Bhagavatapurana 3.27: atha saptaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

3.27.1

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
prakṛti-stho 'pi puruṣo nājyate prākṛtair guṇaiḥ /
avikārād akartṛtvān nirguṇatvāj jalārkavat //

The Lord said: / Even while situated in material nature, the person is not tainted by the guṇas of material nature, / because he is unchanging, a non-doer, and without guṇas, just like the sun [reflected] in water.

1. Though Purusha abides in Prakriti, he remains, like the image of the sun in water, unaffected by the Gunas of Prakriti, i.e., pleasure, pain and other effects of the Gunas, since he is destitute of Gunas, agentship or activity and consequently of change.

Verse 1. V. Though abiding in Prakriti i.e., in the body produced out of Prakriti, the Purusha i.e., the jiva is not affected by its gunas i.e., by pleasure and pain and other conditions due to the various bodies through which the jiva passes; for his essential nature does not modify and undergo change of form; he is not even the agent of the activities connected with the physical body; he is like the sun's image in water which is not really affected by the changes in the water.

D. Since the jiva and the Supreme Lord are both in relation to the body a doubt may arise as to both being subject to the experiences due to it, to clear this doubt proceeds the first verse. Purusha is the Supreme Being so called because He is perfect. He is not affected by the qualities or conditions of Prakriti or physical matter; for He is not liable to the six changes of birth, growth, etc. He is an absolute agent etc.

3.27.2

sa eṣa yarhi prakṛter guṇeṣv abhiviṣajjate /
ahaṅkriyā-vimūḍhātmā kartāsmīty abhimanyate //

When this very [person] becomes intensely attached to the guṇas of material nature, / with his self bewildered by egoism, he considers: 'I am the doer.'

Verse 2. V. When the true nature of the Jiva is concealed or forgotten on account of the wrong notion of regarding the physical body to be his essential self and thus he becomes attached to the objects of sense and thinks himself to be the absolute agent. D. Here the Jiva is spoken of as affected by the conditions of this body the pronoun एष: refers to the Jiva the matter of direct experience every day as distinct from the Lord spoken of in the previous verse.—When attached the body of Satva and other gunas the Jiva is deluded by Ahankara and forgets the nature of the Lord and that he is only a limited and a dependent agent.

3.27.3

tena saṃsāra-padavīm avaśo 'bhyety anirvṛtaḥ /
prāsaṅgikaiḥ karma-doṣaiḥ sad-asan-miśra-yoniṣu //

Therefore, helpless and unhappy, he enters the path of the cycle of rebirth / through the faults of actions born of attachment, into good, evil, and mixed wombs.

Verse. 3. D. तेन Owing to the false notion of being an agent अनिर्वृतः Though he finds no joy of satisfaction.

3.27.4

arthe hy avidyamāne 'pi saṃsṛtir na nivartate /
dhyāyato viṣayān asya svapne 'narthāgamo yathā //

For even when an object does not exist, transmigration does not cease / for him who meditates on sense objects, just as the occurrence of misfortune [takes place] in a dream.

Verse. 4. D. Though the Jiva in his essential nature cannot be really said to be happy or miserable the Samsara does not vanish without the grace of the Lord since he is given to contemplating the worldly objects and cannot but be the subject of evil experience just as a person does really suffer from the evils indicated by horrible dreams. objects, just as evil consequences are a matter of experience in the state of dream.

3.27.5

ata eva śanaiś cittaṃ prasaktam asatāṃ pathi /
bhakti-yogena tīvreṇa viraktyā ca nayed vaśam //

Therefore, one should gradually bring under control the mind attached to the path of the wicked / through intense yoga of devotion and through dispassion.

5. Therefore, by means of intense devotion and absolute renunciation, one should bring under control one's mind that has stuck to the path of the wicked senses.

3.27.6

yamādibhir yoga-pathair abhyasañ śraddhayānvitaḥ /
mayi bhāvena satyena mat-kathā-śravaṇena ca //

Practicing the paths of yoga beginning with the restraints, endowed with faith, / with true devotional emotion toward me and listening to narrations about me,

6. By means of Yama, Niyama and other methods of Yoga one should practise concentration with faith and with sincere love towards Me, listening to My stories.

3.27.7

sarva-bhūta-samatvena nirvaireṇāprasaṅgataḥ /
brahmacaryeṇa maunena sva-dharmeṇa balīyasā //

with impartiality toward all beings, without enmity, free from attachment, / through celibacy, silence, and one's own powerful dharma,

7. Regarding all beings as equal, hating nothing, renouncing all attachment, following (living) a celibate life, observing silence, performing one's own powerful duty, powerful (on account of resignation to God).

3.27.8

yadṛcchayopalabdhena santuṣṭo mita-bhuṅ muniḥ /
vivikta-śaraṇaḥ śānto maitraḥ karuṇa ātmavān //

content with whatever is obtained by chance, eating moderately, a sage, / living in a secluded refuge, tranquil, friendly, compassionate, and self-controlled,

8. Contented with what is obtained by chance, subsisting upon moderate food (being temperate in eating), resorting to solitude, having a serene mind, being friendly and merciful (to all beings) with perfect control over the mind;

3.27.9

sānubandhe ca dehe 'sminn akurvann asad-āgraham /
jñānena dṛṣṭa-tattvena prakṛteḥ puruṣasya ca //

not having false attachment to this body and its relations, / through knowledge by which the truth of material nature and the person is perceived,

9. Ceasing to have the evil attachment as ‘My’ and ‘Mine’ to this body and its belongings and having gained the wisdom by which the truth of Prakriti and Purusha is realised;

3.27.10

nivṛtta-buddhy-avasthāno dūrī-bhūtānya-darśanaḥ /
upalabhyātmanātmānaṃ cakṣuṣevārkam ātma-dṛk //

with the states of the intellect ceased, with perception of otherness distanced, / having perceived the self by the self, like the sun with the eye, seeing the self,

10. Having risen above the mental states of wakefulness, sleep, etc. and distanced (shunned) the view of other things and realised the Atman by means of the Atman (by self) and having thus secured the vision of the Atman, just as the sun is seen by means of the eye which is also the sun;

Verse 10. V. With his Buddhi rid of all thinking activity and having ceased to see or think of anything other than the Lord, he realises Atman as distinct from Prakriti. D. Having risen above sleep and other conditions that affect the pure understanding, having shunned the knowledge of worldly objects or mistaken systems of knowledge and having by his pure unmixed intelligent nature realised his own self as well as the gods and through their favour realised the Lord within himself and having attained to the state of being conscious of the Lord &c.

3.27.11

mukta-liṅgaṃ sad-ābhāsam asati pratipadyate /
sato bandhum asac-cakṣuḥ sarvānusyūtam advayam //

one perceives in the unreal [body] the one free from the subtle body, the manifestation of reality, / the friend of reality, the eye of the unreal, interwoven in all, non-dual.

Verse 11. V. Having directly realised Paramatman through Atman (the Jiva) who is the abode of Paramatman and on the termination of Prarabdha, he casts off the body and attains to the Lord who is not conditioned by the bodies due to Karma and who ever shines in His unlimited intelligent nature. D. During the Brahma Pralaya the final deluge or destruction he casts off the Linga Sareera and attains unto the Lord of whom Prana is an image, who is the father of Prana, who is equally perfect in every individual being in which He is present and who is the Omniscient Supreme Being without an equal or a superior.

3.27.12

yathā jala-stha ābhāsaḥ sthala-sthenāvadṛśyate /
svābhāsena tathā sūryo jala-sthena divi sthitaḥ //

Just as a reflection situated in water is observed by someone standing on the bank, / and by means of that reflection situated in water the sun situated in the sky [is observed],

Verse 12. V. Just as the image of the sun in water is seen by means of the same sun’s light as the objects on land, are so also is the light showing the image in water shows the real sun in the sky. Note:—The idea is that the same light shows both the real and the unreal and so when the unreal is perceived there is a possibility of knowing the real through the same light. D. Gives a second interpretation thus:—Just as the image of a face in water may give an idea of the actual face standing on the bank, so also the image of the sun in water gives an idea of the real sun in the sky. 13. So also by means of the images of the Atman conditioned by the Bhutas, the Indriyas and Manas, the Ahankara consituted of the three Gunas is perceived as the image of Sat (Brahman) and by means of this image associated with Ahankara the Atman is perceived in His real nature of absolute consciousness.

3.27.13

evaṃ trivṛd-ahaṅkāro bhūtendriya-manomayaiḥ /
svābhāsair lakṣito 'nena sad-ābhāsena satya-dṛk //

so the threefold egoism, through its own reflections composed of elements, senses, and mind, / is indicated, and by this manifestation of reality the seer of truth [is known].

3.27.14

bhūta-sūkṣmendriya-mano- buddhy-ādiṣv iha nidrayā /
līneṣv asati yas tatra vinidro nirahaṅkriyaḥ //

When here, during sleep, the subtle elements, the senses, the mind, and the intellect / have dissolved in unreality, he who is awake there, devoid of egoism,

14. In the state of sleep when the subtle principles of the Bhutas, the Indriyas, Manas, Buddhi, etc. are withdrawn into the Asat (the unmanifest Principle), He who remains uanffected by sleep and Ahankara, realises the Atman.

3.27.15

manyamānas tadātmānam anaṣṭo naṣṭavan mṛṣā /
naṣṭe 'haṅkaraṇe draṣṭā naṣṭa-vitta ivāturaḥ //

the seer, though unruined, falsely thinking himself ruined at that time / when the ego has vanished, is distressed like one who has lost his wealth.

15. (Still in the state of sleep the realisation is not quite distinct); for in that state, the *Ahankara-Tattva* being lost (inoperative), he (the seer Jiva) falsely regards himself as lost though he is not, just as the man who has lost his fortune does in his grief.

3.27.16

evaṃ pratyavamṛśyāsāv ātmānaṃ pratipadyate /
sāhaṅkārasya dravyasya yo 'vasthānam anugrahaḥ //

Having thus reflected, he realizes the self / which is the foundation and support of the material world endowed with egoism.

16. Having thus thoroughly reflected (as a result of such thorough investigation) he realises the Atman who is the support and source of light for the matter associated with Ahankara.

3.27.17

/0 devahūtir uvāca
puruṣaṃ prakṛtir brahman na vimuñcati karhicit /
anyonyāpāśrayatvāc ca nityatvād anayoḥ prabho //

Devahūti said: / O Brahman, material nature never leaves the person, / because of their mutual dependence and because of their eternity, O Lord.

17. Devahuti said :—O Brahman of perfect wisdom, Prakriti can never be dissociated from (never leaves) the Purusha, since they are interdependent (for their existence or manifestation) and are eternal ; so how could there be Mukti, which must be their separation ?

3.27.18

yathā gandhasya bhūmeś ca na bhāvo vyatirekataḥ /
apāṃ rasasya ca yathā tathā buddheḥ parasya ca //

Just as there is no existence of fragrance apart from earth, / and just as [there is no existence] of taste [apart from] water, so it is of the intellect and the supreme [person].

18. Just as smell and the substance, or water and taste cannot exist apart, so also Prakriti and Purusha cannot (be conceived to exist separately) from each other.

3.27.19

akartuḥ karma-bandho 'yaṃ puruṣasya yad-āśrayaḥ /
guṇeṣu satsu prakṛteḥ kaivalyaṃ teṣv ataḥ katham //

Therefore, how can there be absolute liberation for the person who is a non-doer, / whose bondage of action has this [material nature] as its basis, while the guṇas of material nature exist?

19. When those Gunas of Prakriti do exist, which form the source of the *Karma-bandha* (the bondage of Karma) of Purusha who is incapable of activity (by nature) how could there be Mukti or absolute separation from Prakriti?

3.27.20

kvacit tattvāvamarśena nivṛttaṃ bhayam ulbaṇam /
anivṛtta-nimittatvāt punaḥ pratyavatiṣṭhate //

Even if fearful terror is occasionally removed by reflection on truth, / it arises again because its cause has not been eliminated.

20. So, the intense fear (of *Samsara*) though sometimes distanced by the force of the strong conviction of Truth, is again seen to return, since the causal conditions are not annihilated.

3.27.21

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
animitta-nimittena sva-dharmeṇāmalātmanā /
tīvrayā mayi bhaktyā ca śruta-sambhṛtayā ciram //

The Lord said: / By means of one's own dharma performed without motive, with a pure mind, / and by intense devotion to me, cultivated for a long time by listening [to sacred teachings],

21. The Lord said:—When by the performance of one’s own duties and by means of the purity of heart (mind), and intense devotion developed through a long course of study;

3.27.22

jñānena dṛṣṭa-tattvena vairāgyeṇa balīyasā /
tapo-yuktena yogena tīvreṇātma-samādhinā //

by knowledge that perceives the truth, by powerful dispassion, / by yoga joined with austerity, and by intense absorption in the self,

22—23. By means of wisdom which comprehends the Truth, by thorough renunciation, by Yoga joined to Tapas, and by the force of intense meditation on the Purusha while yet in this body, Prakriti, being burnt day and night, will slowly vanish even as the piece of wood which is the source of Agni (Fire).

3.27.23

prakṛtiḥ puruṣasyeha dahyamānā tv ahar-niśam /
tiro-bhavitrī śanakair agner yonir ivāraṇiḥ //

material nature, being constantly consumed day and night for the person here, / will slowly disappear, like the fire-drill, the source of fire.

3.27.24

bhukta-bhogā parityaktā dṛṣṭa-doṣā ca nityaśaḥ /
neśvarasyāśubhaṃ dhatte sve mahimni sthitasya ca //

Her pleasures having been enjoyed, abandoned, and her faults seen constantly, / she brings no harm to the master established in his own greatness.

24. When Prakriti is daily realised as the source of evil and consequently abandoned without attachment after all the experiences brought on by her, she ceases to institute the inauspicious condition about Iswara who stands Supreme in His essential state of blissfulness.

3.27.25

yathā hy apratibuddhasya prasvāpo bahv-anartha-bhṛt /
sa eva pratibuddhasya na vai mohāya kalpate //

For just as deep sleep brings many troubles to one who has not awakened, / that very [sleep] certainly does not produce delusion in one who is awake.

25—26. Just as sleep is a source of many evils to one that is not awake and the same sleep cannot tend to the delusion of one who is wide awake; so Prakriti works no evil to him who has understood the truth and who sets his mind upon Me and finds delight in the Atman alone (self).

3.27.26

evaṃ vidita-tattvasya prakṛtir mayi mānasam /
yuñjato nāpakuruta ātmārāmasya karhicit //

In this way, material nature never harms one who has known the truth, / who fixes his mind on me, and who delights in the self.

3.27.27

yadaivam adhyātma-rataḥ kālena bahu-janmanā /
sarvatra jāta-vairāgya ābrahma-bhuvanān muniḥ //

When in this way the sage, delighted in the supreme self, over time through many births, / has developed dispassion toward everything up to the realm of Brahmā,

27—28—29. When the individual thus comes to find delight only in the Atman and after the course of many lives learns to renounce everything including the region of Brahma, he becomes a Muni (a thorough contemplatist) and being My devotee, having understood the truth of the Atman through My full grace, and having gained perfect wisdom and cut asunder all doubt by the knowledge of Atman—he attains to his own essential state which is distinct from the gross body and its belongings and which is the final state of beatitude resting on Me, the state which is reached on the annihilation of the Linga Sareera and from which there is no returning when once attained.

3.27.28

mad-bhaktaḥ pratibuddhārtho mat-prasādena bhūyasā /
niḥśreyasaṃ sva-saṃsthānaṃ kaivalyākhyaṃ mad-āśrayam //

my devotee, whose understanding is awakened by my abundant grace, / attains the supreme good, his own true state, called absolute liberation, which takes refuge in me.

3.27.29

prāpnotīhāñjasā dhīraḥ sva-dṛśā cchinna-saṃśayaḥ /
yad gatvā na nivarteta yogī liṅgād vinirgame //

The wise man, his doubts cut away by his own sight, easily attains [it] here, / having gone to which, upon departure from the subtle body, the yogī does not return.

3.27.30

yadā na yogopacitāsu ceto māyāsu siddhasya viṣajjate 'ṅga /
ananya-hetuṣv atha me gatiḥ syād ātyantikī yatra na mṛtyu-hāsaḥ //

When the mind of a perfected adept does not cling to the mystic powers accumulated by yoga, my dear, / which have no other cause, then he attains my absolute state, where there is no derision from death.

30. O mother, only when the accomplished Siddha Purusha ceases to have attachment to the various powers developed through Yoga which is their source, (only then) is the final attainment in relation to Me reached—a state in which Mrityu does not exhibit his laughter (pride) [_i.e._ Mrityu has no power.]