Bhagavatapurana 12.4: atha caturtho'dhyāyaḥ

12.4.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
kālas te paramāṇv-ādir dvi-parārdhāvadhir nṛpa /
kathito yuga-mānaṃ ca śṛṇu kalpa-layāv api //

Śrī Śuka said:
Time, beginning with an indivisible atom and ending with two parārdhas, has been spoken to you, O king,
as well as the duration of the yugas. Hear now about the kalpas and dissolutions.

1. Sri Suka said:—Time in all its aspects commencing with Paramanu or the minutest division and ending with Dviparardha (the two halves of the Divine century making the period of Brahma’s life), O king,—Time has been described, as also the extent of a Yuga (Age); and now hear also of the periods of Kalpa and Laya (subsistence and dissolution).

12.4.2

catur-yuga-sahasraṃ tu brahmaṇo dinam ucyate /
sa kalpo yatra manavaś caturdaśa viśām-pate //

A thousand cycles of four yugas is said to be a day of Brahmā;
that is a kalpa, in which there are fourteen Manus, O ruler of men.

2. A thousand revolutions of the four Yugas make a day (the day) of Brahma’s life; and that period of time is Kalpa, during which fourteen Manus successively rule the world, O lord of man.

12.4.3

tad-ante pralayas tāvān brāhmī rātrir udāhṛtā /
trayo lokā ime tatra kalpante pralayāya hi //

At its end occurs a dissolution of the same length, called the night of Brahmā;
there these three worlds indeed undergo dissolution.

3. At the end of Kalpa an equally long period follows as the time of Pralaya or dissolution and it is called the night of Brahma; for during that night these three worlds are liable to dissolution.

12.4.4

eṣa naimittikaḥ proktaḥ pralayo yatra viśva-sṛk /
śete 'nantāsano viśvam ātmasāt-kṛtya cātma-bhūḥ //

This is declared to be the occasional dissolution, wherein the creator of the universe,
the self-born, having absorbed the universe into Himself, sleeps upon the couch of Ananta.

4. And this dissolution is called Naimittika, i.e., brought about by the force of a certain definite condition, during which time Sri Narayana the maker of the Universe, as well as Brahma, lies on the bed of Ananta’s body, having withdrawn the Universe into Himself.

12.4.5

dvi-parārdhe tv atikrānte brahmaṇaḥ parameṣṭhinaḥ /
tadā prakṛtayaḥ sapta kalpante pralayāya vai //

When two parārdhas of Brahmā, the supreme being, have passed,
then the seven primary elements indeed undergo dissolution.

5. When the period of the great Brahma’s life called Dviparardha comes to a close, the seven Prakritis or principles are about to be withdrawn (from the sphere of creative activity).

12.4.6

eṣa prākṛtiko rājan pralayo yatra līyate /
aṇḍa-koṣas tu saṅghāto vighāṭa upasādite //

This, O king, is the elemental dissolution, wherein dissolves
the shell of the cosmic egg, the aggregate, when disintegration has arrived.

6. O king, this is the Laya or dissolution pertaining to Prakriti, during which the egg of the Universe, i.e., the whole body of effected things, becomes dissolved, the cause thereof coming into operation.

12.4.7

parjanyaḥ śata-varṣāṇi bhūmau rājan na varṣati /
tadā niranne hy anyonyaṃ bhakṣyamāṇāḥ kṣudhārditāḥ //

Rain does not fall upon the earth for a hundred years, O king;
then, destitute of food, afflicted with hunger, preying on one another,

7. Then for a century, the god of rain does not send down rain and then from scarcity of food creatures distressed by hunger prey upon one another.

12.4.8

kṣayaṃ yāsyanti śanakaiḥ kālenopadrutāḥ prajāḥ /
sāmudraṃ daihikaṃ bhaumaṃ rasaṃ sāṃvartako raviḥ //

the creatures, assaulted by time, will gradually go to destruction.
The cosmic-dissolution sun drinks the moisture

8. Thus harassed by the force of Time, creatures gradaully perish; the sun at the time of deluge drinks up all moisture of the sea, from the earth and the body by means of his fearful rays and does not allow any drop to escape.

12.4.9

raśmibhiḥ pibate ghoraiḥ sarvaṃ naiva vimuñcati /
tataḥ saṃvartako vahniḥ saṅkarṣaṇa-mukhotthitaḥ //

of the ocean, of bodies, and of the earth with its terrible rays, and releases nothing.
Then the fire of cosmic dissolution, arisen from the mouth of Saṅkarṣaṇa,

9. & 10. Then the fire of deluge issuing forth from the mouth of Sankarshana and raging with the force of the wind, burns everything so as to empty all the space on earth, above and below and on all sides by the flames and flaming rays of fire and the sun.

12.4.10

dahaty anila-vegotthaḥ śūnyān bhū-vivarān atha /
upary adhaḥ samantāc ca śikhābhir vahni-sūryayoḥ //

augmented by the force of the wind, burns the empty fissures of the earth.
Above, below, and on all sides, by the flames of fire and sun,

12.4.11

dahyamānaṃ vibhāty aṇḍaṃ dagdha-gomaya-piṇḍa-vat /
tataḥ pracaṇḍa-pavano varṣāṇām adhikaṃ śatam //

the universe, being burned, glows like a burned ball of cow dung.
Then a violent, cosmic-dissolution wind blows for more than a hundred years,

11. The whole egg of the Universe is burnt and becomes like a ball of cow-dung completely burnt: up; for more than a century blow the violent winds of deluge;

12.4.12

paraḥ sāṃvartako vāti dhūmraṃ khaṃ rajasāvṛtam /
tato megha-kulāny aṅga citra varṇāny anekaśaḥ //

and the sky turns smoky, covered with dust.
Then multitudes of clouds of manifold colors, my dear,

12. & 13. The sky remains hazy covered with dust; then for a century hosts of clouds, in various forms, pour down showers and peal thunders of terrible noise; thereupon the whole Universe is one sheet of water throughout the space within the egg of the Universe.

12.4.13

śataṃ varṣāṇi varṣanti nadanti rabhasa-svanaiḥ /
tata ekodakaṃ viśvaṃ brahmāṇḍa-vivarāntaram //

pour down rain for a hundred years, thundering with fierce roaring sounds.
Then the universe within the cosmic egg becomes a single sheet of water.

12.4.14

tadā bhūmer gandha-guṇaṃ grasanty āpa uda-plave /
grasta-gandhā tu pṛthivī pralayatvāya kalpate //

Then, during the inundation of water, the waters consume the quality of smell of the earth;
and the earth, its smell consumed, is resolved into dissolution.

14. Then the waters as they flood the Universe absorb the quality of Gandha or smell of Earth and Earth (Prithivi) having lost its property Gandha ceases to be.

12.4.15

apāṃ rasam atho tejas tā līyante 'tha nīrasāḥ /
grasate tejaso rūpaṃ vāyus tad-rahitaṃ tadā //

Then fire consumes the taste of the waters, and they, bereft of taste, dissolve.
Wind then consumes the form of fire, and deprived of that, fire dissolves

15. & 16. Next Tejas (fire) absorbs the property of Rasa from Water, which being deprived of its property ceases to be as such; next Vayu absorbs the property called Rupa (colour) of fire, which, then deprived of its property, becomes lost in Vayu; then the Akasa (ether) absorbs the property of Vayu which is withdrawn into the sky, O king.

12.4.16

līyate cānile tejo vāyoḥ khaṃ grasate guṇam /
sa vai viśati khaṃ rājaṃs tataś ca nabhaso guṇam //

into the wind; and space consumes the quality of wind.
Wind enters space, O king, and then the origin of the elements

12.4.17

śabdaṃ grasati bhūtādir nabhas tam anu līyate /
taijasaś cendriyāṇy aṅga devān vaikāriko guṇaiḥ //

consumes sound, the quality of space, and space dissolves into it.
The taijasa ego consumes the senses, my dear, and the vaikārika ego consumes the deities along with the qualities;

17. Thereupon Ahankara (Tamasa) absorbs the property called sound of the Akasa which then enters the Ahankara and Taijasa Ahankara absorbs all the senses and the Vaikarika Ahankara all the gods with their functions.

12.4.18

mahān grasaty ahaṅkāraṃ guṇāḥ sattvādayaś ca tam /
grasate 'vyākṛtaṃ rājan guṇān kālena coditam //

the Mahat consumes the ego, and the guṇas, sattva and the rest, consume it;
and the unmanifest, impelled by time, consumes the guṇas, O king.

18. The principle called Mahat absorbs the Ahankara; and satva and other gunas absorb Mahat; the unmanifest Pradhana (the subtle principle of matter) impelled by Time absorbs the Satva and

other qualities, O king.

12.4.19

na tasya kālāvayavaiḥ pariṇāmādayo guṇāḥ /
anādy anantam avyaktaṃ nityaṃ kāraṇam avyayam //

It has no transformation or other attributes caused by the divisions of time;
it is beginningless, endless, unmanifest, eternal, the imperishable cause.

19. And Pradhāna is not subject to the states of modification; it is without a beginning or an end, unmanifest, eternal and the cause not being subject to decay.

12.4.20

na yatra vāco na mano na sattvaṃ tamo rajo vā mahad-ādayo 'mī /
na prāṇa-buddhīndriya-devatā vā na sanniveśaḥ khalu loka-kalpaḥ //

Where there is neither speech nor mind, neither sattva, tamas, nor rajas, nor these [principles] such as the Mahat;
neither vital breath, intellect, sense organs, nor deities; nor the cosmic arrangement of the worlds;

20. & 21. It is not within the range of words or the mind, nor within the sphere of Satva, Rajas and Tamas or Mahat and other principles, nor within the scope of Prana (breath), Buddhi (reason) the senses, and their ruling deities, and nor in the form of the world; it is not affected by the states of dream, wakefulness and sleep; it is neither sky nor water nor earth, nor the air, nor fire nor the sun; it is something like that which is in deep sleep, or nonentity itself, and they say it is the thing which is at the root of everything.

12.4.21

na svapna-jāgran na ca tat suṣuptaṃ na khaṃ jalaṃ bhūr anilo 'gnir arkaḥ /
saṃsupta-vac chūnya-vad apratarkyaṃ tan mūla-bhūtaṃ padam āmananti //

neither dreaming, waking, nor deep sleep; neither space, water, earth, wind, fire, nor the sun;
like deep sleep, like the void, inconceivable—that original state they declare to be the foundation.

12.4.22

layaḥ prākṛtiko hy eṣa puruṣāvyaktayor yadā /
śaktayaḥ sampralīyante vivaśāḥ kāla-vidrutāḥ //

This is the elemental dissolution, when of the Puruṣa and the Unmanifest
the powers, driven by time, dissolve helplessly.

22. This is said to be the dissolution of Prakriti as it takes place when Satva and other powers of Purusha and Avyakta are inevitably withdrawn under the force of Time.

12.4.23

buddhīndriyārtha-rūpeṇa jñānaṃ bhāti tad-āśrayam /
dṛśyatvāvyatirekābhyām ādy-antavad avastu yat //

Consciousness shines in the form of intellect, senses, and sense objects, being their foundation;
whatever has a beginning and an end is non-substantial, because of being perceivable and non-different [from its cause].

23. It is Gnana or consciousness, in which abide Budhi, Indriya, and artha, (Reason or thought, the senses or organs, the things or objects), that appears in all those forms; whatever has a beginning and an end is no real entity, because it is perceptible and not different from its cause.

12.4.24

dīpaś cakṣuś ca rūpaṃ ca jyotiṣo na pṛthag bhavet /
evaṃ dhīḥ khāni mātrāś ca na syur anyatamād ṛtāt //

A lamp, the eye, and visible form are not separate from light;
likewise the intellect, the sense organs, and their objects cannot exist apart from the one absolute Truth.

24. Light, the eye, and colour cannot be different from the principle of Tejas or fire; similarly, the mind, the senses and the

objects cannot be different from the Truth (Brahman) who is quite distinct from all effect.

12.4.25

buddher jāgaraṇaṃ svapnaḥ suṣuptir iti cocyate /
māyā-mātram idaṃ rājan nānātvaṃ pratyag-ātmani //

The waking state, dreaming, and deep sleep are said to belong to the intellect;
this multiplicity in the inner self is mere creative power, O king.

25. Wakefulness, dreams, and sleep are said to be the states of *Budhi* (mind), O king, and all this difference (as Visva, Taijasa and Pragna) projected on pure Atman (imbedded in all effect) is only the result of Maya.

12.4.26

yathā jala-dharā vyomni bhavanti na bhavanti ca /
brahmaṇīdaṃ tathā viśvam avayavy udayāpyayāt //

Just as clouds appear and disappear in the sky,
so does this composite universe in Brahman, through origination and dissolution.

26. Just as clouds come and go in the heavens, so this Universe of parts having a beginning and an end appears to be resting on Brahman.

12.4.27

satyaṃ hy avayavaḥ proktaḥ sarvāvayavinām iha /
vinārthena pratīyeran paṭasyevāṅga tantavaḥ //

For the part is declared to be the reality of all composite wholes in this world;
they can be conceived without the composite whole, just as the threads [can be conceived without] the cloth, my dear.

27. Of all things consisting of parts, it is the part that is said to be real, being the cause; O beloved king, threads, parts of the cloth might be perceived as distinct from the whole thing.

12.4.28

yat sāmānya-viśeṣābhyām upalabhyeta sa bhramaḥ /
anyonyāpāśrayāt sarvam ādy-antavad avastu yat //

Whatever is perceived through generic and specific characteristics is an illusion;
because of mutual dependence, everything that has a beginning and an end is unreal.

28. Whatever is perceived cause and effect is a matter of objects are all creations of God helped by Him; and depend on Him; therefore they cannot be conceived to exist independent of Paramatman who is quite distinct from every thing else and is conveyed by the term *Jyotis*.

28. V. Whatever is supposed to be an effect or product other than the general principle and its peculiarity in modification is a matter of misapprehension; for the principle and its modification are interdependent and point to the same thing both in the subtle and gross state; and that which has a beginning and an end, i.e. an effect like the body cannot be Atman. illusion, and whatever has a beginning and an end correlated to each other is no reality.

12.4.29

vikāraḥ khyāyamāno 'pi pratyag-ātmānam antarā /
na nirūpyo 'sty aṇur api syāc cec cit-sama ātma-vat //

Even though a transformation is perceived, apart from the inner self
not even an atom of it can be determined; if it could, it would be identical to consciousness, like the self.

29. The effect or modification (Phenomenon), though perceptible does not bear ever so little an explanation of its existence from the pure Atman; if it could have it it would be equivalent to the intelligent being, like Atman or one with Atman.

12.4.30

na hi satyasya nānātvam avidvān yadi manyate /
nānātvaṃ chidrayor yadvaj jyotiṣor vātayor iva //

Indeed there is no multiplicity in the Truth, though the ignorant may think so;
just as there is no difference between two spaces, two lights, or two winds.

30. There is indeed no difference of Atman, the one true existence and he who believes in difference is one devoid of wisdom; but the difference is a result of conditions as in the case (1) of the sky enclosed by a pot and the unlimited expanse, (2) of the sun shining in the sky and that reflected in water and (3) of the air that is in the body as breath and the air outside in space.

12.4.31

yathā hiraṇyaṃ bahudhā samīyate nṛbhiḥ kriyābhir vyavahāra-vartmasu /
evaṃ vacobhir bhagavān adhokṣajo vyākhyāyate laukika-vaidikair janaiḥ //

Just as gold is spoken of in many ways by men through various functions in customary practice,
so the Lord, Adhokṣaja, is described in various terms by worldly and Vedic people.

31. Just as gold is seen and spoken of by men, differently according to its uses by different men, so also the glorious Adhokshaja is described by people full of Ahankara in the language of the world as well as that of the Vedas.

12.4.31.p1

yathā ghano 'rka-prabhavo 'rka-darśito $ hy arkāṃśa-bhūtasya ca cakṣuṣas tamaḥ &

Just as a cloud, originated by the sun and revealed by the sun,
is darkness to the eye which is a part of the sun,

32. Just as a cloud born of the Sun exhibited by the Sun becomes the darkness that obscures the sight which is but an Amsa of the Sun, so also the Ahankara a product of Brahman lighted by

Brahman becomes an obstruction to Atman (Jiva), an amsa of Brahman, in realising Brahman.

12.4.32

evaṃ tv ahaṃ brahma-guṇas tad-īkṣito % brahmāṃśakasyātmana ātma-bandhanaḥ //

so the ego, a quality of Brahman, witnessed by it,
is the self's bondage for the self, which is an integral part of Brahman.

12.4.33

ghano yadārka-prabhavo vidīryate cakṣuḥ svarūpaṃ ravim īkṣate tadā /
yadā hy ahaṅkāra upādhir ātmano jijñāsayā naśyati tarhy anusmaret //

When the cloud produced by the sun is dispersed, then the eye beholds the sun in its true form;
when the ego, the limiting adjunct of the self, is destroyed by inquiry, then one remembers [one's true nature].

33. When the cloud born of the sun is broken up, the eye comprehends the sun in its true and entire form; similarly indeed when the Ahankara, the investing condition is destroyed by enquiry into Atman, (then) Atman realises himself as Brahman.

12.4.34

yadaivam etena viveka-hetinā māyā-mayāhaṅkaraṇātma-bandhanam /
chittvācyutātmānubhavo 'vatiṣṭhate tam āhur ātyantikam aṅga samplavam //

When thus, by this weapon of discrimination, one cuts away
the bondage of the self in the form of illusory ego, and abides in the direct experience of the immutable Self—that, my dear, they call absolute dissolution.

34. When thus by this sword of wisdom the bondage of Atman consisting of Ahankara, a product of Maya, is cut off and Atman stands in perfect realisation of self, they say that state, O king, is the final absolution (Pralaya).

12.4.35

nityadā sarva-bhūtānāṃ brahmādīnāṃ parantapa /
utpatti-pralayāv eke sūkṣma-jñāḥ sampracakṣate //

Some who possess subtle insight declare, O scorcher of foes,
that creation and dissolution are continuously occurring for all beings, from Brahmā downwards.

35. O Vanquisher of foes, some endowed with insight into the subtle state of things speak of origin and dissolution as occurring every day of all beings, beginning with Brahma.

12.4.36

kāla-sroto-javenāśu hriyamāṇasya nityadā /
pariṇāmināṃ avasthās tā janma-pralaya-hetavaḥ //

Carried away swiftly and continuously by the momentum of the stream of time,
those changing states of transforming entities are the causes of birth and dissolution.

36. All the states of those that are subject to modification (as in the case of the body and the like, that soon wear way under the force of the stream of time are the constant causes of origination and dissolution.

12.4.37

anādy-antavatānena kāleneśvara-mūrtinā /
avasthā naiva dṛśyante viyati jyotiṣāṃ iva //

By this time, which is without beginning or end and is an embodiment of the Lord, / the stages [of change] are not perceived at all, just as [the movements] of the heavenly bodies in the sky.

37. The states that are brought about by Time, another form of Isvara having no beginning or end, are not distinctly perceived (every moment) like the motion of the luminaries (heavenly bodies) in the sky.

12.4.38

nityo naimittikaś caiva tathā prākṛtiko layaḥ /
ātyantikaś ca kathitaḥ kālasya gatir īdṛśī //

The continuous dissolution, the occasional dissolution, and likewise the elemental dissolution, / and the ultimate dissolution have been described; such is the course of time.

38. Laya or deluge is of four descriptions viz. Nitya, Naimittika, Prakritika, Atyantika (daily, occasional, relating to the dissolution of Prakriti and the final); such is the course of Time.

12.4.39

etāḥ kuru-śreṣṭha jagad-vidhātur nārāyaṇasyākhila-sattva-dhāmnaḥ /
līlā-kathās te kathitāḥ samāsataḥ kārtsnyena nājo 'py abhidhātum īśaḥ //

These stories of the divine play of Nārāyaṇa, the creator of the universe and abode of all purity, / have been told to you in brief, O best of Kurus; even the unborn [Brahmā] is not capable of reciting them completely.

39. O best of Kurus, these accounts of the sportful activities of Narayana, maker of the world, the one centre of all powers, have been given in brief; for not even Brahma is able to describe them in all their details and in entirity.

12.4.39.p1

saṃsāra-sindhum ati-dustaram uttitīrṣor $ nānyaḥ plavo bhagavataḥ puruṣottamasya &

For a person wishing to cross the ocean of the cycle of rebirth, which is exceedingly difficult to traverse, / there is no other boat than

40. To a man tossed and distressed in the wild fire of various griefs and intent on crossing the impassable sea of Samsara there is no raft other (safer) than the constant listening to, and drinking of, the excellent essence of the sportful activities of the Almighty Lord Purushottama.

12.4.40

līlā-kathā-rasa-niṣevaṇam antareṇa % puṃso bhaved vividha-duḥkha-davārditasya //

the relishing of the aesthetic flavor of the stories of the divine play of the Lord, the Supreme Person, / for one tormented by the forest fire of various sufferings.

12.4.41

purāṇa-saṃhitām etām ṛṣir nārāyaṇo 'vyayaḥ /
nāradāya purā prāha kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyanāya saḥ //

This collection of Purāṇas the imperishable sage Nārāyaṇa / formerly spoke to Nārada, and he to Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipāyana.

41. The undecaying Lord Narayana in the form of a sage taught this collection of Purana to Narada in times of old and Narada to Krishna Dvaipayana.

12.4.42

sa vai mahyaṃ mahā-rāja bhagavān bādarāyaṇaḥ /
imāṃ bhāgavatīṃ prītaḥ saṃhitāṃ veda-sammitām //

Indeed, the glorious Bādarāyaṇa, pleased [with me], O great king, / [imparted] to me this Bhāgavata collection, equal to the Vedas.

42. O great king, it is that glorious Badarayana who was pleased with me and taught me this collection, glorifying the Lord and equal unto the Veda.

12.4.43

imāṃ vakṣyaty asau sūta ṛṣibhyo naimiṣālaye /
dīrgha-satre kuru-śreṣṭha sampṛṣṭaḥ śaunakādibhiḥ //

This very [work] Sūta will speak to the sages residing at Naimiṣa, / at the long sacrificial session, O best of the Kurus, when questioned by Śaunaka and others.

43. And when requested by Saunaka and others, that Suta will expound it, O best of Kurus, to the Rishis at Naimishalaya during their great sacrifice