Bhagavatapurana 3.8: athāṣṭamo'dhyāyaḥ

3.8.1

/0 maitreya uvāca
sat-sevanīyo bata pūru-vaṃśo yal loka-pālo bhagavat-pradhānaḥ /
babhūvithehājita-kīrti-mālāṃ pade pade nūtanayasy abhīkṣṇam //

Maitreya said:
Ah, the dynasty of Pūru is worthy of service by virtuous devotees, since a ruler of the world, foremost among devotees of the Lord,
was born here in you, who constantly make the garland of the renown of the Invincible One fresh at every step.

Maitreya said: Indeed the race of Puru is worthy of being highly regarded by the wise, since thou a protector of the world (being Yama), who knowest Hari to be the Supreme Being, art born in it, and at every step and every moment conferest a freshness on the wreath of the Supreme Lord’s glories.

3.8.2

so 'haṃ nṛṇāṃ kṣulla-sukhāya duḥkhaṃ mahad gatānāṃ viramāya tasya /
pravartaye bhāgavataṃ purāṇaṃ yad āha sākṣād bhagavān ṛṣibhyaḥ //

For the cessation of the great suffering of human beings who have fallen into it for trivial pleasure,
I shall set forth the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which the Lord Himself spoke directly to the sages.

2. And I too, being thus devoted to Him shall proclaim the Bhagavata Purana which the worshipful one directly taught to the Rishis, to cut short the great misery of men who run into it for the sake of trifling pleasures.

3.8.3

āsīnam urvyāṃ bhagavantam ādyaṃ saṅkarṣaṇaṃ devam akuṇṭha-sattvam /
vivitsavas tattvam ataḥ parasya kumāra-mukhyā munayo 'nvapṛcchan //

When the Lord, the primal god Saṅkarṣaṇa of unfailing purity, was seated in the subterranean world,
the sages headed by the Kumāras, wishing to know the truth higher than this, questioned Him.

3. Desirous of knowing the truth the sage of whom Sanat-Kumara is the first, requested the glorious God Sankarshana, first among the gods, who was possessed of the unobstructed light of wisdom and was (now) seated on the earth to explain to them the truth of the Supreme Being who is higher than himself (Sankarshana).

3.8.4

svam eva dhiṣṇyaṃ bahu mānayantaṃ yad vāsudevābhidham āmananti /
pratyag-dhṛtākṣāmbuja-kośam īṣad unmīlayantaṃ vibudhodayāya //

He was paying high regard to His own abode, which they recite as named Vāsudeva,
slightly opening the lotus buds of His inward-turned eyes for the awakening of the wise.

4. Sankarshana who was contemplating his own support which the wise call Vasudeva and who had turned his eyes into himself—eyes which were almost closed like a lotus bud in contemplation and who was opening them a little for the pleasure of the wise sages.

3.8.5

svardhuny-udārdraiḥ sva-jaṭā-kalāpair upaspṛśantaś caraṇopadhānam /
padmaṃ yad arcanty ahi-rāja-kanyāḥ sa-prema nānā-balibhir varārthāḥ //

Touching the footstool of His lotus feet, wet with the waters of the heavenly Gaṅgā, with their bundles of matted hair—
feet which the daughters of the serpent king worship with love and various offerings, desiring boons—

5 & 6. (Sankarshana) who had his thousand grand hoods brightened by the excellent gems set in his thousand crowns; thither came the sages wearing matted locks dripping with the water of the celestial river, and worshipping the lotus on which his (Sankarshana’s) feet rested, and which with love and reverence the daughters of Sesha worship with various offerings intent upon obtaining excellent husbands; they came constantly singing his (Sankarshana’s) glorious deeds in words which they faltered out in their intense devotion, for they were aware of them.

3.8.6

muhur gṛṇanto vacasānurāga- skhalat-padenāsya kṛtāni taj-jñāḥ /
kirīṭa-sāhasra-maṇi-praveka- pradyotitoddāma-phaṇā-sahasram //

repeatedly chanting His deeds with speech faltering with devotion, those who knew Him [praised Him],
whose thousand boundless hoods were illuminated by the finest jewels on His thousand crowns.

3.8.7

proktaṃ kilaitad bhagavattamena nivṛtti-dharmābhiratāya tena /
sanat-kumārāya sa cāha pṛṣṭaḥ sāṅkhyāyanāyāṅga dhṛta-vratāya //

This was indeed spoken by that supreme Lord to Sanat-kumāra, who was devoted to the dharma of renunciation;
and he, being questioned, related it, dear friend, to Sāṅkhyāyana, who was firm in his vows.

7. O beloved Vidura, by that most worshipful Sankarshana, this was taught to Sanat Kumara who (always) took delight in the duties of renunciation; and (in his turn) Sanat Kumara requested by him taught it to Sankhyayana of rigid vows (firm in his vows).

3.8.8

sāṅkhyāyanaḥ pāramahaṃsya-mukhyo vivakṣamāṇo bhagavad-vibhūtīḥ /
jagāda so 'smad-gurave 'nvitāya parāśarāyātha bṛhaspateś ca //

Sāṅkhyāyana, foremost in the state of the supreme ascetic, desiring to describe the Lord's divine manifestations,
related it to our guru, the devoted Parāśara, and then to Bṛhaspati.

8. That Sankhyayana, foremost among the Paramahamsas, being eager to proclaim the Lord’s glories imparted it to his follower Parasara, our preceptor, and then to Brihaspati.

3.8.9

provāca mahyaṃ sa dayālur ukto muniḥ pulastyena purāṇam ādyam /
so 'haṃ tavaitat kathayāmi vatsa śraddhālave nityam anuvratāya //

Addressed by Pulastya, that compassionate sage related this primeval Purāṇa to me;
I shall now narrate it to you, my child, who are full of faith and always dutifully devoted.

9. Requested by Pulastya, the generous sage Parasara taught me the Highest Purana; O son, having thus received it, I now expound it to thee who art so faithful and ever devoted to me.

3.8.10

udāplutaṃ viśvam idaṃ tadāsīd yan nidrayāmīlita-dṛṅ nyamīlayat /
ahīndra-talpe 'dhiśayāna ekaḥ kṛta-kṣaṇaḥ svātma-ratau nirīhaḥ //

At that time, this entire universe was flooded with water, which He had closed away with His eyes half-shut in sleep;
lying alone upon the bed of the king of serpents, enjoying delight in His own self, free from desire.

10. When the whole universe was immersed in water, Narayana whose vision is never interrupted, shut his eyes lying on his bed of Sesha, the foremost among serpents, singly delighted in the realisation of His own blissful self, in a state of inaction.

3.8.11

so 'ntaḥ śarīre 'rpita-bhūta-sūkṣmaḥ kālātmikāṃ śaktim udīrayāṇaḥ /
uvāsa tasmin salile pade sve yathānalo dāruṇi ruddha-vīryaḥ //

Having placed the subtle elements within His body, stimulating His power in the form of time,
He resided in that water in His own abode, like fire with its power contained within wood.

11. Having placed the subtle roots of the Bhutas within his body and intending (when necessary) to rouse the power of Time to activity, He dwelt upon *those* waters which are His own

abode, just as Agni remains in wood without manifesting his power.

3.8.12

catur-yugānāṃ ca sahasram apsu svapan svayodīritayā sva-śaktyā /
kālākhyayāsādita-karma-tantro lokān apītān dadṛśe sva-dehe //

Sleeping in the waters for a thousand cycles of four ages with His own power stirred up by Himself,
with the machinery of karma set in motion by that [power] called time, He saw the absorbed worlds within His own body.

12. For a thousand cycles of *chaturyugas* (four yugas) He slept with his intelligent power, shining as ever; and having again reached the means and materials of action through the power called Time directed by Himself for the purpose, He saw the worlds lying dormant in His body, (withdrawn into Himself).

3.8.13

tasyārtha-sūkṣmābhiniviṣṭa-dṛṣṭer antar-gato 'rtho rajasā tanīyān /
guṇena kālānugatena viddhaḥ sūṣyaṃs tadābhidyata nābhi-deśāt //

As His gaze was fixed upon that subtle object, the subtle matter residing within Him, pierced by the quality of passion connected with time,
wishing to burst forth, then broke out from the region of His navel.

13. The subtle principle which was within the Supreme Being whose eye intently fell upon it was agitated by the *guna* which is called Rajas and which acted with Time; and in proceeding to evolve (other effects) it manifested itself from the region of His navel.

3.8.14

sa padma-kośaḥ sahasodatiṣṭhat kālena karma-pratibodhanena /
sva-rociṣā tat salilaṃ viśālaṃ vidyotayann arka ivātma-yoniḥ //

That lotus-bud arose suddenly through time, which awakens past karma,
illuminating those vast waters with its own radiance, like the sun, born from His own self.

14. That Lotus-bud suddenly came forth by force of Time which rouses (calls forth) the Adrishtas (the unseen conditions or decrees) relating to jivas, and, like the sun born of Atman, rendered the vast expanse of water brilliant by its splendour.

3.8.15

tal loka-padmaṃ sa u eva viṣṇuḥ prāvīviśat sarva-guṇāvabhāsam /
tasmin svayaṃ vedamayo vidhātā svayambhuvaṃ yaṃ sma vadanti so 'bhūt //

That very Viṣṇu entered into that cosmic lotus, which revealed all the qualities of nature;
and upon it appeared the Creator himself, consisting of the Vedas, whom they call the Self-born.

15. O wise one! the glorious Vishnu Himself entered that world-lotus which brings to light all the objects necessary for the jiva's experience; and within it, was born, that Maker of the world, himself, the embodiment of the Vedas whom the wise call Svayambhu.

3.8.16

tasyāṃ sa cāmbho-ruha-karṇikāyām avasthito lokam apaśyamānaḥ /
parikraman vyomni vivṛtta-netraś catvāri lebhe 'nudiśaṃ mukhāni //

Stationed upon the pericarp of that lotus and seeing no world,
as he looked all around, turning his eyes in space, he obtained four faces in every direction.

16. Seated on the fruit-stalk of that lotus and not seeing the world, Svayambhu looked about on all sides in the sky and so had four faces corresponding to the four cardinal points.

3.8.17

tasmād yugānta-śvasanāvaghūrṇa- jalormi-cakrāt salilād virūḍham /
upāśritaḥ kañjam u loka-tattvaṃ nātmānam addhāvidad ādi-devaḥ //

Resting upon the lotus, which was the reality of the universe sprung from that water churned by circles of waves from the wind at the end of the cosmic age,
the primal deity could not clearly understand his own self.

17. Resting upon that lotus which grew from the waters in which waves rose in endless series, being tossed by the _pralaya_ winds, Brahma, the first god, did not (truly) make out the real nature of the world or of his own self.

3.8.18

ka eṣa yo 'sāv aham abja-pṛṣṭha etat kuto vābjam ananyad apsu /
asti hy adhastād iha kiñcanaitad adhiṣṭhitaṃ yatra satā nu bhāvyam //

"Who is this 'I' that am upon the back of this lotus? From where does this lotus, alone in the waters, come?
Surely there must be something down below here upon which it is established and where a foundation must exist!"

18. "Who am I seated on the lotus? whence is this lotus which grows alone on the waters? There is possibly something beneath it on which this stands supported, and which should necessarily be a positive existence."

3.8.19

sa ittham udvīkṣya tad-abja-nāla- nāḍībhir antar-jalam āviveśa /
nārvāg-gatas tat-khara-nāla-nāla- nābhiṃ vicinvaṃs tad avindatājaḥ //

Having considered thus, he entered into the water along the channels of that lotus stalk;
penetrating deep down, searching for the origin of the hollow stalk of that lotus, the Unborn One could not find it.

19. He thus thought over and through the passages (hollow) in the stalk he entered into the water; going down and searching through the stalk of the lotus which had a rough and thorny stalk, Aja (Bramha) did not reach that which he sought to know.

3.8.20

tamasy apāre vidurātma-sargaṃ vicinvato 'bhūt sumahāṃs tri-ṇemiḥ /
yo deha-bhājāṃ bhayam īrayāṇaḥ parikṣiṇoty āyur ajasya hetiḥ //

While he was searching for the origin of his self in that boundless darkness, O Vidura, an immense period of time elapsed—
that three-rimmed [wheel] which, inciting fear in embodied beings, cuts short the lifespan of even the Unborn as a weapon.

20. O Vidura, when he thus made the search in boundless darkness for his own cause, there lapsed a very long long time (that which has three divisions) which is the weapon Sudarsana of the Unborn Lord, and which fills the beings of the world with fear and shortens their life.

3.8.21

tato nivṛtto 'pratilabdha-kāmaḥ sva-dhiṣṇyam āsādya punaḥ sa devaḥ /
śanair jita-śvāsa-nivṛtta-citto nyaṣīdad ārūḍha-samādhi-yogaḥ //

Then turning back with his desire unfulfilled, having regained his own abode, that god,
with his breath gradually conquered, his mind stilled, and established in the yoga of deep absorption, sat down.

21. He returned thence, without having gained his desire, and coming back to his own abode, the four-faced god slowly subdued his breath and withdrew his mind from all external objects and sat down in meditation, having gained perfect concentration.

3.8.22

kālena so 'jaḥ puruṣāyuṣābhi- pravṛtta-yogena virūḍha-bodhaḥ /
svayaṃ tad antar-hṛdaye 'vabhātam apaśyatāpaśyata yan na pūrvam //

In time, that Unborn One, his understanding fully developed through the yoga practiced over the span of a cosmic age,
saw shining within his own heart that which he had not seen before.

22. That Aja gained perfect power of understanding at the end of a man's life by means of the Yoga he practised and then

he saw in his mind that which shone of its own accord and which he had not seen before.

3.8.23

mṛṇāla-gaurāyata-śeṣa-bhoga- paryaṅka ekaṃ puruṣaṃ śayānam /
phaṇātapatrāyuta-mūrdha-ratna- dyubhir hata-dhvānta-yugānta-toye //

He saw a single Puruṣa lying on the bed of Śeṣa's coils, white and broad as a lotus fiber,
in the waters at the end of the cosmic age, where the darkness was dispelled by the radiance of the gems atop the ten thousand umbrella-like hoods.

23. He saw the one Purusha who was lying on His bed, the body of Sesha, which was broad, and white like the threads within a lotus stalk, on the waters of deluge (pralaya), where the darkness had been dispelled by the splendid rays of jewels which were on Sesha's hoods spread like an umbrella.

3.8.24

prekṣāṃ kṣipantaṃ haritopalādreḥ sandhyābhra-nīver uru-rukma-mūrdhnaḥ /
ratnodadhārauṣadhi-saumanasya vana-srajo veṇu-bhujāṅghripāṅghreḥ //

He surpassed the beauty of a mountain of green emerald with an apron of evening clouds and a broad peak of gold,
with mines of jewels, flowers of medicinal herbs, a garland of forest flowers, and feet, hands, and arms like bamboo groves.

24. (He saw the Purusha) who surpassed in beauty a mountain of emeralds with the evening clouds covering its sides like a garment, with its lofty peaks of gold, with its Vanamala (ranges of forests) abounding in gems, rills, plants and flowers and with bamboos looking like its arms and trees resembling its feet.

3.8.25

āyāmato vistarataḥ sva-māna- dehena loka-traya-saṅgraheṇa /
vicitra-divyābharaṇāṃśukānāṃ kṛta-śriyāpāśrita-veṣa-deham //

By His length and breadth, with a body of His own measure encompassing the three worlds,
He had assumed a body whose attire was beautified by various divine ornaments and garments.

25. (He saw the Purusha) whose person by its splendour gave a charm to the wonderful variety of divine ornaments and robes and, by its grandeur of length and breadth, defied comparison, as encompassing the three worlds within itself.

3.8.26

puṃsāṃ sva-kāmāya vivikta-mārgair abhyarcatāṃ kāma-dughāṅghri-padmam /
pradarśayantaṃ kṛpayā nakhendu- mayūkha-bhinnāṅguli-cāru-patram //

He graciously revealed His wish-granting lotus feet to men who worship Him on separate paths for the fulfillment of their desires—
feet whose lovely petals were toes divided by the moonbeams of His toenails.

26. (He saw the Purusha) who out of grace shows the lotus of His foot, with the toes beautiful like petals and shining in the rays of the nails which are brilliant like the moon—the foot which grants all the desires of those who worship it for the purpose in pure and pious ways as laid down in the Vedas.

3.8.27

mukhena lokārti-hara-smitena parisphurat-kuṇḍala-maṇḍitena /
śoṇāyitenādhara-bimba-bhāsā pratyarhayantaṃ sunasena subhrvā //

With a face displaying a smile that removes the distress of the world, adorned with glittering earrings,
reddened by the luster of His bimba-fruit lips, with a beautiful nose and beautiful eyebrows, He welcomed them.

27. (He saw the Purusha) who greets His devotees by His face with its smile that rids the world of its affliction—the face adorned with brilliant earrings, looking rosy with the lips ruddy like the Bimba fruit, and most fascinating with its shapely nose and brows.

3.8.28

kadamba-kiñjalka-piśaṅga-vāsasā svalaṅkṛtaṃ mekhalayā nitambe /
hāreṇa cānanta-dhanena vatsa śrīvatsa-vakṣaḥ-sthala-vallabhena //

He was adorned with a garment yellow as the filament of a kadamba flower, with a girdle at His hips,
and, my child, with a priceless necklace beloved upon His chest marked by the Śrīvatsa.

28. O son, (He saw the Lord) who was beautifully dressed in a garment looking golden like the filaments of Kadamba flowers, and adorned with a zone about His middle and with an invaluable necklace of pearls, the favourite ornament of His chest which bears (the special mark called) Sreevatsa.

3.8.29

parārdhya-keyūra-maṇi-praveka- paryasta-dordaṇḍa-sahasra-śākham /
avyakta-mūlaṃ bhuvanāṅghripendram ahīndra-bhogair adhivīta-valśam //

His thousand arm-branches were spread out with priceless armlets and the finest gems;
He was the supreme tree of the worlds whose root is unmanifest, His shoots surrounded by the coils of the serpent king.

29. (He saw the Purusha) the great tree of the Universe whose thousand arms are dazzling with priceless gems and Keyuras, whose root is Avyakta (invisible in Prakriti or Brahman) and whose trunk and arms are coiled round with the best of serpents.

3.8.30

carācarauko bhagavan-mahīdhram ahīndra-bandhuṃ salilopagūḍham /
kirīṭa-sāhasra-hiraṇya-śṛṅgam āvirbhavat kaustubha-ratna-garbham //

He was the mountain of the Lord, the dwelling of moving and unmoving beings, the kinsman of the king of serpents, embraced by the waters,
possessing golden peaks in the form of a thousand crowns, revealing the Kaustubha jewel within its womb.

30. (He saw the Lord), who is like unto a mountain on whom abides the world mobile and immobile, who is the friend of the best of serpents, who is in the midst of waters, whose thousand crowns are like golden summits and on whose bosom emerges into view the gem of Kaustubha.

3.8.31

nivītam āmnāya-madhu-vrata-śriyā sva-kīrti-mayyā vana-mālayā harim /
sūryendu-vāyv-agny-agamaṃ tri-dhāmabhiḥ parikramat-prādhanikair durāsadam //

Hari was encircled by a garland of forest flowers made of His own fame, bearing the beauty of honeybees consisting of the Vedas;
He was unapproachable by sun, moon, wind, and fire, and hard to attain because of His weapons revolving through the three worlds.

31. He saw Hari round whom the Vedas (are singing sweetly) like bees, who is adorned with a Vanamala, which is an embodiment of His glory, who is inaccessible even to Surya, Chandra, Vayu and Agni, and who cannot be reached even by Sudarsana and other weapons of war, that range in the three worlds (for their protection).

3.8.32

tarhy eva tan-nābhi-saraḥ-sarojam ātmānam ambhaḥ śvasanaṃ viyac ca /
dadarśa devo jagato vidhātā nātaḥ paraṃ loka-visarga-dṛṣṭiḥ //

At that very moment, the god, the creator of the universe, whose sight was directed toward the creation of the worlds,
saw the lotus lake of His navel, himself, the water, the wind, and the sky—and nothing beyond that.

32. It is only then that Brahma the maker intent upon creating the world, saw and realised the lotus growing out of the Lord's navel, his own self, and also saw water, Vayu, and Akasa and no other thing.

3.8.33

sa karma-bījaṃ rajasoparaktaḥ prajāḥ sisṛkṣann iyad eva dṛṣṭvā /
astaud visargābhimukhas tam īḍyam avyakta-vartmany abhiveśitātmā //

Tinged with the quality of passion, wishing to create the creatures, having seen only this much as the seed of action,
he turned toward creation and, fixing his self upon the unmanifest path, praised that praiseworthy Lord.

Verse 32. लोकविसर्गदृष्टिः _V._ Brahma who obtained knowledge necessary for creating the world. _D._ लोकः Gnanam. विसर्ग essence लोकविसर्गाः the gods. Surya and others in Mukti who are in 33. He (Brahma) the (efficient) cause of (the grand) work (of creation) being associated with Rajas and desirous of creating beings saw only these (the aforesaid five), and turning to proceed with (his work of) creation and having centred his mind upon the Supreme Being of unmanifest ways, offered praises to Him who (alone) is worthy of praise.