Bhagavatapurana 11.8: athāṣṭamo'dhyāyaḥ

11.8.1

/0 śrī-brāhmaṇa uvāca
sukham aindriyakaṃ rājan svarge naraka eva ca /
dehināṃ yad yathā duḥkhaṃ tasmān neccheta tad-budhaḥ //

The Brāhmaṇa said:
Sensory pleasure, O King, in heaven and even in hell, / comes to embodied beings just as sorrow does; therefore the wise man should not crave it.

1. The Brahmana said:--The pleasure like pain of the senses, O king, creatures invested with a body may find in Swarga or Naraka: therefore the wise man should not seek after it.

11.8.2

grāsaṃ su-mṛṣṭaṃ virasaṃ mahāntaṃ stokam eva vā /
yadṛcchayaivāpatitaṃ grased ājagaro 'kriyaḥ //

Whether the morsel be delicious or tasteless, plentiful or very little, / the inactive python should swallow whatever has arrived by mere chance.

2. Imitating the Ajagara (boa-constructor) one should make no effort, but only swallow the mouthful that is by chance brought to him, delicious or distasteful, much or little.

11.8.3

śayītāhāni bhūrīṇi nirāhāro 'nupakramaḥ /
yadi nopanayed grāso mahāhir iva diṣṭa-bhuk //

He should lie motionless for many days, taking no food and making no effort,
if no mouthful arrives, accepting his fate like a great python.

3. If no food reaches him, he should lie quiet (even) for a long time without any food and without any exertion to get it; for he ought, like the huge serpent, to subsist (only) on what Providence brings him.

11.8.4

ojaḥ-saho-bala-yutaṃ bibhrad deham akarmakam /
śayāno vīta-nidraś ca nehetendriyavān api //

Maintaining a body endowed with vigor, endurance, and strength, yet engaging in no action,
lying awake and with all senses intact, he should make no exertion.

4. Possessed of a body full of energy, strength and spirit, but free from all physical activity he should lie down, but not sleep and he should not proceed to do anything, though he has sound organs.

11.8.5

muniḥ prasanna-gambhīro durvigāhyo duratyayaḥ /
ananta-pāro hy akṣobhyaḥ stimitoda ivārṇavaḥ //

A sage should be tranquil and profound, inscrutable, insurmountable,
boundless, and unshakeable, like the calm waters of the ocean.

5. He should be a silent contemplatist like a sea of still waters, clear and deep, inscrutable, inviolable, indefinable (by time and space) and not liable to be perturbed.

11.8.6

samṛddha-kāmo hīno vā nārāyaṇa-paro muniḥ /
notsarpeta na śuṣyeta saridbhir iva sāgaraḥ //

Whether his desires are fulfilled or frustrated, the sage devoted to Nārāyaṇa
does not swell, nor does he dry up, just as the ocean [remains unchanged] by the rivers.

6. Whether he has or has not all the desired things, the sage, devoted to Narayana, ought not to swell (with joy) or to be depressed in disappointment, just as the sea does not whether rivers do or do not, flow into it.

11.8.7

dṛṣṭvā striyaṃ deva-māyāṃ tad-bhāvair ajitendriyaḥ /
pralobhitaḥ pataty andhe tamasy agnau pataṅga-vat //

Seeing a woman, the creative power of God, he who has not conquered his senses,
enticed by her alluring gestures, falls into blind darkness, as a moth into fire.

7. On seeing a woman, the god's Maya (the deluding power), he who has no control over his senses, falls allured by her behaviour and feelings, into the blinding darkness, as a moth falls into fire.

11.8.8

yoṣid-dhiraṇyābharaṇāmbarādi- dravyeṣu māyā-raciteṣu mūḍhaḥ /
pralobhitātmā hy upabhoga-buddhyā pataṅga-van naśyati naṣṭa-dṛṣṭiḥ //

A fool, seduced by women, gold, ornaments, clothing, and other objects
fashioned by creative power, his mind enticed by thoughts of enjoyment, perishes with ruined vision, like a moth.

8. The fool who with his mind allured by women, gold ornaments, cloths and other things instituted by Maya regards them as things intended for his enjoyment, loses his correct vision and perishes like a moth.

11.8.9

stokaṃ stokaṃ grased grāsaṃ deho varteta yāvatā /
gṛhān ahiṃsann ātiṣṭhed vṛttiṃ mādhukarīṃ muniḥ //

He should swallow food in tiny morsels, only as much as sustains the body;
without harming households, a sage should adopt the bee-like lifestyle.

9. A sage ought to take food only in small qualities just enough to keep the body alive and without becoming troublesome to the house-holders, he should follow the course of the bee (he should live by alms of food [and he should leave the house.]

11.8.10

aṇubhyaś ca mahadbhyaś ca śāstrebhyaḥ kuśalo naraḥ /
sarvataḥ sāram ādadyāt puṣpebhya iva ṣaṭpadaḥ //

From small and large scriptures alike, a skilled person
should extract the essence from everywhere, like a bee from flowers.

10. From sastras, great or small in extent, the intelligent man should extract the essence (the spirit of devotion L) from all, just as the bee does from flowers.

11.8.11

sāyantanaṃ śvastanaṃ vā na saṅgṛhṇīta bhikṣitam /
pāṇi-pātrodarāmatro makṣikeva na saṅgrahī //

He should not hoard alms for the evening or for the next day;
having only his hands for a vessel and his belly for a measure, he should not collect [stores] like a honeybee.

11. He should not earn his food (to keep in store) for the evening or for the morrow, have no vessels other than his hands and stomach, and ought not to lay by like the bee.

11.8.12

sāyantanaṃ śvastanaṃ vā na saṅgṛhṇīta bhikṣukaḥ /
makṣikā iva saṅgṛhṇan saha tena vinaśyati //

An ascetic should not store up food for the evening or for the morrow;
if he hoards like a honeybee, he perishes along with his hoard.

12. In taking alms he should not accept it in order to lay by for the evening or for the morrow: if he does so, he perishes like bees, together with the store.

11.8.13

padāpi yuvatīṃ bhikṣur na spṛśed dāravīm api /
spṛśan karīva badhyeta kariṇyā aṅga-saṅgataḥ //

An ascetic should not touch a young woman even with his foot, nor even a wooden image [of one];
touching her, he would be bound like a male elephant through bodily contact with a female elephant.

13. The sage, leading an ascetic life, should not touch even with his foot a youthful woman, even if it be a wooden doll; if he should, he would get himself fettered like the elephant brought in contact with a she-elephant.

11.8.14

nādhigacchet striyaṃ prājñaḥ karhicin mṛtyum ātmanaḥ /
balādhikaiḥ sa hanyeta gajair anyair gajo yathā //

A wise person should never approach a woman, who is death to him;
he would be killed by others stronger than himself, as an elephant is by other [rival] elephants.

14. A wise person ought never to approach a (another's) woman, for she is his death: he might be killed by the stronger, like a weak elephant by other elephants.

11.8.15

na deyaṃ nopabhogyaṃ ca lubdhair yad duḥkha-sañcitam /
bhuṅkte tad api tac cānyo madhu-hevārthavin madhu //

Whatever has been gathered with hardship by greedy men, neither given away nor enjoyed,
even that is enjoyed by someone else, as a honey-gatherer takes the honey.

15. What wealth is stored up by misers at great pains is neither given nor enjoyed by them, but another enjoys it; and that still another like the honey-gatherer who knows where it is and goes to collect it.

11.8.16

su-duḥkhopārjitair vittair āśāsānāṃ gṛhāśiṣaḥ /
madhu-hevāgrato bhuṅkte yatir vai gṛha-medhinām //

Householders desire worldly blessings through wealth acquired with great sorrow;
the ascetic enjoys the foremost part of it, like a honey-gatherer [taking honey].

16. Like the honey-gatherer, the ascetic first enjoys those comforts which, with his hard earned wealth and means, the house-holder seeks to find (So the ascetic needs not himself labour for their sake V).

11.8.17

grāmya-gītaṃ na śṛṇuyād yatir vana-caraḥ kvacit /
śikṣeta hariṇād baddhān mṛgayor gīta-mohitāt //

A forest-dwelling ascetic should never listen to vulgar songs;
he should learn from the deer that is captured by a hunter, charmed by music.

17. Abiding in the woods, the ascetic should not listen to vul-

gar music, and this he should learn from the deer which, deluded by the hunter's music, gets ensnared.

11.8.18

nṛtya-vāditra-gītāni juṣan grāmyāṇi yoṣitām /
āsāṃ krīḍanako vaśya ṛṣyaśṛṅgo mṛgī-sutaḥ //

Enjoying the vulgar dances, instruments, and songs of women,
the sage Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, the son of a doe, became their plaything and subject to their will.

18. Finding delight in vulgar objects such as dance, instrumental music or songs of women, he would become (blind and insensible like) a toy in their hands, just as the sage Rishyasringa born of the deer did.

11.8.19

jihvayāti-pramāthinyā jano rasa-vimohitaḥ /
mṛtyum ṛcchaty asad-buddhir mīnas tu baḍiśair yathā //

Deluded by taste through the violently agitating tongue,
a person of foolish intellect meets death, just as a fish does by the hook.

19. Stupefied with the charms of taste, creatures through the irresistibly erring tongue [ignorant of the truth D] lose their sense and go to ruin like the fish attracted by baits.

11.8.20

indriyāṇi jayanty āśu nirāhārā manīṣiṇaḥ /
varjayitvā tu rasanaṃ tan nirannasya vardhate //

Wise people swiftly conquer the senses by fasting from food,
except for the tongue; indeed, the [desire of the] tongue increases for one who fasts.

20. Thoughtful men soon subdue their senses by fasting, except the sense of taste, which grows stronger in the famished creature.

11.8.21

tāvaj jitendriyo na syād vijitānyendriyaḥ pumān /
na jayed rasanaṃ yāvaj jitaṃ sarvaṃ jite rase //

A person who has conquered the other senses cannot be considered master of the senses
until he conquers the tongue; when taste is conquered, everything is conquered.

21. Though he has subdued all the other senses he cannot said to have conquered them so long as he has not conquered the sense of taste: for everything is conquered when taste is conquered.

11.8.22

piṅgalā nāma veśyāsīd videha-nagare purā /
tasyā me śikṣitaṃ kiñcin nibodha nṛpa-nandana //

Formerly, in the city of Videha, there was a prostitute named Piṅgalā;
learn from me, O prince, what was learned from her.

22. There was formerly in the city of Videhas, a public woman called Pingala: from her I learnt something; do thou know that, O Prince.

11.8.23

sā svairiṇy ekadā kāntaṃ saṅketa upaneṣyatī /
abhūt kāle bahir dvāre bibhratī rūpam uttamam //

Once, that self-willed woman, intending to bring a lover to a rendezvous,
stood at the outer door at the appointed hour, displaying an exquisite form.

23. One day, expecting some paramour to be brought to (meet her at) the appointed place, that public woman waited in time outside the entrance, exhibiting her graces in the best style.

11.8.24

mārga āgacchato vīkṣya puruṣān puruṣarṣabha /
tān śulka-dān vittavataḥ kāntān mene 'rtha-kāmukī //

Seeing men coming along the street, O best of men,
she, longing for money, regarded them as lovers capable of paying the fee and having wealth.

24. As she saw persons that passed by the way, O great king, she imagined them to be rich people coming in quest of her and bringing her fees, for she wanted money.

11.8.25

āgateṣv apayāteṣu sā saṅketopajīvinī /
apy anyo vittavān ko 'pi mām upaiṣyati bhūri-daḥ //

As they came and went, she, whose livelihood depended on such encounters, thought:
'Perhaps some other wealthy man, giving lavishly, will come to me.'

25. As they went past her, she who made a living by (daily) engagements, indulged (at every turn) in thinking that some other wealthy man would go and richly pay her.

11.8.26

evaṃ durāśayā dhvasta- nidrā dvāry avalambatī /
nirgacchantī praviśatī niśīthaṃ samapadyata //

Thus, deprived of sleep by false hope, lingering at the door,
going out and coming in, midnight arrived.

26. With this inordinate desire she waited sleepless at the door, going in and out; and it was past midnight.

11.8.27

tasyā vittāśayā śuṣyad- vaktrāyā dīna-cetasaḥ /
nirvedaḥ paramo jajñe cintā-hetuḥ sukhāvahaḥ //

In her, with a drying mouth and wretched mind through hope of wealth,
there arose supreme detachment, born of anxiety, which brings happiness.

27. Her tongue parched up, her heart drooping, through her longing for money, she felt extreme disgust which, arising out of (was the knife to cut off) her anxiety, tended to her real happiness.

11.8.28

tasyā nirviṇṇa-cittāyā gītaṃ śṛṇu yathā mama /
nirveda āśā-pāśānāṃ puruṣasya yathā hy asiḥ //

Listen to her song, as [it became] mine, when her mind was filled with detachment;
for detachment is indeed a sword to sever the fetters of desire for a person.

28. Listen as I tell you to what she in her utter disappointment sang: "The spirit of indifference to worldly objects is like unto a sword in the hands of a man to cut off the cords of desire."

11.8.29

na hy aṅgājāta-nirvedo deha-bandhaṃ jihāsati /
yathā vijñāna-rahito manujo mamatāṃ nṛpa //

One in whom detachment has not arisen, my dear, does not wish to abandon the bondage of the body,
just as a person devoid of wisdom does not abandon possessiveness, O king.

29. For no person that feels no disgust would like to be rid of

the bodily ties, just as no man without insight into the truth, could rid himself of the notions of ‘I’ and ‘Mine.’

11.8.30

/0 piṅgalovāca
aho me moha-vitatiṃ paśyatāvijitātmanaḥ /
yā kāntād asataḥ kāmaṃ kāmaye yena bāliśā //

Piṅgalā said:
Alas, look at the extent of my delusion, I whose self is uncontrolled,
such that, foolish as I am, I desire lustful pleasure from an unworthy paramour!

30. & 31. Pingala said:— “Lo: How deluded am I for want of control over my (mind and) heart and how foolish I am to seek after the fulfilment of my desire at the hands of a paramour that exists nowhere; for I abandon the eternal lover who is close by, capable of giving real delight and bestowing wealth on me, and in my ignorance I resort to a worthless creature who cannot grant my desire, but who brings only grief, fear and endless misery and delusion!

11.8.31

santaṃ samīpe ramaṇaṃ rati-pradaṃ vitta-pradaṃ nityam imaṃ vihāya /
akāma-daṃ duḥkha-bhayādhi-śoka- moha-pradaṃ tuccham ahaṃ bhaje 'jñā //

Leaving this eternal lover who is near at hand, who grants bliss and gives wealth,
ignorant me, I court a petty man who cannot grant true desires and brings grief, fear, mental anguish, sorrow, and delusion!

11.8.32

aho mayātmā paritāpito vṛthā sāṅketya-vṛttyāti-vigarhya-vārtayā /
straiṇān narād yārtha-tṛṣo 'nuśocyāt krītena vittaṃ ratim ātmanecchatī //

Alas, in vain have I tormented my soul with the trade of assignation, a most contemptible occupation,
wishing for wealth and pleasure by selling myself to a lustful, pitiable man who thirsts for money!

32. “ Alas: my own self (mind) has been to no purpose put to affliction by this keeping a house of appointment (by this trade, of living on fees), a most reproachful trade, since I fondly desired to find wealth and pleasure by selling myself to a mortal addicted to women, yet miserly and pitiable.

11.8.32.p1

yad asthibhir nirmita-vaṃśa-vaṃsya- $ sthūṇaṃ tvacā roma-nakhaiḥ pinaddham &

This dwelling constructed with bones for rafters and beams,
covered with skin, hair, and nails,

33. “ Who other than myself would betake to this house which is built of bones that are like unto the beams and rafters resting on posts, which covered with skin, hair and nails, furnished with nine openings for discharging filth and filled with dung and urine?

11.8.33

kṣaran-nava-dvāram agāram etad % viṇ-mūtra-pūrṇaṃ mad upaiti kānyā //

leaking through nine gates, filled with feces and urine—
what other woman would embrace it besides me?

11.8.34

videhānāṃ pure hy asminn aham ekaiva mūḍha-dhīḥ /
yānyam icchanty asaty asmād ātma-dāt kāmam acyutāt //

Indeed, in this city of the Videhas, I alone am dull-witted,
for I desire pleasure from someone else, untrue, rather than from Acyuta who gives Himself!

34. “ In the whole city of Videhas I am indeed the only one foolish soul, a bad woman, seeking an object of desire other than Achyuta who bestows self-realisation.

11.8.35

suhṛt preṣṭhatamo nātha ātmā cāyaṃ śarīriṇām /
taṃ vikrīyātmanaivāhaṃ rame 'nena yathā ramā //

He is the friend, dearest one, lord, and very self of all embodied beings;
having offered myself to Him, I shall delight in Him, just as Ramā does.

35. “ It is He who to all beings is the friend, most beloved one, the Lord and Self: having purchased Him by offering my own self as the price, like Rama (Lakshmi) I shall find pleasure with Him.

11.8.36

kiyat priyaṃ te vyabhajan kāmā ye kāma-dā narāḥ /
ādy-antavanto bhāryāyā devā vā kāla-vidrutāḥ //

How much pleasure could those desires give, or those men who grant desires,
who have a beginning and an end, or even the gods, who are swept away by Time?

36. Be they the desired objects or men or the gods that can bring pleasure; all have a biginning and an end, and are outstripped by Time; what delight could they confer on a wife?

11.8.37

nūnaṃ me bhagavān prīto viṣṇuḥ kenāpi karmaṇā /
nirvedo 'yaṃ durāśāyā yan me jātaḥ sukhāvahaḥ //

Surely the Lord Viṣṇu is pleased with me on account of some past deed,
since this detachment, which brings happiness, has arisen in me, dispelling wicked hope.

37. Certainly the Almighty Lord Vishnu has been pleased with me for some good act (unknown to me); therefore this renunciation, the way of happiness, has been engendered in me possessed with a bad desire.

11.8.38

maivaṃ syur manda-bhāgyāyāḥ kleśā nirveda-hetavaḥ /
yenānubandhaṃ nirhṛtya puruṣaḥ śamam ṛcchati //

Such afflictions, which lead to detachment,
by which a man severs his attachment and attains peace, would not occur to an unfortunate woman.

38. If I had been poor of merit, (If the Lord had not been propitious unto me poor of merit, V) such disappointments as lead to renunciation would not have arisen, which enables a person to abandon all attachments and attain happiness.

11.8.39

tenopakṛtam ādāya śirasā grāmya-saṅgatāḥ /
tyaktvā durāśāḥ śaraṇaṃ vrajāmi tam adhīśvaram //

Accepting His favor with bowed head, and renouncing the vain hopes
associated with vulgar worldly attachments, I take refuge in that supreme Lord.

39. Having received with my head (with humble devotion) the kindness done by the Lord, I shun all the bad desires engendered in vulgar associations and resort to that Supreme Lord for shelter.

11.8.40

santuṣṭā śraddadhaty etad yathā-lābhena jīvatī /
viharāmy amunaivāham ātmanā ramaṇena vai //

Content and full of faith in this, living on whatever is obtained by chance,
I shall sport only with Him, my Self and lover.

40. Contented, full of faith (and) living on what chance brings me, I shall be at ease (find delight) with this most delightful Lord, Paramatman.

11.8.41

saṃsāra-kūpe patitaṃ viṣayair muṣitekṣaṇam /
grastaṃ kālāhinātmānaṃ ko 'nyas trātum adhīśvaraḥ //

When the soul has fallen into the well of the cycle of rebirth, blinded by sense objects,
and seized by the serpent of Time, who else is capable of protecting it?

41. "Who else could save the Atman (jiva) that has fallen in the deep well of samsara, with eyes blinded by the objects and is grasped by the serpent of Time?

11.8.42

ātmaiva hy ātmano goptā nirvidyeta yadākhilāt /
apramatta idaṃ paśyed grastaṃ kālāhinā jagat //

The self alone is indeed the protector of the self, when it becomes detached from everything,
and, vigilant, sees this universe swallowed by the serpent of Time.

42. "When digusted with everything else, Atman is the protector of Atman and one should carefully note this truth that this world is in the jaws of the serpent of Time."

11.8.43

/0 śrī-brāhmaṇa uvāca
evaṃ vyavasita-matir durāśāṃ kānta-tarṣa-jām /
chittvopaśamam āsthāya śayyām upaviveśa sā //

The brāhmaṇa said:
Having thus resolved her mind, cutting through the false hope born of longing for a lover,
and resting in serenity, she sat down upon her bed.

43. The Brahmana said:— Having arrived at this conclusion, cut off the bad desire of thirsting after a paramour and with a serene mind she took her seat on the cot.

11.8.44

āśā hi paramaṃ duḥkhaṃ nairāśyaṃ paramaṃ sukham /
yathā sañchidya kāntāśāṃ sukhaṃ suṣvāpa piṅgalā //

Hope is indeed the greatest misery, and freedom from hope is the greatest joy;
just as Piṅgalā, having severed hope for a lover, slept happily.

44. To be possessed with desires is indeed most painful; to get free from them is the happiest state: accordingly Pingala, rid of her desire for a paramour, enjoyed peaceful sleep.