Bhagavatapurana 4.29: athaikonatriṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

4.29.1

/0 prācīnabarhir uvāca
bhagavaṃs te vaco 'smābhir na samyag avagamyate /
kavayas tad vijānanti na vayaṃ karma-mohitāḥ //

Prācīnabarhi said:
"O venerable one, your speech is not fully understood by us; / wise poets comprehend it, but not we, who are deluded by ritual actions."

1. Prachinabarhis said:— Thy words are not clearly understood by us: Sages (may) understand what thou sayest; but not we, deluded by Karma (taken up with the path of secular duties).

4.29.2

/0 nārada uvāca
puruṣaṃ purañjanaṃ vidyād yad vyanakty ātmanaḥ puram /
eka-dvi-tri-catuṣ-pādaṃ bahu-pādam apādakam //

Nārada said:
"One should know the person to be Purañjana, because he makes manifest his own city— / with one, two, three, four feet, with many feet, or without feet.

2. Narada said:— One should understand Puranjana to be the Jiva (conditioned by a body); for he brings about a body for himself, having one, two, three, four or many feet, or having no foot at all.

4.29.3

yo 'vijñātāhṛtas tasya puruṣasya sakheśvaraḥ /
yan na vijñāyate pumbhir nāmabhir vā kriyā-guṇaiḥ //

The friend and master of that person is called 'the Unknown', / because he is not recognized by men through names, actions, or qualities.

3. He who is spoken of as the Unknown is the Supreme Lord, friend of the Jiva;— the Unknown is that which is not distinctly known by the Jivas as having names, actions or attributes.

4.29.4

yadā jighṛkṣan puruṣaḥ kārtsnyena prakṛter guṇān /
nava-dvāraṃ dvi-hastāṅghri tatrāmanuta sādhv iti //

When the person desired to experience the qualities of material nature entirely, / he deemed the [body] of nine gates and two hands and feet to be the best."

4. When Jiva desired to enjoy all the qualities of Prakriti, he regarded as best among them the human body furnished with nine

passages, two hands and two feet.

4.29.5

buddhiṃ tu pramadāṃ vidyān mamāham iti yat-kṛtam /
yām adhiṣṭhāya dehe 'smin pumān bhuṅkte 'kṣabhir guṇān //

One should understand the woman to be the intellect, through which 'I' and 'mine' are made; residing in which, a person enjoys the qualities through the senses in this body.

5. One should understand that the woman is Buddhi or Intellect from which the notion of I and mine is evolved and in association with which the Jiva in this body enjoys the objects through the senses.

4.29.6

sakhāya indriya-gaṇā jñānaṃ karma ca yat-kṛtam /
sakhyas tad-vṛttayaḥ prāṇaḥ pañca-vṛttir yathoragaḥ //

The male friends are the collection of senses that produce knowledge and action; the female friends are their operations; and the serpent is the life-breath with its fivefold function.

6. All the senses are called friends (companions) being the sources of mental and physical activity; and their activities are the female companions and Prana (the life-breath) of five-fold activity is the (five-hooded) serpent.

4.29.7

bṛhad-balaṃ mano vidyād ubhayendriya-nāyakam /
pañcālāḥ pañca viṣayā yan-madhye nava-khaṃ puram //

One should know that the mind of immense strength is the leader of both sets of senses. / The Pañcālas are the five sense objects, in the midst of which lies the city of nine gates.

7. Know that the highly powerful one is the mind that leads both the (mental and physical) organs and that the Panchalas are the five objects of sense in whose midst stands (the body) the city of nine gates.

4.29.8

akṣiṇī nāsike karṇau mukhaṃ śiśna-gudāv iti /
dve dve dvārau bahir yāti yas tad-indriya-saṃyutaḥ //

The two eyes, the two nostrils, the two ears, the mouth, the phallus, and the anus— / joined with these senses, he goes outside through these pairs of gates.

8. The two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth and the two lower passages are generally passages in sets of two; being furnished with faculties imbedded in these organs, through which the Jiva goes out (to enjoy the objects).

4.29.9

akṣiṇī nāsike āsyam iti pañca puraḥ kṛtāḥ /
dakṣiṇā dakṣiṇaḥ karṇa uttarā cottaraḥ smṛtaḥ //

The two eyes, the two nostrils, and the mouth are the five gates made in front; / the right ear is considered the southern gate, and the left ear the northern.

9. Eyes, nostrils, and the mouth are the five that are placed in front of the head; the right and the left ears are the gates on the south and on the north respectively.

4.29.10

paścime ity adho dvārau gudaṃ śiśnam ihocyate /
khadyotāvirmukhī cātra netre ekatra nirmite /
rūpaṃ vibhrājitaṃ tābhyāṃ vicaṣṭe cakṣuṣeśvaraḥ //

The anus and the phallus are said to be the two western gates below. / The two gates Khadyotā and Āvirmukhī built in one place here are the two eyes; / through them the master perceives dazzling form by means of vision.

10. The two postern gates are the passages in the lower part; Khadyota and Avirmukhi are respectively the left eye and the right eye (on account of feeble and strong vision) and they are placed adjacent to each other; through these two gates and by means of the sense of seeing imbedded in them, the Jiva, Puranjana (lord of the body) perceives colour which is the bright country at large.

4.29.11

nalinī nālinī nāse gandhaḥ saurabha ucyate /
ghrāṇo 'vadhūto mukhyāsyaṃ vipaṇo vāg rasavid rasaḥ //

Nalinī and Nālinī are the two nostrils, and fragrance is called Saurabha; / Avadhūta is the sense of smell; Mukhyā is the mouth; Vipaṇa is speech, and the connoisseur of tastes is the sense of taste.

11. Nalini and Naalini are the nostrils, and smell is called Sourabha; the ever open sense of smell is called Avadhuta (the free Vayu) (associated with that organ) and *mukhya* is the mouth; and Vipana is the organ of speech and taste (the sense of taste at the tip of the tongue) capable of determining tastes.

4.29.12

āpaṇo vyavahāro 'tra citram andho bahūdanam /
pitṛhūr dakṣiṇaḥ karṇa uttaro devahūḥ smṛtaḥ //

Āpaṇa is mundane business here; Citra-andhas is diverse and plentiful cooked food. / Pitṛhū is remembered as the right ear, and Devahū as the left ear.

12. The market is here the active speech and Bahudana is the variety of food; Pitrihu is the right ear and Devahu the left;

4.29.13

pravṛttaṃ ca nivṛttaṃ ca śāstraṃ pañcāla-saṃjñitam /
pitṛ-yānaṃ deva-yānaṃ śrotrāc chruta-dharād vrajet //

The scriptures of engagement and disengagement are named the Pañcāla country. / From the ear which retains what is heard, one may travel the path of the ancestors or the path of the gods.

13 The sastra treating of worldly activity as well as the process of withdrawing from it are called Panchala; through the ear called Srutadhara, one may take the courses of the Pitris or of the gods.

4.29.14

āsurī meḍhram arvāg-dvār vyavāyo grāmiṇāṃ ratiḥ /
upastho durmadaḥ prokto nirṛtir guda ucyate //

Āsurī is the phallus, the downward gate; intercourse is the delight of common folk. / The sexual organ is declared to be Durmada, and Nirṛti is called the anus.

14. The Asuri is the organ of procreation being the lower passage by which the vulgar delight is sought; Durmada and Nirriti represent the same lower passage.

4.29.15

vaiśasaṃ narakaṃ pāyur lubdhako 'ndhau tu me śṛṇu /
hasta-pādau pumāṃs tābhyāṃ yukto yāti karoti ca //

Vaiśasa is hell, and the organ of evacuation is Lubdhaka; now hear of the two blind ones from me: / they are the hands and feet; joined with them, the person moves and acts.

15. Vaisasa or Naraka is the other lower passage anus; and do thou know of me who Lubdhaka and Andha are; these are the hands and feet, with which man does (any work, moves about).

4.29.16

antaḥ-puraṃ ca hṛdayaṃ viṣūcir mana ucyate /
tatra mohaṃ prasādaṃ vā harṣaṃ prāpnoti tad-guṇaiḥ //

The inner quarters are the heart, and the mind is called Viṣūcī; / there, according to its qualities, he experiences bewilderment, tranquility, or joy.

16. The harem is the heart and Vishuchi is the mind, by its qualities wherein (Jiva) attains to the state of senselessness, serenity and delight.

4.29.17

yathā yathā vikriyate guṇākto vikaroti vā /
tathā tathopadraṣṭātmā tad-vṛttīr anukāryate //

Just as [the mind], smeared with material qualities, undergoes change or causes change, / exactly so is the witness-self made to imitate its functions.

17. According as he who is beset by gunas is changed or as he modifies the senses, the witnessing Atman is made to feel as if he were directly affected by those changes.

4.29.18

deho rathas tv indriyāśvaḥ saṃvatsara-rayo 'gatiḥ /
dvi-karma-cakras tri-guṇa- dhvajaḥ pañcāsu-bandhuraḥ //

The body is the chariot, the senses are the horses, the year is its unstoppable momentum; / the two kinds of action are its wheels, the three material qualities its flag, and the five vital breaths its fastenings.

18. The body is the chariot drawn by the horses which are the senses, and like the year is in swift motion through motionless; the two wheels are the two kinds of Karma and the three qualities are the flag-staffs and the chariot is strong built with the five breaths (Pranas).

4.29.19

mano-raśmir buddhi-sūto hṛn-nīḍo dvandva-kūbaraḥ /
pañcendriyārtha-prakṣepaḥ sapta-dhātu-varūthakaḥ //

The mind is the reins, the intellect the driver, the heart the chariot's seat, the pairs of opposites the pole, / the objects of the five senses the weapons, and the seven bodily constituents the chariot's protective armor.

19. The Manas is the rein; Buddhi (intellect) is the charioteer and the heart is his seat; the states of grief and folly are the two points, where the poles of the yoke are fixed; the five receptacles are those that receive the five objects of sense and the enclosures are (no

other than) the seven Dhatus, *viz*, blood, bone, etc.

4.29.20

ākūtir vikramo bāhyo mṛga-tṛṣṇāṃ pradhāvati /
ekādaśendriya-camūḥ pañca-sūnā-vinoda-kṛt //

Desire is its outward conquest; it rushes toward a mirage. / The army of eleven senses is what plays upon the five places of slaughter.

20—21. Akuti is the external process or the activity of running after mirage; the eleven organs form the army which finds recreation in the five-fold slaughter (the enjoyment of improper objects by the five senses). Chandavega is the year characterised by incomprehensible velocity; here the day time or the days are called Gandharvas; and the nights are called Gandharva women; and by their three hundred and sixty turns they reduce the age of man.

4.29.21

saṃvatsaraś caṇḍavegaḥ kālo yenopalakṣitaḥ /
tasyāhānīha gandharvā gandharvyo rātrayaḥ smṛtāḥ /
haranty āyuḥ parikrāntyā ṣaṣṭy-uttara-śata-trayam //

Caṇḍavega is the year, by which Time is marked; / its days are known here as the Gandharvas, and the nights as the Gandharvīs; / in their circling three hundred and sixty [times], they carry away one's lifespan.

4.29.22

kāla-kanyā jarā sākṣāl lokas tāṃ nābhinandati /
svasāraṃ jagṛhe mṛtyuḥ kṣayāya yavaneśvaraḥ //

Jarā is the Daughter of Time in person; people do not welcome her. / For destruction, Death, the king of the Yavanas, took her as his sister.

22. The daughter of Kala is veritably "Old Age" whom the world does not welcome; the Lord of Yavanas is Death, who adopts Old Age as his sister for help in the destruction of the world.

4.29.23

ādhayo vyādhayas tasya sainikā yavanāś carāḥ /
bhūtopasargāśu-rayaḥ prajvāro dvi-vidho jvaraḥ //

Mental afflictions and bodily diseases are his soldiers, the roaming Yavanas. / Prajvāra, running swiftly like the assault of evil spirits, is twofold fever.

23. Mental afflictions and diseases are called Yavanas who are his ever active soldiers; Prajvara is in two forms of fever, having a swift career in making a havoc of living beings.

4.29.24

evaṃ bahu-vidhair duḥkhair daiva-bhūtātma-sambhavaiḥ /
kliśyamānaḥ śataṃ varṣaṃ dehe dehī tamo-vṛtaḥ //

Suffering thus for a hundred years in the body through many kinds of miseries / arising from providence, other beings, and oneself, the embodied soul remains shrouded in darkness.

24. Thus for a hundred years put to it in various kinds of miserable condition brought about by the gods, other beings and one's own body, the jiva lies enveloped in darkness in the body.

4.29.25

prāṇendriya-mano-dharmān ātmany adhyasya nirguṇaḥ /
śete kāma-lavān dhyāyan mamāham iti karma-kṛt //

Superimposing the attributes of the vital breath, the senses, and the mind upon the self, though free of material qualities, / he lies down, an agent of actions, pondering small morsels of desire with the thoughts of 'mine' and 'I'.

25. The Jiva who is really without any attribute lies blind-folded attributing to himself the qualities of Prana, Indriya, and Manas and contemplating the trifling pleasures and doing Karma under the notion of "I" and "Mine" (making himself an active agent).

4.29.26

yadātmānam avijñāya bhagavantaṃ paraṃ gurum /
puruṣas tu viṣajjeta guṇeṣu prakṛteḥ sva-dṛk //

When a person, not knowing his own self, the Lord, the supreme guru, / who perceives by his own light, becomes attached to the qualities of material nature,

26—27. Further when the Jiva does not know himself to be the glorious Atman and Supreme Preceptor, though essentially pure light, and becomes attached to the qualities of Prakriti, he conceives a passion for the qualities and having lost self-control becomes

4.29.27

guṇābhimānī sa tadā karmāṇi kurute 'vaśaḥ /
śuklaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ lohitaṃ vā yathā-karmābhijāyate //

identifying with those qualities, he then performs actions helplessly; / white, black, or red, he is reborn according to his actions.

involved in various activities and gets white, dark, or red according to the actions.

4.29.28

śuklāt prakāśa-bhūyiṣṭhā lokān āpnoti karhicit /
duḥkhodarkān kriyāyāsāṃs tamaḥ-śokotkaṭān kvacit //

From white [actions] he sometimes attains worlds abundant in light; / from [others] he attains actions fraught with toil and ending in sorrow, or worlds vehement with darkness and grief.

28. By the activity characterised as white he sometimes attains to the regions full of light; (by the third) regions of weary activities leading to hardship; and (by the second) regions dense with darkness and griefs.

4.29.29

kvacit pumān kvacic ca strī kvacin nobhayam andha-dhīḥ /
devo manuṣyas tiryag vā yathā-karma-guṇaṃ bhavaḥ //

Sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes neither, with blinded intellect; / his birth as god, human, or beast corresponds to his actions and qualities.

29. Sometimes the Jīva is a male, sometimes a female, sometimes a god, a human being or a beast; thus birth (depends on) the nature of Karma.

4.29.30

kṣut-parīto yathā dīnaḥ sārameyo gṛhaṃ gṛham /
caran vindati yad-diṣṭaṃ daṇḍam odanam eva vā //

Just as a wretched dog overcome by hunger wanders from house to house / and receives whatever is destined—either a stick or cooked rice—

30—31. Like a hungry dog which goes from door to door to receive a stroke or a morsel of food as ordained by destiny, the Jīva with his heart full of desires wanders through ways high and low, above, below, or in the middle, reaping, as destined, pleasure or pain.

4.29.31

tathā kāmāśayo jīva uccāvaca-pathā bhraman /
upary adho vā madhye vā yāti diṣṭaṃ priyāpriyam //

so the individual soul, filled with desire, wandering on higher and lower paths, / goes above, below, or in the middle, finding what is pleasant and unpleasant according to destiny.

4.29.32

duḥkheṣv ekatareṇāpi daiva-bhūtātma-hetuṣu /
jīvasya na vyavacchedaḥ syāc cet tat-tat-pratikriyā //

Even among miseries caused by providence, other beings, and oneself, / there can never be an absolute cessation for the individual soul through their respective remedies.

32. In respect of miseries caused by the gods, by other beings or by self (one's own body), the Jīva is never free from some at least of them, even if it were possible to adopt a remedy for any or some particular sufferings.

4.29.33

yathā hi puruṣo bhāraṃ śirasā gurum udvahan /
taṃ skandhena sa ādhatte tathā sarvāḥ pratikriyāḥ //

For just as a man carrying a heavy load on his head / shifts it to his shoulder, so are all these counteractions.

33. As a person carrying a heavy load on his head may sometimes bear it on his shoulder, so are all the remedies.

4.29.34

naikāntataḥ pratīkāraḥ karmaṇāṃ karma kevalam /
dvayaṃ hy avidyopasṛtaṃ svapne svapna ivānagha //

Mere ritual action is not an absolute remedy for actions; / for both are attended by ignorance, O sinless one, like a dream within a dream.

34. Karma itself (one form of Karma) is no final remedy for Karma (actions and their consequences). On the other hand both are but Karma resulting from Avidyā (ignorance)—the remedy and that which is to be remedied, like a dream in a dream.

4.29.35

arthe hy avidyamāne 'pi saṃsṛtir na nivartate /
manasā liṅga-rūpeṇa svapne vicarato yathā //

Even though an object has no real existence, transmigration does not cease, / just as one wanders in a dream through the mind in its subtle form.

35. Though there is no reality of it, Samsara (the chain of miseries) does not disappear, just as fear and other consequences do not, (on the other hand continue to be), in the case of one who is undergoing dream experiences through Manas which remains active and forms the condition of the Jiva.

4.29.36

athātmano 'rtha-bhūtasya yato 'nartha-paramparā /
saṃsṛtis tad-vyavacchedo bhaktyā paramayā gurau //

Therefore, the cessation of transmigration—the succession of calamities for the self, which is the true purpose— / is achieved through supreme devotion to the guru.

36. The eradication of that (ignorance or Manas) which is the source of Samsara, (the chain of miseries) to Atman, who is a real existence is possible by means of perfect devotion to the preceptor.

4.29.37

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ samāhitaḥ /
sadhrīcīnena vairāgyaṃ jñānaṃ ca janayiṣyati //

The yoga of devotion fixed upon the Lord Vāsudeva / will properly give birth to dispassion and knowledge.

37. Uninterrupted course of (pursued in proper manner) devotion to the glorious Lord Vasudeva will engender both renunciation and (light of) wisdom.

4.29.38

so 'cirād eva rājarṣe syād acyuta-kathāśrayaḥ /
śṛṇvataḥ śraddadhānasya nityadā syād adhīyataḥ //

That [devotion], O royal sage, will arise before long through taking refuge in narratives of Acyuta, / for one who listens with faith and constantly studies them.

38. O Sage king, that (course of devotion) which has its source in Achyuta's stories will soon be secured by him who daily and faithfully listens to and studies (the sacred Books and stories).

4.29.39

yatra bhāgavatā rājan sādhavo viśadāśayāḥ /
bhagavad-guṇānukathana- śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ //

Where the Bhāgavatas, virtuous devotees of pure heart, / have their minds absorbed in recounting and listening to the qualities of the Lord,

39. It is engendered, O king, in the places where His righteous votaries of pure heart dwell giving all their attention to repeating and listening to the accounts of the Lord's excellent attributes and work.

4.29.40

tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic- caritra-pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti /
tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ //

in that place, resounded by exalted devotees, the rivers of the nectar of the deeds of the Slayer of Madhu flow everywhere; / those who drink them through eager ears without becoming sated, O king, are never touched by hunger, thirst, fear, grief, or delusion.

40. There (in their assembly) flow on all sides streams full only of the nectar of Sri Vasudeva's works, sung by the great (resonant with the voices of the Great); and those who, with intent ears and without getting satiated, drink of them, O king, are not touched

by hunger, thirst, fear, grief and delusion.

4.29.41

etair upadruto nityaṃ jīva-lokaḥ svabhāvajaiḥ /
na karoti harer nūnaṃ kathāmṛta-nidhau ratim //

Tormented constantly by these natural afflictions, the world of living beings / truly finds no loving attachment to the ocean of nectar that is the narrative of Hari.

41. Harassed ever by these latter states produced by nature the Jīva does not indeed find delight in the inexhaustible nectar of Hari's stories.

4.29.42

prajāpati-patiḥ sākṣād bhagavān giriśo manuḥ /
dakṣādayaḥ prajādhyakṣā naiṣṭhikāḥ sanakādayaḥ //

The Lord of the progenitors of beings himself, the Lord who dwells on the mountain, Manu, / the lords of creatures beginning with Dakṣa, the perpetual celibates beginning with Sanaka,

42—43&44. Brahma, First among the Progenitors, the worshipful Siva, Manu, Daksha and other progenitors, Sanaka and other Sages solely devoted to the Lord; Marīchi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasishta,—these and others and I the last—all given to the study of Vedas and devotion to Brahman and masters of speech also, are to this moment trying by means of Tapas, Upasana, and contemplation to see Him, but do not see the Supreme Ruler, Who sees (all)?

4.29.43

marīcir atry-aṅgirasau pulastyaḥ pulahaḥ kratuḥ /
bhṛgur vasiṣṭha ity ete mad-antā brahma-vādinaḥ //

Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, / Bhṛgu, and Vasiṣṭha—all these exponents of Brahman, ending with myself—

4.29.44

adyāpi vācas-patayas tapo-vidyā-samādhibhiḥ /
paśyanto 'pi na paśyanti paśyantaṃ parameśvaram //

even today, masters of speech though they are, through austerity, learning, and meditative concentration, / although looking, do not see the Supreme Lord who sees all.

4.29.45

śabda-brahmaṇi duṣpāre caranta uru-vistare /
mantra-liṅgair vyavacchinnaṃ bhajanto na viduḥ param //

Wandering in the vast expanse of the Veda, which is difficult to cross, / and worshiping what is defined by the signs of mantras, they do not know the Supreme.

45. Extending their research in Sabda Brahma, that is, the Vedas, unlimited both in sense and extent, and only worshipping Him in limited aspects as described by Mantras, they do not see the Perfect Being.

4.29.46

sarveṣām eva jantūnāṃ satataṃ deha-poṣaṇe /
asti prajñā samāyattā ko viśeṣas tadā nṛṇām //

Since intelligence is engaged constantly in nourishing the body in all creatures alike, / what then is the distinction of human beings?

[(1). All living beings have always an intuitive sense for finding nourishment to their body; then what speciality is there on the part of men in having it (that sense alone).
(2). Having at last come to be in human life here (in the Karma Bhumi) he is superior to other beings, who is free from attachment to the worthless body and other things and by resorting to Atman casts off this Samsara.]

4.29.47

labdhvehānte manuṣyatvaṃ hitvā dehādy-asad-graham /
ātma-sṛtyā vihāyedaṃ jīvātmā sa viśiṣyate //

Having attained human birth at the end here, giving up the unreal grasping of the body and the like, / and leaving this behind through the path of the self, the living soul is distinguished.

4.29.46_2

yadā yasyānugṛhṇāti bhagavān ātma-bhāvitaḥ /
sa jahāti matiṃ loke vede ca pariniṣṭhitām //

When the Lord, mediated upon in the heart, showers grace upon someone, / that person renounces the intellect fixed upon worldly ways and the Veda.

46. When any one contemplating Him in his mind is graciously received by the glorious Lord, that person then gives up

the thought that had settled itself in worldly things and in the Vedas (in respect of Karma).

4.29.47_2

tasmāt karmasu barhiṣmann ajñānād artha-kāśiṣu /
mārtha-dṛṣṭiṃ kṛthāḥ śrotra- sparśiṣv aspṛṣṭa-vastuṣu //

Therefore, O Barhiṣman, regarding ritual actions that appear purposeful out of ignorance, / do not hold the view that they are the goal, for they only touch the ears and leave the true reality untouched.

47. Therefore, O Barhishman, do not regard as real the activities which through ignorance seem real and only please the ear but are in no manner related to the real thing (ParaBrahman).

4.29.48

svaṃ lokaṃ na vidus te vai yatra devo janārdanaḥ /
āhur dhūmra-dhiyo vedaṃ sakarmakam atad-vidaḥ //

They do not know their own realm where the divine Janārdana is; / with smoke-clouded minds, ignorant of it, they declare that the Veda consists solely of ritual action.

48. Those who have a smoky (confused) understanding and say that the Veda deals with Karma (sacrificial performances) do not grasp the real purport of the Veda: for they do not see the truth of Atman forming their own essential nature as intended by the Veda through which the Lord Janardana has to be sought and realised.

4.29.49

āstīrya darbhaiḥ prāg-agraiḥ kārtsnyena kṣiti-maṇḍalam /
stabdho bṛhad-vadhān mānī karma nāvaiṣi yat param /
tat karma hari-toṣaṃ yat sā vidyā tan-matir yayā //

Covering the entire surface of the earth with eastward-pointing darbha grass, / stiff with pride on account of vast animal slaughters, you do not know what supreme action is: / that action is [true] action which pleases Hari; that knowledge is [true] knowledge by which the mind is fixed on Him.

49. Having covered the whole surface of the earth with Darbha grass pointed towards the east and haughty and puffed up with the extensive slaughter, thou dost not understand what karma is and the still higher thing, know then that is (indeed worthy) Karma which delights Hari and that is wisdom by which Hari is seen.

4.29.50

harir deha-bhṛtām ātmā svayaṃ prakṛtir īśvaraḥ /
tat-pāda-mūlaṃ śaraṇaṃ yataḥ kṣemo nṛṇām iha //

Hari is the self of embodied beings, nature Himself, the Lord; / His feet's soles are the refuge, whence comes well-being for mortals here.

50. Hari is the Atman of all embodied existences and He is the First Cause and Ruler of Rulers: His feet are the (true) asylum, where men of this world find protection.

4.29.51

sa vai priyatamaś cātmā yato na bhayam aṇv api /
iti veda sa vai vidvān yo vidvān sa gurur hariḥ //

He alone is the dearest self, from whom not even the slightest fear arises; / one who knows this is indeed wise; and he who is wise is the guru, [he is] Hari.

51. He is indeed the most beloved One and Atman from whom there is no fear whatever (for the refugee)—he who knows this, is in truth the Vidvan, learned man; he who is such a Vidvan is the Preceptor, and he is Hari himself.

4.29.52

/0 nārada uvāca
praśna evaṃ hi sañchinno bhavataḥ puruṣarṣabha /
atra me vadato guhyaṃ niśāmaya suniścitam //

Nārada said: / Thus indeed has your question been resolved, O bull among men; / now listen to the secret, well-ascertained truth that I am telling you here:

52. Narada said:—Thus has your question been solved, O Bull among men; on this point listen to me as I decisively tell you of the secret.

4.29.52.p1

kṣudraṃ caraṃ sumanasāṃ śaraṇe mithitvā $ raktaṃ ṣaḍaṅghri-gaṇa-sāmasu lubdha-karṇam &

[Behold] the deer wandering low in the garden of flowers, coupling [with its mate], / captivated by the melodies of swarms of six-legged bees, its ears greedy [for their song],

53. Do thou go after and observe the deer which, regardless of blood-thirsty wolves in the front and of the hunter's arrows piercing it at the back, goes about lazily and has its ears attracted only to the tunes of bees and finds joy in the company of its mate and in the fields of flowers. The meaning of this is:—

4.29.53

agre vṛkān asu-tṛpo 'vigaṇayya yāntaṃ % pṛṣṭhe mṛgaṃ mṛgaya lubdhaka-bāṇa-bhinnam //

unmindful of the wolves ahead that feed on life as it goes on; / search out behind [you] the deer pierced by the hunter's arrow!

4.29.54

asyārthaḥ sumanaḥ-sama-dharmaṇāṃ strīṇāṃ śaraṇa āśrame puṣpa-madhu-gandhavat kṣudratamaṃ kāmya-karma-vipākajaṃ kāma-sukha-lavaṃ jaihvyaupasthyādi vicinvantaṃ mithunī-bhūya tad-abhiniveśita-manasaṃ ṣaḍaṅghri-gaṇa-sāma-gītavad atimanohara-vanitādi-janālāpeṣv atitarām atipralobhita-karṇam agre vṛka-yūthavad ātmana āyur harato 'ho-rātrān tān kāla-lava-viśeṣān avigaṇayya gṛheṣu viharantaṃ pṛṣṭhata eva parokṣam anupravṛtto lubdhakaḥ kṛtānto 'ntaḥ śareṇa yam iha parāvidhyati tam imam ātmānam aho rājan bhinna-hṛdayaṃ draṣṭum arhasīti //

This is the meaning: In the retreat of women whose nature resembles flowers, seeking the most insignificant particle of sensual pleasure born of the fruition of selfish works, akin to the nectar and scent of flowers, consisting of pleasures of the tongue and genitals and so forth; uniting as a couple and absorbing its mind therein; its ear exceedingly seduced by the exceedingly enchanting conversation of women and the like, which resembles the singing of the swarms of six-legged bees; unmindful of the wolves ahead—those days and nights, fractions of time, that steal away one's life—diverting itself in houses; while behind it, unseen, the hunter Death follows closely and pierces it to the core with an arrow—ah, King, you ought to see this self of yours thus pierced in the heart!

54. In the home (and company) of women who are of the nature of flowers, seeking the trifling dose of pleasures of taste and touch which are fruit of Kamya Karma and quite transient like honey and fragrance of flowers; being married to the woman, having given her his mind and heart, his ears completely allured by the conversations of women and others, which are very delightful like the gentle music of bees; having set no value on the parts of time forming days and nights, which, like herds of wolves ahead of him, prey upon his life-time; being beguiled by the enjoyments of domestic life, but pursued unperceived by the hunter, Yama, who pierces him at the back with invisible arrows—the jiva-Atman who is broken-hearted and reduced to this pitiable condition [like a deer struck down by a hunter] thou wouldst, O king, do well to observe.

4.29.54.p2

sa tvaṃ vicakṣya mṛga-ceṣṭitam ātmano 'ntaś $ cittaṃ niyaccha hṛdi karṇa-dhunīṃ ca citte &

Observing thus the deer-like behavior of your own inner self, / restrain the mind within the heart, and [restrain] the river of the ears within the mind;

55. Thyself being so conditioned, do thou carefully observe and note the career of the deer, restrain thy mind in thine own heart and the stream of hearing within thy mind and abandon the home of women, the home of talk about the most unrighteous gatherings; do thou delight the Lord who is the asylum of Jivas gradually withdrawing thyself (from every other object).

4.29.54.p3

sa tvaṃ vicakṣya mṛga-ceṣṭitam ātmano 'ntaś $ cittaṃ niyaccha hṛdi karṇa-dhunīṃ ca citte &

Observing thus the deer-like behavior of your own inner self, / restrain the mind within the heart, and [restrain] the river of the ears within the mind;

4.29.55

jahy aṅganāśramam asattama-yūtha-gāthaṃ % prīṇīhi haṃsa-śaraṇaṃ virama krameṇa //

abandon the retreat of women where the ungodly gather in singing, / delight in the refuge of the swans, and cease gradually [from all desire].

4.29.56

/0 rājovāca
śrutam anvīkṣitaṃ brahman bhagavān yad abhāṣata /
naitaj jānanty upādhyāyāḥ kiṃ na brūyur vidur yadi //

The king said: / What the Lord has spoken has been heard and investigated by me, O brāhmaṇa. / The teachers do not know this; for if they had known, why would they not have said so?

56. The king said:—What thou, O Holy one, hast said, has been listened to and carefully sifted; my masters do not know this; if they know it why would not they teach it to me?

4.29.57

saṃśayo 'tra tu me vipra sañchinnas tat-kṛto mahān /
ṛṣayo 'pi hi muhyanti yatra nendriya-vṛttayaḥ //

Yet a great doubt caused by them in this regard has been cut away by you, O vipra; / for even the sages are bewildered where the activities of the senses do not reach.

57. On this point my great doubt caused by them (teachers) is solved: still there lingers a doubt; for even Rishis are bewildered in respect of those things which the sense-activities do not reach.

4.29.58

karmāṇy ārabhate yena pumān iha vihāya tam /
amutrānyena dehena juṣṭāni sa yad aśnute //

Leaving behind that [body] with which a person undertakes deeds here, / he enjoys [the fruits of] those practiced deeds in the next world with another body:

58. After leaving the body in which the Jīva performs any Karma, he has to experience the result thereof in another world (land) through a different body.

4.29.59

iti veda-vidāṃ vādaḥ śrūyate tatra tatra ha /
karma yat kriyate proktaṃ parokṣaṃ na prakāśate //

Such is the teaching of the knowers of the Veda heard here and there; / but the action that is performed is said to be past, and is not visibly perceived [later].

59. Thus indeed is frequently heard the view of those who are versed in the Vedas that any Karma laid down by the Vedas when performed ceases to be perceived (as soon as it is finished) and does not appear to be.

4.29.60

/0 nārada uvāca
yenaivārabhate karma tenaivāmutra tat pumān /
bhuṅkte hy avyavadhānena liṅgena manasā svayam //

Nārada said: / With that very [subtle body] with which a man begins an action, he experiences it / in the next world without interruption, through the subtle form, the mind itself.

60. Narada said:—With that subtle body (linga) and mind with which a person does an action (here), the doer himself eats (the fruit of) it there (in another life), and without any interruption in the world.

4.29.61

śayānam imam utsṛjya śvasantaṃ puruṣo yathā /
karmātmany āhitaṃ bhuṅkte tādṛśenetareṇa vā //

Just as a person, leaving behind this breathing [physical body] lying down, / enjoys in his mind the action deposited there, through such [a dream-body] or through another [subtle form],

61. Just as the Jīva leaving (forgetting) this living body in sleep undergoes the experience of Karma registered in the mind, so he does with another body similar (to the one previously occupied) or of a different kind (as of a beast etc.).

4.29.62

mamaite manasā yad yad asāv aham iti bruvan /
gṛhṇīyāt tat pumān rāddhaṃ karma yena punar bhavaḥ //

whatever a man embraces in his mind, saying 'These are mine' and 'I am that [actor],' / that accomplished action brings about rebirth.

62. Whatever body the Jīva assumes by virtue of the thought "I am such and such" and "these are mine" he carries with him the Karma wrought with that body which he has been contemplating; for, every successive birth is determined by the memory of the previous Karma.

4.29.63

yathānumīyate cittam ubhayair indriyehitaiḥ /
evaṃ prāg-dehajaṃ karma lakṣyate citta-vṛttibhiḥ //

Just as the mind is inferred by the activities of both kinds of senses, / so the karma born of a former body is perceived by the mental modifications.

63. Just as the disposition of the mind is inferred from the

activities of both the senses and organs, so is inferred the action of a previous life from the propensities of the mind.

4.29.64

nānubhūtaṃ kva cānena dehenādṛṣṭam aśrutam /
kadācid upalabhyeta yad rūpaṃ yādṛg ātmani //

Never could any form of such a kind be perceived in the self / that has not been experienced somewhere by this body, seen or heard.

64. Even what is not within the range of experience in this life through the body, by actual sight or hearing, in respect of its essential nature or attributes, may be presented to the mind in a dream or in imagination.

4.29.65

tenāsya tādṛśaṃ rāja liṅgino deha-sambhavam /
śraddhatsvānanubhūto 'rtho na manaḥ spraṣṭum arhati //

Therefore, O King, have faith in such a former physical birth of this endowed subtle body; / an unexperienced object cannot touch the mind.

65. From this circumstance also the action of a previous life may be inferred; for nothing that is not previously given in experience in some previous life at least can reach the mind of the Jiva whose essential condition is Linga or Vasana.

4.29.66

mana eva manuṣyasya pūrva-rūpāṇi śaṃsati /
bhaviṣyataś ca bhadraṃ te tathaiva na bhaviṣyataḥ //

The mind alone indicates the previous forms of a human being, / and also those of the future—may good fortune be yours!—and likewise of that which will not be born.

66. It is the mind that tells what the past or the future forms, high or low are for man. May you be happy!

4.29.67

adṛṣṭam aśrutaṃ cātra kvacin manasi dṛśyate /
yathā tathānumantavyaṃ deśa-kāla-kriyāśrayam //

And when something unseen and unheard is sometimes seen in the mind here, / it should be understood as having occurred according to place, time, and circumstance.

67. Sometime there arise in the mind views of what is not possible to expect in the visual experience or by way of hearing, _i.e._, impossible relations in time, space or between things.

4.29.68

sarve kramānurodhena manasīndriya-gocarāḥ /
āyānti bahuśo yānti sarve samanaso janāḥ //

All objects within reach of the senses enter the mind in succession / and leave repeatedly, for all human beings are endowed with mind.

68. All the things in the range of the senses enter the mind in due order, according to their generic differences (while contributing to the experience of man); and (after experience), they take their exit; thus it may be inferred that all Jivas are endowed with a mind.

4.29.69

sattvaika-niṣṭhe manasi bhagavat-pārśva-vartini /
tamaś candramasīvedam uparajyāvabhāsate //

When the mind is devoted solely to purity and resides beside the Lord, / this darkness is perceived as merely coloring it, like [the dark spot] on the moon.

69. When the mind is solely endowed with Satva and devoted to the Lord, this world of impossible combinations becomes possible

for experience just as Rahu becomes visible in association with the moon.

4.29.70

nāhaṃ mameti bhāvo 'yaṃ puruṣe vyavadhīyate /
yāvad buddhi-mano-'kṣārtha- guṇa-vyūho hy anādimān //

This notion of 'I' and 'mine' is not interposed within the person / as long as the beginningless assembly of intellect, mind, senses, objects, and qualities exists.

70. In the case of the Jiva the state of being conditioned by a gross body which appears as the notions of I and Mine, does not fall off so long as the beginning-less environments of intellect, mind, the senses, the objects, and the three gunas continue (to beset him).

4.29.71

supti-mūrcchopatāpeṣu prāṇāyana-vighātataḥ /
nehate 'ham iti jñānaṃ mṛtyu-prajvārayor api //

In deep sleep, fainting, and extreme torment, due to the obstruction of the breath's movement, / and even during death and high fever, the awareness of 'I' does not function.

71. In sleep, in swoon, and in the grief bereavement, the passages of the Prana, *i.e.*, the senses being suspended, the notion of 'I' does not arise, as also when overtaken by Mrityu (Death) and Prajvara.

4.29.72

garbhe bālye 'py apauṣkalyād ekādaśa-vidhaṃ tadā /
liṅgaṃ na dṛśyate yūnaḥ kuhvāṃ candramaso yathā //

In the womb and in childhood, because of incompleteness, the elevenfold / subtle body of a youth is not perceived at that time, just like the moon on the new-moon day.

72. In infancy, in boyhood, the eleven forms of the notion of "I" do not make their distinct appearance since the senses and organs are not fully developed as they do in the case of one that has attained to the man's estate, even as the existence of the moon is not seen in the *Kuhu* hour.

4.29.73

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

Even when the sense-object does not exist, transmigration does not cease / for him who meditates on sense-objects, just like the arrival of misfortune in a dream.

73. Even in the absence of anything real, the mundane bondage does not vanish in the case of one who is thinking of the objects (and the truth is illustrated by the experience of evils in a dream).

4.29.74

evaṃ pañca-vidhaṃ liṅgaṃ tri-vṛt ṣoḍaśa vistṛtam /
eṣa cetanayā yukto jīva ity abhidhīyate //

Thus the subtle body, consisting of five kinds, threefold, and expanded into sixteen, / when united with consciousness, is called the individual soul.

74. Thus the combination of the five objects, the three gunas and their development into sixteen modifications when joined to the

faculty of understanding comes to be called the Jīva.

4.29.75

anena puruṣo dehān upādatte vimuñcati /
harṣaṃ śokaṃ bhayaṃ duḥkhaṃ sukhaṃ cānena vindati //

Through this [subtle body] the person assumes and casts off bodies; / through this he experiences joy, grief, fear, misery, and happiness.

75. It is by this the Jīva is said to assume or cast off a body and it is by means of this he is subject to the experience of joy, sorrow, fear, misery and happiness.

4.29.76

bhaktiḥ kṛṣṇe dayā jīveṣv akuṇṭha-jñānam ātmani /
yadi syād ātmano bhūyād apavargas tu saṃsṛteḥ //
yathā tṛṇa-jalūkeyaṃ nāpayāty apayāti ca /
na tyajen mriyamāṇo 'pi prāg-dehābhimatiṃ janaḥ //

If there is devotion to Kṛṣṇa, compassion toward living beings, and unobstructed knowledge of the self, / there will be liberation from transmigration for the self. / Just as a caterpillar does not release [one leaf] until it takes hold [of another], / so a person, even while dying, does not abandon his identification with the previous body.

76. Just as the leech passes on and does not pass on (because it does not abandon the hold of the first piece of straw till it takes hold of a second), so also the Jīva does not lose his attachment to his body even at the time of departing from it.

4.29.77

adṛṣṭaṃ dṛṣṭavan naṅkṣed bhūtaṃ svapnavad anyathā /
bhūtaṃ bhavad bhaviṣyac ca suptaṃ sarva-raho-rahaḥ //
yāvad anyaṃ na vindeta vyavadhānena karmaṇām /
mana eva manuṣyendra bhūtānāṃ bhava-bhāvanam //

The unperceived perishes like the perceived, and the past is otherwise, like a dream; / past, present, and future are [like] sleep, the most secret of all secrets. / As long as he does not obtain another [body] through the intervention of actions, / the mind alone, O lord of men, generates existence for living beings.

77. So long as the creature does not pass on to another body on the exhaustion of Karma (the cause of the previous body, *i.e.*, the body in which the Jīva abides at the given time), it is the mind, Oh Lord of men, that is the stay of the mundane life of creatures.

4.29.78

yadākṣaiś caritān dhyāyan karmāṇy ācinute 'sakṛt /
sati karmaṇy avidyāyāṃ bandhaḥ karmaṇy anātmanaḥ //

When, meditating on things experienced by the senses, he repeatedly accumulates actions, / then, karma existing in ignorance, bondage to karma occurs for the one who does not know the self.

78. While the creature broods over what he enjoyed through his senses and organs and continues repeatedly to accumulate Karma and thus the course of Karma exists uninterrupted, and consequently Avidyā or nescience also exists, the anatman (the body and the like) remains bound up with Karma.

4.29.79

atas tad apavādārthaṃ bhaja sarvātmanā harim /
paśyaṃs tad-ātmakaṃ viśvaṃ sthity-utpatty-apyayā yataḥ //

Therefore, for the sake of dispelling that, worship Hari with your whole self, / seeing the universe as identical with Him, from whom arise its maintenance, creation, and dissolution.

79. Therefore in order to set it aside, do thou worship Hari contemplating the universe to be Himself, since the creation, subsistence, and destruction thereof are in His hands.

4.29.80

/0 maitreya uvāca
bhāgavata-mukhyo bhagavān nārado haṃsayor gatim /
pradarśya hy amum āmantrya siddha-lokaṃ tato 'gamat //

Maitreya said: / The Lord Nārada, foremost among the devotees of the Lord, having shown the course of the two swans, / took leave of him and then departed for the realm of the perfected ones.

80. Maitreya said:—The worshipful Narada, foremost amongst Hari's votaries, thus explained the nature of the two swans, (pure beings, *viz*, Paramatman and Jiva), and, taking leave of him, retired to celestial regions.

4.29.81

prācīnabarhī rājarṣiḥ prajā-sargābhirakṣaṇe /
ādiśya putrān agamat tapase kapilāśramam //

The royal sage Prācīnabarhis, having instructed his sons / in the protection and generation of subjects, went to the hermitage of Kapila for austerity.

81. The sage king Pracheenabarhis thereupon appointed (having instructed his ministers to put his sons in the way to do their kingly duties) his sons to the duty of protecting the creatures of God and withdrew himself to the hermitage of Kapila for the purpose of *tapas*.

4.29.82

tatraikāgra-manā dhīro govinda-caraṇāmbujam /
vimukta-saṅgo 'nubhajan bhaktyā tat-sāmyatām agāt //

There, with single-minded focus, the wise man, free from attachment, / worshipping Govinda's lotus feet with devotion, attained equality with Him.

82. And there, free from all attachments, in perfect concentration of mind, the unflinching warrior contemplated the lotus-like feet of Govinda in intense devotion and attained to a state of equality with Him.

4.29.83

etad adhyātma-pārokṣyaṃ gītaṃ devarṣiṇānagha /
yaḥ śrāvayed yaḥ śṛṇuyāt sa liṅgena vimucyate //

This esoteric spiritual truth was sung by the divine sage, O sinless one; / whoever recites it or whoever hears it is liberated from the subtle body.

83. O sinless one, this beautiful account of Atman transcending the experience of the ordinary senses was given by the divine sage Narada. He who listens to this, or reads it to others, attains emancipation from mundane bondage.

4.29.83.p1

etan mukunda-yaśasā bhuvanaṃ punānaṃ $ devarṣi-varya-mukha-niḥsṛtam ātma-śaucam &

This [narrative], which purifies the world through the renown of Mukunda, / came forth from the mouth of the foremost divine sage and purifies the self.

84. He who studies and makes his own, while it is being sung, this account which fell from the lips of the great divine sage which through the glories of Hari purifies the world and makes the mind serene and bears highest fruit—he gets rid of all ties (of Samsara) and ceases to be tossed about in Samsara.

4.29.84

yaḥ kīrtyamānam adhigacchati pārameṣṭhyaṃ % nāsmin bhave bhramati mukta-samasta-bandhaḥ //

he who attains to this supreme state as it is being recited, / free from all bonds, wanders no more in this world of birth.

4.29.85

adhyātma-pārokṣyam idaṃ mayādhigatam adbhutam /
evaṃ striyāśramaḥ puṃsaś chinno 'mutra ca saṃśayaḥ //

This wondrous allegorical teaching on the inner self has thus been understood by me; / in this way, a man’s entanglement with woman and his doubts concerning the hereafter are cut away.

85. I have acquired this wonderful knowledge of Atman which is beyond the scope of the senses: thus Ahaṅkara with Buddhi is cut asunder, as also the doubt regarding the fruit of Karma to be enjoyed in the other world or states.