by Bibek Debroy
‘The illustrious one 895 said, “Brahma’s sons heard this instruction about the atman. Having been successful and having known the destination of the atman, they worshipped Sanandana. In this way, great-souled ones who were born earlier and travelled through the sky 896 distilled out all the essence of the Vedas, the Puranas and the Upanishads. O Brahma’s son! 897 Faithfully uphold in your heart this instruction about the atman, capable of burning up the desires of men. As you will, travel anywhere on earth.”
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘O king! When he was commanded by the rishi in this way, the sage, who knew about the atman, faithfully accepted it. His vow was like that of a valiant one. He could remember everything, after hearing it only once. Having entirely accomplished his purpose, he spoke. Narada said, “I bow down to the illustrious Krishna. His deeds are spotless. So that all living creatures do not have to go through samsara, he uses his portions to manifest himself in charming forms.” Having said this, he bowed down before the original rishi and his great-souled disciples. He then directly went to the hermitage of my father, Dvaipayana. O king! I have thus described to you the answer to the question you posed before me, about how the mind can reach the nirguna and undefinable brahman. 898 He is the one who watches over the beginning, the middle and the destruction of the universe. The lord of jivatmans is not manifest. He creates the universe and enters it, along with the jivatmans, controlling them. Just as a sleeping person loses all sense of his body, by resorting to the one who is without origin, one abandons maya. If a person desires kaivalya and desires to avoid the fear of birth, he should constantly meditate on Hari.’
Chapter 10(88)
The king said, ‘Gods, asuras and humans who worship the auspicious Shiva generally obtain wealth and enjoy objects of pleasure, but not those who worship Hari, Lakshmi’s consort. We have a great doubt about this and want to know. The two lords have contrary kinds of conduct and the states obtained by those who worship them are also contrary.’
Shri-Shuka replied, ‘Shiva is always with Shakti and is united with the three signs of the gunas. He is the divinity for the three kinds of ahamkara—vaikarika, taijasa and tamasa. The sixteen transformations resulted from these. 899 When a person worships one of these potencies, he enjoys all the resultant states. Hari is nirguna. He is the supreme Purusha, beyond Prakriti. He is omniscient and is witness to everything. A person who worships him becomes devoid of gunas. When the horse sacrifice was over, your grandfather, King Yudhishthira, heard about dharma from the illustrious one and asked Achyuta this question. The illustrious lord was pleased with the one who desired to hear. For bestowing benefit on the lineage of men, he had descended in the lineage of the Yadus. He spoke to him. The illustrious one said, “When I show favours on a person, I slowly rob him of his wealth. When he is without riches, his own relatives desert him and he moves from one misery to another misery. All his attempts to get wealth become futile and he is frustrated. He then contracts friendship with those who are devoted to me and I bestow my favours on him. He realizes the supreme and subtle brahman, the pure consciousness that is the infinite reality. Realizing the nature of the atman, the person is freed from samsara. Therefore, I am extremely difficult to worship. People ignore me and worship others who are easy to satisfy. 900 Having obtained kingdoms and prosperity, they become insolent, maddened and distracted. They are so rash as to slight the ones who conferred boons on them.” Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and other lords can confer boons and also curse. O dear one! Shiva and Brahma curse and bestow favours instantly, but not Achyuta. There is an ancient account about this, about how Girisha bestowed a boon on Vrikasura and brought about a calamity.
‘There was an asura named Vrika and he was Shakuni’s son. He met Narada on the road. On seeing him, the evil-minded one asked him which of the three gods was quickly satisfied. He said, “If you worship the god Girisha, you will obtain success swiftly. He is easily satisfied with the smallest qualities and is easily enraged with the slightest bit of wickedness. Like bandis, when they praised him, he was satisfied with the ten-headed one 901 and with Bana. He granted them a great deal of prosperity, but in each case, this resulted in a grave danger.” Thus instructed, the asura started to worship Hara in Kedara. 902 He sliced off bits of flesh from his own body and offered these as oblations into the mouth of the fire. He was frustrated at being unable to see the god. On the seventh day, he bathed his head in the waters of the tirtha and was about to slice off his head with an extremely sharp weapon. At this, the greatly compassionate Dhurjati 903 arose from the fire, like Agni. Just as we would do, he seized his arms with his own arms and restrained him. Through that touch, his wounds were healed and he regained his original form. He said, “O dear one! Enough of this. Ask for a boon from me. I will give you the boon that you desire. I am pleased if men worship me with some water and you have unnecessarily made your body suffer excessively.” The wicked one asked the god for a boon that would bring fear to all creatures. “If I touch anyone on the head with my hand, let him die.” O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Hearing this, the illustrious Rudra was disturbed in his mind. He said, “Oum” 904 and smiled. Like giving amrita to a serpent, he granted it to him. To test the efficacy of the boon, the asura tried to place his own hand on Shambhu’s head. Shiva was terrified at what he had himself brought about. Scared and trembling at the prospect of being touched, he fled from that northern direction and was pursued. He fled everywhere on earth and heaven and to the ends of the directions. The lords of the gods were silent, not knowing how to counter this. He then went to radiant Vaikuntha, which is beyond darkness. Narayana was himself there, the supreme destination for those who have renounced everything, those who are serene and have cast aside their staffs. 905 If one goes there, one never returns. 906
‘The illustrious one, the destroyer of afflictions, had perceived the hardship. Using his yoga maya, he assumed the form of a small boy. 907 He wore a girdle 908 and deerskin and held a staff and aksha beads. He blazed like the fire. He held kusha grass in his hand. He approached from a distance and greeted him, as if in humility. The illustrious one said, “O Shakuni’s son! It is evident that you are exhausted. Why have you travelled such a long distance? Please rest for a while. It is a person’s body that yields all the objects of desire. O lord! If it is appropriate for us to hear, please tell us what you intend to do. Usually, a person accomplishes his purpose with the help of others.” The illustrious one asked him in words that seemed to be a shower of amrita. All his exhaustion was gone and he 909 told him everything that he had already done. The illustrious one said, “If that is the case, we do not believe in his words. He became a pishacha because of Daksha’s curse and is the king of pretas and pishachas. O Indra among the danavas! If you trust him as a preceptor of the universe, you can quickly test his words by placing your hand on your own head. O bull among the danavas! If Shambhu has not spoken the truth in any way, you can then kill the liar, so that he doesn’t utter a falsehood ever again.” The wonderful and well-articulated words spoken by the illustrious one confounded the evil-minded one. Without realizing what he was doing, he placed his own hand on his head. He instantly fell down, his head shattered, as if he had been struck by the vajra. Words of “victory”, “salutations” and “excellent” were heard in heaven. When the wicked Vrikasura was slain, Shiva was saved from the calamity and gods, rishis, ancestors and gandharvas showered down flowers. The illustrious Purushottama spoke to Girisha, who had been saved. “O god! O Mahadeva! This wicked one has been killed because of his own sins. O Isha! After causing offence to great beings and creatures, who can obtain peace, not to speak of a person who causes offence to the lord of the universe and the preceptor of the universe?” Hari is the paramatman himself. He is supreme. He is an inconceivable ocean of powers. If a person hears or recites the account of Girisha’s liberation, he is freed from enemies and from samsara.’
Chapter 10(89)
Shri-Shuka said, ‘O king! The rishis performed a sacrifice on the ban
ks of the Sarasvati. A debate started among them about who among the three lords 910 was the greatest. O king! Wishing to know and find out, they sent Bhrigu, Brahma’s son, to Brahma’s assembly. Desiring to test his sattva, he did not bow down to him, or chant any hymns in his praise. Enraged at this, the illustrious one blazed in his own energy. Though rage was surging within himself, since it was his son, the lord used his intelligence to pacify it, just as fire is extinguished with water, which is created from it. 911 After this, he went to Kailasa. The god Maheshvara was happy to see his brother. 912 He arose and came forward to embrace him. But he did not desire this and said, “You deviate from the path.” 913 At this, the god became angry. He raised his trident and with fiery eyes, got ready to kill him. But the goddess 914 fell down at his feet and comforted him with her words. After this, he 915 went to Vaikuntha, where the god Janardana was. He was lying down on Shri’s lap and he kicked him on the chest with his foot. The illustrious one, the destination of the virtuous, stood up, along with Lakshmi. He got down from his own couch and bowed his head down before the sage. He said, “O brahmana rishi! Welcome. Rest on this seat for a while. O lord! You should pardon us. We did not know that you were going to come. Please purify me, my world and the guardians of the world who are with me with the water that has washed your feet. It is like a tirtha that purifies the tirthas. O father! O great sage! Your feet are exceedingly soft.” Saying this, he massaged the brahmana’s feet with his hands. “Till today, the illustrious Lakshmi has single-mindedly served me. Now that your foot has purified my chest, the goddess of prosperity will reside there.” 916 The lord of Vaikuntha addressed Bhrigu in these solemn words. He 917 was delighted, satisfied and silent. He was overwhelmed with devotion and tears flowed from his eyes. O king! He again returned to the sacrifice being conducted by the sages who knew about the brahman. In detail, Bhrigu described the experience he had been through. Hearing this, the sages were amazed and their doubts were dispelled. They developed a great deal of devotion towards Vishnu, the one who confers tranquility and freedom from fear. Dharma, jnana and non-attachment emanate directly from him and so do the eight kinds of siddhis that cleanse the atman of impurities. He is said to be the supreme destination for virtuous ones and sages who desire nothing, tranquil and impartial in outlook, having cast aside their staffs. 918 His beloved form is made out of sattva and he worships brahmanas as divinities. Tranquil ones, accomplished in intelligence, worship him, wishing for no benedictions. Through his maya, based on the gunas, he creates three kinds of forms—rakshasa, asura and sura. 919 Of these, sattva is the means for attaining success and purification. To remove the doubts of men, the brahmanas along the banks of the Sarasvati came to this conclusion. They served Purusha’s lotus feet and found a destination with him.’