The Bhagavata Purana 1

by Bibek Debroy

  Chapter 1(6)

  Suta said, ‘The illustrious devarshi became silent, after describing his birth and deeds. However, Vyasa, Satyavati’s son, again asked the brahmana.

  ‘Vyasa asked, “The mendicants instructed you about that knowledge and departed. At that age in your life, what did you do then? O Svayambhu’s son! What conduct did you follow in your subsequent life? In the course of time, how did you give up the body that you had then obtained? O supreme among gods! Time destroys everything. All this concerns an earlier era. How has your memory not been erased?”

  ‘Narada replied, “After having instructed me about that knowledge, the mendicants departed. I was at that age in life and I did the following. I was the only son of my mother. She was limited in her intelligence and was a servant. She had no refuge other than her son and she bound me in her affection. Though she desired my welfare, she was not independent and could not think of anything. Like wooden dolls, people are under the subjugation of the lord. Though I disregarded it, 113 I was a child who was five years old. I dwelt in a brahmana’s family and had no idea about different directions, countries and time. Once, in order to milk a cow, she had gone out in the night. Goaded by destiny, along the path, she touched a snake with her foot and was bitten. The lord desires the welfare of his devotees and I thought that this was one of his favours. 114 I left in the northern direction. I saw prosperous habitations, cities, villages, pastures, mines, fields, valleys, parks, forests and groves there. There were mountains with colourful minerals. There were trees whose branches had been broken by elephants. There were lakes with sparkling water and lotuses, frequented by the gods. There were the beautiful tones of birds, rendered more beautiful by being mixed with the buzzing of bees. I passed through clumps of rushes, bamboo, reeds, kusha grass, cane and caves. Alone, I then reached a vast and desolate forest that was difficult to pass through. It was terrible and fearful because it was the sporting ground of predatory beasts, owls and jackals. My body and senses were exhausted. I was hungry and thirsty. I bathed in a pool in a river. Having touched the water, my fatigue was dispelled. In the forest that was devoid of humans, I sought refuge and seated myself under a pippala. 115 I thought about what I had been taught and used my atman to meditate on the atman. 116 As I meditated on his lotus feet, my consciousness was overwhelmed with devotion. Because of my eagerness, tears rolled down from my eyes and slowly, Hari manifested himself in my heart. O sage! I was overwhelmed by great love and all my limbs were excited and submerged in it. I was immersed in an ocean of bliss and could no longer see both of us. The illustrious one’s form is loved by the mind and dispels all sorrow. When I could no longer see it, I suddenly stood up. I suffered and my mind was distressed. I wished to see him again and fixed my mind in my heart. But though I concentrated, I could not see him. I was dissatisfied and afflicted. While I struggled in that desolate place, the one who cannot be reached through speech addressed me in deep and gentle words, seeking to pacify my grief. ‘Alas! In this life, you do not deserve to see me. It is extremely difficult for imperfect yogis, those not ripened by cleansing their sins, to see me. O unblemished one! Because of your good deeds and because of your desire, you have seen this form of mine once. A virtuous person who desires me, gradually casts aside all the desires of his heart. By serving the virtuous for a short period of time, your intelligence has been firmly fixed on me. After giving up this inferior world, you will go and become my attendant. An intelligence that is fixed in me never perishes. Because of my favours, at the time of the creation and destruction of subjects, your memory will remain.’ The great being, the lord, had no form. The sky was his form. After saying this, he stopped. He is the greatest of the great and had shown me compassion. I bowed my head down and worshipped him. With all my bashfulness destroyed, I recited the name of the infinite one. I remembered his mysterious and auspicious deeds. I no longer possessed any desire, pride or jealousy. Satisfied in my mind, I roamed around the earth and bided my time. 117 O brahmana! Thus, a person whose intelligence is fixed in Krishna is not attached and there is no blemish in his soul. In the course of time, like a flash of lightning, death appeared. As I was united with the pure form of that illustrious one, the body that consisted of the five elements fell down and obtained the fruits of the actions I had undertaken. At the end of the kalpa, the lord withdraws everything into himself and lies down and sleeps on the water. Together with the lord, 118 I also entered his breath. After one thousand yugas, 119 he arose and desired to create again. Marichi and the other rishis, and I, were created out of his breath. 120 Not deviating from my vows, I wander in and out of the three worlds. Through the favours of the great Vishnu, my movements are not impeded anywhere. This veena was given to me by the god. 121 It is ornamented with the sound of the brahman. It vibrates with accounts of Hari. I sing and wander around. His feet are tirthas and his exploits are pleasant to hear. Whenever I sing about his valour, he swiftly shows himself in my heart, as if he has been summoned. There are those whose intelligence is afflicted, they are repeatedly agitated by the objects of the senses. For them, this world is like an ocean and recounting Hari’s exploits is like a boat that can be used to cross this. There are those who are repeatedly struck by desire and avarice and are not pacified by techniques of yoga like self-restraint. For them, serving Mukunda satisfies the soul. O unblemished one! I have told you everything that you asked me about, the mystery of my birth and deeds. I have now satisfied your soul.”’

  Suta said, ‘The illustrious Narada spoke in this way to Vasavi’s son. Taking his leave, the sage went away where he wished, stringing his veena. This devarshi is blessed. He sings about the deeds of the one who wields the Sharnga bow. 122 He sings and plucks the strings and delights the afflicted universe.’

  Chapter 1(7)

  Shounaka asked, ‘O Suta! After Narada left, what did the illustrious lord, Badarayana do? He had heard what was desired.’

  Suta replied, ‘On the western banks of the Sarasvati, Brahma’s river, there is a hermitage. The rishis refer to it as Shamyaprasa. It is a place that extends sacrifices. Vyasa sat down there, in his hermitage, which was adorned with clumps of badari trees. 123 He touched water and concentrated his mind. He fixed his pure mind properly on bhakti yoga. He saw the complete Purusha and the maya that depended on him. It is because of this that a living being is deluded and the atman comes under the subjugation of the three qualities, though it is actually beyond these and is supreme. It thus suffers hardship because of what it has done. The means for mitigating this hardship are in bhakti yoga to Adhokshaja. Since people do not know this, the learned one composed the Satvata Samhita. By listening to this, a man develops devotion to Krishna, the supreme Purusha. All sorrow, confusion and fear are destroyed. Having composed the Bhagavata Samhita and arranged it, the sage taught it to his son, Shuka, who was fixed on renunciation.’

  Shounaka asked, ‘The sage 124 was indifferent towards everything and was fixed on renunciation. He had found delight in his own atman. Why did he study this large text?’

  Suta replied, ‘There are sages who are free of bondage, finding delight in their own atmans. However, Hari Urukrama possesses such wonderful qualities that they too find delight in him, even though it is without motives. The intelligence of Badarayana’s illustrious son was attracted to Hari’s qualities. He was also always loved by those who were devoted to Vishnu. Hence, he studied this great account. I will now start to describe Krishna’s account by beginning with the birth, deeds and death of the royal sage, Parikshit, and the departure of the sons of Pandu. In the battle, the brave Kouravas and Srinjayas went to the destination meant for heroes. 125 Struck by Bhima’s club, the thigh of Dhritarashtra’s son was shattered and he was lamenting. At that time, Drona’s son desired to do what would bring pleasure to his master. Seeing that Krishna’s 126 sons were asleep in the night, he severed their heads and brought them as a gift. However, he 127 found this disagreeable and condemned the deed. When the mother of the children heard
that the sons had been slain, she was severely tormented. Tears started to flow from her eyes and she wept. The one with the diadem 128 comforted her and said, “O fortunate one! I will bring you the head of the assassin, the inferior brahmana, 129 severing it with arrows released from Gandiva. I will thus wipe away your tears. Having cremated your sons, you can then bathe, while standing on his head.” Achyuta was his friend and charioteer. 130 Having comforted his beloved with these sweet and colourful words, the one who wielded a fierce bow donned his armour. The one with the ape on his standard advanced towards his preceptor’s son on his chariot. 131 From a distance, the slayer of the princes saw him advancing. Anxious in his mind, he fled on his chariot. To save his life, he fled swiftly, just as Arka was scared of Rudra and fled. 132 When the brahmana’s son found that his horses were exhausted and there was no other means of saving himself, he thought that he could only save himself with the brahmashira weapon. 133 He touched water, controlled himself and affixed it, even though he did not know how to withdraw it, a danger to his life having presented itself. 134 A terrible energy was manifested and enveloped all the directions. Seeing that his life was in danger, Jishnu spoke to Vishnu. 135 “O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! O Krishna! O one who grants devotees freedom from fear! For those who are consumed in this cycle of life, you alone are the means of salvation. You are the original Purusha. You are the lord himself, superior to nature. 136 Using the power of your consciousness to cast aside maya, you station your atman in absolute bliss. You are he. The intelligence of this world of the living is confounded by maya. For welfare and for dharma and other attributes, 137 you use your own valour to destroy it. Desiring to remove the burden of the earth and to ensure the welfare of your devotees who think of nothing but you, you descend in the form of an avatara. This extremely terrible energy is advancing from all the directions. O god of the gods! What is it? Where has it come from? I do not understand it.” The illustrious one replied, “Know this to be the Brahma weapon used by Drona’s son. Even though he does not know how to withdraw it, because a threat to his life presented itself, he has invoked it. Except itself, no other weapon is capable of countering it. You know about this extremely powerful weapon. Therefore, use the energy of your own weapon to counter the energy of this weapon.” 138 Hearing the words spoken by the illustrious one, Phalguna, 139 the destroyer of enemy heroes, touched water and circumambulated him. 140 He then invoked his own Brahma weapon against the other Brahma weapon. The energy from both these arrows engulfed each other and mingled. The earth, the firmament and the space between the earth and the firmament were enveloped, as if by the sun and the fire. The energy of both the weapons was seen and it was as if a great burning down of the three worlds was about to take place. All the subjects thought that the fire of destruction that comes at the end of a yuga would burn them down. Witnessing the destruction of the subjects and the devastation of the worlds, and ascertaining Vasudeva’s view, Arjuna withdrew both the weapons. 141 His eyes were coppery red with rage. He advanced towards Goutami’s terrible son 142 and bound him up with ropes, like an animal. He used his strength to tie up the enemy with ropes and wished to take him to the camp. However, the illustrious one, with eyes like lotuses, spoke to Arjuna. “O Partha! You should not save this brahma-bandhu. Kill him. While the innocent children were asleep, he killed them in the night. A person who knows about dharma does not kill an enemy who is distracted, mad, intoxicated, without a chariot, terrified, or one who seeks refuge. Nor does he kill a child, a woman, or someone who is foolish. If a person preserves his life by taking away the lives of others, he is wicked and devoid of compassion. Killing such a man is better for him too. Otherwise, he will be brought down because of what he does. I heard what you promised Panchali. 143 You told the beautiful one that you would bring her the head of the person who killed her sons. O brave one! Therefore, this evil person should be killed. He is an assassin and has slain your relatives. He is the worst of his lineage and has done what is disagreeable to his own master.” Krishna urged Partha, wishing to test his sense of dharma. However, though the grave act of killing his son 144 had been committed, he did not desire to kill his preceptor’s son. Govinda was his beloved charioteer. He took him 145 to his own camp and presented him to his beloved, who was lamenting because her sons had been killed. Krishna 146 saw the preceptor’s son, brought there, bound with ropes like an animal. Because of the contemptible act he had done, his face was cast downwards. Compassionate because of her feminine nature, she bowed down before him. The virtuous one could not tolerate the sight of his having been brought there, bound in this fashion. She said, “Release him. A brahmana is always a preceptor. Release him. You became accomplished in all the weapons through his 147 favours and learnt how to release, control and withdraw them. You learnt dhanurveda 148 and its mysteries. In the form of his son, the illustrious Drona is still present. It is because of him 149 that Kripi, his wife, did not give up her life. O one who knows about dharma! O immensely fortunate one! You should not do anything that is a sin. This one belongs to a lineage that must be constantly honoured, revered and worshipped. Let his mother Goutami, who revered her husband like a divinity, not weep. I am tormented because my children have been killed. Tears are repeatedly flowing down my face. Let her not be like me. If kings do not control themselves and enrage a lineage of brahmanas, their own families are swiftly burnt down, with their relatives, and are afflicted by grief.” O brahmanas! The king who was Dharma’s son 150 applauded the queen’s words, which were just, compassionate, guileless, impartial and great, and in conformity with dharma. Nakula, Sahadeva, Yuyudhana, 151 Dhananjaya, 152 Devaki’s illustrious son 153 and the other women also agreed. However, the intolerant Bhima said, “It has been said that it is best to kill someone like him. This futile act of killing the children while they were asleep has not served his interests, nor those of his master.” Hearing the words spoken by Bhima and Droupadi, Chaturbhuja 154 looked towards his friend’s 155 face and seemed to smile. He said, “A brahma-bandhu must not be killed. An assassin deserves to be killed. Both of these injunctions have been laid down by me and must be carried out. You comforted your beloved and you must make that pledge come true. You must do what is agreeable to Bhimasena, Panchali and me.” Arjuna suddenly understood Hari’s intention. He used his sword to sever the gem that was on the brahmana’s head, along with some locks of hair. 156 He released the one who was bound with the ropes, who had lost his lustre because of the act of killing the children. Without the gem, he lost his energy and was cast out of the camp. Slaying the physical body of a brahma-bandhu is not recommended. Instead, his head should be shaved, his wealth should be taken away and he should be exiled from that place. With Krishna, 157 all the Pandavas were afflicted by grief on account of their sons. They performed the funeral rites for their dead relatives.’