Bhagavatapurana 11.9: atha navamo'dhyāyaḥ

11.9.1

/0 śrī-brāhmaṇa uvāca
parigraho hi duḥkhāya yad yat priyatamaṃ nṛṇām /
anantaṃ sukham āpnoti tad vidvān yas tv akiñcanaḥ //

The brāhmaṇa said:
Possession indeed leads to sorrow, whatever is most dear to humans;
he who knows this, possessing nothing, attains endless happiness.

1. The Brahmana said:—The source of affliction is indeed the acquisition of whatever men desire most; that man attains unlimited happiness who knows this truth and does not think of any acquisition.

11.9.2

sāmiṣaṃ kuraraṃ jaghnur balino 'nye nirāmiṣāḥ /
tadāmiṣaṃ parityajya sa sukhaṃ samavindata //

Other stronger birds without meat attacked an osprey carrying meat;
abandoning that meat, it found happiness.

2. The stronger birds that had no flesh pounced upon a Kura-

ra that had a piece of flesh in its mouth, but the Kurara dropped it and became happy.

11.9.3

na me mānāpamānau sto na cintā geha-putriṇām /
ātma-krīḍa ātma-ratir vicarāmīha bāla-vat //

I have neither honor nor dishonor, nor the anxieties of those who have houses and children; / playing within the self, delighting in the self, I wander here like a child.

3. I feel neither honour nor dishonour: I do not think of the house, wife or children; sporting in Atman and delighted in Atman I go about here like a child. (Atman-Paramatman V. D.)

11.9.4

dvāv eva cintayā muktau paramānanda āplutau /
yo vimugdho jaḍo bālo yo guṇebhyaḥ paraṃ gataḥ //

Only two are free from care and immersed in supreme bliss: / the simple, innocent child, and he who has gone beyond the qualities of nature.

4. Only two are free from anxieties and immersed in the highest bliss—he who is a dull child without discretion and he who has transcended the influence of gunas, (realised the Supreme Being beyond the influence of gunas.)

11.9.5

kvacit kumārī tv ātmānaṃ vṛṇānān gṛham āgatān /
svayaṃ tān arhayām āsa kvāpi yāteṣu bandhuṣu //

Once a young maiden, when suitors seeking her hand in marriage arrived at her home, / personally showed them hospitality, while her relatives had gone elsewhere.

5. In a certain place a girl herself had to attend to the comforts of those that visited the house to choose her for a bride when her relations had gone out to some other place.

11.9.6

teṣām abhyavahārārthaṃ śālīn rahasi pārthiva /
avaghnantyāḥ prakoṣṭha-sthāś cakruḥ śaṅkhāḥ svanaṃ mahat //

As she was pounding rice in secret to provide food for them, O King, / the conch bangles resting on her wrists made a loud noise.

6. When, O king, for their entertainment she singly pounded the paddy, the Sankhas (shells) loudly jingled on her hand.

11.9.7

sā taj jugupsitaṃ matvā mahatī vṛīḍitā tataḥ /
babhañjaikaikaśaḥ śaṅkhān dvau dvau pāṇyor aśeṣayat //

Considering that shameful, the intelligent girl, feeling bashful, / broke the conch shells one by one, leaving only two on each arm.

7. The sensible girl thought it was awkward and, very much ashamed of it (poverty D), broke them one by one, leaving only two on each hand. [The girl of fit age for marriage D.]

11.9.8

ubhayor apy abhūd ghoṣo hy avaghnantyāḥ sva-śaṅkhayoḥ /
tatrāpy ekaṃ nirabhidad ekasmān nābhavad dhvaniḥ //

Yet from those two conch shells on each wrist there was still a clinking sound as she pounded; / thereupon she broke one more from each, and from a single [bangle] no sound arose.

8. Even those two caused noise, as she pounded; and so one of the two she broke again and no sound was then produced from the remaining one.

11.9.9

anvaśikṣam imaṃ tasyā upadeśam arindama /
lokān anucarann etān loka-tattva-vivitsayā //

I learned this instruction from her, O tamer of enemies, / while wandering through these worlds with a desire to know the truth of the world:

9. And this lesson I learnt from her, O slayer of foes, as I went through different places to know the true nature of the world.

11.9.10

vāse bahūnāṃ kalaho bhaved vārtā dvayor api /
eka eva vaset tasmāt kumāryā iva kaṅkaṇaḥ //

Where many dwell together there is quarrel; where two dwell, there is conversation; / therefore one should live entirely alone, like the maiden's single bangle.

10. "Where many dwell together there would be quarrel: even between two, there would be occasion for debate or talk; therefore one should go about singly like the (single) bangle (on the hand) of the girl."

11.9.11

mana ekatra saṃyuñjyāj jita-śvāso jitāsanaḥ /
vairāgyābhyāsa-yogena dhriyamāṇam atandritaḥ //

Having conquered one's breath and conquered one's posture, one should concentrate the mind in one place, / holding it steadily through the yoga of dispassion and practice, without sloth.

11. Having controlled the breaths and practised firmness in seat he should (like an archer taking his aim) centre the mind on but one thing (Paramatman); he should be on the alert to keep the mind steady by means of renunciation and constant application.

11.9.12

yasmin mano labdha-padaṃ yad etac chanaiḥ śanair muñcati karma-reṇūn /
sattvena vṛddhena rajas tamaś ca vidhūya nirvāṇam upaity anindhanam //

The object in which the mind gains a steady foothold gradually sheds the dust of karma, / and having shaken off passion and darkness through heightened purity, it attains peaceful dissolution like a fire without fuel.

12. Firmly settled on That One the mind slowly shakes off the dust of Karma and by the developed Satva gets free from Rajas and Tamas and in the absence of the fuel of gunas (and their products) it subsides, i.e., becomes one with the object of contemplation (becomes solely absorbed in the contemplation of one object V.)

11.9.13

tadaivam ātmany avaruddha-citto na veda kiñcid bahir antaraṃ vā /
yatheṣu-kāro nṛpatiṃ vrajantam iṣau gatātmā na dadarśa pārśve //

When the mind is thus restrained in the self, he perceives nothing outside or inside, / just as an arrow-maker, with his mind absorbed in an arrow, did not see the king passing nearby.

13. Then having his mind entirely absorbed into Atman, he does not see anything else, inside or outside, just as an archer, all his attention being absorbed in taking the aim with his shaft, did not see the king that passed by his side.

11.9.14

eka-cāry aniketaḥ syād apramatto guhāśayaḥ /
alakṣyamāṇa ācārair munir eko 'lpa-bhāṣaṇaḥ //

He should wander alone, homeless, vigilant, dwelling in the cave [of the heart], / unrecognized by his external habits, a solitary sage speaking little.

14. Therefore the wise man should go about singly, have no house, should never be careless (of his purpose), *should resort to a cave*, remain unnoticed in his observances and be sparing in his words.

11.9.15

gṛhārambho hi duḥkhāya viphalaś cādhruvātmanaḥ /
sarpaḥ para-kṛtaṃ veśma praviśya sukham edhate //

Undertaking to build a house brings only misery and is futile for a mortal of transient body; / entering a dwelling made by another, the serpent thrives happily.

15. To a man *of uncertain life* (mortal frame) the efforts for a house are not only fruitless, (but) fraught with endless miseries; for the serpent inhabits the house constructed by another and gets on with ease.

11.9.16

eko nārāyaṇo devaḥ pūrva-sṛṣṭaṃ sva-māyayā /
saṃhṛtya kāla-kalayā kalpānta idam īśvaraḥ /
eka evādvitīyo 'bhūd ātmādhāro 'khilāśrayaḥ //

The one Lord Nārāyaṇa, having withdrawn through the division of time / that which was previously created by His creative power, at the end of the cosmic age, / remained alone without a second—the foundation of the self, the shelter of all.

16. [In His destroying aspect] through His power called Time at the end of Kalpa the one (absolute and) Supreme Lord Narayana destroys this Universe previously created by His own Maya [at His will and remains by Himself D.]

11.9.17

kālenātmānubhāvena sāmyaṃ nītāsu śaktiṣu /
sattvādiṣv ādi-puruṣaḥ pradhāna-puruṣeśvaraḥ //

When the potencies of purity and the rest were brought to equilibrium by Time through His self-potency, / the primal Person, the Lord of nature and the individual soul,

17. & 18. He was the only one without a second, self-supported and the one support of all, the Satva and other powers being equalised (neutralised) by His own force in the form of Time. He the First Person, the Ruler of Pradhana and Purusha, far superior to all the great existences, He remains the absolute and unconditioned one called Kevala or the Single Being, one mass of pure consciousness and blissfulness.

11.9.18

parāvarāṇāṃ parama āste kaivalya-saṃjñitaḥ /
kevalānubhavānanda- sandoho nirupādhikaḥ //

abides as the supreme beyond the high and the low, designated as absolute liberation, / the mass of pure experiential bliss, devoid of limiting adjuncts.

11.9.19

kevalātmānubhāvena sva-māyāṃ tri-guṇātmikām /
saṅkṣobhayan sṛjaty ādau tayā sūtram arindama //

By His pure self-potency, agitating His creative power consisting of the three qualities, / He creates first through it the cosmic thread, O tamer of enemies.

19. And by His own unassisted power He agitates His Maya

of three gunas and first creates Sutra (Mahat-tatva).

His command and through Prakriti creates Prana called Sutra, as well as the four-faced Brahma.

11.9.20

tām āhus tri-guṇa-vyaktiṃ sṛjantīṃ viśvato-mukham /
yasmin protam idaṃ viśvaṃ yena saṃsarate pumān //

They speak of that [thread] as the manifestation of the three qualities, creating faces everywhere, / on which this universe is woven, and through which the soul wanders in cycle of rebirth.

20. V. They say that Mahat-Tatva is a manifestation of three gunas bringing forth the whole series of Tattvas or principles as the one chief cause of all phenomenal existences; hence the Universe is said to be woven warp and woof into it, and with the linga sareera or subtle body produced by it the jiva goes through endless series of lives.

D. They say that Maya is that out of which the three gunas are evolved and creation of every thing proceeds; and it is into this Maya or Prakriti the whole Universe is woven and by that Prakriti, i. e., being invested with Prakriti the Jiva gets into the course of mundane life.

11.9.21

yathorṇanābhir hṛdayād ūrṇāṃ santatya vaktrataḥ /
tayā vihṛtya bhūyas tāṃ grasaty evaṃ maheśvaraḥ //

Just as a spider draws thread from its heart through its mouth, / plays with it, and then swallows it back, so does the Great Lord.

D. Just as the spider evolves through its mouth mucus which is transformed into its web...having freely sported etc.

11.9.22

yatra yatra mano dehī dhārayet sakalaṃ dhiyā /
snehād dveṣād bhayād vāpi yāti tat-tat-svarūpatām //

Wherever an embodied being focuses his entire mind with intellect, / out of love, hatred, or fear, he attains that very form.

22. V. On whatever object the Jiva sets his mind with conviction and keeps it unperturbed through love etc., he attains to a form similar to that of the object.

D. The Jiva attains a form similar to that of the object characterised by the same qualities as he contemplates it with whether through feelings of love, hatred or fear, i. e., he attains to a lovely form when he contemplates the object through love, or a hateful or miserable form if he contemplates it with the feelings of hatred and so on.

11.9.23

kīṭaḥ peśaskṛtaṃ dhyāyan kuḍyāṃ tena praveśitaḥ /
yāti tat-sātmatāṃ rājan pūrva-rūpam asantyajan //

A worm, meditating upon the wasp by whom it was placed in a wall-crevice, / attains the same nature as it, O King, without casting off its former body.

23. V. The insect imprisoned by the wasp in its rest constantly thinks of it with fear and thereby becomes like unto the wasp without losing its original form. completely losing its original body (i. e., its own body is changed in form).

11.9.24

evaṃ gurubhya etebhya eṣā me śikṣitā matiḥ /
svātmopaśikṣitāṃ buddhiṃ śṛṇu me vadataḥ prabho //

Thus from these teachers this understanding was learned by me; / now hear, O master, the insight learned from my own self as I speak:

24. (Thus from these preceptors, this is the wisdom I gained; listen to what wisdom I gained by observing my own self (body), as I explain to thee, O king,

11.9.24.p1

deho gurur mama virakti-viveka-hetur $ bibhrat sma sattva-nidhanaṃ satatārty-udarkam &

My body is my guru, the cause of dispassion and discernment; / bearing destruction of existence, it brings forth constant distress in its consequences.

25. My body is a preceptor to me, as it is the cause of renunciation and discrimination, being subject to birth and death and the bed of ever-growing affliction: for as I investigate into it and through it clearly understand the fundamental principles, I come to the conclusion that it belongs to others (kites, vultures, etc); so I go about without any attachment to it.

11.9.25

tattvāny anena vimṛśāmi yathā tathāpi % pārakyam ity avasito vicarāmy asaṅgaḥ //

Although by means of it I contemplate the truths, / nevertheless, resolved that it belongs to another, I wander unattached.

11.9.25.p2

jāyātmajārtha-paśu-bhṛtya-gṛhāpta-vargān $ puṣnāti yat-priya-cikīrṣayā vitanvan &

Desiring to please it, expanding possessions, one supports / wife, children, wealth, cattle, servants, home, and relatives;

26. The body for the comforts of which a person nourishes his wife and children, acquires wealth, cattle, servants, houses, and many relations and makes them all grow and amasses riches with great difficulty—that body, like unto a tree, produces a seed of another body for him, and itself perishes at the end.

*Another construction.* He who is invested with a body and who, for the sake of its welfare, nourishes his wife and children, gets money, cattle, servants, houses and relations and extends that sphere and who subjecting himself to great troubles, hoards up wealth, is like unto a tree and at the end perishes, leaving behind a seed of karma for the future body.

11.9.25.p3

jāyātmajārtha-paśu-bhṛtya-gṛhāpta-vargān $ puṣnāti yat-priya-cikīrṣayā vitanvan &

Desiring to please it, expanding possessions, one supports / wife, children, wealth, cattle, servants, home, and relatives;

11.9.26

svānte sa-kṛcchram avaruddha-dhanaḥ sa dehaḥ % sṛṣṭvāsya bījam avasīdati vṛkṣa-dharmaḥ //

yet in the end, having accumulated wealth with great hardship, that very body, / having created his seed, perishes according to the nature of a tree.

11.9.26.p2

jihvaikato 'mum apakarṣati karhi tarṣā $ śiśno 'nyatas tvag udaraṃ śravaṇaṃ kutaścit &

The tongue pulls this man to one side in its thirst; / the genital pulls elsewhere, the skin, the stomach, and the ear from another direction;

27. The tongue drags him to one side; thirst to another and the organ of generation to some other; so do the touch and stomach and the ear in some other directions; the sense of smell in some

other, the fickle eye to something else, and every other physical organ in a different direction of activity—thus like many co-wives the senses and organs tear up the lord of the house.

11.9.26.p3

jihvaikato 'mum apakarṣati karhi tarṣā $ śiśno 'nyatas tvag udaraṃ śravaṇaṃ kutaścit &

The tongue pulls this man to one side in its thirst; / the genital pulls elsewhere, the skin, the stomach, and the ear from another direction;

11.9.27

ghrāṇo 'nyataś capala-dṛk kva ca karma-śaktir % bahvyaḥ sapatnya iva geha-patiṃ lunanti //

the nose elsewhere, the restless eye in another, and the organs of action pull somewhere; / like many co-wives, they tear the master of the house apart.

11.9.27.p2

sṛṣṭvā purāṇi vividhāny ajayātma-śaktyā $ vṛkṣān sarīsṛpa-paśūn khaga-dandaśūkān &

Having created various bodies by His unborn personal power— / trees, reptiles, beasts, birds, and stinging serpents—

28. By means of Aja (Prakriti) and His own spiritual powers God (Brahman) [through His body called the four-faced V.] created various kinds of bodies, i. e., various species of beings, trees, reptiles, beasts, birds, musquitoes, fish and so on: but his heart not satisfied with those several creations, he made the human body endowed with intellect for realising Parabrahman and was rejoiced at it.

11.9.27.p3

sṛṣṭvā purāṇi vividhāny ajayātma-śaktyā $ vṛkṣān sarīsṛpa-paśūn khaga-dandaśūkān &

Having created various bodies by His unborn personal power— / trees, reptiles, beasts, birds, and stinging serpents—

11.9.28

tais tair atuṣṭa-hṛdayaḥ puruṣaṃ vidhāya % brahmāvaloka-dhiṣaṇaṃ mudam āpa devaḥ //

the Lord was not satisfied in heart with each of these, / but upon fashioning the human being, possessed of the intellect to perceive Brahman, He attained delight.

11.9.28.p2

labdhvā su-durlabham idaṃ bahu-sambhavānte $ mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ &

Having obtained this human birth, very difficult to attain at the end of many births, / which yields the true goal though it is impermanent, a wise man in this world

29. And having at the end of many lives obtained this rare gift of a human body capable of serving high purposes, though transient, the wise person should soon endeavour, before it falls a prey to death, to attain to the highest good: on the other hand, the ordinary objects of senses may be had indeed everywhere (in every life).

11.9.28.p3

labdhvā su-durlabham idaṃ bahu-sambhavānte $ mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ &

Having obtained this human birth, very difficult to attain at the end of many births, / which yields the true goal though it is impermanent, a wise man in this world

11.9.29

tūrṇaṃ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan % niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt //

should swiftly strive for ultimate beatitude before he falls into recurrent death; / for sense gratification indeed can be had anywhere.

11.9.30

evaṃ sañjāta-vairāgyo vijñānāloka ātmani /
vicarāmi mahīm etāṃ mukta-saṅgo 'nahaṅkṛtaḥ //

Thus endowed with dispassion, illuminated by experiential knowledge within myself, / I wander this earth, free from attachment and free from egoism.

30. Having thus developed renunciation and the light of true wisdom in myself, I go about this earth, free from all attachments and from Ahankara.

11.9.31

na hy ekasmād guror jñānaṃ su-sthiraṃ syāt su-puṣkalam /
brahmaitad advitīyaṃ vai gīyate bahudharṣibhiḥ //

For knowledge cannot become truly firm or thoroughly abundant from a single guru; / this one non-dual Brahman is sung in many ways by the seers.

31. Indeed the knowledge derived from one preceptor cannot be very firm and sufficiently full; for this Brahman is indeed without a second and it is variously sung by Rishis.

11.9.32

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
ity uktvā sa yaduṃ vipras tam āmantrya gabhīra-dhīḥ /
vanditaḥ sv-arcito rājñā yayau prīto yathāgatam //

The Lord said: / Having spoken thus to Yadu, that wise brahmin, taking his leave, / bowed to and properly worshipped by the king, departed with joy as he had come.

32. The Lord said—Having thus answered the question the Brahmin of deep wisdom asked leave of Yadu, was bowed to and prayed to by the king; thereupon the delighted sage went his way.

11.9.33

avadhūta-vacaḥ śrutvā pūrveṣāṃ naḥ sa pūrva-jaḥ /
sarva-saṅga-vinirmuktaḥ sama-citto babhūva ha //

Having heard the words of the avadhūta, that ancestor of our ancestors / became completely free from all attachment and even-minded.

33. Having listened to the Avadhuta’s exposition our very remote ancestor rid himself of all attachments and attained to a state of mind with which he regarded all things to be equal.