness of the ignorance of the universe.
10.
Now be pleased, my Lord, to dispel my great delusion. Due to my feeling of
false ego, I have been engaged by Your maya and have identified myself with the
body and consequent bodily relations.
11.
Devahuti continued: I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet because You are the
only person of whom to take shelter. You are the ax which can cut the tree of
material existence. I therefore offer my obeisances unto You, who are the
greatest of all transcendentalists, and I inquire from You as to the
relationship between man and woman and between spirit and matter.
12.
Maitreya said: After hearing of His mother's uncontaminated desire for
transcendental realization, the Lord thanked her within Himself for her
questions, and thus, His face smiling, He explained the path of the
transcendentalists, who are interested in self-realization.
13.
The Personality of Godhead answered: The yoga system which relates to the Lord
and the individual soul, which is meant for the ultimate benefit of the living
entity, and which causes detachment from all happiness and distress in the
material world, is the highest yoga system.
14.
O most pious mother, I shall now explain unto you the ancient yoga system,
which I explained formerly to the great sages. It is serviceable and practical
in every way.
15.
The stage in which the consciousness of the living entity is attracted by the
three modes of material nature is called conditional life. But when that same
consciousness is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is
situated in the consciousness of liberation.
16.
When one is completely cleansed of the impurities of lust and greed produced
from the false identification of the body as "I" and bodily
possessions as "mine," one's mind becomes purified. In that pure
state he transcends the stage of so-called material happiness and distress.
17.
At that time the soul can see himself to be transcendental to material
existence and always self-effulgent, never fragmented, although very minute in
size.
18.
In that position of self-realization, by practice of knowledge and renunciation
in devotional service, one sees everything in the right perspective; he becomes
indifferent to material existence, and the material influence acts less
powerfully upon him.
19.
Perfection in self-realization cannot be attained by any kind of yogi unless he
engages in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that
is the only auspicious path.
20.
Every learned man knows very well that attachment for the material is the
greatest entanglement of the spirit soul. But that same attachment, when
applied to the self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation.
21.
The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all
living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the
scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.
22.
Such a sadhu engages in staunch devotional service to the Lord without
deviation. For the sake of the Lord he renounces all other connections, such as
family relationships and friendly acquaintances within the world.
23.
Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the sadhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are
always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities.
24.
O My mother, O virtuous lady, these are the qualities of great devotees who are
free from all attachment. You must seek attachment to such holy men, for this
counteracts the pernicious effects of material attachment.
25.
In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the
ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced
on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction
becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.
26.
Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of devotees,
a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this world and in the
next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the Lord. This process of
Krsna consciousness is the easiest process of mystic power; when one is
actually situated on that path of devotional service, he is able to control the
mind.
27.
Thus by not engaging in the service of the modes of material nature but by
developing Krsna consciousness, knowledge in renunciation, and by practicing
yoga, in which the mind is always fixed in devotional service unto the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, one achieves My association in this very life, for I am
the Supreme Personality, the Absolute Truth.
28.
On hearing this statement of the Lord, Devahuti inquired: What kind of
devotional service is worth developing and practicing to help me easily and
immediately attain the service of Your lotus feet?
29.
The mystic yoga system, as You have explained, aims at the Supreme Personality
of Godhead and is meant for completely ending material existence. Please let me
know the nature of that yoga system. How many ways are there by which one can
understand in truth that sublime yoga?
30.
My dear son, Kapila, after all, I am a woman. It is very difficult for me to
understand the Absolute Truth because my intelligence is not very great. But if
You will kindly explain it to me, even though I am not very intelligent, I can
understand it and thereby feel transcendental happiness.
31.
Sri Maitreya said: After hearing the statement of His mother, Kapila could
understand her purpose, and He became compassionate towards her because of
being born of her body. He described the Sankhya system of philosophy, which is
a combination of devotional service and mystic realization, as received by
disciplic succession.
32.
Lord Kapila said: The senses are symbolic representations of the demigods, and
their natural inclination is to work under the direction of the Vedic
injunctions. As the senses are representatives of the demigods, so the mind is
the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mind's natural
duty is to serve. When that service spirit is engaged in devotional service to
the Personality of Godhead, without any motive, that is far better even than
salvation.
33.
Bhakti, devotional service, dissolves the subtle body of the living entity
without separate effort, just as fire in the stomach digests all that we eat.
34.
A pure devotee, who is attached to the activities of devotional service and who
always engages in the service of My lotus feet, never desires to become one
with Me. Such a devotee, who is unflinchingly engaged, always glorifies My
pastimes and activities.
35.
O My mother, My devotees always see the smiling face of My form, with eyes like
the rising morning sun. They like to see My various transcendental forms, which
are all benevolent, and they also talk favorably with Me.
36.
Upon seeing the charming forms of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and hearing
His very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other consciousness.
His senses are freed from all other engagements, and he becomes absorbed in
devotional service. Thus in spite of his unwillingness, he attains liberation
without separate endeavor.
37.
Thus because he is completely absorbed in thought of Me, the devotee does not
desire even the highest benediction obtainable in the upper planetary systems,
including Satyaloka. He does not desire the eight material perfections obtained
from mystic yoga, nor does he desire to be elevated to the kingdom of God. Yet
even without desiring them, the devotee enjoys, even in this life, all the
offered benedictions.
38.
The Lord continued: My dear mother, devotees who receive such transcendental
opulences are never bereft of them; neither weapons nor the change of time can
destroy such opulences. Because the devotees accept Me as their friend, their
relative, their son, preceptor, benefactor and Supreme Deity, they cannot be
deprived of their possessions at any time.
39-40.
Thus the devotee who worships Me, the all-pervading Lord of the universe, in
unflinching devotional service, gives up all aspirations to be promoted to
heavenly planets or to become happy in this world with wealth, children,
cattle, home or anything in relationship with the body. I take him to the other
side of birth and death.
41.
The terrible fear of birth and death can never be forsaken by anyone who
resorts to any shelter other than Myself, for I am the almighty Lord, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of all creation, and also
the Supreme Soul of all souls.
42.
It is because of My supremacy that the wind blows, out of fear of Me; the sun
shines out of fear of Me, and the lord of the clouds, Indra, sends forth
showers out of fear of Me. Fire burns out of fear of Me, and death goes about
taking its toll out of fear of Me.
43.
The yogis, equipped with transcendental knowledge and renunciation and engaged
in devotional service for their eternal benefit, take shelter of My lotus feet,
and since I am the Lord, they are thus eligible to enter into the kingdom of
Godhead without fear.
44.
Therefore persons whose minds are fixed on the Lord engage in the intensive
practice of devotional service. That is the only means for attainment of the
final perfection of life.
Chapter Twenty-six Fundamental Principles of Material Nature
1.
The Personality of Godhead, Kapila, continued: My dear mother, now I shall
describe unto you the different categories of the Absolute Truth, knowing which
any person can be released from the influence of the modes of material nature.
2.
Knowledge is the ultimate perfection of self-realization. I shall explain that
knowledge unto you by which the knots of attachment to the material world are
cut.
3.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul, and He has no
beginning. He is transcendental to the material modes of nature and beyond the
existence of this material world. He is perceivable everywhere because He is
self-effulgent, and by His self-effulgent luster the entire creation is
maintained.
4.
As His pastime, that Supreme Personality of Godhead, the greatest of the great,
accepted the subtle material energy, which is invested with three material
modes of nature and which is related with Visnu.
5.
Divided into varieties by her threefold modes, material nature creates the
forms of the living entities, and the living entities, seeing this, are
illusioned by the knowledge-covering feature of the illusory energy.
6.
Because of his forgetfulness, the transcendental living entity accepts the
influence of material energy as his field of activities, and thus actuated, he
wrongly applies the activities to himself.
7.
Material consciousness is the cause of one's conditional life, in which
conditions are enforced upon the living entity by the material energy. Although
the spirit soul does not do anything and is transcendental to such activities,
he is thus affected by conditional life.
8.
The cause of the conditioned soul's material body and senses, and the senses'
presiding deities, the demigods, is the material nature. This is understood by
learned men. The feelings of happiness and distress of the soul, who is
transcendental by nature, are caused by the spirit soul himself.
9.
Devahuti said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, kindly explain the
characteristics of the Supreme Person and His energies, for both of these are
the causes of this manifest and unmanifest creation.
10.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The unmanifested eternal combination
of the three modes is the cause of the manifest state and is called pradhana.
It is called prakrti when in the manifested stage of existence.
11.
The aggregate elements, namely the five gross elements, the five subtle
elements, the four internal senses, the five senses for gathering knowledge and
the five outward organs of action, are known as the pradhana.
12.
There are five gross elements, namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. There
are also five subtle elements: smell, taste, color, touch and sound.
13.
The senses for acquiring knowledge and the organs for action number ten, namely
the auditory sense, the sense of taste, the tactile sense, the sense of sight,
the sense of smell, the active organ for speaking, the active organs for
working, and those for traveling, generating and evacuating.
14.
The internal, subtle senses are experienced as having four aspects, in the
shape of mind, intelligence, ego and contaminated consciousness. Distinctions
between them can be made only by different functions, since they represent
different characteristics.
15.
All these are considered the qualified Brahman. The mixing element, which is
known as time, is counted as the twenty-fifth element.
16.
The influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is felt in the time factor,
which causes fear of death due to the false ego of the deluded soul who has
contacted material nature.
17.
My dear mother, O daughter of Svayambhuva Manu, the time factor, as I have
explained, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whom the creation begins
as a result of the agitation of the neutral, unmanifested nature.
18.
By exhibiting His potencies, the Supreme Personality of Godhead adjusts all
these different elements, keeping Himself within as the Supersoul and without
as time.
19.
After the Supreme Personality of Godhead impregnates material nature with His
internal potency, material nature delivers the sum total of the cosmic intelligence,
which is known as Hiranmaya. This takes place in material nature when she is
agitated by the destinations of the conditioned souls.
20.
Thus, after manifesting variegatedness, the effulgent mahat-tattva, which
contains all the universes within itself, which is the root of all cosmic
manifestations and which is not destroyed at the time of annihilation, swallows
the darkness that covered the effulgence at the time of dissolution.
21.
The mode of goodness, which is the clear, sober status of understanding the
Personality of Godhead and which is generally called vasudeva, or
consciousness, becomes manifest in the mahat-tattva.
22.
After the manifestation of the mahat-tattva, these features appear
simultaneously. As water in its natural state, before coming in contact with
earth, is clear, sweet and unruffled, so the characteristic traits of pure
consciousness are complete serenity, clarity, and freedom from distraction.
23-24.
The material ego springs up from the mahat-tattva, which evolved from the
Lord's own energy. The material ego is endowed predominantly with active power
of three kinds--good, passionate and ignorant. It is from these three types of
material ego that the mind, the senses of perception, the organs of action, and
the gross elements evolve.
25.
The threefold ahankara, the source of the gross elements, the senses and the
mind, is identical with them because it is their cause. It is known by the name
of Sankarsana, who is directly Lord Ananta with a thousand heads.
26.
This false ego is characterized as the doer, as an instrument and as an effect.
It is further characterized as serene, active or dull according to how it is
influenced by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance.
27.
From the false ego of goodness, another transformation takes place. From this
evolves the mind, whose thoughts and reflections give rise to desire.
28.
The mind of the living entity is known by the name of Lord Aniruddha, the
supreme ruler of the senses. He possesses a bluish-black form resembling a lotus
flower growing in the autumn. He is found slowly by the yogis.
29.
By transformation of the false ego in passion, intelligence takes birth, O
virtuous lady. The functions of intelligence are to help in ascertaining the
nature of objects when they come into view, and to help the senses.
30.
Doubt, misapprehension, correct apprehension, memory and sleep, as determined
by their different functions, are said to be the distinct characteristics of
intelligence.
31.
Egoism in the mode of passion produces two kinds of senses--the senses for
acquiring knowledge and the senses of action. The senses of action depend on
the vital energy, and the senses for acquiring knowledge depend on
intelligence.
32.
When egoism in ignorance is agitated by the sex energy of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the subtle element sound is manifested, and from sound
come the ethereal sky and the sense of hearing.
33.
Persons who are learned and who have true knowledge define sound as that which
conveys the idea of an object, indicates the presence of a speaker screened
from our view and constitutes the subtle form of ether.
34.
The activities and characteristics of the ethereal element can be observed as
accommodation for the room for the external and internal existences of all
living entities, namely the field of activities of the vital air, the senses
and the mind.
35.
From ethereal existence, which evolves from sound, the next transformation
takes place under the impulse of time, and thus the subtle element touch and
thence the air and sense of touch become prominent.
36.
Softness and hardness and cold and heat are the distinguishing attributes of
touch, which is characterized as the subtle form of air.
37.
The action of the air is exhibited in movements, mixing, allowing approach to the
objects of sound and other sense perceptions, and providing for the proper
functioning of all other senses.
38.
By interactions of the air and the sensations of touch, one receives different
forms according to destiny. By evolution of such forms, there is fire, and the
eye sees different forms in color.
39.
My dear mother, the characteristics of form are understood by dimension,
quality and individuality. The form of fire is appreciated by its effulgence.
40.
Fire is appreciated by its light and by its ability to cook, to digest, to
destroy cold, to evaporate, and to give rise to hunger, thirst, eating and
drinking.
41.
By the interaction of fire and the visual sensation, the subtle element taste
evolves under a superior arrangement. From taste, water is produced, and the
tongue, which perceives taste, is also manifested.
42.
Although originally one, taste becomes manifold as astringent, sweet, bitter,
pungent, sour and salty due to contact with other substances.
43.
The characteristics of water are exhibited by its moistening other substances,
coagulating various mixtures, causing satisfaction, maintaining life, softening
things, driving away heat, incessantly supplying itself to reservoirs of water,
and refreshing by slaking thirst.
44.
Due to the interaction of water with the taste perception, the subtle element
odor evolves under superior arrangement. Thence the earth and the olfactory
sense, by which we can variously experience the aroma of the earth, become
manifest.
45.
Odor, although one, becomes many--as mixed, offensive, fragrant, mild, strong,
acidic and so on--according to the proportions of associated substances.
46.
The characteristics of the functions of earth can be perceived by modeling
forms of the Supreme Brahman, by constructing places of residence, by preparing
pots to contain water, etc. In other words, the earth is the place of
sustenance for all elements.
47.
The sense whose object of perception is sound is called the auditory sense, and
that whose object of perception is touch is called the tactile sense.
48.
The sense whose object of perception is form, the distinctive characteristic of
fire, is the sense of sight. The sense whose object of perception is taste, the
distinctive characteristic of water, is known as the sense of taste. Finally,
the sense whose object of perception is odor, the distinctive characteristic of
earth, is called the sense of smell.
49.
Since the cause exists in its effect as well, the characteristics of the former
are observed in the latter. That is why the peculiarities of all the elements
exist in the earth alone.
50.
When all these elements were unmixed, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
origin of creation, along with time, work, and the qualities of the modes of
material nature, entered into the universe with the total material energy in
seven divisions.
51.
From these seven principles, roused into activity and united by the presence of
the Lord, an unintelligent egg arose, from which appeared the celebrated Cosmic
Being.
52.
This universal egg, or the universe in the shape of an egg, is called the
manifestation of material energy. Its layers of water, air, fire, sky, ego and
mahat-tattva increase in thickness one after another. Each layer is ten times
bigger than the previous one, and the final outside layer is covered by
pradhana. Within this egg is the universal form of Lord Hari, of whose body the
fourteen planetary systems are parts.
53.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the virat-purusa, situated Himself in that
golden egg, which was lying on the water, and He divided it into many
departments.
54.
First of all a mouth appeared in Him, and then came forth the organ of speech,
and with it the god of fire, the deity who presides over that organ. Then a
pair of nostrils appeared, and in them appeared the olfactory sense, as well as
prana, the vital air.
55.
In the wake of the olfactory sense came the wind-god, who presides over that
sense. Thereafter a pair of eyes appeared in the universal form, and in them
the sense of sight. In the wake of this sense came the sun-god, who presides
over it. Next there appeared in Him a pair of ears, and in them the auditory
sense and in its wake the Dig-devatas, or the deities who preside over the
directions.
56.
Then the universal form of the Lord, the virat-purusa, manifested His skin, and
thereupon the hair, mustache and beard appeared. After this all the herbs and
drugs became manifested, and then His genitals also appeared.
57.
After this, semen (the faculty of procreation) and the god who presides over
the waters appeared. Next appeared an anus and then the organs of defecation
and thereupon the god of death, who is feared throughout the universe.
58.
Thereafter the two hands of the universal form of the Lord became manifested,
and with them the power of grasping and dropping things, and after that Lord
Indra appeared. Next the legs became manifested, and with them the process of
movement, and after that Lord Visnu appeared.
59.
The veins of the universal body became manifested and thereafter the red
corpuscles, or blood. In their wake came the rivers (the deities presiding over
the veins), and then appeared an abdomen.
60.
Next grew feelings of hunger and thirst, and in their wake came the
manifestation of the oceans. Then a heart became manifest, and in the wake of the
heart the mind appeared.
61.
After the mind, the moon appeared. Intelligence appeared next, and after
intelligence, Lord Brahma appeared. Then the false ego appeared and then Lord
Siva, and after the appearance of Lord Siva came consciousness and the deity
presiding over consciousness.
62.
When the demigods and presiding deities of the various senses were thus
manifested, they wanted to wake their origin of appearance. But upon failing to
do so, they reentered the body of the virat-purusa one after another in order
to wake Him.
63.
The god of fire entered His mouth with the organ of speech, but the
virat-purusa could not be aroused. Then the god of wind entered His nostrils
with the sense of smell, but still the virat-purusa refused to be awakened.
64.
The sun-god entered the eyes of the virat-purusa with the sense of sight, but
still the virat-purusa did not get up. Similarly, the predominating deities of
the directions entered through His ears with the sense of hearing, but still He
did not get up.
65.
The predominating deities of the skin, herbs and seasoning plants entered the
skin of the virat-purusa with the hair of the body, but the Cosmic Being
refused to get up even then. The god predominating over water entered His organ
of generation with the faculty of procreation, but the virat-purusa still would
not rise.
66.
The god of death entered His anus with the organ of defecation, but the
virat-purusa could not be spurred to activity. The god Indra entered the hands
with their power of grasping and dropping things, but the virat-purusa would
not get up even then.
67.
Lord Visnu entered His feet with the faculty of locomotion, but the
virat-purusa refused to stand up even then. The rivers entered His blood
vessels with the blood and the power of circulation, but still the Cosmic Being
could not be made to stir.
68.
The ocean entered His abdomen with hunger and thirst, but the Cosmic Being
refused to rise even then. The moon-god entered His heart with the mind, but
the Cosmic Being would not be roused.
69.
Brahma also entered His heart with intelligence, but even then the Cosmic Being
could not be prevailed upon to get up. Lord Rudra also entered His heart with
the ego, but even then the Cosmic Being did not stir.
70.
However, when the inner controller, the deity presiding over consciousness,
entered the heart with reason, at that very moment the Cosmic Being arose from
the causal waters.
71.
When a man is sleeping, all his material assets--namely the vital energy, the
senses for recording knowledge, the senses for working, the mind and the
intelligence--cannot arouse him. He can be aroused only when the Supersoul
helps him.
72.
Therefore, through devotion, detachment and advancement in spiritual knowledge
acquired through concentrated devotional service, one should contemplate that
Supersoul as present in this very body although simultaneously apart from it.
Chapter Twenty-seven Understanding Material Nature
1.
The Personality of Godhead Kapila continued: When the living entity is thus
unaffected by the modes of material nature, because he is unchanging and does
not claim proprietorship, he remains apart from the reactions of the modes,
although abiding in a material body, just as the sun remains aloof from its
reflection on water.
2.
When the soul is under the spell of material nature and false ego, identifying
his body as the self, he becomes absorbed in material activities, and by the
influence of false ego he thinks that he is the proprietor of everything.
3.
The conditioned soul therefore transmigrates into different species of life,
higher and lower, because of his association with the modes of material nature.
Unless he is relieved of material activities, he has to accept this position
because of his faulty work.
4.
Actually a living entity is transcendental to material existence, but because
of his mentality of lording it over material nature, his material existential
condition does not cease, and just as in a dream, he is affected by all sorts
of disadvantages.
5.
It is the duty of every conditioned soul to engage his polluted consciousness,
which is now attached to material enjoyment, in very serious devotional service
with detachment. Thus his mind and consciousness will be under full control.
6.
One has to become faithful by practicing the controlling process of the yoga
system and must elevate himself to the platform of unalloyed devotional service
by chanting and hearing about Me.
7.
In executing devotional service, one has to see every living entity equally,
without enmity towards anyone yet without intimate connections with anyone. One
has to observe celibacy, be grave and execute his eternal activities, offering
the results to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
8.
For his income a devotee should be satisfied with what he earns without great
difficulty. He should not eat more than what is necessary. He should live in a
secluded place and always be thoughtful, peaceful, friendly, compassionate and
self-realized.
9.
One's seeing power should be increased through knowledge of spirit and matter,
and one should not unnecessarily identify himself with the body and thus become
attracted by bodily relationships.
10.
One should be situated in the transcendental position, beyond the stages of
material consciousness, and should be aloof from all other conceptions of life.
Thus realizing freedom from false ego, one should see his own self just as he
sees the sun in the sky.
11.
A liberated soul realizes the Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is
transcendental and who is manifest as a reflection even in the false ego. He is
the support of the material cause and He enters into everything. He is
absolute, one without a second, and He is the eyes of the illusory energy.
12.
The presence of the Supreme Lord can be realized just as the sun is realized
first as a reflection on water, and again as a second reflection on the wall of
a room, although the sun itself is situated in the sky.
13.
The self-realized soul is thus reflected first in the threefold ego and then in
the body, senses and mind.
14.
Although a devotee appears to be merged in the five material elements, the
objects of material enjoyment, the material senses and material mind and
intelligence, he is understood to be awake and to be freed from the false ego.
15.
The living entity can vividly feel his existence as the seer, but because of
the disappearance of the ego during the state of deep sleep, he falsely takes
himself to be lost, like a man who has lost his fortune and feels distressed,
thinking himself to be lost.
16.
When, by mature understanding, one can realize his individuality, then the
situation he accepts under false ego becomes manifest to him.
17.
Sri Devahuti inquired: My dear brahmana, does material nature ever give release
to the spirit soul? Since one is attracted to the other eternally, how is their
separation possible?
18.
As there is no separate existence of the earth and its aroma or of water and
its taste, there cannot be any separate existence of intelligence and
consciousness.
19.
Hence even though he is the passive performer of all activities, how can there
be freedom for the soul as long as material nature acts on him and binds him?
20.
Even if the great fear of bondage is avoided by mental speculation and inquiry
into the fundamental principles, it may still appear again, since its cause has
not ceased.
21.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One can get liberation by seriously
discharging devotional service unto Me and thereby hearing for a long time
about Me or from Me. By thus executing one's prescribed duties, there will be
no reaction, and one will be freed from the contamination of matter.
22.
This devotional service has to be performed strongly in perfect knowledge and
with transcendental vision. One must be strongly renounced and must engage in
austerity and perform mystic yoga in order to be firmly fixed in
self-absorption.
23.
The influence of material nature has covered the living entity, and thus it is
as if the living entity were always in a blazing fire. But by the process of
seriously discharging devotional service, this influence can be removed, just
as wooden sticks which cause a fire are themselves consumed by it.
24.
By discovering the faultiness of his desiring to lord it over material nature
and by therefore giving it up, the living entity becomes independent and stands
in his own glory.
25.
In the dreaming state one's consciousness is almost covered, and one sees many
inauspicious things, but when he is awakened and fully conscious, such
inauspicious things cannot bewilder him.
26.
The influence of material nature cannot harm an enlightened soul, even though
he engages in material activities, because he knows the truth of the Absolute,
and his mind is fixed on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
27.
When a person thus engages in devotional service and self-realization for many,
many years and births, he becomes completely reluctant to enjoy any one of the
material planets, even up to the highest planet, which is known as Brahmaloka;
he becomes fully developed in consciousness.
28-29.
My devotee actually becomes self-realized by My unlimited causeless mercy, and
thus, when freed from all doubts, he steadily progresses towards his destined
abode, which is directly under the protection of My spiritual energy of
unadulterated bliss. That is the ultimate perfectional goal of the living
entity. After giving up the present material body, the mystic devotee goes to
that transcendental abode and never comes back.
30.
When a perfect yogi's attention is no longer attracted to the by-products of
mystic powers, which are manifestations of the external energy, his progress
towards Me becomes unlimited, and thus the power of death cannot overcome him.
Chapter Twenty-eight Kapila's Instructions on the Execution of
Devotional Service
1.
The Personality of Godhead said: My dear mother, O daughter of the King, now I
shall explain to you the system of yoga, the object of which is to concentrate
the mind. By practicing this system one can become joyful and progressively
advance towards the path of the Absolute Truth.
2.
One should execute his prescribed duties to the best of his ability and avoid
performing duties not allotted to him. One should be satisfied with as much
gain as he achieves by the grace of the Lord, and one should worship the lotus
feet of a spiritual master.
3.
One should cease performing conventional religious practices and should be
attracted to those which lead to salvation. One should eat very frugally and
should always remain secluded so that he can achieve the highest perfection of
life.
4.
One should practice nonviolence and truthfulness, should avoid thieving and be
satisfied with possessing as much as he needs for his maintenance. He should
abstain from sex life, perform austerity, be clean, study the Vedas and worship
the supreme form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
5.
One must observe silence, acquire steadiness by practicing different yogic
postures, control the breathing of the vital air, withdraw the senses from
sense objects and thus concentrate the mind on the heart.
6.
Fixing the vital air and the mind in one of the six circles of vital air
circulation within the body, thus concentrating one's mind on the
transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is called
samadhi, or samadhana, of the mind.
7.
By these processes, or any other true process, one must control the
contaminated, unbridled mind, which is always attracted by material enjoyment,
and thus fix himself in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
8.
After controlling one's mind and sitting postures, one should spread a seat in
a secluded and sanctified place, sit there in an easy posture, keeping the body
erect, and practice breath control.
9.
The yogi should clear the passage of vital air by breathing in the following
manner: first he should inhale very deeply, then hold the breath in, and
finally exhale. Or, reversing the process, the yogi can first exhale, then hold
the breath outside, and finally inhale. This is done so that the mind may
become steady and free from external disturbances.
10.
The yogis who practice such breathing exercises are very soon freed from all
mental disturbances, just as gold, when put into fire and fanned with air,
becomes free from all impurities.
11.
By practicing the process of pranayama, one can eradicate the contamination of
his physiological condition, and by concentrating the mind one can become free
from all sinful activities. By restraining the senses one can free himself from
material association, and by meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead
one can become free from the three modes of material attachment.
12.
When the mind is perfectly purified by this practice of yoga, one should
concentrate on the tip of the nose with half-closed eyes and see the form of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
13.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has a cheerful, lotuslike countenance with
ruddy eyes like the interior of a lotus and a swarthy body like the petals of a
blue lotus. He bears a conch, discus and mace in three of His hands.
14.
His loins are covered by a shining cloth, yellowish like the filaments of a
lotus. On His breast He bears the mark of Srivatsa, a curl of white hair. The
brilliant Kaustubha gem is suspended from His neck.
15.
He also wears around His neck a garland of attractive sylvan flowers, and a
swarm of bees, intoxicated by its delicious fragrance, hums about the garland.
He is further superbly adorned with a pearl necklace, a crown and pairs of
armlets, bracelets and anklets.
16.
His loins and hips encircled by a girdle, He stands on the lotus of His
devotee's heart. He is most charming to look at, and His serene aspect gladdens
the eyes and souls of the devotees who behold Him.
17.
The Lord is eternally very beautiful, and He is worshipable by all the
inhabitants of every planet. He is ever youthful and always eager to bestow His
blessing upon His devotees.
18.
The glory of the Lord is always worth singing, for His glories enhance the
glories of His devotees. One should therefore meditate upon the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and upon His devotees. One should meditate on the
eternal form of the Lord until the mind becomes fixed.
19.
Thus always merged in devotional service, the yogi visualizes the Lord
standing, moving, lying down or sitting within him, for the pastimes of the
Supreme Lord are always beautiful and attractive.
20.
In fixing his mind on the eternal form of the Lord, the yogi should not take a
collective view of all His limbs, but should fix the mind on each individual
limb of the Lord.
21.
The devotee should first concentrate his mind on the Lord's lotus feet, which
are adorned with the marks of a thunderbolt, a goad, a banner and a lotus. The
splendor of their beautiful ruby nails resembles the orbit of the moon and
dispels the thick gloom of one's heart.
22.
The blessed Lord Siva becomes all the more blessed by bearing on his head the
holy waters of the Ganges, which has its source in the water that washed the
Lord's lotus feet. The Lord's feet act like thunderbolts hurled to shatter the
mountain of sin stored in the mind of the meditating devotee. One should
therefore meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for a long time.
23.
The yogi should fix in his heart the activities of Laksmi, the goddess of
fortune, who is worshiped by all demigods and is the mother of the supreme
person, Brahma. She can always be found massaging the legs and thighs of the
transcendental Lord, very carefully serving Him in this way.
24.
Next, the yogi should fix his mind in meditation on the Personality of
Godhead's thighs, the storehouse of all energy. The Lord's thighs are whitish blue,
like the luster of the linseed flower, and appear most graceful when the Lord
is carried on the shoulders of Garuda. Also the yogi should contemplate His
rounded hips, which are encircled by a girdle that rests on the exquisite
yellow silk cloth that extends down to His ankles.
25.
The yogi should then meditate on His moonlike navel in the center of His
abdomen. From His navel, which is the foundation of the entire universe, sprang
the lotus stem containing all the different planetary systems. The lotus is the
residence of Brahma, the first created being. In the same way, the yogi should
concentrate his mind on the Lord's nipples, which resemble a pair of most
exquisite emeralds and which appear whitish because of the rays of the
milk-white pearl necklaces adorning His chest.
26.
The yogi should then meditate on the chest of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the abode of goddess Maha-Laksmi. The Lord's chest is the source of
all transcendental pleasure for the mind and full satisfaction for the eyes. The
yogi should then imprint on his mind the neck of the Personality of Godhead,
who is adored by the entire universe. The neck of the Lord serves to enhance
the beauty of the Kaustubha gem, which hangs on His chest.
27.
The yogi should further meditate upon the Lord's four arms, which are the
source of all the powers of the demigods who control the various functions of
material nature. Then the yogi should concentrate on the polished ornaments,
which were burnished by Mount Mandara as it revolved. He should also duly
contemplate the Lord's discus, the Sudarsana cakra, which contains one thousand
spokes and a dazzling luster, as well as the conch, which looks like a swan in
His lotuslike palm.
28.
The yogi should meditate upon His club, which is named Kaumodaki and is very
dear to Him. This club smashes the demons, who are always inimical soldiers,
and is smeared with their blood. One should also concentrate on the nice
garland on the neck of the Lord, which is always surrounded by bumblebees, with
their nice buzzing sound, and one should meditate upon the pearl necklace on
the Lord's neck, which is considered to represent the pure living entities who
are always engaged in His service.
29.
The yogi should then meditate on the lotuslike countenance of the Lord, who
presents His different forms in this world out of compassion for the anxious
devotees. His nose is prominent, and His crystal-clear cheeks are illuminated
by the oscillation of His glittering alligator-shaped earrings.
30.
The yogi then meditates upon the beautiful face of the Lord, which is adorned
with curly hair and decorated by lotuslike eyes and dancing eyebrows. A lotus
surrounded by swarming bees and a pair of swimming fish would be put to shame
by its elegance.
31.
The yogis should contemplate with full devotion the compassionate glances
frequently cast by the Lord's eyes, for they soothe the most fearful threefold
agonies of His devotees. His glances, accompanied by loving smiles, are full of
abundant grace.
32.
A yogi should similarly meditate on the most benevolent smile of Lord Sri Hari,
a smile which, for all those who bow to Him, dries away the ocean of tears
caused by intense grief. The yogi should also meditate on the Lord's arched
eyebrows, which are manifested by His internal potency in order to charm the
sex-god for the good of the sages.
33.
With devotion steeped in love and affection, the yogi should meditate within
the core of his heart upon the laughter of Lord Visnu. The laughter of Visnu is
so captivating that it can be easily meditated upon. When the Supreme Lord is
laughing, one can see His small teeth, which resemble jasmine buds rendered
rosy by the splendor of His lips. Once devoting his mind to this, the yogi
should no longer desire to see anything else.
34.
By following this course, the yogi gradually develops pure love for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Hari. In the course of his progress in devotional
service, the hairs on his body stand erect through excessive joy, and he is
constantly bathed in a stream of tears occasioned by intense love. Gradually,
even the mind, which he used as a means to attract the Lord, as one attracts a
fish to a hook, withdraws from material activity.
35.
When the mind is thus completely freed from all material contamination and
detached from material objectives, it is just like the flame of a lamp. At that
time the mind is actually dovetailed with that of the Supreme Lord and is
experienced as one with Him because it is freed from the interactive flow of
the material qualities.
36.
Thus situated in the highest transcendental stage, the mind ceases from all
material reaction and becomes situated in its own glory, transcendental to all
material conceptions of happiness and distress. At that time the yogi realizes
the truth of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He
discovers that pleasure and pain as well as their interactions, which he
attributed to his own self, are actually due to the false ego, which is a
product of ignorance.
37.
Because he has achieved his real identity, the perfectly realized soul has no
conception of how the material body is moving or acting, just as an intoxicated
person cannot understand whether or not he has clothing on his body.
38.
The body of such a liberated yogi, along with the senses, is taken charge of by
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it functions until its destined
activities are finished. The liberated devotee, being awake to his
constitutional position and thus situated in samadhi, the highest perfectional
stage of yoga, does not accept the by-products of the material body as his own.
Thus he considers his bodily activities to be like the activities of a body in
a dream.
39.
Because of great affection for family and wealth, one accepts a son and some
money as his own, and due to affection for the material body, one thinks that
it is his. But actually, as one can understand that his family and wealth are
different from him, the liberated soul can understand that he and his body are
not the same.
40.
The blazing fire is different from the flames, from the sparks and from the
smoke, although all are intimately connected because they are born from the
same blazing wood.
41.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Parambrahma, is the seer.
He is different from the jiva soul, or individual living entity, who is
combined with the senses, the five elements and consciousness.
42.
A yogi should see the same soul in all manifestations, for all that exists is a
manifestation of different energies of the Supreme. In this way the devotee
should see all living entities without distinction. That is realization of the
Supreme Soul.
43.
As fire is exhibited in different forms of wood, so, under different conditions
of the modes of material nature, the pure spirit soul manifests itself in different
bodies.
44.
Thus the yogi can be in the self-realized position after conquering the
insurmountable spell of maya, who presents herself as both the cause and effect
of this material manifestation and is therefore very difficult to understand.
Chapter Twenty-nine Explanation of Devotional Service by Lord Kapila
1-2.
Devahuti inquired: My dear Lord, You have already very scientifically described
the symptoms of the total material nature and the characteristics of the spirit
according to the Sankhya system of philosophy. Now I shall request You to
explain the path of devotional service, which is the ultimate end of all
philosophical systems.
3.
Devahuti continued: My dear Lord, please also describe in detail, both for me
and for people in general, the continual process of birth and death, for by
hearing of such calamities we may become detached from the activities of this
material world.
4.
Please also describe eternal time, which is a representation of Your form and
by whose influence people in general engage in the performance of pious
activities.
5.
My dear Lord, You are just like the sun, for You illuminate the darkness of the
conditional life of the living entities. Because their eyes of knowledge are
not open, they are sleeping eternally in that darkness without Your shelter,
and therefore they are falsely engaged by the actions and reactions of their
material activities, and they appear to be very fatigued.
6.
Sri Maitreya said: O best amongst the Kurus, the great sage Kapila, moved by
great compassion and pleased by the words of His glorious mother, spoke as
follows.
7.
Lord Kapila, the Personality of Godhead, replied: O noble lady, there are
multifarious paths of devotional service in terms of the different qualities of
the executor.
8.
Devotional service executed by a person who is envious, proud, violent and
angry, and who is a separatist, is considered to be in the mode of darkness.
9.
The worship of Deities in the temple by a separatist, with a motive for
material enjoyment, fame and opulence, is devotion in the mode of passion.
10.
When a devotee worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offers the
results of his activities in order to free himself from the inebrieties of
fruitive activities, his devotion is in the mode of goodness.
11-12.
The manifestation of unadulterated devotional service is exhibited when one's
mind is at once attracted to hearing the transcendental name and qualities of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is residing in everyone's heart. Just
as the water of the Ganges flows naturally down towards the ocean, such
devotional ecstasy, uninterrupted by any material condition, flows towards the
Supreme Lord.
13.
A pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation--salokya, sarsti,
samipya, sarupya or ekatva--even though they are offered by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.
14.
By attaining the highest platform of devotional service, as I have explained,
one can overcome the influence of the three modes of material nature and be
situated in the transcendental stage, as is the Lord.
15.
A devotee must execute his prescribed duties, which are glorious, without
material profit. Without excessive violence, one should regularly perform one's
devotional activities.
16.
The devotee should regularly see My statues in the temple, touch My lotus feet
and offer worshipable paraphernalia and prayer. He should see in the spirit of
renunciation, from the mode of goodness, and see every living entity as
spiritual.
17.
The pure devotee should execute devotional service by giving the greatest
respect to the spiritual master and the acaryas. He should be compassionate to
the poor and make friendship with persons who are his equals, but all his
activities should be executed under regulation and with control of the senses.
18.
A devotee should always try to hear about spiritual matters and should always
utilize his time in chanting the holy name of the Lord. His behavior should
always be straightforward and simple, and although he is not envious but
friendly to everyone, he should avoid the company of persons who are not
spiritually advanced.
19.
When one is fully qualified with all these transcendental attributes and his
consciousness is thus completely purified, he is immediately attracted simply
by hearing My name or hearing of My transcendental quality.
20.
As the chariot of air carries an aroma from its source and immediately catches
the sense of smell, similarly, one who constantly engages in devotional
service, in Krsna consciousness, can catch the Supreme Soul, who is equally
present everywhere.
21.
I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or
disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the
Deity in the temple, that is simply imitation.
22.
One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the
Supreme Lord, as Paramatma, is situated in every living entity's heart, must be
in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes.
23.
One who offers Me respect but is envious of the bodies of others and is
therefore a separatist never attains peace of mind, because of his inimical
behavior towards other living entities.
24.
My dear Mother, even if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia, a
person who is ignorant of My presence in all living entities never pleases Me
by the worship of My Deities in the temple.
25.
Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in
the hearts of other living entities as well.
26.
As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least
discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a
differential outlook.
27.
Therefore, through charitable gifts and attention, as well as through friendly
behavior and by viewing all to be alike, one should propitiate Me, who abide in
all creatures as their very Self.
28.
Living entities are superior to inanimate objects, O blessed mother, and among
them, living entities who display life symptoms are better. Animals with
developed consciousness are better than them, and better still are those who
have developed sense perception.
29.
Among the living entities who have developed sense perception, those who have
developed the sense of taste are better than those who have developed only the
sense of touch. Better than them are those who have developed the sense of
smell, and better still are those who have developed the sense of hearing.
30.
Better than those living entities who can perceive sound are those who can
distinguish between one form and another. Better than them are those who have
developed upper and lower sets of teeth, and better still are those who have
many legs. Better than them are the quadrupeds, and better still are the human
beings.
31.
Among human beings, the society which is divided according to quality and work
is best, and in that society, the intelligent men, who are designated as
brahmanas, are best. Among the brahmanas, one who has studied the Vedas is the
best, and among the brahmanas who have studied the Vedas, one who knows the
actual purport of Veda is the best.
32.
Better than the brahmana who knows the purpose of the Vedas is he who can
dissipate all doubts, and better than him is one who strictly follows the brahminical
principles. Better than him is one who is liberated from all material
contamination, and better than him is a pure devotee, who executes devotional
service without expectation of reward.
33.
Therefore I do not find a greater person than he who has no interest outside of
Mine and who therefore engages and dedicates all his activities and all his
life--everything--unto Me without cessation.
34.
Such a perfect devotee offers respects to every living entity because he is
under the firm conviction that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has entered
the body of every living entity as the Supersoul, or controller.
35.
My dear mother, O daughter of Manu, a devotee who applies the science of
devotional service and mystic yoga in this way can achieve the abode of the
Supreme Person simply by that devotional service.
36.
This purusa whom the individual soul must approach is the eternal form of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Brahman and Paramatma. He is
the transcendental chief personality, and His activities are all spiritual.
37.
The time factor, who causes the transformation of the various material
manifestations, is another feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Anyone who does not know that time is the same Supreme Personality is afraid of
the time factor.
38.
Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the enjoyer of all
sacrifices, is the time factor and the master of all masters. He enters
everyone's heart, He is the support of everyone, and He causes every being to
be annihilated by another.
39.
No one is dear to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor is anyone His enemy
or friend. But He gives inspiration to those who have not forgotten Him and
destroys those who have.
40.
Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the wind blows, out of fear
of Him the sun shines, out of fear of Him the rain pours forth showers, and out
of fear of Him the host of heavenly bodies shed their luster.
41.
Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the trees, creepers, herbs
and seasonal plants and flowers blossom and fructify, each in its own season.
42.
Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the rivers flow, and the
ocean never overflows. Out of fear of Him only does fire burn and does the
earth, with its mountains, not sink in the water of the universe.
43.
Subject to the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sky allows
outer space to accommodate all the various planets, which hold innumerable
living entities. The total universal body expands with its seven coverings
under His supreme control.
44.
Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the directing demigods in
charge of the modes of material nature carry out the functions of creation,
maintenance and destruction; everything animate and inanimate within this
material world is under their control.
45.
The eternal time factor has no beginning and no end. It is the representative
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the maker of the criminal world. It
brings about the end of the phenomenal world, it carries on the work of
creation by bringing one individual into existence from another, and likewise
it dissolves the universe by destroying even the lord of death, Yamaraja.
Chapter Thirty Description by Lord Kapila of Adverse Fruitive Activities
1.
The Personality of Godhead said: As a mass of clouds does not know the powerful
influence of the wind, a person engaged in material consciousness does not know
the powerful strength of the time factor, by which he is being carried.
2.
Whatever is produced by the materialist with great pain and labor for so-called
happiness, the Supreme Personality, as the time factor, destroys, and for this
reason the conditioned soul laments.
3.
The misguided materialist does not know that his very body is impermanent and
that the attractions of home, land and wealth, which are in relationship to
that body, are also temporary. Out of ignorance only, he thinks that everything
is permanent.
4.
The living entity, in whatever species of life he appears, finds a particular
type of satisfaction in that species, and he is never averse to being situated
in such a condition.
5.
The conditioned living entity is satisfied in his own particular species of
life; while deluded by the covering influence of the illusory energy, he feels
little inclined to cast off his body, even when in hell, for he takes delight
in hellish enjoyment.
6.
Such satisfaction with one's standard of living is due to deep-rooted
attraction for body, wife, home, children, animals, wealth and friends. In such
association, the conditioned soul thinks himself quite perfect.
7.
Although he is always burning with anxiety, such a fool always performs all
kinds of mischievous activities, with a hope which is never to be fulfilled, in
order to maintain his so-called family and society.
8.
He gives heart and senses to a woman, who falsely charms him with maya. He
enjoys solitary embraces and talking with her, and he is enchanted by the sweet
words of the small children.
9.
The attached householder remains in his family life, which is full of diplomacy
and politics. Always spreading miseries and controlled by acts of sense
gratification, he acts just to counteract the reactions of all his miseries,
and if he can successfully counteract such miseries, he thinks that he is
happy.
10.
He secures money by committing violence here and there, and although he employs
it in the service of his family, he himself eats only a little portion of the
food thus purchased, and he goes to hell for those for whom he earned the money
in such an irregular way.
11.
When he suffers reverses in his occupation, he tries again and again to improve
himself, but when he is baffled in all attempts and is ruined, he accepts money
from others because of excessive greed.
12.
Thus the unfortunate man, unsuccessful in maintaining his family members, is
bereft of all beauty. He always thinks of his failure, grieving very deeply.
13.
Seeing him unable to support them, his wife and others do not treat him with
the same respect as before, even as miserly farmers do not accord the same
treatment to their old and worn-out oxen.
14.
The foolish family man does not become averse to family life although he is
maintained by those whom he once maintained. Deformed by the influence of old
age, he prepares himself to meet ultimate death.
15.
Thus he remains at home just like a pet dog and eats whatever is so negligently
given to him. Afflicted with many illnesses, such as dyspepsia and loss of
appetite, he eats only very small morsels of food, and he becomes an invalid,
who cannot work any more.
16.
In that diseased condition, one's eyes bulge due to the pressure of air from
within, and his glands become congested with mucus. He has difficulty
breathing, and upon exhaling and inhaling he produces a sound like ghura-ghura,
a rattling within the throat.
17.
In this way he comes under the clutches of death and lies down, surrounded by
lamenting friends and relatives, and although he wants to speak with them, he
no longer can because he is under the control of time.
18.
Thus the man, who engaged with uncontrolled senses in maintaining a family,
dies in great grief, seeing his relatives crying. He dies most pathetically, in
great pain and without consciousness.
19.
At death, he sees the messengers of the lord of death come before him, their
eyes full of wrath, and in great fear he passes stool and urine.
20.
As a criminal is arrested for punishment by the constables of the state, a
person engaged in criminal sense gratification is similarly arrested by the
Yamadutas, who bind him by the neck with strong rope and cover his subtle body
so that he may undergo severe punishment.
21.
While carried by the constables of Yamaraja, he is overwhelmed and trembles in
their hands. While passing on the road he is bitten by dogs, and he can remember
the sinful activities of his life. He is thus terribly distressed.
22.
Under the scorching sun, the criminal has to pass through roads of hot sand
with forest fires on both sides. He is whipped on the back by the constables
because of his inability to walk, and he is afflicted by hunger and thirst, but
unfortunately there is no drinking water, no shelter and no place for rest on
the road.
23.
While passing on that road to the abode of Yamaraja, he falls down in fatigue,
and sometimes he becomes unconscious, but he is forced to rise again. In this
way he is very quickly brought to the presence of Yamaraja.
24.
Thus he has to pass ninety-nine thousand yojanas within two or three moments,
and then he is at once engaged in the torturous punishment which he is destined
to suffer.
25.
He is placed in the midst of burning pieces of wood, and his limbs are set on
fire. In some cases he is made to eat his own flesh or have it eaten by others.
26.
His entrails are pulled out by the hounds and vultures of hell, even though he
is still alive to see it, and he is subjected to torment by serpents,
scorpions, gnats and other creatures that bite him.
27.
Next his limbs are lopped off and torn asunder by elephants. He is hurled down
from hilltops, and he is also held captive either in water or in a cave.
28.
Men and women whose lives were built upon indulgence in illicit sex life are
put into many kinds of miserable conditions in the hells known as Tamisra,
Andha-tamisra and Raurava.
29.
Lord Kapila continued: My dear mother, it is sometimes said that we experience
hell or heaven on this planet, for hellish punishments are sometimes visible on
this planet also.
30.
After leaving this body, the man who maintained himself and his family members
by sinful activities suffers a hellish life, and his relatives suffer also.
31.
He goes alone to the darkest regions of hell after quitting the present body,
and the money he acquired by envying other living entities is the passage money
with which he leaves this world.
32.
Thus, by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the maintainer
of kinsmen is put into a hellish condition to suffer for his sinful activities,
like a man who has lost his wealth.
33.
Therefore a person who is very eager to maintain his family and kinsmen simply
by black methods certainly goes to the darkest region of hell, which is known
as Andha-tamisra.
34.
Having gone through all the miserable, hellish conditions and having passed in
a regular order through the lowest forms of animal life prior to human birth,
and having thus been purged of his sins, one is reborn again as a human being
on this earth.
Chapter Thirty-one Lord Kapila's Instructions on the Movements of the
Living Entities
1.
The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and
according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to
enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a
particular type of body.
2.
On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture
ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum,
and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case
may be.
3.
In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the
hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails,
fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation
and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and
anus.
4.
Within four months from the date of conception, the seven essential ingredients
of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into
existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt,
and at the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move
on the right side of the abdomen.
5.
Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother, the fetus
grows and remains in that abominable residence of stools and urine, which is
the breeding place of all kinds of worms.
6.
Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen
itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus
becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition.
7.
Owing to the mother's eating bitter, pungent foodstuffs, or food which is too
salty or too sour, the body of the child incessantly suffers pains which are
almost intolerable.
8.
Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child
remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and
his back and neck arched like a bow.
9.
The child thus remains just like a bird in a cage, without freedom of movement.
At that time, if the child is fortunate, he can remember all the troubles of
his past one hundred births, and he grieves wretchedly. What is the possibility
of peace of mind in that condition?
10.
Thus endowed with the development of consciousness from the seventh month after
his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo
during the weeks preceding delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy
abdominal cavity, he cannot remain in one place.
11.
The living entity in this frightful condition of life, bound by seven layers of
material ingredients, prays with folded hands, appealing to the Lord, who has
put him in that condition.
12.
The human soul says: I take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who appears in His various eternal forms and walks on
the surface of the world. I take shelter of Him only, because He can give me
relief from all fear and from Him I have received this condition of life, which
is just befitting my impious activities.
13.
I, the pure soul, appearing now bound by my activities, am lying in the womb of
my mother by the arrangement of maya. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him
who is also here with me but who is unaffected and changeless. He is unlimited,
but He is perceived in the repentant heart. To Him I offer my respectful
obeisances.
14.
I am separated from the Supreme Lord because of my being in this material body,
which is made of five elements, and therefore my qualities and senses are being
misused, although I am essentially spiritual. Because the Supreme Personality
of Godhead is transcendental to material nature and the living entities,
because He is devoid of such a material body, and because He is always glorious
in His spiritual qualities, I offer my obeisances unto Him.
15.
The human soul further prays: The living entity is put under the influence of
material nature and continues a hard struggle for existence on the path of
repeated birth and death. This conditional life is due to his forgetfulness of
his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, without
the Lord's mercy, how can he again engage in the transcendental loving service
of the Lord?
16.
No one other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the localized
Paramatma, the partial representation of the Lord, is directing all inanimate
and animate objects. He is present in the three phases of time--past, present
and future. Therefore, the conditioned soul is engaged in different activities
by His direction, and in order to get free from the threefold miseries of this
conditional life, we have to surrender unto Him only.
17.
Fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine within the abdomen of his mother,
his own body scorched by the mother's gastric fire, the embodied soul, anxious
to get out, counts his months and prays, "O my Lord, when shall I, a
wretched soul, be released from this confinement?"
18.
My dear Lord, by Your causeless mercy I am awakened to consciousness, although
I am only ten months old. For this causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, the friend of all fallen souls, there is no way to express my
gratitude but to pray with folded hands.
19.
The living entity in another type of body sees only by instinct; he knows only
the agreeable and disagreeable sense perceptions of that particular body. But I
have a body in which I can control my senses and can understand my destination;
therefore, I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, by whom I have been blessed with this body and by whose grace I can
see Him within and without.
20.
Therefore, my Lord, although I am living in a terrible condition, I do not wish
to depart from my mother's abdomen to fall again into the blind well of
materialistic life. Your external energy, called deva-maya, at once captures
the newly born child, and immediately false identification, which is the
beginning of the cycle of continual birth and death, begins.
21.
Therefore, without being agitated any more, I shall deliver myself from the
darkness of nescience with the help of my friend, clear consciousness. Simply
by keeping the lotus feet of Lord Visnu in my mind, I shall be saved from
entering into the wombs of many mothers for repeated birth and death.
22.
Lord Kapila continued: The ten-month-old living entity has these desires even
while in the womb. But while he thus extols the Lord, the wind that helps
parturition propels him forth with his face turned downward so that he may be
born.
23.
Pushed downward all of a sudden by the wind, the child comes out with great
trouble, head downward, breathless and deprived of memory due to severe agony.
24.
The child thus falls on the ground, smeared with stool and blood, and plays
just like a worm germinated from the stool. He loses his superior knowledge and
cries under the spell of maya.
25.
After coming out of the abdomen, the child is given to the care of persons who
are unable to understand what he wants, and thus he is nursed by such persons.
Unable to refuse whatever is given to him, he falls into undesirable
circumstances.
26.
Laid down on a foul bed infested with sweat and germs, the poor child is
incapable of scratching his body to get relief from his itching sensation to
say nothing of sitting up, standing or even moving.
27.
In his helpless condition, gnats, mosquitoes, bugs and other germs bite the
baby, whose skin is tender, just as smaller worms bite a big worm. The child,
deprived of his wisdom, cries bitterly.
28.
In this way, the child passes through his childhood, suffering different kinds
of distress, and attains boyhood. In boyhood also he suffers pain over desires
to get things he can never achieve. And thus, due to ignorance, he becomes
angry and sorry.
29.
With the growth of the body, the living entity, in order to vanquish his soul,
increases his false prestige and anger and thereby creates enmity towards
similarly lusty people.
30.
By such ignorance the living entity accepts the material body, which is made of
five elements, as himself. With this misunderstanding, he accepts nonpermanent
things as his own and increases his ignorance in the darkest region.
31.
For the sake of the body, which is a source of constant trouble to him and
which follows him because he is bound by ties of ignorance and fruitive
activities, he performs various actions which cause him to be subjected to repeated
birth and death.
32.
If, therefore, the living entity again associates with the path of
unrighteousness, influenced by sensually minded people engaged in the pursuit
of sexual enjoyment and the gratification of the palate, he again goes to hell
as before.
33.
He becomes devoid of truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, gravity, spiritual
intelligence, shyness, austerity, fame, forgiveness, control of the mind,
control of the senses, fortune and all such opportunities.
34.
One should not associate with a coarse fool who is bereft of the knowledge of
self-realization and who is no more than a dancing dog in the hands of a woman.
35.
The infatuation and bondage which accrue to a man from attachment to any other
object is not as complete as that resulting from attachment to a woman or to
the fellowship of men who are fond of women.
36.
At the sight of his own daughter, Brahma was bewildered by her charms and
shamelessly ran up to her in the form of a stag when she took the form of a
hind.
37.
Amongst all kinds of living entities begotten by Brahma, namely men, demigods
and animals, none but the sage Narayana is immune to the attraction of maya in
the form of woman.
38.
Just try to understand the mighty strength of My maya in the shape of woman,
who by the mere movement of her eyebrows can keep even the greatest conquerors
of the world under her grip.
39.
One who aspires to reach the culmination of yoga and has realized his self by
rendering service unto Me should never associate with an attractive woman, for
such a woman is declared in the scripture to be the gateway to hell for the
advancing devotee.
40.
The woman, created by the Lord, is the representation of maya, and one who
associates with such maya by accepting services must certainly know that this
is the way of death, just like a blind well covered with grass.
41.
A living entity who, as a result of attachment to a woman in his previous life,
has been endowed with the form of a woman, foolishly looks upon maya in the
form of a man, her husband, as the bestower of wealth, progeny, house and other
material assets.
42.
A woman, therefore, should consider her husband, her house and her children to
be the arrangement of the external energy of the Lord for her death, just as
the sweet singing of the hunter is death for the deer.
43.
Due to his particular type of body, the materialistic living entity wanders
from one planet to another, following fruitive activities. In this way, he
involves himself in fruitive activities and enjoys the result incessantly.
44.
In this way the living entity gets a suitable body with a material mind and
senses, according to his fruitive activities. When the reaction of his
particular activity comes to an end, that end is called death, and when a
particular type of reaction begins, that beginning is called birth.
45-46.
When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid affliction of
the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The living entity, who is
the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his power of vision. In the same
way, when the physical body, the place where perception of objects occurs, is
rendered incapable of perceiving, that is known as death. When one begins to
view the physical body as one's very self, that is called birth.
47.
Therefore, one should not view death with horror, nor have recourse to defining
the body as soul, nor give way to exaggeration in enjoying the bodily
necessities of life. Realizing the true nature of the living entity, one should
move about in the world free from attachment and steadfast in purpose.
48.
Endowed with right vision and strengthened by devotional service and a
pessimistic attitude towards material identity, one should relegate his body to
this illusory world through his reason. Thus one can be unconcerned with this
material world.
Chapter Thirty-two Entanglement in Fruitive Activities
1.
The Personality of Godhead said: The person who lives in the center of
household life derives material benefits by performing religious rituals, and
thereby he fulfills his desire for economic development and sense
gratification. Again and again he acts the same way.
2.
Such persons are ever bereft of devotional service due to being too attached to
sense gratification, and therefore, although they perform various kinds of
sacrifices and take great vows to satisfy the demigods and forefathers, they
are not interested in Krsna consciousness, devotional service.
3.
Such materialistic persons, attracted by sense gratification and devoted to the
forefathers and demigods, can be elevated to the moon, where they drink an
extract of the soma plant. They again return to this planet.
4.
All the planets of the materialistic persons, including all the heavenly
planets, such as the moon, are vanquished when the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Hari, goes to His bed of serpents, which is known as Ananta Sesa.
5.
Those who are intelligent and are of purified consciousness are completely
satisfied in Krsna consciousness. Freed from the modes of material nature, they
do not act for sense gratification; rather, since they are situated in their
own occupational duties, they act as one is expected to act.
6.
By executing one's occupational duties, acting with detachment and without a
sense of proprietorship or false egoism, one is posted in one's constitutional
position by dint of complete purification of consciousness, and by thus
executing so-called material duties he can easily enter into the kingdom of
God.
7.
Through the path of illumination, such liberated persons approach the complete
Personality of Godhead, who is the proprietor of the material and spiritual
worlds and is the supreme cause of their manifestation and dissolution.
8.
Worshipers of the Hiranyagarbha expansion of the Personality of Godhead remain
within this material world until the end of two parardhas, when Lord Brahma
also dies.
9.
After experiencing the inhabitable time of the three modes of material nature,
known as two parardhas, Lord Brahma closes the material universe, which is
covered by layers of earth, water, air, fire, ether, mind, ego, etc., and goes
back to Godhead.
10.
The yogis who become detached from the material world by practice of breathing
exercises and control of the mind reach the planet of Brahma, which is far, far
away. After giving up their bodies, they enter into the body of Lord Brahma,
and therefore when Brahma is liberated and goes to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, who is the Supreme Brahman, such yogis can also enter into the kingdom
of God.
11.
Therefore, My dear mother, by devotional service take direct shelter of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyone's heart.
12-15.
My dear mother, someone may worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead with a
special self-interest, but even demigods such as Lord Brahma, great sages such
as Sanat-kumara and great munis such as Marici have to come back to the
material world again at the time of creation. When the interaction of the three
modes of material nature begins, Brahma, who is the creator of this cosmic
manifestation and who is full of Vedic knowledge, and the great sages, who are
the authors of the spiritual path and the yoga system, come back under the
influence of the time factor. They are liberated by their nonfruitive
activities and they attain the first incarnation of the purusa, but at the time
of creation they come back in exactly the same forms and positions as they had
previously.
16.
Persons who are too addicted to this material world execute their prescribed
duties very nicely and with great faith. They daily perform all such prescribed
duties with attachment to the fruitive result.
17.
Such persons, impelled by the mode of passion, are full of anxieties and always
aspire for sense gratification due to uncontrolled senses. They worship the
forefathers and are busy day and night improving the economic condition of
their family, social or national life.
18.
Such persons are called trai-vargika because they are interested in the three
elevating processes. They are averse to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who
can give relief to the conditioned soul. They are not interested in the Supreme
Personality's pastimes, which are worth hearing because of His transcendental
prowess.
19.
Such persons are condemned by the supreme order of the Lord. Because they are
averse to the nectar of the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
they are compared to stool-eating hogs. They give up hearing the transcendental
activities of the Lord and indulge in hearing of the abominable activities of
materialistic persons.
20.
Such materialistic persons are allowed to go to the planet called Pitrloka by
the southern course of the sun, but they again come back to this planet and
take birth in their own families, beginning again the same fruitive activities
from birth to the end of life.
21.
When the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they fall down by
higher arrangement and again come back to this planet, just as any person
raised to a high position sometimes all of a sudden falls.
22.
My dear mother, I therefore advise that you take shelter of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, for His lotus feet are worth worshiping. Accept this
with all devotion and love, for thus you can be situated in transcendental
devotional service.
23.
Engagement in Krsna consciousness and application of devotional service unto
Krsna make it possible to advance in knowledge and detachment, as well as in
self-realization.
24.
The exalted devotee's mind becomes equipoised in sensory activities, and he is
transcendental to that which is agreeable and not agreeable.
25.
Because of his transcendental intelligence, the pure devotee is equipoised in
his vision and sees himself to be uncontaminated by matter. He does not see
anything as superior or inferior, and he feels himself elevated to the
transcendental platform of being equal in qualities with the Supreme Person.
26.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead alone is complete transcendental knowledge,
but according to the different processes of understanding He appears
differently, either as impersonal Brahman, as Paramatma, as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead or as the purusa-avatara.
27.
The greatest common understanding for all yogis is complete detachment from
matter, which can be achieved by different kinds of yoga.
28.
Those who are averse to the Transcendence realize the Supreme Absolute Truth
differently through speculative sense perception, and therefore, because of
mistaken speculation, everything appears to them to be relative.
29.
From the total energy, the mahat-tattva, I have manifested the false ego, the three
modes of material nature, the five material elements, the individual
consciousness, the eleven senses and the material body. Similarly, the entire
universe has come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
30.
This perfect knowledge can be achieved by a person who is already engaged in
devotional service with faith, steadiness and full detachment, and who is
always absorbed in thought of the Supreme. He is aloof from material
association.
31.
My dear respectful mother, I have already described the path of understanding
the Absolute Truth, by which one can come to understand the real truth of
matter and spirit and their relationship.
32.
Philosophical research culminates in understanding the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. After achieving this understanding, when one becomes free from the
material modes of nature, he attains the stage of devotional service. Either by
devotional service directly or by philosophical research, one has to find the
same destination, which is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
33.
A single object is appreciated differently by different senses due to its
having different qualities. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is
one, but according to different scriptural injunctions He appears to be
different.
34-36. By performing
fruitive activities and sacrifices, by distributing charity, by performing
austerities, by studying various literatures, by conducting philosophical
research, by controlling the mind, by subduing the senses, by accepting the
renounced order of life and by performing the prescribed duties of one's social
order; by performing the different divisions of yoga practice, by performing
devotional service and by exhibiting the process of devotional service
containing the symptoms of both attachment and detachment; by understanding the
science of self-realization and by developing a strong sense of detachment, one
who is expert in understanding the different processes of self-realization
realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is represented in the material
world as well as in transcendence.
37.
My dear mother, I have explained to you the process of devotional service and
its identity in four different social divisions. I have explained to you as
well how eternal time is chasing the living entities, although it is
imperceptible to them.
38.
There are varieties of material existence for the living entity according to
the work he performs in ignorance or forgetfulness of his real identity. My
dear mother, if anyone enters into that forgetfulness, he is unable to
understand where his movements will end.
39.
Lord Kapila continued: This instruction is not meant for the envious, for the
agnostics or for persons who are unclean in their behavior. Nor is it for
hypocrites or for persons who are proud of material possessions.
40.
It is not to be instructed to persons who are too greedy and too attached to
family life, nor to persons who are nondevotees and who are envious of the
devotees and of the Personality of Godhead.
41.
Instruction should be given to the faithful devotee who is respectful to the
spiritual master, nonenvious, friendly to all kinds of living entities and
eager to render service with faith and sincerity.
42.
This instruction should be imparted by the spiritual master to persons who have
taken the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be more dear than anything, who are
not envious of anyone, who are perfectly cleansed and who have developed
detachment for that which is outside the purview of Krsna consciousness.
43.
Anyone who once meditates upon Me with faith and affection, who hears and
chants about Me, surely goes back home, back to Godhead.
Chapter Thirty-three Activities of Kapila
1.
Sri Maitreya said: Thus Devahuti, the mother of Lord Kapila and wife of Kardama
Muni, became freed from all ignorance concerning devotional service and
transcendental knowledge. She offered her obeisances unto the Lord, the author
of the basic principles of the Sankhya system of philosophy, which is the
background of liberation, and she satisfied Him with the following verses of
prayer.
2.
Devahuti said: Brahma is said to be unborn because he takes birth from the
lotus flower which grows from Your abdomen while You lie in the ocean at the
bottom of the universe. But even Brahma simply meditated upon You, whose body
is the source of unlimited universes.
3.
My dear Lord, although personally You have nothing to do, You have distributed
Your energies in the interactions of the material modes of nature, and for that
reason the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation
take place. My dear Lord, You are self-determined and are the Supreme
Personality of Godhead for all living entities. For them You created this
material manifestation, and although You are one, Your diverse energies can act
multifariously. This is inconceivable to us.
4.
As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You have taken birth from my abdomen. O
my Lord, how is that possible for the supreme one, who has in His belly all the
cosmic manifestation? The answer is that it is possible, for at the end of the
millennium You lie down on a leaf of a banyan tree, and just like a small baby,
You lick the toe of Your lotus foot.
5.
My dear Lord, You have assumed this body in order to diminish the sinful
activities of the fallen and to enrich their knowledge in devotion and
liberation. Since these sinful people are dependent on Your direction, by Your
own will You assume incarnations as a boar and as other forms. Similarly, You
have appeared in order to distribute transcendental knowledge to Your dependents.
6.
To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme
Person face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters immediately
becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His
pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him.
7.
Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if
born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who
chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of
austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners of the
Aryans. To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they must have bathed at
holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas and fulfilled everything required.
8.
I believe, my Lord, that You are Lord Visnu Himself under the name of Kapila,
and You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahman! The saints
and sages, being freed from all the disturbances of the senses and mind,
meditate upon You, for by Your mercy only can one become free from the clutches
of the three modes of material nature. At the time of dissolution, all the
Vedas are sustained in You only.
9.
Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kapila, satisfied by the words of His
mother, towards whom He was very affectionate, replied with gravity.
10.
The Personality of Godhead said: My dear mother, the path of self-realization
which I have already instructed to you is very easy. You can execute this
system without difficulty, and by following it you shall very soon be
liberated, even within your present body.
11.
My dear mother, those who are actually transcendentalists certainly follow My
instructions, as I have given them to you. You may rest assured that if you
traverse this path of self-realization perfectly, surely you shall be freed
from fearful material contamination and shall ultimately reach Me. Mother,
persons who are not conversant with this method of devotional service certainly
cannot get out of the cycle of birth and death 12. Sri Maitreya said:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead Kapila, after instructing His beloved
mother, took permission from her and left His home, His mission having been
fulfilled.
13.
As instructed by her son, Devahuti also began to practice bhakti-yoga in that
very asrama. She practiced samadhi in the house of Kardama Muni, which was so
beautifully decorated with flowers that it was considered the flower crown of
the River Sarasvati.
14.
She began to bathe three times daily, and thus her curling black hair gradually
became gray. Due to austerity, her body gradually became thin, and she wore old
garments.
15.
The home and household paraphernalia of Kardama, who was one of the Prajapatis,
was developed in such a way, by dint of his mystic powers of austerity and
yoga, that his opulence was sometimes envied by those who travel in outer space
in airplanes.
16.
The opulence of the household of Kardama Muni is described herein. The
bedsheets and mattresses were all as white as the foam of milk, the chairs and
benches were made of ivory and were covered by cloths of lace with golden
filigree, and the couches were made of gold and had very soft pillows.
17.
The walls of the house were made of first-class marble, decorated with valuable
jewels. There was no need of light, for the household was illuminated by the
rays of these jewels. The female members of the household were all amply
decorated with jewelry.
18.
The compound of the main household was surrounded by beautiful gardens, with
sweet, fragrant flowers and many trees which produced fresh fruit and were tall
and beautiful. The attraction of such gardens was that singing birds would sit
on the trees, and their chanting voices, as well as the humming sound of the
bees, made the whole atmosphere as pleasing as possible.
19.
When Devahuti would enter that lovely garden to take her bath in the pond
filled with lotus flowers, the associates of the denizens of heaven, the
Gandharvas, would sing about Kardama's glorious household life. Her great
husband, Kardama, gave her all protection at all times.
20.
Although her position was unique from all points of view, saintly Devahuti, in
spite of all her possessions, which were envied even by the ladies of the heavenly
planets, gave up all such comforts. She was only sorry that her great son was
separated from her.
21.
Devahuti's husband had already left home and accepted the renounced order of
life, and then her only son, Kapila, left home. Although she knew all the
truths of life and death, and although her heart was cleansed of all dirt, she
was very aggrieved at the loss of her son, just as a cow is affected when her
calf dies.
22.
O Vidura, thus always meditating upon her son, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Kapiladeva, she very soon became unattached to her nicely decorated
home.
23.
Thereafter, having heard with great eagerness and in all detail from her son,
Kapiladeva, the eternally smiling Personality of Godhead, Devahuti began to
meditate constantly upon the Visnu form of the Supreme Lord.
24-25.
She did so with serious engagement in devotional service. Because she was
strong in renunciation, she accepted only the necessities of the body. She
became situated in knowledge due to realization of the Absolute Truth, her
heart became purified, she became fully absorbed in meditation upon the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and all misgivings due to the modes of material nature
disappeared.
26.
Her mind became completely engaged in the Supreme Lord, and she automatically
realized the knowledge of the impersonal Brahman. As a Brahman-realized soul,
she was freed from the designations of the materialistic concept of life. Thus
all material pangs disappeared, and she attained transcendental bliss.
27.
Situated in eternal trance and freed from illusion impelled by the modes of
material nature, she forgot her material body, just as one forgets his
different bodies in a dream.
28.
Her body was being taken care of by the spiritual damsels created by her
husband, Kardama, and since she had no mental anxiety at that time, her body
did not become thin. She appeared just like a fire surrounded by smoke.
29.
Because she was always absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, she was not aware that her hair was sometimes loosened or her garments
were disarrayed.
30.
My dear Vidura, by following the principles instructed by Kapila, Devahuti soon
became liberated from material bondage, and she achieved the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, as Supersoul, without difficulty.
31.
The palace where Devahuti achieved her perfection, my dear Vidura, is
understood to be a most sacred spot. It is known all over the three worlds as
Siddhapada.
32.
Dear Vidura, the material elements of her body have melted into water and are
now a flowing river, which is the most sacred of all rivers. Anyone who bathes
in that river also attains perfection, and therefore all persons who desire
perfection go bathe there.
33.
My dear Vidura, the great sage Kapila, the Personality of Godhead, left His
father's hermitage with the permission of His mother and went towards the
northeast.
34.
While He was passing in the northern direction, all the celestial denizens
known as Caranas and Gandharvas, as well as the munis and the damsels of the
heavenly planets, prayed and offered Him all respects. The ocean offered Him
oblations and a place of residence.
35.
Even now Kapila Muni is staying there in trance for the deliverance of the
conditioned souls in the three worlds, and all the acaryas, or great teachers,
of the system of Sankhya philosophy are worshiping Him.
36.
My dear son, since you have inquired from me, I have answered. O sinless one,
the descriptions of Kapiladeva and His mother and their activities are the
purest of all pure discourses.
37.
The description of the dealings of Kapiladeva and His mother is very
confidential, and anyone who hears or reads this narration becomes a devotee of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is carried by Garuda, and he thereafter
enters into the abode of the Supreme Lord to engage in the transcendental
loving service of the Lord.
CANTO FOUR
Chapter One Genealogical Table of the Daughters of Manu
1. Sri Maitreya said:
Svayambhuva Manu begot three daughters in his wife Satarupa, and their names
were Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti.
2.
Akuti had two brothers, but in spite of her brothers, King Svayambhuva Manu
handed her over to Prajapati Ruci on the condition that the son born of her be
returned to Manu as his son. This he did in consultation with his wife,
Satarupa.
3.
Ruci, who was very powerful in his brahminical qualifications and was appointed
one of the progenitors of the living entities, begot one son and one daughter
by his wife, Akuti.
4.
Of the two children born of Akuti, the male child was directly an incarnation
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His name was Yajna, which is another
name of Lord Visnu. The female child was a partial incarnation of Laksmi, the
goddess of fortune, the eternal consort of Lord Visnu.
5.
Svayambhuva Manu very gladly brought home the beautiful boy named Yajna, and
Ruci, his son-in-law, kept with him the daughter, Daksina.
6.
The Lord of the ritualistic performance of yajna later married Daksina, who was
anxious to have the Personality of Godhead as her husband, and in this wife the
Lord was also very much pleased to beget twelve children.
7.
The twelve boys born of Yajna and Daksina were named Tosa, Pratosa, Santosa,
Bhadra, Santi, Idaspati, Idhma, Kavi, Vibhu, Svahna, Sudeva and Rocana.
8.
During the time of Svayambhuva Manu, these sons all became the demigods
collectively named the Tusitas. Marici became the head of the seven rsis, and
Yajna became the king of the demigods, Indra.
9.
Svayambhuva Manu's two sons, Priyavrata and Uttanapada, became very powerful
kings, and their sons and grandsons spread all over the three worlds during
that period.
10.
My dear son, Svayambhuva Manu handed over his very dear daughter Devahuti to
Kardama Muni. I have already spoken to you about them, and you have heard about
them almost in full.
11.
Svayambhuva Manu handed over his daughter Prasuti to the son of Brahma named
Daksa, who was also one of the progenitors of the living entities. The
descendants of Daksa are spread throughout the three worlds.
12.
You have already been informed about the nine daughters of Kardama Muni, who
were handed over to nine different sages. I shall now describe the descendants
of those nine daughters. Please hear from me.
13.
Kardama Muni's daughter Kala, who was married to Marici, gave birth to two
children, whose names were Kasyapa and Purnima. Their descendants are spread
all over the world.
14.
My dear Vidura, of the two sons, Kasyapa and Purnima, Purnima begot three
children, namely Viraja, Visvaga and Devakulya. Of these three, Devakulya was
the water which washed the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead and which
later on transformed into the Ganges of the heavenly planets.
15.
Anasuya, the wife of Atri Muni, gave birth to three very famous sons--Soma,
Dattatreya and Durvasa--who were partial representations of Lord Visnu, Lord
Siva and Lord Brahma. Soma was a partial representation of Lord Brahma,
Dattatreya was a partial representation of Lord Visnu, and Durvasa was a
partial representation of Lord Siva.
16.
After hearing this, Vidura inquired from Maitreya: My dear master, how is it
that the three deities Brahma, Visnu and Siva, who are the creator, maintainer
and destroyer of the whole creation, became the offspring of the wife of Atri
Muni?
17.
Maitreya said: When Lord Brahma ordered Atri Muni to create generations after
marrying Anasuya, Atri Muni and his wife went to perform severe austerities in
the valley of the mountain known as Rksa.
18.
In that mountain valley flows a river named Nirvindhya. On the bank of the
river are many asoka trees and other plants full of palasa flowers, and there
is always the sweet sound of water flowing from a waterfall. The husband and
wife reached that beautiful place.
19.
There the great sage concentrated his mind by the yogic breathing exercises,
and thereby controlling all attachment, he remained standing on one leg only,
eating nothing but air, and stood there on one leg for one hundred years.
20.
He was thinking: May the Lord of the universe, of whom I have taken shelter,
kindly he pleased to offer me a son exactly like Him.
21.
While Atri Muni was engaged in these severe austerities, a blazing fire came
out of his head by virtue of his breathing exercise, and that fire was seen by
the three principal deities of the three worlds.
22.
At that time, the three deities approached the hermitage of Atri Muni,
accompanied by the denizens of the heavenly planets, such as the celestial
beauties, the Gandharvas, the Siddhas, the Vidyadharas and the Nagas. Thus they
entered the asrama of the great sage, who had become famous by his austerities.
23.
The sage was standing on one leg, but as soon as he saw that the three deities
had appeared before him, he was so pleased to see them all together that
despite great difficulty he approached them on one leg.
24.
Thereafter he began to offer prayers to the three deities, who were seated on
different carriers--a bull, a swan and Garuda--and who held in their hands a
drum, kusa grass and a discus. The sage offered them his respects by falling
down like a stick.
25.
Atri Muni was greatly pleased to see that the three devas were gracious towards
him. His eyes were dazzled by the effulgence of their bodies, and therefore he
closed his eyes for the time being.
26-27.
But since his heart was already attracted by the deities, somehow or other he gathered
his senses, and with folded hands and sweet words he began to offer prayers to
the predominating deities of the universe. The great sage Atri said: O Lord
Brahma, Lord Visnu and Lord Siva, you have divided yourself into three bodies
by accepting the three modes of material nature, as you do in every millennium
for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. I
offer my respectful obeisances unto all of you and beg to inquire whom of you
three I have called by my prayer.
28.
I called for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, desiring a son like Him, and I
thought of Him only. But although He is far beyond the mental speculation of
man, all three of you have come here. Kindly let me know how you have come, for
I am greatly bewildered about this.
29.
The great sage Maitreya continued: Upon hearing Atri Muni speak in that way,
the three great deities smiled, and they replied in the following sweet words.
30.
The three deities told Atri Muni: Dear brahmana, you are perfect in your determination,
and therefore as you have decided, so it will happen; it will not happen
otherwise. We are all the same person upon whom you were meditating, and
therefore we have all come to you.
31.
You will have sons who will represent a partial manifestation of our potency,
and because we desire all good fortune for you, those sons will glorify your
reputation throughout the world.
32.
Thus, while the couple looked on, the three deities Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara
disappeared from that place after bestowing upon Atri Muni the benediction.
33.
Thereafter, from the partial representation of Brahma, the moon-god was born of
them; from the partial representation of Visnu, the great mystic Dattatreya was
born; and from the partial representation of Sankara [Lord Siva], Durvasa was
born. Now you may hear from me of the many sons of Angira.
34.
Angira's wife, Sraddha, gave birth to four daughters, named Sinivali, Kuhu,
Raka and Anumati.
35.
Besides these four daughters, she also had another two sons. One of them was
known as Utathya, and the other was the learned scholar Brhaspati.
36.
Pulastya begot in his wife, Havirbhu, one son of the name Agastya, who in his
next birth became Dahragni. Besides him, Pulastya begot another very great and
saintly son, whose name was Visrava.
37.
Visrava had two wives. The first wife was Idavida, from whom Kuvera, the master
of all Yaksas, was born, and the next wife was named Kesini, from whom three
sons were born--Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vihhisana.
38.
Gati, the wife of the sage Pulaha, gave birth to three sons, named Karmarestha,
Variyan and Sahisnu, and all of them were great sages.
39.
Kratu's wife, Kriya, gave birth to sixty thousand great sages, named the
Valakhilyas. All these sages were greatly advanced in spiritual knowledge, and
their bodies were illuminated by such knowledge.
40.
The great sage Vasistha begot in his wife, Urja, sometimes called Arundhati,
seven spotlessly great sages, headed by the sage named Citraketu.
41.
The names of these seven sages are as follows: Citraketu, Suroci, Viraja,
Mitra, Ulbana, Vasubhrdyana and Dyuman. Some other very competent sons were
born from Vasistha's other wife.
42.
Citti, wife of the sage Atharva, gave birth to a son named Asvasira by
accepting a great vow called Dadhyanca. Now you may hear from me about the
descendants of the sage Bhrgu.
43.
The sage Bhrgu was highly fortunate. In his wife, known as Khyati, he begot two
sons, named Dhata and Vidhata, and one daughter, named Sri, who was very much
devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
44.
The sage Meru had two daughters, named Ayati and Niyati, whom he gave in
charity to Dhata and Vidhata. Ayati and Niyati gave birth to two sons, Mrkanda
and Prana.
45.
From Mrkanda, Markandeya Muni was born, and from Prana the sage Vedaira, whose
son was Usana [Sukracarya], also known as Kavi. Thus Kavi also belonged to the
descendants of the Bhrgu dynasty.
46-47.
My dear Vidura, the population of the universe was thus increased by the
descendants of these sages and the daughters of Kardama. Anyone who hears the
descriptions of this dynasty with faith will be relieved from all sinful
reactions. Another of Manu's daughters, known as Prasuti, married the son of
Brahma named Daksa.
48.
Daksa begot sixteen very beautiful daughters with lotuslike eyes in his wife
Prasuti. Of these sixteen daughters, thirteen were given in marriage to Dharma,
and one daughter was given to Agni.
49-52.
One of the remaining two daughters was given in charity to the Pitrloka, where
she resides very amicably, and the other was given to Lord Siva, who is the
deliverer of sinful persons from material entanglement. The names of the
thirteen daughters of Daksa who were given to Dharma are Sraddha, Maitri, Daya,
Santi, Tusti, Pusti, Kriya, Unnati, Buddhi, Medha, Titiksa, Hri and Murti.
These thirteen daughters produced the following sons: Sraddha gave birth to
Subha, Maitri produced Prasada, Daya gave birth to Abhaya, Santi gave birth to
Sukha, Tusti gave birth to Muda, Pusti gave birth to Smaya, Kriya gave birth to
Yoga, Unnati gave birth to Barpa, Buddhi gave birth to Artha, Medha gave birth
to Smrti, Titiksa gave birth to Ksema, and Hri gave birth to Praraya. Murti, a
reservoir of all respectable qualities, gave birth to Sri Nara-Narayana, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.
53.
On the occasion of the appearance of Nara-Narayana, the entire world was full
of joy. Everyone's mind became tranquil, and thus in all directions the air,
the rivers and the mountains became pleasant.
54-55.
In the heavenly planets, hands began to play, and they showered flowers from
the sky. The pacified sages chanted Vedic prayers, the denizens of heaven known
as the Gandharvas and Kinnaras sang, the beautiful damsels of the heavenly
planets danced, and in this way, at the time of the appearance of Nara-Narayana,
all signs of good fortune were visible. Just at that time, great demigods like
Brahma also offered their respectful prayers.
56.
The demigods said: Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the
transcendental Personality of Godhead, who created as His external energy this
cosmic manifestation, which is situated in Him as the air and clouds are
situated in space, and who has now appeared in the form of Nara-Narayana Rsi in
the house of Dharma.
57.
Let that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is understood by truly authorized
Vedic literature and who has created peace and prosperity to destroy all
calamities of the created world, be kind enough to bestow His glance upon the
demigods. His merciful glance can supersede the beauty of the spotless lotus
flower which is the home of the goddess of fortune.
58.
[Maitreya said:] O Vidura, thus the demigods worshiped with prayers the Supreme
Personality of Godhead appearing as the sage Nara-Narayana. The Lord glanced
upon them with mercy and then departed for Gandhamadana Hill.
59.
That Nara-Narayana Rsi, who is a partial expansion of Krsna, has now appeared
in the dynasties of Yadu and Kuru, in the forms of Krsna and Arjuna
respectively, to mitigate the burden of the world.
60.
The predominating deity of fire begot in his wife, Svaha, three children, named
Pavaka, Pavamana and Suci, who exist by eating the oblations offered to the
fire of sacrifice.
61.
From those three sons another forty-five descendants were generated, who are
also fire-gods. The total number of fire-gods is therefore forty-nine,
including the fathers and the grandfather.
62.
These forty-nine fire-gods are the beneficiaries of the oblations offered in
the Vedic sacrificial fire by impersonalist brahmanas.
63.
The Agnisvattas, the Barhisadas, the Saumyas and the Ajyapas are the Pitas.
They are either sagnika or niragnika. The wife of all these Pitas is Svadha,
who is the daughter of King Daksa.
64.
Svadha, who was offered to the Pitas, begot two daughters named Vayuna and
Dharini, both of whom were impersonalists and were expert in transcendental and
Vedic knowledge.
65.
The sixteenth daughter, whose name was Sati, was the wife of Lord Siva. She
could not produce a child, although she always faithfully engaged in the
service of her husband.
66.
The reason is that Sati's father, Daksa, used to rebuke Lord Siva in spite of
Siva's faultlessness. Consequently, before attaining a mature age, Sati gave up
her body by dint of yogic mystic power.
Chapter Two Daksa Curses Lord Siva
1.
Vidura inquired: Why was Daksa, who was so affectionate towards his daughter,
envious of Lord Siva, who is the best among the gentle? Why did he neglect his
daughter Sati?
2.
Lord Siva, the spiritual master of the entire world, is free from enmity, is a
peaceful personality, and is always satisfied in himself. He is the greatest
among the demigods. How is it possible that Daksa could be inimical towards
such an auspicious personality?
3.
My dear Maitreya, to part with one's life is very difficult. Would you kindly
explain to me how such a son-in-law and father-in-law could quarrel so bitterly
that the great goddess Sati could give up her life?
4.
The sage Maitreya said: In a former time, the leaders of the universal creation
performed a great sacrifice in which all the great sages, philosophers,
demigods and fire-gods assembled with their followers.
5.
When Daksa, the leader of the Prajapatis, entered that assembly, his personal
bodily luster as bright as the effulgence of the sun, the entire assembly was
illuminated, and all the assembled personalities became insignificant in his
presence.
6.
Influenced by his personal bodily luster, all the fire-gods and other
participants in that great assembly, with the exceptions of Lord Brahma and
Lord Siva, gave up their own sitting places and stood in respect for Daksa.
7.
Daksa was adequately welcomed by the president of the great assembly, Lord
Brahma. After offering Lord Brahma respect, Daksa, by the order of Brahma,
properly took his seat.
8.
Before taking his seat, however, Daksa was very much offended to see Lord Siva
sitting and not showing him any respect. At that time, Daksa became greatly
angry, and, his eyes glowing, he began to speak very strongly against Lord
Siva.
9.
All sages, brahmanas and fire-gods present, please hear me with attention, for
I speak about the manners of gentle persons. I do not speak out of ignorance or
envy.
10.
Siva has spoiled the name and fame of the governors of the universe and has
polluted the path of gentle manners. Because he is shameless, he does not know
how to act.
11.
He has already accepted himself as my subordinate by marrying my daughter in
the presence of fire and brahmanas. He has married my daughter, who is equal to
Gayatri, and has pretended to be just like an honest person.
12.
He has eyes like a monkey's, yet he has married my daughter, whose eyes are
just like those of a deer cub. Nevertheless he did not stand up to receive me,
nor did he think it fit to welcome me with sweet words.
13.
I had no desire to give my daughter to this person, who has broken all rules of
civility. Because of not observing the required rules and regulations, he is
impure, but I was obliged to hand over my daughter to him just as one teaches
the messages of the Vedas to a sudra.
14-15.
He lives in filthy places like crematoriums, and his companions are the ghosts
and demons. Naked like a madman, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying, he
smears crematorium ashes all over his body. He does not bathe regularly, and he
ornaments his body with a garland of skulls and bones. Therefore only in name
is he Siva, or auspicious; actually, he is the most mad and inauspicious
creature. Thus he is very dear to crazy beings in the gross mode of ignorance,
and he is their leader.
16.
On the request of Lord Brahma I handed over my chaste daughter to him, although
he is devoid of all cleanliness and his heart is filled with nasty things.
17.
The sage Maitreya continued: Thus Daksa, seeing Lord Siva sitting as if against
him, washed his hands and mouth and cursed him in the following words.
18.
The demigods are eligible to share in the oblations of sacrifice, but Lord
Siva, who is the lowest of all the demigods, should not have a share.
19.
Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, in spite of the requests of all the members
of the sacrificial assembly, Daksa, in great anger, cursed Lord Siva and then
left the assembly and went back to his home.
20.
Upon understanding that Lord Siva had been cursed, Nandisvara, one of Lord
Siva's principal associates, became greatly angry. His eyes became red, and he
prepared to curse Daksa and all the brahmanas present there who had tolerated
Daksa's cursing Siva in harsh words.
21.
Anyone who has accepted Daksa as the most important personality and neglected
Lord Siva because of envy is less intelligent and, because of visualizing in
duality, will be bereft of transcendental knowledge.
22.
Pretentiously religious householder life, in which one is attracted to material
happiness and thus also attracted to the superficial explanation of the Vedas,
robs one of all intelligence and attaches one to fruitive activities as all in
all.
23.
Daksa has accepted the body as all in all. Therefore, since he has forgotten
the visnu-pada, or visnu-gati, and is attached to sex life only, within a short
time he will have the face of a goat.
24.
Those who have become as dull as matter by cultivating materialistic education
and intelligence are nesciently involved in fruitive activities. Such men have
purposely insulted Lord Siva. May they continue in the cycle of repeated birth
and death.
25.
May those who are envious of Lord Siva, being attracted by the flowery language
of the enchanting Vedic promises, and who have thus become dull, always remain
attached to fruitive activities.
26.
These brahmanas take to education, austerity and vows only for the purpose of
maintaining the body. They shall be devoid of discrimination between what to
eat and what not to eat. They will acquire money, begging from door to door,
simply for the satisfaction of the body.
27.
When all the hereditary brahmanas were thus cursed by Nandisvara, the sage
Bhrgu, as a reaction, condemned the followers of Lord Siva with this very
strong brahminical curse.
28.
One who takes a vow to satisfy Lord Siva or who follows such principles will
certainly become an atheist and be diverted from transcendental scriptural
injunctions.
29.
Those who vow to worship Lord Siva are so foolish that they imitate him by
keeping long hair on their heads. When initiated into worship of Lord Siva,
they prefer to live on wine, flesh and other such things.
30.
Bhrgu Muni continued: Since you blaspheme the Vedas and the brahmanas, who are
followers of the Vedic principles, it is understood that you have already taken
shelter of the doctrine of atheism.
31.
The Vedas give the eternal regulative principles for auspicious advancement in
human civilization which have been rigidly followed in the past. The strong
evidence of this principle is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is called
Janardana, the well-wisher of all living entities.
32.
By blaspheming the principles of the Vedas, which are the pure and supreme path
of the saintly persons, certainly you followers of Bhutapati, Lord Siva, will
descend to the standard of atheism without a doubt.
33.
The sage Maitreya said: When such cursing and countercursing was going on
between Lord Siva's followers and the parties of Daksa and Bhrgu, Lord Siva
became very morose. Not saying anything, he left the arena of the sacrifice,
followed by his disciples.
34.
The sage Maitreya continued: O Vidura, all the progenitors of the universal
population thus executed a sacrifice for thousands of years, for sacrifice is
the best way to worship the Supreme Lord, Hari, the Personality of Godhead.
35.
My dear Vidura, carrier of bows and arrows, all the demigods who were
performing the sacrifice took their bath at the confluence of the Ganges and
the Yamuna after completing the yajna performance. Such a bath is called
avabhrtha-snana. After thus becoming purified in heart, they departed for their
respective abodes.
Chapter Three Talks Between Lord Siva and Sati
1.
Maitreya continued: In this manner the tension between the father-in-law and
son-in-law, Daksa and Lord Siva, continued for a considerably long period.
2.
When Lord Brahma appointed Daksa the chief of all the Prajapatis, the
progenitors of population, Daksa became very much puffed up.
3.
Daksa began a sacrifice named vajapeya, and he became excessively confident of
his support by Lord Brahma, He then performed another great sacrifice, named
brhaspati-sava.
4.
While the sacrifice was being performed, many brahmarsis, great sages,
ancestral demigods and other demigods, their wives all very nicely decorated
with ornaments, attended from different parts of the universe.
5-7.
The chaste lady Sati, the daughter of Daksa, heard the heavenly denizens flying
in the sky conversing about the great sacrifice being performed by her father.
When she saw that from all directions the beautiful wives of the heavenly
denizens, their eyes very beautifully glittering, were near her residence and
were going to the sacrifice dressed in fine clothing and ornamented with
earrings and necklaces with lockets, she approached her husband, the master of
the bhutas, in great anxiety, and spoke as follows.
8.
Sati said: My dear Lord Siva, your father-in-law is now executing great
sacrifices, and all the demigods, having been invited by him, are going there.
If you desire, we may also go.
9.
I think that all my sisters must have gone to this great sacrificial ceremony
with their husbands just to see their relatives. I also desire to decorate
myself with the ornaments given to me by my father and go there with you to
participate in that assemble.
10.
My sisters, my mother's sisters and their husbands, and other affectionate
relatives must be assembled there, so if I go I shall be able to see them, and
I shall be able to see the flapping flags and the performance of the sacrifice
by the great sages. For these reasons, my dear husband, I am very much anxious
to go.
11.
This manifested cosmos is a wonderful creation of the interaction of the three
material modes, or the external energy of the Supreme Lord. This truth is fully
known to you. Yet I am but a poor woman, and, as you know, I am not conversant
with the truth. Therefore I wish to see my birthplace once more.
12.
O never-born, O blue-throated one, not only my relatives but also other women,
dressed in nice clothes and decorated with ornaments, are going there with
their husbands and friends. Just see how their flocks of white airplanes have
made the entire sky very beautiful.
13.
O best of the demigods, how can the body of a daughter remain undisturbed when
she hears that some festive event is taking place in her father's house? Even
though you may be considering that I have not been invited, there is no harm if
one goes to the house of one's friend, husband, spiritual master or father
without invitation.
14.
O immortal Siva, please be kind towards me and fulfill my desire. You have
accepted me as half of your body; therefore please show kindness towards me and
accept my request.
15.
The great sage Maitreya said: Lord Siva, the deliverer of the hill Kailasa,
having thus been addressed by his dear wife, replied smilingly, although at the
same time he remembered the malicious, heart-piercing speeches delivered by
Daksa before the guardians of the universal affairs.
16.
The great lord replied: My dear beautiful wife, you have said that one may go
to a friend's house without being invited, and this is true, provided such a
friend does not find fault with the guest because of bodily identification and
thereby become angry towards him.
17.
Although the six qualities education, austerity, wealth, beauty, youth and
heritage are for the highly elevated, one who is proud of possessing them
becomes blind, and thus he loses his good sense and cannot appreciate the
glories of great personalities.
18.
One should not go to anyone's house, even on the consideration of his being a
relative or a friend, when the man is disturbed in his mind and looks upon the
guest with raised eyebrows and angry eyes.
19.
Lord Siva continued: If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as
aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief
continues to rend one's heart day and night.
20.
My dear white-complexioned wife, it is clear that of the many daughters of
Daksa you are the pet, yet you will not be honored at his house because of your
being my wife. Rather, you will be sorry that you are connected with me.
21.
One who is conducted by false ego and thus always distressed, both mentally and
sensually, cannot tolerate the opulence of self-realized persons. Being unable
to rise to the standard of self-realization, he envies such persons as much as
demons envy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
22.
My dear young wife, certainly friends and relatives offer mutual greetings by
standing up, welcoming one another and offering obeisances. But those who are
elevated to the transcendental platform, being intelligent, offer such respects
to the Supersoul, who is sitting within the body, not to the person who
identifies with the body.
23.
I am always engaged in offering obeisances to Lord Vasudeva in pure Krna
consciousness. Krsna consciousness is always pure consciousness, in which the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, known as Vasudeva, is revealed without any
covering.
24.
Therefore you should not see your father, although he is the giver of your
body, because he and his followers are envious of me. Because of his envy, O
most worshipful one, he has insulted me with cruel words although I am
innocent.
25.
If in spite of this instruction you decide to go, neglecting my words, the
future will not be good for you. You are most respectable, and when you are
insulted by your relative, this insult will immediately be equal to death.
Chapter Four Sati Quits Her Body
1.
The sage Maitreya said: Lord Siva was silent after speaking to Sati, seeing her
between decisions. Sati was very much anxious to see her relatives at her
father's house, but at the same time she was afraid of Lord Siva's warning. Her
mind unsettled, she moved in and out of the room as a swing moves this way and
that.
2.
Sati felt very sorry at being forbidden to go see her relatives at her father's
house, and due to affection for them, tears fell from her eyes. Shaking and
very much afflicted, she looked at her uncommon husband, Lord Siva, as if she
were going to blast him with her vision.
3.
Thereafter Sati left her husband, Lord Siva, who had given her half his body
due to affection. Breathing very heavily because of anger and bereavement, she
went to the house of her father. This less intelligent act was due to her being
a weak woman.
4.
When they saw Sati leaving alone very rapidly, thousands of Lord Siva's
disciples, headed by Maniman and Mada, quickly followed her with his bull Nandi
in front and accompanied by the Yaksas.
5.
The disciples of Lord Siva arranged for Sati to be seated on the back of a bull
and gave her the bird which was her pet. They bore a lotus flower, a mirror and
all such paraphernalia for her enjoyment and covered her with a great canopy.
Followed by a singing party with drums, conchshells and bugles, the entire
procession was as pompous as a royal parade.
6.
She then reached her father's house, where the sacrifice was being performed,
and entered the arena where everyone was chanting the Vedic hymns. The great
sages, brahmanas and demigods were all assembled there, and there were many
sacrificial animals, as well as pots made of clay, stone, gold, grass and skin,
which were all requisite for the sacrifice.
7.
When Sati, with her followers, reached the arena, because all the people
assembled were afraid of Daksa, none of them received her well. No one welcomed
her but her mother and sisters, who, with tears in their eyes and with glad
faces, welcomed her and talked with her very pleasingly.
8.
Although she was received by her sisters and mother, she did not reply to their
words of reception, and although she was offered a seat and presents, she did
not accept anything, for her father neither talked with her nor welcomed her by
asking about her welfare.
9.
Present in the arena of sacrifice, Sati saw that there were no oblations for
her husband, Lord Siva. Next she realized that not only had her father failed
to invite Lord Siva, but when he saw Lord Siva's exalted wife, Daksa did not
receive her either. Thus she became greatly angry, so much so that she looked
at her father as if she were going to burn him with her eyes.
10.
The followers of Lord Siva, the ghosts, were ready to injure or kill Daksa, but
Sati stopped them by her order. She was very angry and sorrowful, and in that
mood she began to condemn the process of sacrificial fruitive activities and
persons who are very proud of such unnecessary and troublesome sacrifices. She
especially condemned her father, speaking against him in the presence of all.
11.
The blessed goddess said: Lord Siva is the most beloved of all living entities.
He has no rival. No one is very dear to him, and no one is his enemy. No one
but you could be envious of such a universal being, who is free from all
enmity.
12.
Twice-born Daksa, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of
others. Lord Siva, however, not only finds no faults with others' qualities,
but if someone has a little good quality, he magnifies it greatly.
Unfortunately, you have found fault with such a great soul.
13.
It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body
as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of
materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down. They
are diminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities.
14.
Sati continued: My dear father, you are committing the greatest offense by
envying Lord Siva, whose very name, consisting of two syllables, si and va,
purifies one of all sinful activities. His order is never neglected. Lord Siva
is always pure, and no one but you envies him.
15.
You are envious of Lord Siva, who is the friend of all living entities within
the three worlds. For the common man he fulfills all desires, and because of
their engagement in thinking of his lotus feet, he also blesses higher
personalities who are seeking after brahmananda [transcendental bliss].
16.
Do you think that greater, more respectable personalities than you, such as
Lord Brahma, do not know this inauspicious person who goes under the name Lord
Siva? He associates with the demons in the crematorium, his locks of hair are
scattered all over his body, he is garlanded with human skulls and smeared with
ashes from the crematorium, but in spite of all these inauspicious qualities,
great personalities like Brahma honor him by accepting the flowers offered to
his lotus feet and placing them with great respect on their heads.
17.
Sati continued: If one hears an irresponsible person blaspheme the master and
controller of religion, one should block his ears and go away if unable to
punish him. But if one is able to kill, then one should by force cut out the
blasphemer's tongue and kill the offender, and after that one should give up
his own life.
18.
Therefore I shall no longer bear this unworthy body, which has been received
from you, who have blasphemed Lord Siva. If someone has taken food which is
poisonous, the best treatment is to vomit.
19.
It is better to execute one's own occupational duty than to criticize others'.
Elevated transcendentalists may sometimes forgo the rules and regulations of
the Vedas, since they do not need to follow them, just as the demigods travel
in space whereas ordinary men travel on the surface of the earth.
20.
In the Vedas there are directions for two kinds of activities--activities for
those who are attached to material enjoyment and activities for those who are
materially detached. In consideration of these two kinds of activities, there
are two kinds of people, who have different symptoms. If one wants to see two
kinds of activities in one person, that is contradictory. But both kinds of
activities may be neglected by a person who is transcendentally situated.
21.
My dear father, the opulence we possess is impossible for either you or your
flatterers to imagine, for persons who engage in fruitive activities by
performing great sacrifices are concerned with satisfying their bodily
necessities by eating foodstuff offered as a sacrifice. We can exhibit our
opulences simply by desiring to do so. This can be achieved only by great
personalities who are renounced, self-realized souls.
22.
You are an offender at the lotus feet of Lord Siva, and unfortunately I have a
body produced from yours. I am very much ashamed of our bodily relationship,
and I condemn myself because my body is contaminated by a relationship with a
person who is an offender at the lotus feet of the greatest personality.
23.
Because of our family relationship, when Lord Siva addresses me as Daksayani I
at once become morose, and my jolliness and my smile at once disappear. I feel
very much sorry that my body, which is just like a bag, has been produced by
you. I shall therefore give it up.
24.
Maitreya the sage told Vidura: O annihilator of enemies, while thus speaking to
her father in the arena of sacrifice, Sati sat down on the ground and faced
north. Dressed in saffron garments, she sanctified herself with water and
closed her eyes to absorb herself in the process of mystic yoga.
25.
First of all she sat in the required sitting posture, and then she carried the
life air upwards and placed it in the position of equilibrium near the navel.
Then she raised her life air, mixed with intelligence, to the heart and then
gradually towards the pulmonary passage and from there to between her eyebrows.
26.
Thus, in order to give up her body, which had been so respectfully and
affectionately seated on the lap of Lord Siva, who is worshiped by great sages
and saints, Sati, due to anger towards her father, began to meditate on the
fiery air within the body.
27.
Sati concentrated all her meditation on the holy lotus feet of her husband,
Lord Siva, who is the supreme spiritual master of all the world. Thus she
became completely cleansed of all taints of sin and quit her body in a blazing
fire by meditation on the fiery elements.
28.
When Sati annihilated her body in anger, there was a tumultuous roar all over
the universe. Why had Sati, the wife of the most respectable demigod, Lord
Siva, quit her body in such a manner?
29.
It was astonishing that Daksa, who was Prajapati, the maintainer of all living
entities, was so disrespectful to his own daughter, Sati, who was not only
chaste but was also a great soul, that she gave up her body because of his
neglect.
30.
Daksa, who is so hardhearted that he is unworthy to be a brahmana, will gain
extensive ill fame because of his offenses to his daughter, because of not
having prevented her death, and because of his great envy of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.
31.
While people were talking among themselves about the wonderful voluntary death
of Sati, the attendants who had come with her readied themselves to kill Daksa
with their weapons.
32.
They came forward forcibly, but Bhrgu Muni saw the danger and, offering
oblations into the southern side of the sacrificial fire, immediately uttered
mantric hymns from the Yajur Veda by which the destroyers of yajnic
performances could be killed immediately.
33.
When Bhrgu Muni offered oblations in the fire, immediately many thousands of
demigods named Rbhus became manifested. All of them were powerful, having
achieved strength from Soma, the moon.
34.
When the Rbhu demigods attacked the ghosts and Guhyakas with half-burned fuel
from the yajna fire, all these attendants of Sati fled in different directions
and disappeared. This was possible simply because of brahma-tejas, brahminical
power.
Chapter Five Frustration of the Sacrifice of Daksa
1.
Maitreya said: When Lord Siva heard from Narada that Sati, his wife, was now
dead because of Prajapati Daksa's insult to her and that his soldiers had been
driven away by the Rbhu demigods, he became greatly angry.
2.
Thus Lord Siva, being extremely angry, pressed his lips with his teeth and
immediately snatched from his head a strand of hair which blazed like
electricity or fire. He stood up at once, laughing like a madman, and dashed
the hair to the ground.
3.
A fearful black demon as high as the sky and as bright as three suns combined
was thereby created, his teeth very fearful and the hairs on his head like
burning fire. He had thousands of arms, equipped with various weapons, and he
was garlanded with the heads of men.
4.
When that gigantic demon asked with folded hands, "What shall I do, my
lord?" Lord Siva, who is known as Bhutanatha, directly ordered,
"Because you are born from my body, you are the chief of all my
associates. Therefore, kill Daksa and his soldiers at the sacrifice."
5.
Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, that black person was the personified anger
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he was prepared to execute the
orders of Lord Siva. Thus, considering himself capable of coping with any power
offered against him, he circumambulated Lord Siva.
6.
Many other soldiers of Lord Siva followed the fierce personality in a
tumultuous uproar. He carried a great trident, fearful enough to kill even
death, and on his legs he wore bangles which seemed to roar.
7.
At that time, all the persons assembled in the sacrificial arena--the priests,
the chief of the sacrificial performance, and the brahmanas and their
wives--wondered where the darkness was coming from. Later they could understand
that it was a dust storm, and all of them were full of anxiety.
8.
Conjecturing on the origin of the storm, they said: There is no wind blowing,
and no cows are passing, nor is it possible that this dust storm could be
raised by plunderers, for there is still the strong King Barhi, who would
punish them. Where is this dust storm blowing from? Is the dissolution of the
planet now to occur?
9.
Prasuti, the wife of Daksa, along with the other women assembled, became very
anxious and said: This danger has been created by Daksa because of the death of
Sati, who, even though completely innocent, quit her body as her sisters looked
on.
10.
At the time of dissolution, Lord Siva's hair is scattered, and he pierces the
rulers of the different directions with his trident. He laughs and dances
proudly, scattering their hands like flags, as thunder scatters the clouds all
over the world.
11.
The gigantic black man bared his fearful teeth. By the movements of his brows
he scattered the luminmies all over the sky, and he covered them with his
strong, piercing effulgence. Because of the misbehavior of Daksa, even Lord
Brahma, Daksa's father, could not have been saved from the great exhibition of
anger.
12.
While all the people talked amongst themselves, Daksa saw dangerous omens from
all sides, from the earth and from the sky.
13.
My dear Vidura, all the followers of Lord Siva surrounded the arena of
sacrifice. They were of short stature and were equipped with various kinds of
weapons; their bodies appeared to be like those of sharks, blackish and
yellowish. They ran all around the sacrificial arena and thus began to create
disturbances.
14.
Some of the soldiers pulled down the pillars which were supporting the pandal
of sacrifice, some of them entered the female quarters, some began destroying
the sacrificial arena, and some entered the kitchen and the residential
quarters.
15.
They broke all the pots made for use in the sacrifice, and some of them began
to extinguish the sacrificial fire. Some tore down the boundary line of the
sacrificial arena, and some passed urine on the arena.
16.
Some blocked the way of the fleeing sages, some threatened the women assembled
there, and some arrested the demigods who were fleeing the pandal.
17.
Maniman, one of the followers of Lord Siva, arrested Bhrgu Muni, and
Virabhadra, the black demon, arrested Prajapati Daksa. Another follower, who
was named Candesa, arrested Pusa. Nandisvara arrested the demigod Bhaga.
18.
There was a continuous shower of stones, and all the priests and other members
assembled at the sacrifice were put into immense misery. For fear of their
lives, they dispersed in different directions.
19.
Virabhadra tore off the mustache of Bhrgu, who was offering the sacrificial
oblations with his hands in the fire.
20.
Virabhadra immediately caught Bhaga, who had been moving his eyebrows during
Bhrgu's cursing of Lord Siva, and out of great anger thrust him to the ground
and forcibly put out his eyes.
21.
Just as Baladeva knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the King of Kalinga,
during the gambling match at the marriage ceremony of Aniruddha, Virabhadra
knocked out the teeth of both Daksa, who had shown them while cursing Lord
Siva, and Pusa, who by smiling sympathetically had also shown his teeth.
22.
Then Virabhadra, the giantlike personality, sat on the chest of Daksa and tried
to separate his head from his body with sharp weapons, but was unsuccessful.
23.
He tried to cut the head of Daksa with hymns as well as weapons, but still it
was hard to cut even the surface of the skin of Daksa's head. Thus Virabhadra
was exceedingly bewildered.
24.
Then Virabhadra saw the wooden device in the sacrificial arena by which the
animals were to have been killed. He took the opportunity of this facility to
behead Daksa.
25.
Upon seeing the action of Virabhadra, the party of Lord Siva was pleased and
cried out joyfully, and all the bhutas, ghosts and demons that had come made a
tumultuous sound. On the other hand, the brahmanas in charge of the sacrifice
cried out in grief at the death of Daksa.
26.
Virabhadra then took the head and with great anger threw it into the southern
side of the sacrificial fire, offering it as an oblation. In this way the
followers of Lord Siva devastated all the arrangements for sacrifice. After
setting fire to the whole arena, they departed for their master's abode,
Kailasa.
Chapter Six Brahma Satisfies Lord Siva
1-2.
Maitreya said: All the priests and other members of the sacrificial assembly
and all the demigods, having been defeated by the soldiers of Lord Siva and
injured by weapons like tridents and swords, approached Lord Brahma with great
fear. After offering him obeisances, they began to speak in detail of all the
events which had taken place.
3.
Both Lord Brahma and Visnu had already known that such events would occur in
the sacrificial arena of Daksa, and knowing beforehand, they did not go to the
sacrifice.
4.
When Lord Brahma heard everything from the demigods and the members who had
attended the sacrifice, he replied: You cannot be happy in executing a
sacrifice if you blaspheme a great personality and thereby offend his lotus
feet. You cannot have happiness in that way.
5.
You have excluded Lord Siva from taking part in the sacrificial results, and
therefore you are all offenders at his lotus feet. Still, if you go without
mental reservations and surrender unto him and fall down at his lotus feet, he
will be very pleased.
6.
Lord Brahma also advised them that Lord Siva is so powerful that by his anger
all the planets and their chief controllers can be destroyed immediately. Also,
he said that Lord Siva was especially sorry because he had recently lost his
dear wife and was also very much afflicted by the unkind words of Daksa. Under
the circumstances, Lord Brahma suggested, it would behoove them to go at once
and beg his pardon.
7.
Lord Brahma said that no one, not even himself, Indra, all the members
assembled in the sacrificial arena, or all the sages, could know how powerful
Lord Siva is. Under the circumstances, who would dare to commit an offense at
his lotus feet?
8.
After thus instructing all the demigods, the Pitas and the lords of the living
entities, Lord Brahma took them with him and left for the abode of Lord Siva,
known as the Kailasa Hill.
9.
The abode known as Kailasa is full of different herbs and vegetables, and it is
sanctified by Vedic hymns and mystic yoga practice. Thus the residents of that
abode are demigods by birth and have all mystic powers. Besides them there are
other human beings, who are known as Kinnaras and Gandharvas and are
accompanied by their beautfful wives, who are known as Apsaras, or angels.
10.
Kailasa is full of mountains filled with all kinds of valuable jewels and
minerals and surrounded by all varieties of valuable trees and plants. The top
of the hill is nicely decorated by various types of deer.
11.
There are many waterfalls, and in the mountains there are many beautiful caves
in which the very beautiful wives of the mystics are found.
12.
On Kailasa Hill there is always the rhythmical sound of the peacocks' sweet
vibrations and the bees' humming. Cuckoos are always singing, and other birds
whisper amongst themselves.
13.
There are tall trees with straight branches that appear to call the sweet
birds, and when herds of elephants pass through the hills, it appears that the
Kailasa Hill moves with them. When the waterfalls resound, it appears that
Kailasa Hill does also.
14-15.
The whole of Kailasa Hill is decorated with various kinds of trees, of which
the following names may be mentioned: mandara, parijata, sarala, tamala, tala,
kovidara, asana, arjuna, amra-jati (mango), kadamba, dhuli-kadamba, naga,
punnaga, campaka, patala, asoka, bakula, kunda and kurabaka. The entire hill is
decorated with such trees, which produce flowers with fragrant aromas.
16.
There are other trees also which decorate the hill, such as the golden lotus
flower, the cinnamon tree, malati, kubja, mallika and madhavi.
17.
Kailasa Hill is also decorated with such trees as kata, jackfruit, julara,
banyan trees, plaksas, nyagrodhas and trees producing asafetida. Also there are
trees of betel nuts and bhurja-patra, as well as rajapuga, blackberries and
similar other trees.
18.
There are mango trees, priyala, madhuka and inguda. Besides these there are
other trees, like thin bamboos, kicaka and varieties of other bamboo trees, all
decorating the tract of Kailasa Hill.
19-20.
There are different kinds of lotus flowers, such as kumuda, utpala and
satapatra. The forest appears to be a decorated garden, and the small lakes are
full of various kinds of birds who whisper very sweetly. There are many kinds
of other animals also, like deer, monkeys, boars, lions, rksas, salyakas,
forest cows, forest asses, tigers, small deer, buffalo and many other animals,
who are fully enjoying their lives.
21.
There are varieties of deer, such as karnantra, ekapada, asvasya, vrka and
kasturi, the deer which bears musk. Besides the deer there are many banana
trees which decorate the small hillside lakes very nicely.
22.
There is a small lake named Alakananda in which Sati used to take her bath, and
that lake is especially auspicious. All the demigods, after seeing the specific
beauty of Kailasa Hill, were struck with wonder at the great opulence to be
found there.
23.
Thus the demigods saw the wonderfully beautiful region known as Alaka in the
forest known as Saugandhika, which means "full of fragrance." The
forest is known as Saugandhika because of its abundance of lotus flowers.
24.
They also saw the two rivers named Nanda and Alakananda. These two rivers are
sanctified by the dust of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Govinda.
25.
My dear Ksatta, Vidura, the celestial damsels come down to those rivers in
their airplanes with their husbands, and after sexual enjoyment, they enter the
water and enjoy sprinkling their husbands with water.
26.
After the damsels of the heavenly planets bathe in the water, it becomes
yellowish and fragrant due to the kunkuma from their bodies. Thus the elephants
come to bathe there with their wives, the she-elephants, and they also drink
the water, although they are not thirsty.
27.
The airplanes of the heavenly denizens are bedecked with pearls, gold and many
valuable jewels. The heavenly denizens are compared to clouds in the sky
decorated with occasional flashes of electric lightning.
28.
While traveling, the demigods passed over the forest known as Saugandhika,
which is full of varieties of flowers, fruits and desire trees. While passing
over the fores | 