Bhagavatapurana 1.5: atha pañcamo'dhyāyaḥ

1.5.1

/0 sūta uvāca
atha taṃ sukham āsīna upāsīnaṃ bṛhacchravāḥ /
devarṣiḥ prāha viprarṣiṃ vīṇāpāṇiḥ smayann iva //

Sūta said: / Then the divine seer of great renown, with the vīṇā in hand, / addressed the brāhmaṇa seer who sat comfortably attending him, smiling as it were.

1. Suta said: Then, comfortably seated, the divine Rishi of extensive study (great renown), with veena in his hand, with a smile of surprise, said to that Brahmin sage Vyasa seated by his side.

1.5.2

/0 nārada uvāca
pārāśarya mahābhāga bhavataḥ kaccidātmanā /
parituṣyati śārīra ātmā mānasa eva vā //

Nārada said: / O son of Parāśara, O fortunate one, does your self, / bodily or mental, find complete satisfaction within itself?

2. Narada said:—O fortunate son of Parasara, does the soul of your body find joy in the body, or does the mental soul find joy in the mind?

1.5.3

jijñāsitaṃ susampannam api te mahadadbhutam /
kṛtavān bhārataṃ yastvaṃ sarvārthaparibṛṃhitam //

What was to be inquired into has been thoroughly accomplished by you, wondrous and great, / you who composed the Mahābhārata, enriched with all aims of life.

3. You have (I hope) fully realised all that you have enquired about,—all that great and wonderful, wisdom—and also put it into practice; (for), you have produced the great and wonderful Bharata which is very full on all subjects.

1.5.4

jijñāsitam adhītaṃ ca brahma yat tat sanātanam /
tathāpi śocasyātmānam akṛtārtha iva prabho //

And that eternal Brahman has been investigated and studied by you; / nevertheless, O master, you lament your self as though your goal were unreached.

4. You have enquired into and learned everything about that Brahman which is eternal; still, O Lord, O master, you seem uneasy as if you have not accomplished your purpose. (Why so?)

1.5.5

/0 vyāsa uvāca
astyeva me sarvam idaṃ tvayoktaṃ tathāpi nātmā parituṣyate me /
tanmūlam avyaktam agādhabodhaṃ pṛcchāmahe tvātmabhavātmabhūtam //

Vyāsa said: / All this spoken by you is indeed true of me; yet my self is not satisfied. / I ask you, born of the Self-born [Brahmā], about that unmanifest root of unfathomable understanding.

5. Sri Vyasa said—Indeed, I have all this of which you have spoken; still my Atman (body and mind) does not find satisfaction. *We now enquire of you the secret cause of it—you who are born of Brahma and possessed of unfathomable wisdom.

1.5.6

sa vai bhavān veda samastaguhyam upāsito yat puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ /
parāvareśo manasaiva viśvaṃ sṛjatyavatyatti guṇairasaṅgaḥ //

You indeed know every secret, having worshiped the ancient Person, / the Lord of the higher and lower, who creates, protects, and consumes the universe by mind alone, unattached by the qualities.

6. You are indeed such a one; you know all the hidden truths, since you have contemplated the eternal Purusha (God) who rules all causes and effects and, by his mere will, creates protects and destroys the world, through the gunas, unattached to them or unaffected by them.

1.5.7

tvaṃ paryaṭann arka iva trilokīm antaścaro vāyurivātmasākṣī /
parāvare brahmaṇi dharmato vrataiḥ snātasya me nyūnam alaṃ vicakṣva //

Wandering the three worlds like the sun, and like the wind moving within as witness to the self, / look thoroughly into the deficiency in me, who have bathed through vows in the higher and lower Brahman according to dharma.

7. You go about the three worlds as the sun does, and go through them like Pranavayu, reading (the thoughts in) every mind; so, distinctly find out what is wanting in me who have, by Yoga and vows observed during vedic studies, secured a full knowledge of Para Brahman as well as the Apara Brahman (the Veda,) (and tell me what it is).

1.5.8

/0 śrīnārada uvāca
bhavatānuditaprāyaṃ yaśo bhagavato 'malam /
yenaivāsau na tuṣyeta manye taddarśanaṃ khilam //

Śrī Nārada said: / You have hardly sung the spotless glory of the Lord; / I consider deficient that teaching by which He is not pleased.

8. Narada said :—Perhaps you have not exclusively (fully) sung of the sanctifying glory of the Lord; for that reason I believe the Lord is not satisfied; and it is this knowledge that is wanting—that is not fully dealt with—in your works.

1.5.9

yathā dharmādayaścārthā munivaryānukīrtitāḥ /
na tathā vāsudevasya mahimā hyanuvarṇitaḥ //

Just as the aims of life, beginning with dharma, were expounded by you, O best of sages, / the greatness of Vāsudeva has not been described in that way.

9. You have not so extensively described the glories of Vasudeva, as you have, O the foremost one of sages, described Dharma and other topics.

1.5.10

na yadvacaścitrapadaṃ hareryaśo jagatpavitraṃ pragṛṇīta karhicit /
tadvāyasaṃ tīrtham uśanti mānasā na yatra haṃsā niramantyuśikkṣayāḥ //

Words of variegated verse that never proclaim the purifying glory of Hari / the pure-minded deem a place for crows, where swans that dwell in clean waters take no delight.

10. That composition (work) which, endowed as it may be with all the graces of rhetoric, does not loudly (fully) sing the praises of Sri Hari's glory which purifies the Universe, is considered a source of amusement only to worldly men, and in that work Paramahamsas of devout heart dwelling always upon the blissful Lord do not find delight, just as royal swans living in the midst of noble lotus beds, cannot find delight in the pools, however good in themselves, where crows alone find delight.

1.5.11

tadvāgvisargo janatāghaviplavo yasmin pratiślokam abaddhavatyapi /
nāmānyanantasya yaśo 'ṅkitāni yat śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ //

That outpouring of words, on the other hand, which destroys the sins of the people, / in which, though each verse may be poorly formed, the names of the Infinite marked with His glory / are heard, sung, and recited by the virtuous—[that is truly worthy].

11. That work of a poet absolves mankind of all its sins, in every verse of which, though full of blemishes, the names of the unlimited Lord describing his glories are found—the glorious names which the righteous people listen to, expound, and sing.

1.5.12

naiṣkarmyam apyacyutabhāvavarjitaṃ na śobhate jñānam alaṃ nirañjanam /
kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvadabhadram īśvare na cārpitaṃ karma yadapyakāraṇam //

Even knowledge free from karmic reaction, spotless as it is, does not shine if devoid of devotional emotion for Acyuta. / Whence then can action, ever inauspicious when not offered to the Lord, [shine], even if disinterested?

12. Though one (identical) with the essence of Brahman, the destroyer of besetting conditions, that knowledge does not shine well (cannot be of great value and efficacy), which is destitute of devotion to Achyuta. How then could that karma be good, which never tends to eternal welfare, whether prompted by desires or not, so long as it is not offered to the Lord.

1.5.13

atho mahābhāga bhavān amoghadṛk śuciśravāḥ satyarato dhṛtavrataḥ /
urukramasyākhilabandhamuktaye samādhinānusmara tadviceṣṭitam //

Therefore, O fortunate one of unerring vision, pure fame, devoted to truth, and firm in vows, / meditate in concentration on the deeds of Urukrama for the liberation from all bondage.

13. Therefore, O Blessed one, you who are of truthful perception, of pure renown, delighted with truth, and rigid in vows, do you contemplate and write about the various glorious deeds of the Lord, with undivided attention, so that all the world may obtain salvation from Samsara (by knowing them).

1.5.14

tato 'nyathā kiñcana yadvivakṣataḥ pṛthag dṛśastatkṛtarūpanāmabhiḥ /
na karhicit kvāpi ca duḥsthitā matir labheta vātāhatanaurivāspadam //

For when one wishes to describe anything other than That, seeing separately through forms and names created by Him, / the mind, unsettled, finds no resting place anywhere, like a boat struck by the wind.

14. (On the other hand) the mind of that man can never or nowhere find a resting place, as a vessel beaten by tempestuous winds ;—who talks about something other than the glorious Lord, with his eyes set on other things, his mind wandering without any sure hold.

1.5.15

jugupsitaṃ dharmakṛte 'nuśāsataḥ svabhāvaraktasya mahān vyatikramaḥ /
yadvākyato dharma itītaraḥ sthito na manyate tasya nivāraṇaṃ janaḥ //

While instructing people naturally inclined toward attachment in what is reprehensible for the sake of dharma, you committed a great transgression; / established in what is dharma according to your word, people do not believe in its cessation.

15. A great mistake has arisen on your part while expounding (the courses of) Dharma, in teaching what should be avoided (i.e. Kamya Karma and other things) to the man who is naturally attached to worldly objects; for the man who is other than the wisest, is guided by your exposition and would believe it to be Dharma and stick to it, and cannot understand that it is prohibited.

1.5.16

vicakṣaṇo 'syārhati vedituṃ vibhor anantapārasya nivṛttitaḥ sukham /
pravartamānasya guṇairanātmanas tato bhavān darśaya ceṣṭitaṃ vibhoḥ //

A discerning person can know the bliss of the all-pervading, endless Lord through cessation; / therefore, show the deeds of the Lord to one who acts under the qualities, devoid of self-realization.

16. Only some one of special capability—but no other—is likely to abandon all action and realise the true nature of the absolutely blissful Paramatman of immeasurable and incomprehensible glories; hence for the benefit of the people who are attached to various objects of the world and working under the influence of the three gunas, be pleased, O Lord, to describe in full the glorious deeds of Sri Hari, the Omnipotent.

1.5.17

tyaktvā svadharmaṃ caraṇāmbujaṃ harer bhajann apakvo 'tha patet tato yadi /
yatra kva vābhadram abhūdamuṣya kiṃ ko vārtha āpto 'bhajatāṃ svadharmataḥ //

If one abandons one's own dharma and worships the lotus feet of Hari, and if, immature, one should fall from there, / what misfortune could happen to him anywhere? Or what gain is attained by non-devotees through their own dharma?

17. If he who neglects his duties, Nitya and Naimittika, and devotes himself only to the worship of Sri Hari's lotus-like feet, fall (die or is interrupted in the course of devotion before he attains perfect wisdom),—does he once for all fail to attain the highest good? Does any evil ever befall him, even if he should be born among unworthy beings? (No, no evil befalls him). On the other hand, what purpose is gained by those that do their own duties without devotion to the Lord?

1.5.18

tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate yadbhramatām uparyadhaḥ /
tal labhyate duḥkhavadanyataḥ sukhaṃ kālena sarvatra gabhīraraṃhasā //

A wise person should strive for that alone which is not obtained by those wandering high and low; / for that pleasure, like pain, is obtained elsewhere by time of deep and swift force everywhere.

18. A man of wisdom ought to endeavour after that (blissful devotion to God) which is not to be attained by jivas who (in Samsara) wander through the regions above and below, from Brahma to inanimate things; for the blessings of this world come unsought, just as pain and misery do, by virtue of past Karma, made available (ready) everywhere by Time of inconceivable speed.

1.5.19

na vai jano jātu kathañcanāvrajen mukundasevyanyavadaṅga saṃsṛtim /
smaran mukundāṅghryupagūhanaṃ punar vihātum icchen na rasagraho janaḥ //

A person who serves Mukunda, my dear, never enters the cycle of rebirth like others; / remembering the embrace of Mukunda's feet, a person who has caught the taste would never wish to give it up.

19. O sage, those that devoutly worship Mukunda do not indeed come back to Samsara at any time like those others (who

are devoted to Karma); for, remembering the joy of having once embraced (with their hearts) the feet of Sri Mukunda, they would not think of abandoning them ever after, since they are taken up with the most excellent (source of joy).

1.5.20

idaṃ hi viśvaṃ bhagavān ivetaro yato jagatsthānanirodhasambhavāḥ /
taddhi svayaṃ veda bhavāṃstathāpi te prādeśamātraṃ bhavataḥ pradarśitam //

This universe is indeed the Lord, as though different from Him, from whom arise its maintenance, dissolution, and origin. / You yourself know this; nevertheless, a mere indication has been shown to you.

20. * This world is the Bhagavan Himself, but He is different from all this (that is, the world is not different from Isvara, but He is different from it); for, from Him proceed the sustenance, destruction and creation of the world; this world is indeed the Bhagavan; the Jiva who seems to be another is also the Bhagavan, and that (truth) you yourself have realised; and I have just pointed out the same in some measure by way of indicating it.

1.5.21

tvam ātmanātmānam avehyamoghadṛk parasya puṃsaḥ paramātmanaḥ kalām /
ajaṃ prajātaṃ jagataḥ śivāya tan mahānubhāvābhyudayo 'dhigaṇyatām //

Know yourself by yourself, O you of unerring vision, to be a portion of the Supreme Person, the Supreme Self; / born unborn for the welfare of the world, let the rising glory of that great soul be celebrated.

21. O Vyasa, of unfailing and unerring perception (do you) understand that you are yourself an *amsa* of that glorious *Parama Purusha*, who, though unborn, appears in the world to promote its welfare, and (do you) describe at great length the doings of Sri Hari, the Omnipotent.

1.5.22

idaṃ hi puṃsastapasaḥ śrutasya vā sviṣṭasya sūktasya ca buddhidattayoḥ /
avicyuto 'rthaḥ kavibhirnirūpito yaduttamaślokaguṇānuvarṇanam //

This indeed is the unfailing purpose of a person's austerity, sacred learning, well-performed sacrifice, sacred hymn, and intellect and charity, / as determined by poets: the description of the qualities of Him of highest renown.

22. The real and eternal, intrinsic and necessary purpose of man to be attained by means of *Tapas*, studies, sacrifices, the construction of tanks and wells etc. and by means of what is learnt and what is given away in charity, is indeed, the wise say, to sing with devotion the excellent powers of that glorious Lord.

1.5.23

ahaṃ purātītabhave 'bhavaṃ mune dāsyāstu kasyāścana vedavādinām /
nirūpito bālaka eva yogināṃ śuśrūṣaṇe prāvṛṣi nirvivikṣatām //

In a past birth, O sage, I was the son of a maidservant of certain exponents of the Veda; / though only a boy, I was engaged in the service of yogins who wished to stay together during the rainy season.

23. [By association with the righteous, one gains opportunities for hearing the stories of Sri Hari;] O sage, formerly, in a past life, I was born of a woman who was a servant of Brahmins versed in the Vedas; and I was asked to do service, while yet a boy, to certain ascetics (Yogins) who wished to stay in, during the rainy season (Chaturmasya).

1.5.24

te mayyapetākhilacāpale 'rbhake dānte 'dhṛtakrīḍanake 'nuvartini /
cakruḥ kṛpāṃ yadyapi tulyadarśanāḥ śuśrūṣamāṇe munayo 'lpabhāṣiṇi //

To me, a child free from all fickleness, self-controlled, who had given up toys, obedient, / serving them, and speaking little, those sages, though impartial in vision, showed mercy.

24. Though they viewed all to be equal, those ascetics were (particularly) kind to me who was a boy free from all

childish caprice, possessed of control over the senses, with no liking for play-things, ready to do them any service and (always) waiting upon them, modest of speech.

1.5.25

ucchiṣṭalepān anumodito dvijaiḥ sakṛt sma bhuñje tadapāstakilbiṣaḥ /
evaṃ pravṛttasya viśuddhacetasas taddharma evātmaruciḥ prajāyate //

Permitted by the twice-born, I once ate the remnants of their food; thereby my sins were cast off. / In me, thus engaged, with my mind purified, a personal taste for that dharma arose.

25. Permitted by those Brahmans I once ate what was left in the plates out of which they had partaken, and thereby I became cleansed of all sins. For having thus (served them) and gained purity of mind, I conceived a taste for their virtuous ways.

1.5.26

tatrānvahaṃ kṛṣṇakathāḥ pragāyatām anugraheṇāśṛṇavaṃ manoharāḥ /
tāḥ śraddhayā me 'nupadaṃ viśṛṇvataḥ priyaśravasyaṅga mamābhavadruciḥ //

There, day after day, through their grace, I listened to the captivating narratives of Kṛṣṇa sung by them. / As I listened with faith at every word, my dear, a taste for Him of dear renown arose in me.

26. O sage Vyasa! there (in their society) by the favour of those great souls who daily sang of Sri Krishna’s deeds, I (day after day) listened to the most fascinating discourses upon the Lord; listening every moment with faith to those stories, my Lord, I began to find delight in Sri Krishna whose glory delights (the world).

1.5.27

tasmiṃstadā labdharucermahāmate priyaśravasyaskhalitā matirmama /
yayāham etat sadasat svamāyayā paśye mayi brahmaṇi kalpitaṃ pare //

When that taste was attained, O noble-minded one, my mind became unswerving toward Him of dear renown, / by which I saw that this [universe], both existent and non-existent, is imagined by His creative power in me, [rooted] in the supreme Brahman.

27. O great sage, then my love to Sri Krishna, of delightful glory, became so intense that a firm perception (an unswerving devotion) arose in me, by which *I see that I am none other than the Para Brahman transcending the world, and that (all) this gross and subtle body is a creation of the Maya of self.

1.5.28

itthaṃ śaratprāvṛṣikāvṛtū harer viśṛṇvato me 'nusavaṃ yaśo 'malam /
saṅkīrtyamānaṃ munibhirmahātmabhir bhaktiḥ pravṛttātmarajastamopahā //

In this way, as I listened continuously through the autumn and rainy seasons to the spotless glory of Hari / being chanted by the great-souled sages, devotion arose, destroying my passion and darkness.

28. When through the rainy and winter seasons, I thus listened to those great sages who thrice in the day sang of the spotless glory of Sri Hari, such intense devotion arose in me as eradicated all the influence of *Rajas* and *Tamas* in my heart.

1.5.29

tasyaivaṃ me 'nuraktasya praśritasya hatainasaḥ /
śraddadhānasya bālasya dāntasyānucarasya ca //

To me, who was thus attached, humble, freed from sin, / faithful, a boy, self-controlled, and an attendant,

29-30. Seeing that I was deeply taken up with their pious life and filled with a passion for it, and seeing also that I was humble, cleansed of sin, full of faith and that I had control over my passions and waited upon them, those ascetics, when about to depart, being naturally compassionate to the distressed, imparted to me who was still a young boy, that knowledge of the secret of secrets, known as the Bhagavata, which the Lord Himself directly revealed.

1.5.30

jñānaṃ guhyatamaṃ yat tat sākṣādbhagavatoditam /
anvavocan gamiṣyantaḥ kṛpayā dīnavatsalāḥ //

as they were about to depart, those who are compassionate to the wretched explained out of mercy / that most secret knowledge which was directly spoken by the Lord,

1.5.31

yenaivāhaṃ bhagavato vāsudevasya vedhasaḥ /
māyānubhāvam avidaṃ yena gacchanti tatpadam //

by which alone I came to know the power of the creative power of the Lord Vāsudeva, the creator, / and by which [devotees] attain His realm.

31. They initiated me into that knowledge by which I have been able to understand the Maya (glory) of Bhagavan Vasudeva,

the Omnipotent author of the Universe,—by means of which wise men attain to the abode of the glorious Lord.

1.5.32

etat saṃsūcitaṃ brahmaṃstāpatrayacikitsitam /
yadīśvare bhagavati karma brahmaṇi bhāvitam //

This is indicated, O brāhmaṇa, as the remedy for the threefold suffering: / that action which is dedicated to the Lord, the supreme Brahman.

32. *And this was also indicated by them, O Brahmin, which is the remedy for the threefold misery—namely, the *karma*, *i.e.*, the course of righteous duties to be performed and resigned to the perfect Brahman, the glorious Ruler of all.

1.5.33

āmayo yaśca bhūtānāṃ jāyate yena suvrata /
tadeva hyāmayaṃ dravyaṃ na punāti cikitsitam //

Whatever disease arises in living beings by a certain substance, O faithful to your vows, / does not that very substance, when treated as medicine, cure the disease?

33-34. O sage of commendable austerities, it is true that in the case of living beings the very stuff which produces a particular disease, cannot also remedy it; but when medicated in composition with other things it may become a cure; similarly, in the case of men, all the *karmas* (the courses of duties) lead to Samsara; but they may themselves become the means of obtaining freedom from the sphere of duties, when they are performed and offered to the Supreme Lord as acts done in His worship.

1.5.34

evaṃ nṛṇāṃ kriyāyogāḥ sarve saṃsṛtihetavaḥ /
ta evātmavināśāya kalpante kalpitāḥ pare //

"In this way, all actions of men that are the causes of transmigration

1.5.35

yadatra kriyate karma bhagavatparitoṣaṇam /
jñānaṃ yat tadadhīnaṃ hi bhaktiyogasamanvitam //

Whatever work is performed here for the satisfaction of the Lord,

35. What *karma* pleases the Lord when performed here,—upon such *karma* depends that knowledge which is accompanied by devotion to Him—[such karma is the source of knowledge or wisdom, on which *karma-meemamsa* rests well founded].

1.5.36

kurvāṇā yatra karmāṇi bhagavacchikṣayāsakṛt /
gṛṇanti guṇanāmāni kṛṣṇasyānusmaranti ca //

Performing works here continually according to the teaching of the Lord,

36. *When men constantly do their duties as laid down by the Lord Himself (*vide* Gita), they necessarily sing of Sri Krishna's excellent attributes and names; (thereby devotion is developed in them).

1.5.37

oṃ namo bhagavate tubhyaṃ vāsudevāya dhīmahi /
pradyumnāyāniruddhāya namaḥ saṅkarṣaṇāya ca //

‘Om, reverence to you, the Lord Vāsudeva; we meditate on [you];

37. I bow down to, and meditate on, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarshana: I bow down to Thee, the glorious Lord of all powers.

1.5.38

iti mūrtyabhidhānena mantramūrtim amūrtikam /
yajate yajñapuruṣaṃ sa samyag darśanaḥ pumān //

Thus through the designation of his forms, he who worships the formless Lord of sacrifice,

38. *He is, indeed, the man of right vision who thus worships the Lord of sacrifices, by mentioning the names of (and contemplating) the glorious forms of the Lord who has no form

other than what is contained in the Mantras, of whom Mantra is the form.

1.5.39

imaṃ svanigamaṃ brahmann avetya madanuṣṭhitam /
adān me jñānam aiśvaryaṃ svasmin bhāvaṃ ca keśavaḥ //

Knowing that I carried out this injunction of his, O brāhmaṇa,

39. O Vyasa, the foremost Brahmana, Sri Hari was pleased to see how I meditated on Him with the Mantra which is His own precept, and how I was devoted to Him, and He graciously bestowed on me knowledge (of self), glory (divine power), and firm devotion towards Him.

1.5.40

tvam apyadabhraśruta viśrutaṃ vibhoḥ samāpyate yena vidāṃ bubhutsitam /
prākhyāhi duḥkhairmuhurarditātmanāṃ saṅkleśanirvāṇam uśanti nānyathā //

You too, of boundless learning, proclaim the renowned glory of the all-pervading Lord, by which the desire to know among the wise is satisfied;

40. Therefore, O sage of unlimited knowledge, sing (mainly) of the glory of the Omnipresent Hari, by knowing which even the wise (hope to) reach the end of their quest, which alone, and no other, the wise know to be the remedy for the miseries of beings that are repeatedly tossed in *Samsara*.