Bhagavatapurana 3.25: atha pañcaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

3.25.1

/0 śaunaka uvāca
kapilas tattva-saṅkhyātā bhagavān ātma-māyayā /
jātaḥ svayam ajaḥ sākṣād ātma-prajñaptaye nṛṇām //

Śaunaka said:
Kapila, the enumerator of the truths, the Lord, through His own creative power / was born Himself, though unborn, directly to teach the knowledge of the self to men.

1. Saunaka said:—Kapila the propounder of the Tattvas is the glorious unborn Supreme Being born (in the world) through His own Maya that He may directly teach men the truth of Atman.

3.25.2

na hy asya varṣmaṇaḥ puṃsāṃ varimṇaḥ sarva-yoginām /
viśrutau śruta-devasya bhūri tṛpyanti me 'savaḥ //

Indeed, my senses are never sufficiently satiated / by hearing of this foremost of beings, the greatest of all yogins, celebrated in sacred tradition.

2. Indeed my senses are never too much gratified in (the contemplation of) the glory of the Lord who shines through the Vedas and who is the oldest (the most exalted) of all persons and the greatest of all Yogins.

3.25.3

yad yad vidhatte bhagavān svacchandātmātma-māyayā /
tāni me śraddadhānasya kīrtanyāny anukīrtaya //

Whatever the self-willed Lord performs through His own creative power— / recount all those praiseworthy deeds to me who am full of faith.

3. Do thou sing to me who am full of faith and longing to hear of all those praiseworthy deeds which the Lord does assuming bodies through His Maya in response to the prayers of His own men (His devotees).

3.25.4

/0 sūta uvāca
dvaipāyana-sakhas tv evaṃ maitreyo bhagavāṃs tathā /
prāhedaṃ viduraṃ prīta ānvīkṣikyāṃ pracoditaḥ //

Sūta said:
The friend of Dvaipāyana, the venerable Maitreya, / thus addressed Vidura with joy, when questioned about the inquiry into the self.

4. Suta said:—(As I am asked by thee) so was the venerable Maitreya the friend of Dwaipayana asked (by Vidura) about the knowledge of Atman, and he gladly said (taught) this to Vidura (as follows):—

3.25.5

/0 maitreya uvāca
pitari prasthite 'raṇyaṃ mātuḥ priya-cikīrṣayā /
tasmin bindusare 'vātsīd bhagavān kapilaḥ kila //

Maitreya said:
When his father had departed to the forest, wishing to do what was pleasing to his mother, / the Lord Kapila resided at that Bindusaras.

5. Maitreya said:—After His father (Kardama) had gone away to the forest, Kapila the glorious Lord dwelt at the same Bindu Saras in order to please his mother. (lit. to do what His mother desired).

3.25.6

tam āsīnam akarmāṇaṃ tattva-mārgāgra-darśanam /
sva-sutaṃ devahūty āha dhātuḥ saṃsmaratī vacaḥ //

To Him seated there free from action, possessing the highest vision of the path of truth, / Devahūti spoke to her own son, remembering the words of Brahmā:

6. To her son who sat perfectly quiet and who showed the end of the Path of Tattvas, Devahuti spoke as follows, remembering the words of Brahma.

3.25.7

/0 devahūtir uvāca
nirviṇṇā nitarāṃ bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt /
yena sambhāvyamānena prapannāndhaṃ tamaḥ prabho //

Devahūti said:
"I am completely dejected, O Infinite One, from the thirst of the base senses, / through catering to which, O Lord, I have fallen into blinding darkness.

7. Devahuti said:—O perfect one, I am quite sick of gratifying the wicked senses; for by seeking to gratify them, O Lord, I have come to be in blinding darkness (_i.e._ in utter ignorance of Truth).

3.25.8

tasya tvaṃ tamaso 'ndhasya duṣpārasyādya pāragam /
sac-cakṣur janmanām ante labdhaṃ me tvad-anugrahāt //

Now at the end of many births, by Your grace, I have obtained You / as the true eye to cross to the other shore of that blinding, impassable darkness.

8. At the end of many lives, I have by Thy grace obtained Thee (as) the keen eye (power of vision) which can lead one to the end (shore) of that impassable and blinding darkness.

3.25.9

ya ādyo bhagavān puṃsām īśvaro vai bhavān kila /
lokasya tamasāndhasya cakṣuḥ sūrya ivoditaḥ //

You are indeed that primal Lord, the Supreme Master of men, / risen like the sun as an eye for the world blinded by darkness.

9. Thou art indeed the first and glorious Supreme Being, the ruler of all Purushas and like the Sun Thou hast risen as the eye of the world which is blinded by darkness.

3.25.10

atha me deva sammoham apākraṣṭuṃ tvam arhasi /
yo 'vagraho 'haṃ mametīty etasmin yojitas tvayā //

Therefore, O Lord, You should dispel my delusion, / this stubborn notion of 'I' and 'mine' in which I was engaged by You.

10. Therefore, O God, be thou pleased to dispel my delusion which consists in a strong attachment to this body and its belongings (with notions like) “I, mine, and so on,” and which has been instituted by Thyself.

3.25.11

taṃ tvā gatāhaṃ śaraṇaṃ śaraṇyaṃ sva-bhṛtya-saṃsāra-taroḥ kuṭhāram /
jijñāsayāhaṃ prakṛteḥ pūruṣasya namāmi sad-dharma-vidāṃ variṣṭham //

To You I have come for refuge, who are the worthy refuge, the axe to the tree of transmigration for Your servants; / desiring to know the truth of nature and the Spirit, I bow to the foremost of those who know the true dharma."

11. With the desire of enquiring into Prakriti and Purusha, I have sought refuge with Thee who art fit to be resorted to for protection and who art an axe to the tree of Samsara in the case of Thy servants (Bhaktas); I bow to Thee the foremost among those who possess and impart the knowledge of the highest Dharmas.

3.25.12

/0 maitreya uvāca
iti sva-mātur niravadyam īpsitaṃ niśamya puṃsām apavarga-vardhanam /
dhiyābhinandyātmavatāṃ satāṃ gatir babhāṣa īṣat-smita-śobhitānanaḥ //

Maitreya said:
Having thus heard the faultless desire of His own mother, which promotes liberation for mortals, / the refuge of the virtuous who possess self-control rejoiced in His mind and spoke, His face adorned with a gentle smile.

12. Maitreya said:—Having heard His mother’s faultless (unobjectionable) request, (thus expressed), which would enhance in men the longing for Moksha, and having gladly approved of it in His mind, the Lord Kapila, the resort of all the righteous that have controlled their minds, spoke with his face beaming with a gentle smile.

3.25.13

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
yoga ādhyātmikaḥ puṃsāṃ mato niḥśreyasāya me /
atyantoparatir yatra duḥkhasya ca sukhasya ca //

The Lord said:
"The spiritual yoga of men is considered by Me to lead to the highest good, / wherein there is the absolute cessation of both sorrow and joy.

13. The Lord said :—In my opinion the Yoga of devotion to Atman is, for men, the way to Moksha (the eternal weal); by means of which (Yoga) pleasure and pain completely cease to be.

3.25.14

tam imaṃ te pravakṣyāmi yam avocaṃ purānaghe /
ṛṣīṇāṃ śrotu-kāmānāṃ yogaṃ sarvāṅga-naipuṇam //

This very yoga, which I spoke of of old, O sinless one, / to the sages who desired to hear it—complete in all its parts—I shall explain to you.

14. O sinless mother, I will tell you of this Yoga which of old I taught to the Rishis desirous of learning it and which in all its parts is powerful enough to secure perfect concentration.

3.25.15

cetaḥ khalv asya bandhāya muktaye cātmano matam /
guṇeṣu saktaṃ bandhāya rataṃ vā puṃsi muktaye //

The mind is indeed considered to be the cause of bondage and of liberation for the self: / attached to the qualities of nature it leads to bondage, or devoted to the Spirit it leads to liberation.

15. Indeed it is the mind that is known to be the cause of Bandha (bondage) and Moksha of the Jiva; when attached to objects it (the mind) leads to Bandha, but (when) attached to the Person (Parameswara) it leads to Mukti (release).

3.25.16

ahaṃ mamābhimānotthaiḥ kāma-lobhādibhir malaiḥ /
vītaṃ yadā manaḥ śuddham aduḥkham asukhaṃ samam //

When the mind is cleansed of the impurities such as lust and greed arisen from the egoism of 'I' and 'mine', / and is pure, without sorrow, without joy, and equal—

16. When the mind is rid of the impurities of lust, covetousness and the like brought on by the attachment (to worldly things) in the form of "I and mine," when it becomes purified and indifferent to pleasure and pain and remains in a state of equilibrium.

3.25.17

tadā puruṣa ātmānaṃ kevalaṃ prakṛteḥ param /
nirantaraṃ svayaṃ-jyotir aṇimānam akhaṇḍitam //

then the Spirit [sees] the self as isolated, beyond material nature, / uninterrupted, self-effulgent, subtle, undivided,

17. (Then) The Purusha perceives Himself to be Pure Atman distinct from Prakriti, subject to no difference (change) self-luminous, subtle and indivisible (unlimited).

3.25.18

jñāna-vairāgya-yuktena bhakti-yuktena cātmanā /
paripaśyaty udāsīnaṃ prakṛtiṃ ca hataujasam //

and with a mind endowed with knowledge, dispassion, and devotion, / sees [itself as] detached, and material nature as stripped of its power."

18. With the mind strengthened by knowledge and renunciation and also Bhakti, He truly sees Himself unconcerned and Prakriti rendered powerless.

3.25.19

na yujyamānayā bhaktyā bhagavaty akhilātmani /
sadṛśo 'sti śivaḥ panthā yogināṃ brahma-siddhaye //

There is no auspicious path for yogins to attain Brahman / equal to devotion practiced toward the Lord, the Self of all.

19. Like the devotion directed to the glorious Lord who is all Atman, there is no other auspicious and successful way for yogins towards the attainment of Brahman (the state of being Brahman.)

3.25.20

prasaṅgam ajaraṃ pāśam ātmanaḥ kavayo viduḥ /
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam //

The wise know that attachment is an unbreakable fetter for the soul; / but when directed toward the virtuous, that very attachment is the open door to liberation.

20. The wise know (say) that the attachment to the senses and their objects (to the wicked) is the undecaying cord (that keeps Atman bound in Samsara). The same attachment to the good (the Sadhus) is the open gate (leading) to Moksha.

3.25.21

titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām /
ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ //

Tolerant, compassionate, friends of all living beings, / without enemies, tranquil, the virtuous have virtuous conduct as their ornament.

21. The Sadhus (those that strictly walk in the path of the Sastra) are full of forbearance (endurance) and mercy; they are friends to all embodied beings and enemies to none; they have their passions subdued and have good nature and good disposition for their ornament.

3.25.22

mayy ananyena bhāvena bhaktiṃ kurvanti ye dṛḍhām /
mat-kṛte tyakta-karmāṇas tyakta-svajana-bāndhavāḥ //

They practice steadfast devotion to Me with undivided feeling; / for My sake they have abandoned worldly duties, abandoning their own kin and relatives.

22. And they cherish firm devotion towards Me with an unswerving heart; and for My sake they renounce all creation and all their kith and kin.

3.25.23

mad-āśrayāḥ kathā mṛṣṭāḥ śṛṇvanti kathayanti ca /
tapanti vividhās tāpā naitān mad-gata-cetasaḥ //

Centered on Me, they hear and recite delightful narratives [of Me]; / various miseries do not torment these whose minds are fixed on Me.

23. They listen to and also tell My sweet stories and the various afflictions do not harass them, (since) their mind is set on Me.

3.25.24

ta ete sādhavaḥ sādhvi sarva-saṅga-vivarjitāḥ /
saṅgas teṣv atha te prārthyaḥ saṅga-doṣa-harā hi te //

These indeed are the virtuous devotees, O virtuous lady, completely free from all worldly attachments; / attachment to them is what you should seek, for they remove the faults of attachment.

24. And, O chaste lady, these are the righteous people who are rid of all attachment (company); therefore (now) their association must be sought by Thee; for they can cure the evil of attachments (to worldly objects).

3.25.25

satāṃ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṃvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ /
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati //

Through association with the virtuous devotees, discussions of My heroic deeds become an elixir to the heart and ear; / by savoring them, faith, loving attachment, and devotion will follow in succession upon the path of liberation.

25. In closely associating with the pious, there arise conversations most delightful to the ear and to the mind ;

and thereby a thorough knowledge of my power and greatness is gained; by listening to them will soon arise and regularly grow a devout faith in, love and devotion towards, the path leading to Moksha.

3.25.26

bhaktyā pumān jāta-virāga aindriyād dṛṣṭa-śrutān mad-racanānucintayā /
cittasya yatto grahaṇe yoga-yukto yatiṣyate ṛjubhir yoga-mārgaiḥ //

Through devotion, having developed dispassion toward sense objects seen or heard, through contemplation of My creation, / a person, striving to restrain the mind and engaged in yoga, will strive by the straightforward paths of yoga.

26. The person who through devotion engendered by contemplating My glorious work (of creation, preservation, and destruction) is indifferent to the pleasures of the senses and to the objects of this world (lit. to all that is seen and that is promised in the Vedas)—he has the preparation (necessary) for controlling the mind, and, resorting to Yoga, endeavours after it by the straight (right) courses of Yoga.

3.25.27

asevayāyaṃ prakṛter guṇānāṃ jñānena vairāgya-vijṛmbhitena /
yogena mayy arpitayā ca bhaktyā māṃ pratyag-ātmānam ihāvarundhe //

By non-enjoyment of nature's qualities, by knowledge enhanced by dispassion, / by yoga, and by devotion offered to Me, one attains Me, the inner Self, in this very life.

27. By eschewing the Gunas of Prakriti (the objects consisting of them), by knowledge growing stronger with Renunciation (Vairagya), by Yoga and by devotion directed to Me this (the jiva) attains to Pratyagatman (Me in this very body).

3.25.28

/0 devahūtir uvāca
kācit tvayy ucitā bhaktiḥ kīdṛśī mama gocarā /
yayā padaṃ te nirvāṇam añjasānvāśnavā aham //

Devahūti said: / What kind of devotion to You is suitable and accessible to me, / by which I may easily attain Your realm of liberation?

28. Devahuti said:—What kind of Bhakti is fit to be developed towards Thee and what is possible for me to do, by which I may surely and immediately attain to Thyself, which is Moksha?

3.25.29

yo yogo bhagavad-bāṇo nirvāṇātmaṃs tvayoditaḥ /
kīdṛśaḥ kati cāṅgāni yatas tattvāvabodhanam //

That yoga which has the Lord as its aim, which You described, O Embodiment of Liberation, / what is it like, and how many are its limbs, by which realization of the truth is attained?

29. O Lord, who art Thyself the Moksha, what is the full description of the Yoga mentioned by Thee, as the means to reach the glorious Lord (like an arrow to its aim)? And how many Angas or auxiliary processes are there of that Yoga which leads to the perception of the truth?

3.25.30

tad etan me vijānīhi yathāhaṃ manda-dhīr hare /
sukhaṃ buddhyeya durbodhaṃ yoṣā bhavad-anugrahāt //

Explain this to me, O Hari, so that I, dull-witted / as a woman, may easily comprehend what is difficult to understand, by Your grace.

30. O Hari, be pleased to explain it fully, so that I, a dull-witted woman, may through Thy grace understand that difficult process with ease.

3.25.31

/0 maitreya uvāca
viditvārthaṃ kapilo mātur itthaṃ jāta-sneho yatra tanvābhijātaḥ /
tattvāmnāyaṃ yat pravadanti sāṅkhyaṃ provāca vai bhakti-vitāna-yogam //

Maitreya said: / Knowing His mother's intent, Kapila, feeling affection born of having taken birth from her body, / expounded the tradition of truth that is called Sāṅkhya, together with the yoga of the unfolding of devotion.

31. Maitreya said :—Having thus learnt the object of his mother, and with affection to her through whom he had assumed a personality, He expounded the yoga as also the extensive course of devotion which the learned speak of as the Sankhya Sastra in which the Tattvas or the First Principles are regularly taught.

3.25.32

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
devānāṃ guṇa-liṅgānām ānuśravika-karmaṇām /
sattva evaika-manaso vṛttiḥ svābhāvikī tu yā //

The Lord said: / Of the senses, whose signs are the qualities and which perform Vedic actions, / that spontaneous movement of a single-pointed mind toward pure goodness—

32—33. On the part of a man whose mind is but one, *i.e.*, is firmly in that one course without being liable to change, Bhakti is the natural and unconditional devotion to the glorious Lord—the devotion which consists in settling the mind only upon Satva, *i.e.*, Hari, the root of all existence, and of all Indriyas (and their presiding deities), which have to discharge the duties laid down by the Veda ; and that Bhakti is superior to Mukti itself, for it makes the vesture (of *Lingadeha*) decay soon, even as the fire in the stomach digests the food that is devoured.

3.25.34

animittā bhāgavatī bhaktiḥ siddher garīyasī /
jarayaty āśu yā kośaṃ nigīrṇam analo yathā //

unmotivated devotion to the Lord—is superior to liberation; / it quickly consumes the subtle body, as fire consumes digested food.

3.25.35

naikātmatāṃ me spṛhayanti kecin mat-pāda-sevābhiratā mad-īhāḥ /
ye 'nyonyato bhāgavatāḥ prasajya sabhājayante mama pauruṣāṇi //

Some who delight in serving My feet and are devoted to My endeavors do not even desire oneness with Me; / associating with one another, the devotees celebrate My heroic deeds.

34. Even the *Sayujya Moksha* (the state of being one with Myself) is not desired by some who rejoice in worshipping My feet, engaged in duties for My sake, and who, full of devotion to the Lord, with intense love and veneration sing to one another My deeds of prowess.

3.25.36

paśyanti te me rucirāṇy amba santaḥ prasanna-vaktrāruṇa-locanāni /
rūpāṇi divyāni vara-pradāni sākaṃ vācaṃ spṛhaṇīyāṃ vadanti //

They behold My charming forms, O mother, with serene faces and reddish eyes, / divine and granting boons, and they converse together in desirable speech.

35. O mother, they see My glorious and most enchanting forms with smiling countenances and bright rosy eyes manifested in order to bestow blessings upon them and they also talk about those forms in delightful language.

3.25.37

tair darśanīyāvayavair udāra- vilāsa-hāsekṣita-vāma-sūktaiḥ /
hṛtātmano hṛta-prāṇāṃś ca bhaktir anicchato me gatim aṇvīṃ prayuṅkte //

With their minds captivated and their life-breaths seized by those delightful limbs, / noble sport, smiling glances, and pleasing words, devotion leads them, even without their desiring it, to My subtle state.

36. Though they do not desire it, Bhakti leads to the subtle state of Mukti those (devotees) whose minds are captivated by, and whose senses are drawn towards, those beautiful forms (of Mine), those noble movements, smiles and looks and those sweet

words (of Mine revealed to them in connection with My manifestations).

3.25.38

atho vibhūtiṃ mama māyāvinas tām aiśvaryam aṣṭāṅgam anupravṛttam /
śriyaṃ bhāgavatīṃ vāspṛhayanti bhadrāṃ parasya me te 'śnuvate tu loke //

Moreover, though they do not desire that majesty of Mine, the Master of creative power—the eightfold supernatural power that follows upon it— / or divine, auspicious opulence, they nevertheless enjoy them in My highest realm.

37. Then (on the extinction of Avidya), they do not seek after the supreme enjoyments available in the Satya and other _Lokas_ which I, the Lord of Mayas, command, or after the eight kinds of superhuman powers which may naturally result from Bhakti, or even after the great wealth of the glorious Lord in Vaikuntha; still they do enjoy in Vaikuntha that blessed state which belongs to Me, the Supreme Lord.

3.25.39

na karhicin mat-parāḥ śānta-rūpe naṅkṣyanti no me 'nimiṣo leḍhi hetiḥ /
yeṣām ahaṃ priya ātmā sutaś ca sakhā guruḥ suhṛdo daivam iṣṭam //

Never do those dedicated to Me perish, O peaceful one, nor does My weapon, the unwinking [Time], consume them; / to them I am the beloved, the self, the son, the friend, the guru, the well-wisher, and the chosen deity.

38. O mother that hast attained a perfectly tranquil state of mind, those that are devoted to Me never fall from that state of blissfulness in Vaikuntha which consists of _suddha satva_; My weapon in the form of Time does not touch them (taste or affect them); for, of them I am the beloved soul; to them I am the son, friend, preceptor, well-wisher and beloved Deity.

3.25.40

imaṃ lokaṃ tathaivāmum ātmānam ubhayāyinam /
ātmānam anu ye ceha ye rāyaḥ paśavo gṛhāḥ //

This world, and likewise the other, and the self that travels between both, / and whatever is connected to oneself here—wealth, cattle, houses—

39-40. Those who abandon this world as well as that (_i. e._, Swarga) and who renounce their own conditioned self wandering through those two worlds, as also the wealth, animals, houses and other things which are the belongings of that self—those who, abandoning all these and other things of the same nature and with devotion directed only towards Me, worship Me the Omniscient Lord (having a face everywhere),—I bring them to the shore from the sea of Samsara.

3.25.41

visṛjya sarvān anyāṃś ca mām evaṃ viśvato-mukham /
bhajanty ananyayā bhaktyā tān mṛtyor atipāraye //

relinquishing all these and all others, they worship Me alone, whose face is everywhere, / with undivided devotion; I carry them beyond death.

3.25.42

nānyatra mad bhagavataḥ pradhāna-puruṣeśvarāt /
ātmanaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṃ bhayaṃ tīvraṃ nivartate //

From none other than Me, the Lord, the ruler of nature and spirit, / the Self of all beings, does severe fear depart.

41. The extreme fear of all embodied beings cannot go (be got rid of) except through the grace of Myself their one Supreme Lord and Soul, the chief Purusha and Ruler.

3.25.43

mad-bhayād vāti vāto 'yaṃ sūryas tapati mad-bhayāt /
varṣatīndro dahaty agnir mṛtyuś carati mad-bhayāt //

Out of fear of Me this wind blows; out of fear of Me the sun blazes; / out of fear of Me Indra showers, fire burns, and death stalks.

42. Afraid of Me the wind blows, the sun shines, Indra rains, Agni burns and Yama goes about (his duty).

3.25.44

jñāna-vairāgya-yuktena bhakti-yogena yoginaḥ /
kṣemāya pāda-mūlaṃ me praviśanty akuto-bhayam //

Yogins, through the yoga of devotion accompanied by knowledge and dispassion, / enter the refuge of My feet, free from fear anywhere, for their well-being.

43. Therefore, Yogins, by means of Bhakti-Yoga joined to Gnana and Vairagya (_i.e._, through knowledge, renunciation and devotion, take shelter under My feet, for the sake of eternal blessedness, (seeing that) all causes of fear are absent from them.

3.25.45

etāvān eva loke 'smin puṃsāṃ niḥśreyasodayaḥ /
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena mano mayy arpitaṃ sthiram //

Only this much in this world brings the dawn of the supreme good for human beings: / the mind firmly fixed on Me through intense yoga of devotion.

Verse 40. आत्मानं उभयायिनं _D._ The jiva who has to pass through (both the worlds) विश्वतोमुखं _D._ More important than any other (Omniscient.) 44. This is the only means of the highest bliss for men in this world that the mind should be firmly set on Me with intense devotion.