Bhagavatapurana 11.12: atha dvādaśo'dhyāyaḥ

11.12.1

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
na rodhayati māṃ yogo na sāṅkhyaṃ dharma eva ca /
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo neṣṭā-pūrtaṃ na dakṣiṇā //

The Lord said: / Yoga does not bind me, nor Sāṅkhya, nor even dharma, / nor study of the Veda, austerity, renunciation, sacrifices and philanthropic deeds, nor the priestly gift,

1. The Lord said:—Neither yoga nor sankhya nor righteousness nor the study of the Vedas nor tapas nor liberal gifts nor sacrifices nor the construction of wells and tanks nor dakshinas influence Me;

11.12.2

vratāni yajñaś chandāṃsi tīrthāni niyamā yamāḥ /
yathāvarundhe sat-saṅgaḥ sarva-saṅgāpaho hi mām //

vows, sacrifice, Vedic meters, sacred pilgrimage sites, restraints, and observances, / as does the company of virtuous devotees, which destroys all attachments, indeed captivate me.

2. Neither the vows of self-denying habits nor yagna (worship of the gods) nor the mysterious mantras nor the sacred waters and holy places nor Niyamas nor yamas so gain Me over as does the association with the good, which puts an end to all attachments.

11.12.3

sat-saṅgena hi daiteyā yātudhānā mṛgāḥ khagāḥ /
gandharvāpsaraso nāgāḥ siddhāś cāraṇa-guhyakāḥ //

For through the company of virtuous devotees, Daityas, Yātudhānas, beasts, birds, / Gandharvas, Apsarases, Nāgas, Siddhas, Cāraṇas, and Guhyakas,

3 to 5. It is only by association with the wise and righteous that Diti's sons, Yatudhanas, many beasts and birds, Gandharvas and Apsaras women, Nagas, Siddhas, Charanas and Guhyakas, Vidyadharas and among men Vaisyas, Sudras, women and the out-

11.12.4

vidyādharā manuṣyeṣu vaiśyāḥ śūdrāḥ striyo 'ntya-jāḥ /
rajas-tamaḥ-prakṛtayas tasmiṃs tasmin yuge yuge //

Vidyādharas, and among human beings, Vaiśyas, Śūdras, women, and outcasts, / whose natures were driven by passion and darkness, across the various yugas,

casts born with the natural disposition of Rajas and Tamas in the several Yugas, O sinless one, and many like Twashtri's son, Prahlada and others have attained to My place.

11.12.5

bahavo mat-padaṃ prāptās tvāṣṭra-kāyādhavādayaḥ /
vṛṣaparvā balir bāṇo mayaś cātha vibhīṣaṇaḥ //

many have attained my state: Vṛtra the son of Tvaṣṭṛ, Prahlāda the son of Kayādhū, and others, / Vṛṣaparvan, Bali, Bāṇa, Maya, and also Vibhīṣaṇa,

6. Such are Vrishaparvan, Bali, Bana, Maya, Vibhishana, Sugriva, Hanuman, Jambavan, the elephant, the kite Jatayu, Tuladhara, Dharmavyadha, Kubja and Gopa-women in Vraja, the wives of brahmin sacrificers and many others.

11.12.6

sugrīvo hanumān ṛkṣo gajo gṛdhro vaṇikpathaḥ /
vyādhaḥ kubjā vraje gopyo yajña-patnyas tathāpare //

Sugrīva, Hanumān, Jāmbavān the bear, the elephant Gajendra, Jaṭāyu the vulture, the merchant Tulādhāra, / the hunter, Kubjā, the gopīs in Vraja, the wives of the sacrificial priests, and likewise others.

11.12.7

te nādhīta-śruti-gaṇā nopāsita-mahattamāḥ /
avratātapta-tapasaḥ mat-saṅgān mām upāgatāḥ //

They had not studied the corpus of revelation, nor attended upon the greatest sages; / without undertaking vows and without enduring austerities, through association with me they attained me.

7. All these had not studied the Vedas, did not sit at the feet of great men of learning for the sake of knowledge, observed no vows and did no hard penance; but only through association with the righteous (with Me) they attained to Me.

11.12.8

kevalena hi bhāvena gopyo gāvo nagā mṛgāḥ /
ye 'nye mūḍha-dhiyo nāgāḥ siddhā mām īyur añjasā //

Through pure devotional emotion alone the gopīs, cows, trees, beasts, / and other dull-witted serpents became perfected and swiftly reached me.

8. Only by virtue of their devotion gopis, cows, trees, beasts, Nagas (serpents) and many others of dull-witted nature became accomplished and attained to Me without the least difficulty—

11.12.9

yaṃ na yogena sāṅkhyena dāna-vrata-tapo-'dhvaraiḥ /
vyākhyā-svādhyāya-sannyāsaiḥ prāpnuyād yatnavān api //

Whom one could not reach through yoga, Sāṅkhya, giving, vows, austerities, sacrifices, / philosophical exposition, personal study of the Veda, or renunciation, even with great endeavor,

9. —To Me whom even a person making great endeavours could not reach by yoga or sankhya or gifts or vows or tapas or sacrificial duties, or by teaching the holy books, studying the Vedas or turning into a sanyasin.

11.12.10

rāmeṇa sārdhaṃ mathurāṃ praṇīte śvāphalkinā mayy anurakta-cittāḥ /
vigāḍha-bhāvena na me viyoga- tīvrādhayo 'nyaṃ dadṛśuḥ sukhāya //

when I was taken along with Balarāma to Mathurā by Akrūra the son of Śvaphalka, those [gopīs] whose minds were devoted to me / through deeply immersed devotional emotion, with intense sorrow born of separation from me, saw nothing else that could bring them joy.

10. When (I was taken by Akrura to Mathura with Rama), their hearts given to Me in the most intense devotion and full of very great anxiety about separation, they did not think of and look at any body else to find pleasure.

11.12.11

tās tāḥ kṣapāḥ preṣṭhatamena nītā mayaiva vṛndāvana-gocareṇa /
kṣaṇārdha-vat tāḥ punar aṅga tāsāṃ hīnā mayā kalpa-samā babhūvuḥ //

Those nights spent with me, the most beloved, wandering in Vṛndāvana, / had passed like half a moment, yet, my dear friend, deprived of me they became equal to an aeon.

11. Those various nights which they spent like a moment with Me their most beloved one, while at Brindavana, became to them in My absence as heavy as ages.

11.12.12

tā nāvidan mayy anuṣaṅga-baddha- dhiyaḥ svam ātmānam adas tathedam /
yathā samādhau munayo 'bdhi-toye nadyaḥ praviṣṭā iva nāma-rūpe //

With their minds bound to me by deep attachment, they did not know themselves, nor that, nor this, / just as sages in deep absorption, or rivers entered into the waters of the ocean, lose their name and form.

12. Their heart and mind fastened on to Me in devotion they were not conscious of their own body or what was near or at a distance, just as sages are not while in deep meditation, or as rivers that have entered the sea-water are not distinguished by name and form.

11.12.13

mat-kāmā ramaṇaṃ jāram asvarūpa-vido 'balāḥ /
brahma māṃ paramaṃ prāpuḥ saṅgāc chata-sahasraśaḥ //

Longing for me as a lover, a paramour, those women, unaware of my true nature, / by the hundreds of thousands attained me, the supreme Brahman, through association.

13. Full of passion for Me, thinking Me their Lord and paramour, though they were not aware of My nature, those women, hundreds and thousands, attained to Me the Supreme Brahman, because they associated themselves with the good.

11.12.14

tasmāt tvam uddhavotsṛjya codanāṃ praticodanām /
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca śrotavyaṃ śrutam eva ca //

Therefore, O Uddhava, abandoning injunction and prohibition, / worldly action and renunciation, that which is yet to be heard and that which has been heard,

14. & 15. Therefore, O Uddhava, rising above the rules and counter-rules, the course of Pravritta karma and Nirvritta karma, what is yet to be studied or what is already studied, do seek after shelter from Me the Atman of all creatures, with absolute devotion and only thereby thou wilt be free from fear from all causes.

11.12.15

mām ekam eva śaraṇam ātmānaṃ sarva-dehinām /
yāhi sarvātma-bhāvena mayā syā hy akuto-bhayaḥ //

take refuge in me alone, the self of all embodied beings, / with your entire being; by me you will indeed become free from all fear.

11.12.16

/0 śrī-uddhava uvāca
saṃśayaḥ śṛṇvato vācaṃ tava yogeśvareśvara /
na nivartata ātma-stho yena bhrāmyati me manaḥ //

Śrī Uddhava said: / Hearing your words, O Lord of the masters of yoga, / the doubt residing within my self does not depart, and because of it my mind is bewildered.

16. Uddhava said:— O Supreme Master of great yogins, I hear Thy words; yet the doubt in My mind is not gone: and so my mind wavers (in confusion).

11.12.17

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
sa eṣa jīvo vivara-prasūtiḥ prāṇena ghoṣeṇa guhāṃ praviṣṭaḥ /
mano-mayaṃ sūkṣmam upetya rūpaṃ mātrā svaro varṇa iti sthaviṣṭhaḥ //

The Lord said: / That very living soul, born of the cavity [of the body], enters the heart-cave along with the vital breath and sound; / having assumed a subtle form composed of mind, it becomes grossest as measure, tone, and letter.

17. The Lord said:— That self-evident Paramatman who gives life to all is manifest in the openings (called chakras) and having entered the cave called Adhara chakra along with the Sonant Prana and assumed the subtle form in the mind (called Pasyanti and Madhyama in Manipora chakra and also having next shown Himself in the Visuddhi chakra) and having in the mouth taken the form of accents and vowel grades and articulate sounds, finally manifests Himself in the gross form (called Vaikhari) of Vedas and their branches.

11.12.18

yathānalaḥ khe 'nila-bandhur uṣmā balena dāruṇy adhimathyamānaḥ /
aṇuḥ prajāto haviṣā samedhate tathaiva me vyaktir iyaṃ hi vāṇī //

Just as fire, subtle heat dwelling in the ether, an ally of the wind, when churned with force in wood / is born minute and grows strong through ghee, so too is this speech, which is my manifestation.

18. Just as fire is in a subtle form in the sky as warmth, and in a piece of wood when churned with strength and with the help of Vayu is born as a spark and then blows into a big fire through offerings, so is My manifestation in the form of Speech (Vedic speech).

11.12.19

evaṃ gadiḥ karma gatir visargo ghrāṇo raso dṛk sparśaḥ śrutiś ca /
saṅkalpa-vijñānam athābhimānaḥ sūtraṃ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vikāraḥ //

Thus speech, action, locomotion, excretion; smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing; / mental resolve, discernment, and ego; the cosmic thread, and the transformation of passion, purity, and darkness—

19. Thus the speech is My manifestation; The function of the hand and that of the feet of the excretory organs, organs of smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing, the faculties of will, intel-

lect, perceptions and judgment, Sutra of Ahankara, the modifications of Rajas, Satva and Tamas:—all these are similarly My manifestations.

11.12.20

ayaṃ hi jīvas tri-vṛd abja-yonir avyakta eko vayasā sa ādyaḥ /
viśliṣṭa-śaktir bahudheva bhāti bījāni yoniṃ pratipadya yadvat //

this living soul is threefold, born of the lotus, unmanifest, single, the primordial one in time; / its power differentiated, it appears manifold, just as seeds having entered the soil.

20. And this Iswara called Jiva unmanifest in the beginning and in course of time having allowed His powers to develop in the form of speech and other organs, (or having embraced as it were the power of Maya) appears to be in many forms: for He is the first to become the support of the three gunas and the cause of the lotus of this world, just as seeds having taken their place in the soil exhibit many forms.

11.12.21

yasminn idaṃ protam aśeṣam otaṃ paṭo yathā tantu-vitāna-saṃsthaḥ /
ya eṣa saṃsāra-taruḥ purāṇaḥ karmātmakaḥ puṣpa-phale prasūte //

In whom this entire world is woven lengthwise and crosswise, like cloth established in an expanse of threads— / this is the ancient tree of the cycle of rebirth, whose nature is karma, yielding flowers and fruits.

21. It is in Atman this Universe is woven warp and woof like a cloth in the expanse of threads and this tree of samsara is a very old one without a beginning characterised by activities and it puts forth flowers (Karma) and fruits, i. e., enjoyments and Moksha.

11.12.22

dve asya bīje śata-mūlas tri-nālaḥ pañca-skandhaḥ pañca-rasa-prasūtiḥ /
daśaika-śākho dvi-suparṇa-nīḍas tri-valkalo dvi-phalo 'rkaṃ praviṣṭaḥ //

Two are its seeds, a hundred its roots, three its trunks, five its main branches, producing five juices; / eleven are its boughs, two birds make their nest in it, three are its barks, two its fruits, and it extends into the sun.

22. It has two seeds, Punya and Papa, an hundred roots (innumerable tendencies), three stalks (three gunas), five main branches (Pancha-Bhutas), yielding five kinds of essence as sound, touch, etc, and eleven secondary branches, the ten senses and organs

and the mind, a nest for the two birds Jiva and Paramatman; it has three barks, Vata, Pitta and Sleshma, it bears two fruits, pain and pleasure and it spreads as far as the Sun's sphere.

11.12.23

adanti caikaṃ phalam asya gṛdhrā grāme-carā ekam araṇya-vāsāḥ /
haṃsā ya ekaṃ bahu-rūpam ijyair māyā-mayaṃ veda sa veda vedam //

Vultures dwelling in villages eat one of its fruits, while swans residing in the forest eat the other; / he who knows this one tree of diverse forms, made of creative power, through the worshipful teachers, knows the Veda.

23. The kites frequenting the village (the jivas that are attached to domestic life) and full of desires eat of the one fruit, i. e., misery and those who live in the forest (ascetics) and are full of discrimination and hence called Hamsas, eat of the other fruit; he who through preceptors tries to know the one Paramatman to be full of Mayas and in various forms is the one that has understood the Vedas.

11.12.24

evaṃ gurūpāsanayaika-bhaktyā vidyā-kuṭhāreṇa śitena dhīraḥ /
vivṛścya jīvāśayam apramattaḥ sampadya cātmānam atha tyajāstram //

Thus, through service to the guru with exclusive devotion, with the sharpened axe of knowledge, / having cut down the resting-place of the soul while remaining vigilant, and having attained the self, then lay down your weapon.

24. He who, having thus by means of worship of the preceptors and absolute devotion and full of wisdom cuts off with the keen-edged axe of knowledge and perfect vigilance the environments of the Jiva, attains to Atman and then casts off even the means thereof.