Bhagavatapurana 3.7: atha saptamo'dhyāyaḥ

3.7.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
evaṃ bruvāṇaṃ maitreyaṃ dvaipāyana-suto budhaḥ /
prīṇayann iva bhāratyā viduraḥ pratyabhāṣata //

Śrī Śuka said: / As Maitreya was speaking in this way, the wise Vidura, son of Dvaipāyana, / addressed him in reply, seeming to delight him with his words.

1. Sri Suka said :—In reply to Maitreya, Vidura the wise son of Dwaipayana said (as follows), trying to please him with his words (with his request).

3.7.2

/0 vidura uvāca
brahman kathaṃ bhagavataś cin-mātrasyāvikāriṇaḥ /
līlayā cāpi yujyeran nirguṇasya guṇāḥ kriyāḥ //

Vidura said: / O Brahman, how could qualities and actions, even by way of divine play, / belong to the Lord, who is pure consciousness, changeless, and devoid of qualities?

2. Vidura said :—“ Brahman, how could *gunas* and activity be attributed even by way of Leela to the Almighty Lord who

is pure intelligence subject to no change and destitute of qualities?

3.7.3

krīḍāyām udyamo 'rbhasya kāmaś cikrīḍiṣānyataḥ /
svatas-tṛptasya ca kathaṃ nivṛttasya sadānyataḥ //

A child's effort in play arises from desire and the wish to play with another; / but how can there be [such desire] for one who is self-satisfied and ever turned away from another?

3. In the case of a child there is something else, namely, the desire to impel it to find some sport, and that desire to play comes from another source; but how could that be true in the case of the Lord who is ever satisfied in Himself and who is ever without a second?

3.7.4

asrākṣīd bhagavān viśvaṃ guṇa-mayyātma-māyayā /
tayā saṃsthāpayaty etad bhūyaḥ pratyapidhāsyati //

The Lord created the universe through his own creative power, which consists of the qualities; / by it he maintains this, and again he will dissolve it.

4. (It has been said that) the Almighty Lord created the universe by means of Maya, which is constituted of Gunas (Satva, Rajas and Tamas) and which confers on Atman agentship and other attributes; and that through her He maintains it and again withdraws it.

3.7.5

deśataḥ kālato yo 'sāv avasthātaḥ svato 'nyataḥ /
aviluptāvabodhātmā sa yujyetājayā katham //

How could he, whose self is undivided consciousness / by space, by time, by state, by himself, or by another, be joined with the unborn [creative power]?

5. How could the Lord be joined to Prakriti (Aja)—the Lord who is essentially nothing but consciousness, unimpaired or unaffected by Time and Place, and by other conditions, through Himself or another?

3.7.6

bhagavān eka evaiṣa sarva-kṣetreṣv avasthitaḥ /
amuṣya durbhagatvaṃ vā kleśo vā karmabhiḥ kutaḥ //

This Lord alone resides in all fields of embodiment; / whence could misfortune or distress come to him through deeds?

6. This Omnipotent Lord is but one present in all the bodies (Kshetras); whence could then misery or affliction produced by Karma assail Him?

3.7.7

etasmin me mano vidvan khidyate 'jñāna-saṅkaṭe /
tan naḥ parāṇuda vibho kaśmalaṃ mānasaṃ mahat //

In this strait of ignorance, O learned sage, my mind is troubled; / therefore dispel, O all-pervading lord, this great delusion of my heart.

7. In this maze of ignorance, my mind is bewildered; therefore, O wise one, O lord, be pleased to remove this great confusion in our (my) mind.

3.7.8

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
sa itthaṃ coditaḥ kṣattrā tattva-jijñāsunā muniḥ /
pratyāha bhagavac-cittaḥ smayann iva gata-smayaḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / Thus questioned by the attendant Vidura, who was eager to know the truth, / the sage, his mind fixed on the Lord and free from pride, replied as if smiling.

8. Sri Suka said:—Thus requested by Vidura desirous of knowing the truth, the sage (Maitreya) whose heart is (always) with the Lord and is free from pride, smilingly said.

3.7.9

/0 maitreya uvāca
seyaṃ bhagavato māyā yan nayena virudhyate /
īśvarasya vimuktasya kārpaṇyam uta bandhanam //

Maitreya said: / This is the creative power of the Lord, which defies logical reasoning: / that helplessness or bondage should pertain to the Lord who is eternally free.

Verse 9. *V.* It is by virtue of the Lords' Maya, *i.e.*, wonderful power that Iswara appears to be in misery and Mukta, too—a paradoxical position. *Note.* The relation of Jivas to bodies is due to Karma and Avidya and the consequences of that relation may lead to purushartha or not, whereas the relation of the Lord to bodies is neither due to Karma, nor meant for seeking purushartha. So His relation may be said to be only out of Leela.

3.7.10

yad arthena vināmuṣya puṃsa ātma-viparyayaḥ /
pratīyata upadraṣṭuḥ sva-śiraś chedanādikaḥ //

Just as an inversion of the self appears to the beholder without any real object, / such as seeing one's own head severed and so forth;

Verse 10. *V.* For in the case of the Jiva who is bound by Karma, the change of self as Deva, Manushya etc., not of the essential self, which is a matter of final attainment and the vision of his own head being cut off in relation to such bodies and the consequent sorrow are posible experiences of the jiva who is made to see such visions and this is all due to the Lord's Maya. *D.* Even without any purpose, the severance of the head and like changes of the body are seen in dream-visions by the jiva by force of previous experiences in this or past lives and here the misapprehension on the part of the jiva is clear; similarly the samsara is the result of mistake on the part of the jiva. *Note:*—The mistake which the jiva makes in respect of visions in dreams should not be taken as supporting the view that dreams are false.

3.7.11

yathā jale candramasaḥ kampādis tat-kṛto guṇaḥ /
dṛśyate 'sann api draṣṭur ātmano 'nātmano guṇaḥ //

Just as the trembling and other properties caused by water are seen in the moon, though unreal, / so the property of that which is not the self is perceived in the witnessing self.

Verse 11. *V.* Latter half:—The conditions of Anatman, *viz.*, the body, though not of the jiva, are thought to be his own by him, since he mistakes the body for his self. In the case of Paramatman who is concealed by Avidya but continues to be the ruler of Prakriti and Purusha, Avidya and its products have no influence. *D. Note* The jiva who does not understand the truth is attributing to himself birth, death etc. under the force of Lord's will; so long as he does not realise the true nature of the Lord and his own self, his dependent character and the absolute nature of the Lord, he continues to be in Samsara. The simile makes it clear that the conditions called Samsara to which the soul is subject are not in themselves unreal, and the cause of jiva's experiences in samsara such as pleasure and pain is the mistake which he commits in looking upon the external conditions as forming his own essence. 12. That state (of delusion) while here, slowly vanishes indeed by force of Nivritti Dharma [duties done without the desire of consequences], by the grace of the Omnipresent Lord Vasudeva and by means of devotion to the Almighty Lord.

3.7.12

sa vai nivṛtti-dharmeṇa vāsudevānukampayā /
bhagavad-bhakti-yogena tirodhatte śanair iha //

Indeed, that [delusion] gradually disappears in this world by the dharma of detachment, / by the mercy of Vāsudeva, and by the yoga of devotion to the Lord.

3.7.13

yadendriyoparāmo 'tha draṣṭrātmani pare harau /
vilīyante tadā kleśāḥ saṃsuptasyeva kṛtsnaśaḥ //

When the senses cease their function and are fixed on Hari, the supreme witnessing self, / then all afflictions dissolve, just as in deep sleep.

13. When the Indriyas cease to do their functions and rest on the supreme Hari, the Antaryamin of the jiva who is the seer, (then) (all) miseries completely vanish as in the case of one who is deeply asleep.

3.7.14

aśeṣa-saṅkleśa-śamaṃ vidhatte guṇānuvāda-śravaṇaṃ murāreḥ /
kiṃ vā punas tac-caraṇāravinda- parāga-sevā-ratir ātma-labdhā //

Listening to the recounting of the qualities of Murāri brings cessation to all distress; / what then of attaining loving attachment to the service of the dust of his lotus feet?

14. To talk about and listen to the excellent attributes of Hari (Murari) forms the means of getting rid of all miseries; What then (need be said of the virtue of) the joy felt by the heart in worshipping the dust of His lotus-like feet?

3.7.15

/0 vidura uvāca
sañchinnaḥ saṃśayo mahyaṃ tava sūktāsinā vibho /
ubhayatrāpi bhagavan mano me sampradhāvati //

Vidura said: / My doubt has been cut away by the sword of your well-spoken words, O lord; / in both directions, O venerable one, my mind now runs freely.

15. Vidura said:—My doubt is cut off by the sword of Thy good explanation, O Lord! O worshipful one, my mind now thoroughly traverses (perceives) both [(1) the absolute nature of Isvara and the dependent state of the jiva [or (2) bondage and Moksha.]

Verse 15. V. उभयत्र-प्रधावति = My Mind goes after both the courses, the delight of listening to the accounts of His excellent qualities and that of worshipping His feet. D. My Mind is tossed between attachments to the body and its belongings and Hari, the Lord. बद्धाल्पपार्थ.

3.7.16

sādhv etad vyāhṛtaṃ vidvan nātma-māyāyanaṃ hareḥ /
ābhāty apārthaṃ nirmūlaṃ viśva-mūlaṃ na yad bahiḥ //

Well has this been spoken, O learned sage: the resting place of Hari's creative power is not the self; / it appears meaningless and groundless, since that which is the root of the universe has no exterior.

Verse 16. V. It has been well explained by you, O Learned one, that jiva and Prakriti are the abode of Hari and it is a false view that this universe does not contain within itself its own cause Brahma and that Brahma, the cause of all is outside it and has not entered into it. D. O wise one, this explanation that it is all due to Hari's own glorious powers is indeed well given; but to my mind all that appears devoid of purpose and sufficient reason, except the पूर्वादृष्ट something invisible and unknown of the past; (all that = the notion of taking the body for the Atman) and at the same time, I cannot think out of Brahman to find the cause of all (so I am in a confusion).

3.7.17

yaś ca mūḍhatamo loke yaś ca buddheḥ paraṃ gataḥ /
tāv ubhau sukham edhete kliśyaty antarito janaḥ //

Both he who is the greatest fool in the world and he who has gone beyond the intellect / prosper in happiness; the person situated between them suffers.

Verse 17. V. बुद्धेः...गतः ; He who has known his Lord Brahma different from Buddhi: D. He who has known or reached Brahman, who is higher than Prakriti. on with ease in the world; but the man who occupies a middle position between them (who experiences miseries and remains ignorant of the essential bliss), is subject to suffering.

3.7.18

arthābhāvaṃ viniścitya pratītasyāpi nātmanaḥ /
tāṃ cāpi yuṣmac-caraṇa- sevayāhaṃ parāṇude //

Having resolved upon the absence of reality in what appears, though not belonging to the self, / I also dispel that [delusion] by serving your feet;

18. Having conclusively known that the world (Anatman) is unreal, though it appears to exist I shall rid myself of even that notion by service at Thy feet.

3.7.19

yat-sevayā bhagavataḥ kūṭa-sthasya madhu-dviṣaḥ /
rati-rāso bhavet tīvraḥ pādayor vyasanārdanaḥ //

By serving which, intense love and delight in the feet of the Lord, / the immutable foe of Madhu, arises, destroying all distress.

19. And through service to Thee can be had the feast of intense and natural love to the feet of the glorious Lord, the enemy of Madhu, who is never subject to changes; and (this) is powerful enough to beat out all miseries.

3.7.20

durāpā hy alpa-tapasaḥ sevā vaikuṇṭha-vartmasu /
yatropagīyate nityaṃ deva-devo janārdanaḥ //

For service to those who walk the path to Vaikuṇṭha is difficult to attain by one of meager austerities— / [the path] where Janārdana, the God of gods, is constantly sung.

20. In truth, the worship of those that are in the path of Vaikuntha and in whose midst Janardana, God of gods, is daily sung, cannot be easily attempted (accomplished) by men of little Tapas.

3.7.21

sṛṣṭvāgre mahad-ādīni sa-vikārāṇy anukramāt /
tebhyo virājam uddhṛtya tam anu prāviśad vibhuḥ //

Having first created the cosmic intellect and the rest, with their transformations in sequence, / and having drawn the universal form from them, the all-pervading Lord entered into it.

21. (It has been said that) having in the beginning created Mahat-tattva and other principles with their (gross) modifications in due order, and having formed Virat (Anda) out of them, the Lord entered into it (him);

3.7.22

yam āhur ādyaṃ puruṣaṃ sahasrāṅghry-ūru-bāhukam /
yatra viśva ime lokāḥ sa-vikāśaṃ ta āsate //

Whom they call the primordial person, with thousands of feet, thighs, and arms, / in whom all these worlds with their ample spaces abide;

22. (Virat) whom the wise describe as the First Purusha, having a thousand feet, a thousand thighs and a thousand arms, and in whom all these worlds (beings) abide along with all their developments.

3.7.23

yasmin daśa-vidhaḥ prāṇaḥ sendriyārthendriyas tri-vṛt /
tvayerito yato varṇās tad-vibhūtīr vadasva naḥ //

In whom is the tenfold vital breath, the threefold mind with the senses and sense-objects, / and from whom, as you stated, came the classes—tell us of his manifestations.

23. And in him, as thou hast described, Prana exists in ten forms, as also in three forms, namely, the Indriyas and their objects and the gods presiding over them (who are also denoted by the term Indriyas), and from him the Varnas originated; please tell us of His glories.

3.7.24

yatra putraiś ca pautraiś ca naptṛbhiḥ saha gotrajaiḥ /
prajā vicitrākṛtaya āsan yābhir idaṃ tatam //

In whom, along with sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and descendants, / there were creatures of manifold forms by whom this universe was spread.

24. (Tell us of Virat) in whom dwell people of various wonderful forms, with their sons, grandsons, great-grandsons,

and (other) descendants of their races, by whom this Universe is occupied.

3.7.25

prajāpatīnāṃ sa patiś cakḷpe kān prajāpatīn /
sargāṃś caivānusargāṃś ca manūn manvantarādhipān //

Which lords of creatures did he, the master of the lords of creatures, create, / and the primary creations, the secondary creations, the Manus, and the rulers of the Manvantaras?

25. Who are the Prajapatis whom the Lord of Prajapatis (Brahma) created? What are his creations and sub-creations? Who are the Manus and the rulers during the *manvantaras*, created by him?

3.7.26

eteṣām api vedāṃś ca vaṃśānucaritāni ca /
upary adhaś ca ye lokā bhūmer mitrātmajāsate //

Tell of their worlds and the histories of their lineages; / and, O son of Mitrā, of the worlds that lie above and below the earth;

26 & 27. O son of Mitra, describe to me their dynasties and the deeds of those that were born of them, what *lokas* (regions) are situated above and below the earth; of their arrangements, their positions, their dimensions as well as those of Bhurloka; please tell us of the creation and classification of beasts, men and gods, reptiles and birds, of those that are born of the womb or sweat, of those that are twice-born, and of the vegetable kingdom.

3.7.27

teṣāṃ saṃsthāṃ pramāṇaṃ ca bhūr-lokasya ca varṇaya /
tiryaṅ-mānuṣa-devānāṃ sarīsṛpa-patattriṇām /
vada naḥ sarga-saṃvyūhaṃ gārbha-sveda-dvijodbhidām //

Describe their arrangement and measurement, and that of the earthly realm; / tell us the systematic arrangement of the creation of animals, humans, gods, reptiles, and birds, / born of wombs, of sweat, of eggs, and of sprouting plants.

3.7.28

guṇāvatārair viśvasya sarga-sthity-apyayāśrayam /
sṛjataḥ śrīnivāsasya vyācakṣvodāra-vikramam //

Explain the generous valor of the dwelling-place of Śrī, / who by his qualitative incarnations creates the universe, the basis of creation, maintenance, and dissolution.

28. Explain to us the unlimited power of Srinivasa (Hari) engaged in creation, on which the universe depends for its origin, subsistence, destruction and support as those are the work of His *gunavataras*.

3.7.29

varṇāśrama-vibhāgāṃś ca rūpa-śīla-svabhāvataḥ /
ṛṣīṇāṃ janma-karmāṇi vedasya ca vikarṣaṇam //

And the divisions of class and life-stage according to form, character, and nature; / the births and deeds of the sages, and the arrangement of the Veda;

29. Also describe the divisions of the Varnas and Asramas according to their form, characteristics and nature, (tranquillity and other qualities); the origin (birth) and life of Rishis and the classification of the Vedas.

3.7.30

yajñasya ca vitānāni yogasya ca pathaḥ prabho /
naiṣkarmyasya ca sāṅkhyasya tantraṃ vā bhagavat-smṛtam //

The expansions of the sacrifice, O master, and the path of yoga; / and the system of Sāṅkhya leading to freedom from karmic reaction, or taught by the Lord;

30. The extensive details of Yagna (sacrifice) and the ways conducive to Yoga, Gnana and its courses; and those of Sankhya and the Tantra taught by the Almighty Lord, (tell me of these), O lord;

3.7.31

pāṣaṇḍa-patha-vaiṣamyaṃ pratiloma-niveśanam /
jīvasya gatayo yāś ca yāvatīr guṇa-karmajāḥ //

The deviation of heretical paths, the intermixture of castes against the grain, / and whatever and however many are the courses of the living being born of quality and action;

31. The crooked course of the Pakhandas, the origin and place of races, the several courses of the Jiva and all the effects produced by the *gunas* and Karma;

3.7.32

dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣāṇāṃ nimittāny avirodhataḥ /
vārtāyā daṇḍa-nīteś ca śrutasya ca vidhiṃ pṛthak //

The means for achieving dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation without conflict; / and the distinct rules of trade and agriculture, statecraft, and sacred lore;

32. The means of accomplishing Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, without prejudice to one another and the different methods of commerce and agriculture, the tactics of war, the courses of study;

3.7.33

śrāddhasya ca vidhiṃ brahman pit-ṇāṃ sargam eva ca /
graha-nakṣatra-tārāṇāṃ kālāvayava-saṃsthitim //

The procedure for ancestral rites, O Brahman, and the creation of the ancestors; / the positions of the planets, lunar mansions, and stars, and the divisions of time;

33. How Sraddha (श्राद्ध) is to be performed, O Brahman, the origin of the Pitris, of the planets, nakshatras and stars, and the arrangement of the divisions of Time;

3.7.34

dānasya tapaso vāpi yac ceṣṭā-pūrtayoḥ phalam /
pravāsa-sthasya yo dharmo yaś ca puṃsa utāpadi //

The fruit of charity and austerity, as well as of public and sacrificial works; / the duty of one living abroad, and that of a person in distress;

34. The consequence of charitable gifts, of Tapas and of sacrificial acts and the construction of tanks, wells etc; and what constitutes righteous duty on the part of a traveller as well as of a person in straitened circumstances;

3.7.35

yena vā bhagavāṃs tuṣyed dharma-yonir janārdanaḥ /
samprasīdati vā yeṣām etad ākhyāhi me 'nagha //

By which Janārdana, the Lord who is the origin of dharma, is pleased, / or towards whom he becomes gracious—relate this to me, O sinless one.

35. The course by which Janardana, the source of righteousness, the glorious Lord, is propitiated, and the persons to whom He shows His grace—all this, O sinless one, be pleased to tell me in detail.

3.7.36

anuvratānāṃ śiṣyāṇāṃ putrāṇāṃ ca dvijottama /
anāpṛṣṭam api brūyur guravo dīna-vatsalāḥ //

To devoted disciples and sons, O best among the twice-born, / teachers compassionate to the wretched should speak even without being asked.

36. O Foremost one among the twice-born, the great Gurus (masters) who are (always) kind to the distressed tell their devoted pupils and sons even what they might not have asked about.

3.7.37

tattvānāṃ bhagavaṃs teṣāṃ katidhā pratisaṅkramaḥ /
tatremaṃ ka upāsīran ka u svid anuśerate //

In how many ways, O venerable one, does the dissolution of those cosmic principles occur? / At that time, who worships him, and who reposes alongside him?

37. In how many ways does the withdrawal or pralaya of those principles take place, O Worshipful one? And who are with Him at that time and who go to sleep with Him?

3.7.38

puruṣasya ca saṃsthānaṃ svarūpaṃ vā parasya ca /
jñānaṃ ca naigamaṃ yat tad guru-śiṣya-prayojanam //

And what is the state and the essential nature of the individual soul and of the Supreme, / and that Vedic knowledge which is the purpose of teacher and disciple?

38. The true nature of the Jiva and the essential state of Paramatman, the knowledge to be derived from the Upanishads and what constitutes the purpose of the master and the pupil;

3.7.39

nimittāni ca tasyeha proktāny anagha-sūribhiḥ /
svato jñānaṃ kutaḥ puṃsāṃ bhaktir vairāgyam eva vā //

And the causes for it that are proclaimed in this world by sinless sages— / for whence could knowledge, devotion, or dispassion arise of themselves in men?

39. O sinless one, tell me of the various means laid down by the wise for the attainment of that knowledge—for how could that wisdom or devotion or even renunciation arise in men by virtue of their own nature (without the grace of the preceptor)?

3.7.40

etān me pṛcchataḥ praśnān hareḥ karma-vivitsayā /
brūhi me 'jñasya mitratvād ajayā naṣṭa-cakṣuṣaḥ //

To me who ask these questions, desiring to know the deeds of Hari, / speak, out of friendship, to me who am ignorant, my vision lost through His unborn creative power.

40. Be pleased to tell me (all about this) as I put these questions eager to know the deeds of Hari; for thou art a friend, and my eyes are shut by Prakriti (Maya.)

3.7.41

sarve vedāś ca yajñāś ca tapo dānāni cānagha /
jīvābhaya-pradānasya na kurvīran kalām api //

All the Vedas, sacrifices, austerities, and gifts, O sinless one, / do not equal even a fraction of the gift of fearlessness to living beings.

41. All the Vedas, sacrificial acts, austerities and charitable gifts cannot, O sinless one, be equivalent to a fraction (a small portion) of the virtue resulting from the promise of shelter to a soul (imparting him the knowledge of Truth).

3.7.42

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
sa ittham āpṛṣṭa-purāṇa-kalpaḥ kuru-pradhānena muni-pradhānaḥ /
pravṛddha-harṣo bhagavat-kathāyāṃ sañcoditas taṃ prahasann ivāha //

Śrī Śuka said: / Having been thus questioned on the ancient lore by the foremost of the Kurus, that foremost of sages, / his joy swelling in the discourse of the Lord, being thus urged, replied as if smiling.

42. Sri Suka said:—Thus requested by Vidura, foremost among the Kurus, the great sage who was almost a Purana of information, was highly delighted on being requested to tell the stories of the Almighty Lord and spoke to him with a smile on his lips.