The Bhagavata Purana 2 Read online

  Chapter 6(15)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘They spoke to the king, who had fallen down next to the dead body, like another dead body. He was overwhelmed with grief and they instructed him with virtuous words. “O Indra among kings! You are sorrowing over him, but what is the relationship between him and you? How is he related to you in this birth, in a past birth and in a future birth? Small grains of sand come together and then drift apart because of the force of the flow. Like that, because of time, embodied beings come together and are separated. From seeds, crops may result, or they may not result. In that way, urged by the lord’s maya, living beings may, or may not, create other living beings. We, you, and all mobile and immobile objects that exist with us at this point in time, were not like this before this birth, and nor will they be like this after death. This is only occurring in the present. The lord of beings creates and destroys beings through other beings. They are created by him and are not independent. Like a child, he creates them, without being interested. O king! The body of an embodied being is created from one body through another body, 573 just as seeds result from other seeds. What is inside the body 574 is eternal. Since ancient times, those who are without discrimination have not been able to distinguish the body from the one who is inside the body. This is exactly the way classes, individuals and other divisions have been created for objects.” King Chitraketu was thus comforted by the words of the brahmanas. His face was wan. He wiped it with his hand and spoke. The king asked, “Who are you? You are full of knowledge and are the greatest of the greatest. You have come here, disguising yourself as avadhutas. Brahmanas who are loved by the illustrious one roam around on earth, as they desire, often in the forms of those who are mad. This is to instruct those like me, who are ordinary and obsessed by the senses. Kumara, 575 Narada, Ribhu, Angiras, Devala, Asita, Apantaratama, Vyasa, Markandeya, Goutama, Vasishtha, the illustrious Rama, 576 Kapila, Badarayana’s son, Durvasa, Yajnavalkya, Jatukarnya, Aruni, Romasha, Chyavana, Datta, Asuri, Patanjali, the rishi Vedashira, the sage Bodhya, Panchashira, Hiranyanabha, Koushalya, Shrutadeva, Ritadhvaja—these and other lords of success roam around for the sake of imparting knowledge. I am as foolish in my intelligence as a village animal. Therefore, you are my lords. I am immersed in blinding darkness. Please ignite me with the lamp of knowledge.” Angiras replied, “O king! I am Angiras. When you desired a son, I am the one who gave you a son. This is Brahma’s son, the illustrious rishi Narada himself. Because of sorrow on account of your son, you are immersed in this darkness here and find it extremely difficult to cross. This is not deserving of you. Remember that you had approached the great being. O lord! The two of us have arrived here to show you our favours. You are devoted to brahmanas and to the illustrious one. You should not lament in this way. When I arrived in your house, I could have granted you supreme knowledge. However, knowing that your mind was on something else, I gave you a son. You have thus experienced the torments of those who have sons. The wife, the home, wealth and many kinds of prosperity and opulence are also like that. So are different kinds of sound. Objects of the senses and the power that comes with the kingdom are fickle, as are the earth, the kingdom, the army, the treasury, servants, advisers and well-wishers. O Shurasena! All of them are afflicted by grief, confusion and fear. These are like the cities of gandharvas in the sky, as illusory as wishes satisfied in dreams. What can be seen is without substance. What cannot be seen is also a creation of the mind. If one thinks about the fruits of action, many kinds of action are generated from the mind. This body of embodied beings consists of gross elements and the organs of sense and action. This is said to be the reason why embodied beings suffer from many kinds of hardships and torment. Therefore, be assured in your mind and consider the progress of the atman. Give up this belief in duality and do not regard this world as permanent. Take refuge in serenity.” Narada said, “Control yourself and accept this mantropanishad 577 from me. If you meditate on this for seven nights, you will see lord Samkarshana. O Indra among kings! In earlier times, obtaining the refuge of his feet, Sharva 578 and the others instantly gave up this notion of duality and obtained his unmatched and unsurpassed glory. Within a short period of time, you will also obtain the supreme.”’

  Chapter 6(16)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘O king! Then the devarshi showed the king’s dead son to the grieving relatives. 579 Narada said, “O jivatman! May you be fortunate. Behold your mother, father, well-wishers and relatives. On your account, they are tormented severely by grief. Since some lifespan is left for you, enter this body of yours. Surrounded by your well-wishers, enjoy the objects of pleasure given to you by your father and be seated on the royal throne.” The jivatman replied, “Because of my karma, while I was roaming around in births as gods, humans and inferior species, in which of these lives were they my father and mother? Everyone is gradually related to everyone else as a friend, relative, enemy, a neutral person, an indifferent person, or as an adversary. Here and there, as objects of trade, gold and other objects move around among men. In that way, a jivatman moves from one species to another. Among men, relationships based on material objects are always seen to be temporary. The sense of ownership only exists as long as that relationship lasts. The jivatman also enters a womb in that way, though it is eternal and without any ahamkara. As long as it exists in some form, the sense of the self also exists for that period of time. The atman is eternal and without decay. It is self-illuminating and subtle, resorting to different abodes. The lord himself creates the universe with the gunas of his own maya. For the atman, nothing is agreeable or disagreeable. There is nothing that is its own, nor anything that belongs to someone else. It is the single witness of the good and bad deeds that doers with different kinds of intelligence do. The atman does not accept the good or the bad, or the fruits of deeds. It is inside and is indifferent. It is the lord that witnesses both cause and effect.” Having said this, the jivatman departed. The relatives were filled with wonder and severing the shackles of affection, freed themselves from the grief. The relatives removed their relative’s dead body and performed the appropriate funeral rites. Afflicted by grief, confusion and fear, they cast aside their affection, which is so difficult to get rid of. Those who had slain the child were ashamed. Because of the killing of the child, they lost their splendour. As determined by the brahmanas, they performed the atonement vows for the killing of a child. O great king! On the banks of the Yamuna, they remembered what the brahmana told them. 580

  ‘Because of the words of the brahmanas, 581 Chitraketu’s knowledge was thus awakened. He emerged from the state of being a householder, which was like a dark pit, like an elephant emerging from a lake full of mud. In the proper way, he bathed in the waters of the Kalindi 582 and performed the sacred water rites. Controlling his breath of life, he silently worshipped Brahma’s two sons. 583 Controlling himself, he sought their refuge as a devotee. Delighted, the illustrious Narada spoke to him about the knowledge. 584 “Oum! I bow down before the illustrious one. We meditate on Vasudeva. We bow down to Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samkarshana. I bow down before the one who is the full measure of knowledge, whose form is full of supreme bliss. He is the one who is delighted with his own atman. He is the tranquil one. He is the one whose vision withdraws from duality. I bow down before the one who realizes the delight of his own atman. He is the one who has kept away the waves. 585 I bow down before the great Hrishikesha, whose form is infinite. He is the single one who cannot be attained through words and the mind. He has no name or form and is consciousness alone. He is the cause behind all causes. May he protect us. He is the one from whom everything is created, preserved and destroyed. Objects made out of earth dissolve into the earth. 586 We bow down before the brahman. Nothing can touch him. The mind, intelligence, the senses and the breath of life cannot know him. Like the sky, he expands inside and outside. I bow down before him. When they are charged by his portions, the body, the senses, the breath of life, the mind and the intelligence move and undertake deeds. At
other times, they are like iron that has not been heated. In different kinds of situations, he is known as the witness. Oum! I bow down before the illustrious and great being, the supreme person who is the lord of great powers. Among a multitude of great devotees, only a few can cup their hands, which are like the buds of lotuses, and worship and serve his lotus feet. I bow down before the supreme lord.” Narada taught this knowledge to the devotee who had sought refuge with him. After this, along with Angiras, the lord went to Svayambhu’s abode.

  ‘As had been instructed by Narada, Chitraketu chanted this for one week, controlling himself and subsisting on water. O king! After chanting this mantra without any deviation, at the end of the seventh night, he obtained lordship over the vidyadharas. Within a few days, because of this knowledge, the progress of his mind was restrained and he approached the feet of Shesha, the god of the gods. He was as white as the fibre of a lotus. He was attired in blue garments. His diadem, armlets, belt and bracelets sparkled. His smiling face had red eyes. He saw the lord, surrounded by a circle of lords among the Siddhas. On seeing him, all his sins were destroyed. Assured, and with the sins inside him destroyed, the sage 587 approached the original being, his body hair standing up in delight. His devotion was enhanced and tears of love flowed down from his eyes. He bowed down. Drops of tears of affection repeatedly moistened the spot where Uttamashloka’s lotus feet rested. Obstructed by his affection, the letters 588 could not emerge. For a long period of time, he was unable to praise him. He then used his mind to control his intelligence. Having got his power of speech back, he spoke. He controlled all his senses and restrained them from wandering around outside. He spoke to the preceptor of the universe, the embodied form of all the Satvata texts.

  ‘Chitraketu said, “O unconquerable one! You have been conquered by virtuous ones who have conquered their atmans and are impartial in their intelligence. And you have conquered those who worship you, desiring nothing for themselves. Because of your great compassion, you bestow yourself. O illustrious one! Indeed, the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe and everything else is a result of your powers. The various creators of the universe are portions of your portions. In vain, they think of themselves as distinct and seek to rival each other. Though you have no beginning, middle and end, you exist in the beginning, middle and end of everything, from a paramanu to the greatest of the great. You are permanent and exist in the beginning, middle and end of all existences. The cosmic egg is covered by seven sheaths, the earth and the others, 589 each sheath ten times the size of the preceding sheath. Crores and crores of such eggs appear like anus on your head. 590 Therefore, you are Ananta. 591 Men who thirst above material objects are animals. They worship divinities other than you. O lord! However, with the destruction of those divinities, those benedictions are also destroyed, just as royal lineages disappear. Your atman is full of knowledge and you are not affected by the gunas. O supreme one! Even if you are worshipped because the intelligence craves for the satisfaction of desires, this becomes like fried seeds. 592 You do not possess the gunas, nor the nets of duality. O unvanquished one! You spoke about the unmatched Bhagavata dharma and vanquished everyone. For the sake of liberation, there are sages who do not desire material objects and find delight in the atman. They worship you through this. Following this, men do not have perverse intelligence and notions like ‘you’, ‘I’, ‘mine’, ‘yours’ and similar things. Those who are perverse in intelligence and impure follow many kinds of adharma that are perishable. If a dharma harms one’s own self and others, what can be achieved through that? What benefit can accrue to one’s own self or to others? If one causes injury to one’s own self and angrily causes harm to others, it is adharma. You spoke about your own vision in Bhagavata dharma and it never fails. Those who worship you, without any sense of differentiation between the large number of mobile and immobile objects, are noble. O illustrious one! On seeing you, it is inevitable that all the sins of men should be destroyed. On hearing your name only once, even someone like a pukkasa 593 is liberated from samsara. O illustrious one! On beholding you, our reservoirs of impurities have been cleansed. How can the words spoken by the divine rishi 594 be rendered false? O Ananta! You know everything that people do in this world. You are the atman of the universe. There is nothing that the supreme preceptor needs to be informed about. That would be like fireflies conveying something to the sun. O illustrious one! I bow down before you. You are the lord behind all creation, preservation and destruction in the universe. You are supremely pure. Bad yogis, who base themselves on duality, find it impossible to comprehend the progress of your atman. All the others breathe when the creator of the universe breathes. They can perceive only when your consciousness perceives. The earth’s globe is like a mustard seed on your head. I bow down before the illustrious one who has one thousand hoods.”’

  Shri-Shuka continued, ‘The illustrious Ananta was praised in this way. O extender of the Kuru lineage! Delighted, he spoke to Chitraketu, the lord of the vidyadharas.

  ‘The illustrious one said, “Narada and Angiras instructed you by imparting knowledge to you. O king! Using that, you have become successful and have seen me. I am in all living beings. I am in the atmans of all living beings. I am the creator of all living beings. I am the sound of the supreme brahman and both Brahma and the brahman are my eternal bodies. The worlds expand in the atman and the atman is spread throughout the worlds. I pervade them both and I am the cause behind both of them. When a man is in deep sleep, he sees the universe within his own self. When he wakes up from his sleep, he finds that he is alone in some specific place. In that way, know that the state of wakefulness for the jivatman is only maya that results from the paramatman, which should be remembered as the witness. When a man is asleep, it is the atman that he regards as his own self. Know me to be the bliss that is the nirguna brahman. Know me to be the atman. A man should remember both types of consciousness, that when asleep and that when awake. That is knowledge of the supreme brahman, which pervades both of them and extends beyond. When a man forgets my real nature, he thinks of himself as different from the atman. He then roams around in samsara, from one body to another body and from one death to another death. If a person has obtained birth as a human being in this world, where acquiring of both jnana and vijnana is possible and does not still realize the atman, he can never find peace. In this world, he should remember the great hardships when the fruits of deeds are contrary. 595 A wise person’s resolution turns towards withdrawal from the fruits. 596 That is the way one can attain fearlessness. A couple undertakes rites so that there is happiness and freedom from unhappiness. However, happiness does not result through this path. Nor is there a cessation of unhappiness. Men who pride themselves on being learned understand the nature of these perverse results and realizing the subtle nature of the atman, transcend the three states. 597 Through direct perception, on the basis of instructions and using their own energy, they are freed from material objects. Satisfied with jnana and vijnana, a man should be devoted to me. In this way, men who are auspicious in their intelligence use yoga to achieve what is good for them. They use all possible means to know the supreme atman. O king! Without any distraction, if you devotedly accept my words, you will possess jnana and vijnana and, nurturing these, swiftly achieve success.”’

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘The illustrious one, the preceptor of the universe, comforted Chitraketu in this way. While he looked on, Hari, the atman of the universe, instantly vanished from the spot.’

  Chapter 6(17)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘The vidyadhara, Chitraketu, bowed down in the direction in which Ananta had disappeared. He then started to travel through the sky. The great yogi was praised by sages, Siddhas and charanas and his strength and senses were unimpeded. He travelled for a thousand million years in the valley of the Indra among kulachalas, 598 the place which satisfies all the wishes of the Siddhas. He sported himself and made the vidyadhara women chant the praise of lord Hari. Once, he was travelling on
a radiant vimana given to him by Vishnu. He saw Girisha, surrounded by Siddhas and charanas. In the presence of the sages, he was embracing the goddess, who was seated on his lap. In the hearing of the goddess, he approached close and laughed and spoke. Chitraketu said, “This is the preceptor of the worlds. For all embodied beings, he is the one who himself speaks about dharma. In the forefront of the assembly, he is coupled with his wife. He has matted hair and performs fierce austerities. He is the lord of an assembly of people who speak about the brahman. But like a shameless and ordinary person, he has his wife on his lap. In general, even ordinary people embrace their wives in private. However, this one follows great vows and embraces a woman in an assembly.” O king! Hearing this, the illustrious one, unfathomable in his intelligence, smiled. But he was silent, as were all his followers in that assembly. He 599 did not know about his valour and spoke in this way, words that were extremely inappropriate. Proud that he had been able to control his atman, he was shameless.

  ‘The goddess, Parvati, angrily spoke. “How has this person now become the controller, lord and chastiser of the worlds? Can he restrain wicked and shameless people like us? The one born from the lotus 600 does not know about dharma. Nor do Brahma’s sons, Bhrigu, Narada and the others. Nor do the Kumaras, 601 Kapila and Manu. They have not restrained Hara, the transgressor. He 602 is the preceptor of the universe and his lotus feet are meditated upon. He is himself the most auspicious among the auspicious. Yet, this kshatra-bandhu 603 transgresses the gods. Therefore, this insolent one deserves to be punished and must be chastised. He does not deserve to approach Vaikuntha’s feet, which is worshipped by virtuous people. His intelligence is insolent. O evil-minded one! Go and take birth in the wicked species of asuras. O son! You will then no longer cause any offence to great people.” Thus cursed, Chitraketu descended from his vimana. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He bowed his head down and propitiated Sati. 604 Chitraketu said, “O Ambika! I join my hands in salutation and accept your curse. Everything that the gods say about a mortal person has already been determined by destiny. Confounded by ignorance, a living being roams around in the cycle of samsara. Everywhere, he always experiences both happiness and unhappiness. He, or someone else, is not the cause behind happiness and unhappiness. In this case, he ignorantly takes himself, or someone else to be the doer. In this flow of gunas, what is a curse and what is a favour? What is heaven and what is hell? What is happiness and what is unhappiness? Through his own maya, the illustrious one alone creates all beings. For him, this bondage, liberation, happiness and unhappiness are all pointless. There is no one whom he loves or hates. He has no relatives or friends. There is no one who is his own. Nor is there anyone who is not his own. He is impartial towards everyone and indifferent. He experiences neither happiness, nor attachment. How can he be enraged? Nevertheless, he uses his powers to create all these embodied beings for the sake of happiness, unhappiness, well-being, misfortune, bondage, liberation, birth and death, envisaging the cycle of samsara. O wrathful one! I will not seek your favours for the sake of being freed from the curse. O Sati! However, pardon me for what you have taken to be inappropriate speech.” O destroyer of enemies! Thus, Chitraketu pleased the two Girishas. 605 While they were surprised and looked on, he left on his own vimana.