The Bhagavata Purana 2

by Bibek Debroy

  Chapter 8(3)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘Having used his intelligence to determine this, he fixed his mind in his heart. He meditated on the supreme one, chanting a mantra he had been taught in his earlier birth. 883

  ‘The Indra among elephants said, “Oum! I bow down before the illustrious one. He is in all this consciousness. He is the original Purusha and seed. He is the supreme lord. I meditate on him. This universe exists in him. It is from him that it has been created. He is the cause behind this effect. I seek refuge with the supreme and self-originating one. It is because of his own maya that all of this is immersed in his atman. It is sometimes manifest and sometimes, it is not manifest. 884 He sees everything and is a witness to both. His atman is the source of everything. May the supreme of the supreme protect me. In the course of time, everything is reduced to the five gross elements, the guardians of the world and all kinds of causes. There is a deep and impenetrable darkness. But beyond this, in that state, the lord alone illuminates. The gods and the rishis do not know him. How can a mere creature like me approach him or describe him? The nature of the actor is hidden behind the roles he performs. It is extremely difficult to understand his movements. May he save me. Extremely virtuous sages, free of all attachments, wish to see his extremely auspicious feet. So do those who faultlessly execute many kinds of vows in the forest. He is in the atmans of all beings. May that well-wisher be my destination. He has no birth or deeds. He has no names or forms, nor qualities or faults. However, for the sake of the creation and destruction of the worlds, using his own maya, he always assumes these. I bow down to that supreme lord. He is the brahman, infinite in his powers. He has no form. He has many kinds of forms. I bow down to the one whose deeds are extraordinary. I bow down to the one whose atman is the lamp. He is the paramatman who is the witness. I bow down to the one who is impossible to approach through words, thoughts or consciousness. The learned obtain him through sattva and the transcending of karma. 885 I bow down to the lord of kaivalya, the one who bestows the bliss of nirvana. I bow down before the one who assumes the dharma of the gunas and appears as serene, terrible and ignorant. 886 He is impartial and does not discriminate. I bow down before the one who is the reservoir of knowledge. I bow down to kshetrajna, the controller of everything, the witness. He is Purusha and his atman is the foundation. I bow down to the one who is the source of Prakriti. He is the one who perceives all the senses and their qualities. What is said to be real is unreal and is like a shadow that always indicates his reflection. I bow down to you. I bow down. I bow down to you, the cause behind everything. He is the one who has no cause. He is the one who is the wonderful cause. He is the great ocean who is the source of all the sacred texts. I bow down to the one who is the refuge, the one who bestows emancipation. He is the one whose consciousness is hidden, like a fire in the attributes of the wood. His mind manifests itself and agitates the gunas. 887 You reveal yourself to those who give up the sacred texts, with sentiments of transcending karma. I bow down to you. An animal like me has sought refuge with you. You are the one who frees from bonds. You are the liberator. You are great in your compassion. I bow down before the one who has no decay. Your own portions are manifest in the minds of all embodied beings. You are the direct witness. I bow down to the great and illustrious one. There are people who are attached to their own selves, their sons and daughters, their homes, their riches and their relatives. They find it extremely difficult to obtain you. You are free of attachment to any of the gunas. Those who have realized their atmans meditate on you in the cores of their hearts. Your atman is the reservoir of knowledge. I bow down to the illustrious lord. Those who desire to be free of dharma, kama and artha worship you and obtain the desired objective. He bestows an undecaying body, 888 not to speak of other benedictions. May the compassionate one free me. Those who are single-mindedly devoted to the illustrious one do not desire anything else. They are immersed in an ocean of bliss and chant about his extraordinary and extremely auspicious deeds. He is the undecaying and supreme brahman. He is the supreme lord. He is not manifest. He can be approached through the yoga of adhyatma. He is beyond the compass of the senses. He is subtle and extremely distant. He is the infinite and original one. I worship the pervasive one. Through his portions, he creates Brahma and the other gods, the Vedas, the worlds, mobile and immobile objects, the differences of names and forms and other minor entities. They are like flames issuing from Agni, or rays issuing from the sun. They emerge and are repeatedly withdrawn again. He is the one who is radiant in his own luminosity. All these flows of gunas, the intelligence, the mind, the senses and the creation of bodies is like that. He is not a god or an asura. He is not a mortal or an inferior species. He is not man, woman, eunuch or animal. He is not guna or karma. He is not manifestation or lack of manifestation. He is not what is left after these. 889 He transcends everything that is left. I do not wish to live for a long time in this world, or in the next world. What is the point of an existence where the inside and the outside are enveloped? 890 I desire a time when all this, the covering for realization of the atman, is destroyed and I am liberated. He is the creator of the universe. Though he transcends the universe, he is the universe. He is the knowledge behind this universe. His atman is in the universe. He is without origin. I prostrate myself before the supreme one, the brahman. There are those who use yoga to burn up karma. There are those who use yoga to cleanse their hearts. Those yogis see him. I bow down to the lord of yoga. I bow down. I bow down before the one whose force is impossible to withstand. He is the one with the three kinds of powers. 891 He is the intelligence behind all the gunas. He offers shelter to those who seek refuge. His powers are indomitable. He cannot be reached by those who follow the path of the senses. People do not know their own atmans because his powers rob them of their intelligence. His glory is extremely difficult to comprehend. I seek refuge with the illustrious one.”’

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘Thus, the Indra among elephants described him, in no particular way. Brahma and others have many kinds of signs and pride themselves on these. Since the illustrious one is in the atmans of everyone, no one approached him. 892 However, Hari is in the atmans of everyone and he appeared. The abode of the universe understood that he was afflicted and had also heard the prayer. Borne aloft by Garuda, he quickly appeared, along with the gods, who were praising him. The one with the chakra as a weapon arrived where the Indra among elephants was. Inside the water, he had been powerfully seized and was afflicted. However, he saw Hari arrive in the sky, aloft Garuda and wielding the chakra. With difficulty, he raised a lotus in his trunk and held it up. He said, “O illustrious Narayana! O universal preceptor! I bow down to you.” The one without origin saw that he was afflicted and quickly descended. Full of compassion, he quickly dragged him out of the lake, along with the crocodile. He took the Indra among elephants out. While everyone looked on, Hari severed the crocodile’s mouth with his chakra.’

  Chapter 8(4)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘With Brahma and Ishana at the forefront, the gods, the rishis and the gandharvas praised Hari’s deed and showered down flowers. Celestial drums were sounded. Gandharvas danced and sang. The rishis, charanas and Siddhas praised Purushottama. The crocodile instantly assumed an extremely wonderful form. Huhu, supreme among gandharvas, was thus freed from Devala’s curse. 893 He bowed his head down before the lord and controller, the undecaying Uttamashloka. He chanted the virtuous account about the deeds of the one who was a reservoir of glory. With the lord having shown him mercy, he bowed down to him and circumambulated him. While everyone looked on, cleansed of all sin, he went to his own world. Having been touched by the illustrious one, the Indra among elephants was freed from the bondage of ignorance. He obtained a form that was just like that of the illustrious one, four-armed and clad in yellow garments. Earlier, he was the king of Pandya and supreme among Dravidas. He was known by the name of Indradyumna and was devoted to vows dedicated to Vishnu. Once, controlling his atman, he was worshipping lord Hari
and had adopted a vow of silence. He was an ascetic with matted hair and was immersed in Achyuta. He was worshipping him in a hermitage in kulachala. 894 The immensely illustrious sage 895 was wandering around as he willed, surrounded by a large number of disciples, and arrived there. He saw that he was silent and did not offer him the objects of worship. He remained seated there, in solitude. At this, the rishi was enraged. He cursed him. “This wicked and evil-souled one is ignorant and has insulted a brahmana today. Let him be plunged into darkness, as stupid in intelligence as an elephant.” O king! Cursing him in this way, the illustrious Agastya left with his followers. Indra, the royal sage, accepted this as the will of providence. He was born in the elephant species and this destroys all realization of the atman. However, because his sentiments were those of worshipping Hari, despite having become an elephant, he remembered everything. Thus, the leader of elephants was saved by the one who has no origin, the one with a lotus in his navel. He elevated him to the status of becoming his own companion. Having performed this extraordinary deed, praised by gandharvas, Siddhas and gods with him, and astride Garuda, he returned to his own residence. O great king! I have described this to you now, about how the king among elephants was delivered by Krishna’s wonderful deed. O noble Kuru! If a person listens to this, he obtains heaven and fame. The sins of kali yuga become less and bad dreams are destroyed. Dvijas who desire their own benefit get up in the morning. Purifying themselves, they chant this and bad dreams are instantly destroyed. O supreme among the Kuru lineage! Hari was pleased with the Indra among elephants. While all the creatures heard, the lord who is in all creatures spoke to him.

  ‘The illustrious one said, “There is this lake, this mountain, this cavern and this grove. There are cane, reeds, bamboo, creepers and divine trees. There are the peaks and the lords, Brahma, Shiva and I. This Kshiroda ocean is my beloved residence and so is this radiant Shveta-dvipa. There are shrivatsa, Koustubha, the garland, and my club Koumadaki. There are Sudarshana and Panchajanya and Suparna, lord of birds. Shesha is my subtle portion and the goddess Shri seeks refuge with me. There are Brahma, the rishi Narada, you and Prahlada. There are fish, tortoise, boar and other avataras assumed by me. There are my infinitely sacred deeds and Surya, Soma and Agni. There is the sound of ‘Oum’. There is the truth that is not manifest. There are cattle and brahmanas and undecaying dharma. There are Daksha’s daughters, the wives of Dharma, Soma and Kashyapa. There are the rivers Ganga, Sarasvati, Nanda and Kalindi and there is the white elephant. 896 There are Dhruva, the seven brahmana rishis and men who are praised in shlokas. When one arises at the end of the night, one should restrain oneself and be controlled. If a person then remembers all of these as my forms, he will be freed from every kind of sin. O dear one! At the end of the night, if a person awakes and praises me, 897 at the end of his life, I grant him a great destination.”’

  Shri-Shuka continued, ‘Having instructed him in this way, Hrishikesha blew on his excellent conch shell. Gladdening the arrays of gods, he ascended the best among birds.’

  Chapter 8(5)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘O king! I have told you about Hari’s sacred deed of freeing the Indra among elephants, one that destroys all sins. Now hear about Raivata manvantara. The fifth Manu, named Raivata, was Tapasa Manu’s brother. His sons were Bali, Vindhya and others and Arjuna was the eldest. O king! Vibhu was the Indra and Bhutarayas and others were the gods. The brahmanas were Hiranyaroma, Vedashira, Urdhvabahu and others. 898 Through Shubhra’s wife, Vikuntha, the illustrious Vaikuntha was himself born. Through his portions, other supreme gods known as the Vaikunthas were also born. The goddess Rama 899 desired it, and to please her, he created the world known as Vaikuntha, revered by the worlds. I have already described his deeds, qualities and great generosity. But all of Vishnu’s qualities can only be described by someone who can count all the particles of dust on earth. The sixth Manu was named Chakshusha and he was the son of Chakshusha. 900 Among Chakshusha’s foremost sons were Puru, Purusha and Sudyumna. Mantradruma was Indra and the large number of gods were Apyas and others. O king! The sages were Havishmat, Viraka and others. Through Vairaja’s wife, Sambhuti, the illustrious divinity, the lord of the universe, used his portion to be born as their son and his name was Ajita. It was he who had the ocean churned, yielding nectar for the gods. In the form of a tortoise, he held up Mandara and moved around in the water.’

  The king asked, ‘O brahmana! How did the illustrious one get the ocean of milk churned? Why was it done? Why did he hold up the mountain and move around in the water? After the gods had obtained the amrita, what else happened? Tell me all this about the illustrious one’s supremely wonderful deeds. Hardships have tormented my mind for an extremely long period of time. Therefore, when you describe the glories of the lord of the Satvatas, I am not satisfied.’

  Suta said, ‘O brahmanas! Dvaipayana’s illustrious son was thus asked. He welcomed this and started to describe Hari’s valour.’

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘In a battle, the gods were attacked by the asuras with sharp weapons and were slaughtered. Large numbers lost their lives and fell down and did not rise up again. O king! Indra was cursed by Durvasa and the three worlds lost their prosperity. 901 Sacrifices and rites were destroyed. Hearing about this, the great Indra, Varuna and the large number of other gods had a meeting of consultation. But they could not decide what should be done. All of them therefore went to Brahma’s assembly hall, on the summit of Meru. Prostrating themselves before Parameshthi, they told him everything. He saw that Indra, Vayu and the others were deprived of their spirits and had lost their radiance. The lord saw that the worlds had lost everything auspicious and that the asuras were thriving. He meditated in his mind and remembered the supreme being. With a pleasant countenance, the supreme and illustrious one spoke to the gods. “I, Bhava, you, asuras and others, humans, inferior species, trees and those born from sweat—all of us have been created from his avataras, lineages and portions. Let all of us go and seek refuge with the one without decay. There is no one who should be killed, no one who should be protected. There is no one to be neglected and no one to be partially shown favours. Nevertheless, for the sake of creation, preservation and destruction, at the right time, he assumes attributes of sattva, rajas and tamas. This is a time for creation and preservation, when he accepts sattva for the sake of the welfare of embodied creatures. Therefore, let us go and seek refuge with the preceptor of the worlds. He loves the gods and will grant us the good fortune.” O destroyer of enemies! Having said this, with the gods, Brahma went to the abode of the unvanquished one, which lies beyond the darkness. There, controlling his senses and using divine speech, the lord praised and prayed to the one whom he had never seen, but whom he had heard about from the texts.

  ‘Brahma said, “O one who does not change! O truth! O infinite! O original one! O one who resides in every heart! O one not subject to transformation! O incomprehensible one! O one swifter than thought! O one who cannot be described in speech! We bow down to the supreme divinity, the one who should be worshipped. He is the one who knows about the breath of life, the mind, the intelligence and the atman. He is the one who manifests himself as the senses and their objects. He does not sleep. He is without a physical body that suffers. He is not affected by shadow or sunshine. 902 He is without decay. He is as pervasive as the sky. He is the three yugas. We seek refuge with him. For those with birth, it is his energy that makes the wheel of life move swiftly. It is permeated by the mind and there are fifteen spokes. 903 There are three naves. 904 On eight fellies, it moves like lightning. 905 It is said that he is the rim. We bow down to the one who is the truth. He has a single complexion 906 and is beyond tamas. He is not manifest and cannot be seen. He is infinite and has no limits. He has seated himself on Suparna’s back. Using yoga as a chariot, the patient worship him. No one is able to overcome his maya. Because of this, people are confounded and do not know the truth. He is the supreme lord who alone conquers his own gunas. He controls beings, without a
ny partiality. We bow down to him. Inside and outside, we have been fashioned out of his favourite body of sattva. However, if we, nor the rishis, can comprehend his subtle nature, how can asuras and others, dominated by others? 907 He has himself created this earth as his feet and there are four types of beings there. That great being is the one who controls himself. May the great one, supreme in his powers, show us his favours. He is pervasive in his valour and the waters are his semen, used by living beings for generation and nourishment. That is also true of the worlds and all the guardians of the worlds. May the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. It is said that Soma, the source of strength, food and lifespans for the residents of heaven, is the infinite one’s mind. He 908 is the lord of the trees that provide a means of subsistence for beings. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. Agni, the source of wealth, was born so that all the various kinds of rites could be performed. He exists in the ocean and inside, digesting food. 909 Agni is the mouth through which he receives oblations. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. His eye is the sun god, who proceeds along deva yana. The three Vedas are in him. He is the brahman, the goal of emancipation. He is the path to emancipation and immortality. But he is also death. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. Mobile and immobile objects owe their breath of life, their strength and their energy to the wind. Like companions following an emperor, we follow the wind god and the wind owes its origin to him. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. The directions are his ears. His heart is the space within the body. The sky, the breath of life, the senses, the mind and the secondary airs in the breath of life emerged from Purusha’s navel. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. The great Indra and the gods owe their strength to his favours. Girisha originated from his anger and Virinchi from his intelligence. The pores in his body created the Vedas and the rishis. Prajapati emerged from his genital organs. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. Shri emerged from his chest and the ancestors from his shadow. Dharma emerged from between his breasts and adharma from his back. The firmament emerged from his head and the apsaras from his pleasure. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. The brahmanas and the mysterious Vedas emerged from his mouth. The kshatriyas are the strength of his arms. The skilled vaishyas emerged from his thighs. The ignorant shudras emerged from his feet. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. Avarice emerged from his lower lip and affection from his upper lip. Splendour emerged from his nose. Desire, characteristic of animals, emerged from his touch. Yama emerged from his eyebrows and time from his eyelashes. Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. It is said that material objects, lifespan, karma, gunas and the attributes of this material world were created by his yoga maya, which is extremely difficult to understand. The learned reject all this. 910 Let the one who is great in his powers be pleased with us. I bow down to the one whose power is dormant. He is completely independent and has achieved everything in his atman. He is not attached to the gunas and various kinds of conduct maya fashions. He is like the air. 911 This is what you are. Show yourself to us, so that our senses can perceive you. We have sought refuge with you. We desire to see your smiling lotus face. O lord! From time to time, depending on your will, you have yourself assumed different kinds of forms. O illustrious one! You have accomplished tasks that are extremely difficult for us to undertake. Embodied beings undertake tasks with a great deal of difficulty. But these yield little, or nothing at all, because they are afflicted by material objects. But that’s not the case with us, those who resort to you. If it is rendered to the lord, even a little bit of action is not futile. If it is offered to Purusha, his atman ensures benefit to those whom he loves. If the root of a tree is sprinkled with water, the trunk and the branches are nourished. The worship of Vishnu, who is in everyone’s atman, is like that. I bow down to the infinite one. You and your acts are impossible to comprehend. You are nirguna. You are the lord of gunas and are present as a reservoir of sattva.”’