Bhagavatapurana 6.16: atha ṣoḍaśo'dhyāyaḥ

6.16.1

/0 śrībādarāyaṇiruvāca
atha devaṛṣī rājan samparetaṃ nṛpātmajam /
darśayitveti hovāca jñātīnāmanuśocatām //

The venerable son of Bādarāyaṇa said:
Then the divine sage, O king, having shown the deceased prince,
spoke thus to his relatives who were lamenting:

1. Sri Suka said:— Then the divine sage showed them the jeeva of the departed prince and said to his sorrowing relations.

6.16.2

/0 śrīnārada uvāca
jīvātman paśya bhadraṃ te mātaraṃ pitaraṃ ca te /
suhṛdo bāndhavāstaptāḥ śucā tvatkṛtayā bhṛśam //

The venerable Nārada said:
O embodied soul, may it be well with you! Look upon your mother and your father,
your friends and relatives, who are sorely afflicted by the grief caused by you.

2. Narada said:— O Jiva, be thou happy. Look at thy mother and father, friends and relations greatly afflicted with grief on thy account.

6.16.3

kalevaraṃ svamāviśya śeṣamāyuḥ suhṛdvṛtaḥ /
bhuṅkṣva bhogān pitṛprattān adhitiṣṭha nṛpāsanam //

Entering your own body, surrounded by your friends, enjoy the remainder of your life
and the pleasures given by your father, and take your seat upon the royal throne.

3. Enter into thy body and, surrounded by friends and relations, enjoy the remaining portion of life, the pleasures afforded by thy father and occupy the royal throne.

6.16.4

/0 jīva uvāca
kasmin janmany amī mahyaṃ pitaro mātaro 'bhavan /
karmabhirbhrāmyamāṇasya devatiryaṅnṛyoniṣu //

The soul said:
In which birth were these people my fathers and mothers,
as I wander by my past deeds through the wombs of gods, animals, and humans?

4. The Jiva said:— In what life were these fathers and mothers to me, who am being tossed by force of Karma through different species of gods, beasts and men.

6.16.5

bandhujñātyarimadhyastha mitrodāsīnavidviṣaḥ /
sarva eva hi sarveṣāṃ bhavanti kramaśo mithaḥ //

Kinsmen, relatives, enemies, neutrals,
friends, indifferent persons, and haters—in turn, all become all of these to each other.

5. Relations, cousins, enemies, mediators, friends, indifferent men, haters, to all happen all, to one another by turns.

6.16.6

yathā vastūni paṇyāni hemādīni tatastataḥ /
paryaṭanti nareṣvevaṃ jīvo yoniṣu kartṛṣu //

Just as commodities such as gold and other goods wander
here and there among men, so the soul moves among active wombs.

6. Just as gold and other articles of merchandise go from one place to another, and from one dealer to another, so the Jiva wanders through very many bodies and lives.

6.16.7

nityasyārthasya sambandho hy anityo dṛśyate nṛṣu /
yāvadyasya hi sambandho mamatvaṃ tāvadeva hi //

A connection to a permanent object is indeed seen to be impermanent among men;
only as long as one has a connection does the sense of ‘mine’ endure.

7. The relation even of a living thing to some one is seen to be transient among men (for instance, what is my cow to-day, if sold, will be another's cow to-morrow); the attachment for a thing as mine could be only so far and so long as the relation continues.

6.16.8

evaṃ yonigato jīvaḥ sa nityo nirahaṅkṛtaḥ /
yāvadyatropalabhyeta tāvat svatvaṃ hi tasya tat //

Thus the soul enters a womb; eternal and free from egoism,
only as long as it is perceived somewhere does it possess that ownership.

8. Similarly transient is the relation to others of the Jiva that is invested with a body; he is by himself eternal and has no attachments; he belongs only as long as, and only to him with whom, he might be found (associated by virtue of Karma).

6.16.9

eṣa nityo 'vyayaḥ sūkṣma eṣa sarvāśrayaḥ svadṛk /
ātmamāyāguṇairviśvamātmānaṃ sṛjate prabhuḥ //

This [Lord] is eternal, imperishable, subtle; He is the resting place of all, self-luminous;
the Lord creates Himself as the universe by the qualities of His own creative power.

9. This Atman is eternal, never subject to change and subtle; he is the one ground on which every thing else rests; he is himself the light; being all-powerful he creates himself in the form of the Universe by means of the gunas of Maya (under his control).

6.16.10

na hy asyāsti priyaḥ kaścin nāpriyaḥ svaḥ paro 'pi vā /
ekaḥ sarvadhiyāṃ draṣṭā kartṝṇāṃ guṇadoṣayoḥ //

He has no one dear nor anyone not dear, no one His own nor an alien;
He is the one witness of all intellects, of the doers, and of their virtues and faults.

10 To Atman indeed there is none very much beloved; there is none hateful; none related to him; none unrelated; but he is the one witness of the feelings and thoughts of all those that do good or evil.

6.16.11

nādatta ātmā hi guṇaṃ na doṣaṃ na kriyāphalam /
udāsīnavadāsīnaḥ parāvaradṛg īśvaraḥ //

The Self takes on neither virtue nor fault, nor the fruit of action;
seated like an indifferent spectator, the Lord beholds the higher and the lower.

11. Atman does not experience pleasure or pain; nor is he the recipient of any other fruit of action, (kingdom and the like); he sits like an indifferent witness of both the cause and the effect, not being conditioned by the body and other environment.

6.16.12

/0 śrībādarāyaṇiruvāca
ity udīrya gato jīvo jñātayastasya te tadā /
vismitā mumucuḥ śokaṃ chittvātmasnehaśṛṅkhalām //

The venerable son of Bādarāyaṇa said:
Having spoken thus, the soul departed; and those relatives of his then,
astonished, gave up their sorrow, cutting the chain of affection for him.

12. Sri Suka said:— Having thus spoken the Jiva departed; all those relations of his were then astonished and gave up sorrowing, having cut off the chain of their affection.

6.16.13

nirhṛtya jñātayo jñāterdehaṃ kṛtvocitāḥ kriyāḥ /
tatyajurdustyajaṃ snehaṃ śokamohabhayārtidam //

Carrying away their kinsman's body and performing the proper rites,
the relatives abandoned that affection, hard to renounce, which produces grief, delusion, fear, and pain.

13. All the relations removed the dead body of the child and

performed the due rites; they set aside the affection hard to be shed off, and which only entails grief, delusion, fear and distress.

6.16.14

bālaghnyo vrīḍitāstatra bālahatyāhataprabhāḥ /
bālahatyāvrataṃ cerurbrāhmaṇairyan nirūpitam /
yamunāyāṃ mahārāja smarantyo dvijabhāṣitam //

Ashamed, their luster ruined by child-murder, those women who had killed the child
observed the expiatory vow for child-murder prescribed by the brāhmaṇas
at the Yamunā, O great king, remembering the words of the twice-born sage.

14. There the murderers of the child were ashamed and lost their splendour by force of their sin of infanticide; then they made a penance as directed by the Brahmins at the Yamuna, remembering, O great king, what the Brahmins expounded.

6.16.15

sa itthaṃ pratibuddhātmā citraketurdvijoktibhiḥ /
gṛhāndhakūpān niṣkrāntaḥ saraḥpaṅkādiva dvipaḥ //

He, Citraketu, having his self awakened in this way by the words of the twice-born sages,
emerged from the blind well of household life like an elephant from a lake's mud.

15. Having thus recovered his good sense through the words of the sages, Chitraketu rose out of the dark pit of domestic life, just as an elephant rises from the mire of the lake (miry lake).

6.16.16

kālindyāṃ vidhivat snātvā kṛtapuṇyajalakriyaḥ /
maunena saṃyataprāṇo brahmaputrāvavandata //

Bathing according to rule in the Kālindī and offering water for the deceased,
with life-breaths restrained in silence, he bowed down to the two sons of Brahmā.

16. According to rule he bathed in the river Yamuna, and having poured oblations of water, to the manes controlled his breath and in silence made his obeisance to the two sons of Brahma, viz., Angirasa and Narada.

6.16.17

atha tasmai prapannāya bhaktāya prayatātmane /
bhagavān nāradaḥ prīto vidyāmetāmuvāca ha //

Then, to him who had surrendered, a devotee of restrained mind,
the venerable Nārada, well pleased, imparted this sacred lore:

17. Thereupon to the devoted king that had sought their protection and had become purified by his bath in the Yamuna, the worshipful Narada with pleasure taught him the following Vidya.

6.16.18

oṃ namastubhyaṃ bhagavate vāsudevāya dhīmahi /
pradyumnāyāniruddhāya namaḥ saṅkarṣaṇāya ca //

‘Oṃ, obeisance unto You, the Lord Vāsudeva; we meditate upon You!
Obeisance to Pradyumna and Aniruddha, and obeisance to Saṅkarṣaṇa!

18. "Salutation to Thee, the ommipotent Lord, we contemplate Vasudeva and we bow to Pradyumna, Anirudha and Sankarshana.

6.16.19

namo vijñānamātrāya paramānandamūrtaye /
ātmārāmāya śāntāya nivṛttadvaitadṛṣṭaye //

Obeisance to pure consciousness, the embodiment of supreme bliss,
who delights in the Self, who is tranquil, and whose vision of duality has ceased!

19. "Salutation to Him who is nothing but pure knowledge (wisdom) and perfect bliss, self-delighted, serene and beyond the sphere of dualistic notions.

6.16.20

ātmānandānubhūtyaiva nyastaśaktyūrmaye namaḥ /
hṛṣīkeśāya mahate namaste 'nantamūrtaye //

Obeisance to Him who has stilled the waves of energy solely through the experience of the bliss of the Self;
obeisance to Hṛṣīkeśa, the great one, whose forms are infinite!

20. "Salutation to Him who by his own blissful realisation keeps aloof the waves of Maya; salutation to Thee who art the Supreme Ruler of the senses and whose body is the Universe.

6.16.21

vacasy uparate 'prāpya ya eko manasā saha /
anāmarūpaścinmātraḥ so 'vyān naḥ sadasatparaḥ //

May He protect us, beyond being and non-being, the one who remains when speech ceases with the mind without reaching Him, / who has no name and form, who is pure consciousness alone.

21. "May He who is the cause far beyond the subtle and gross forms of the Universe, who has no name or form but is mere consciousness and who is but One whence Speech along with the

mind return unable to reach (comprehend) Him,-May He protect us?

6.16.22

yasminnidaṃ yataścedaṃ tiṣṭhaty apyeti jāyate /
mṛṇmayeṣviva mṛjjātistasmai te brahmaṇe namaḥ //

In whom this universe rests, from whom it arises, and into whom it dissolves, / as things made of clay are born of clay—obeisance unto You, that Brahman!

22. "Salutation to Thee, Perfect Brahman on whom this Universe stands, from whom this emerges and into whom it disappears just as earth merges into the products of earth.

6.16.23

yan na spṛśanti na vidurmanobuddhīndriyāsavaḥ /
antarbahiśca vitataṃ vyomavat tan nato 'smy aham //

That which the mind, intellect, senses, and vital breaths do not touch nor know, / which is spread inside and outside like space—unto that I bow down.

23. "I bow to that Brahman whom Pranas do not touch, whom the mind, thought and the senses do not realise, and who like the sky pervades everything in and out.

6.16.24

dehendriyaprāṇamanodhiyo 'mī yadaṃśaviddhāḥ pracaranti karmasu /
naivānyadā lauhamivāprataptaṃ sthāneṣu taddraṣṭrapadeśameti //

These bodies, senses, vital breaths, minds, and intellects, pervaded by a portion of Him, engage in their actions, / and not otherwise, like unheated iron; in these fields He receives the designation of Witness.

24. "These, viz, the body, the senses, breaths, mind, and thought proceed to do their functions only when charged with His (Brahman's) Amsa (presence), but not otherwise, like a unheated piece of iron. The Jiva too does obtain the *name* of the seer (for there is no distinct Jiva) only under particular states such as wakeful, etc.

6.16.25

oṃ namo bhagavate mahāpuruṣāya mahānubhāvāya mahāvibhūtipataye sakalasātvataparivṛḍhanikarakarakamalakuḍmalopalālitacaraṇāravindayugala paramaparameṣṭhin namaste //

Oṃ, obeisance to the Lord, the Supreme Person, the immensely exalted one, the master of all great opulences, whose pair of lotus feet is caressed by the lotus-bud-like hands of the assembly of leaders of all Sātvatas, the supreme ruler of creation, obeisance unto You!’

25. "Salutation to Thee the glorious Lord, Highest Person, of unlimited power, of endless forms and activities, O Supreme Lord, whose lotus-like feet are worshipped in great love with the lotus-buds of their joined hands by all the great Satvatas (gods); O foremost One, I bow to Thee."

6.16.26

_*
/0 śrīśuka uvāca
bhaktāyaitāṃ prapannāya vidyāmādiśya nāradaḥ /
yayāvaṅgirasā sākaṃ dhāma svāyambhuvaṃ prabho //

The venerable Śuka said:
Having instructed the devotee who had surrendered in this sacred lore,
Nārada departed with Aṅgiras for the abode of Brahmā, O lord.

26. Sri Suka said:—To the devoted king that had sought his protection and help Narada imparted this Vidya and returned, O king, with Angiras to the region of Brahma.

6.16.27

citraketustu tāṃ vidyāṃ yathā nāradabhāṣitām /
dhārayāmāsa saptāhamabbhakṣaḥ susamāhitaḥ //

Citraketu, however, practiced that sacred lore just as spoken by Nārada
for seven days, consuming only water, with mind perfectly composed.

27. And with perfect control of mind, Chitraketu also subsisting on mere water, duly observed for seven days the course of this worship and meditation.

6.16.28

tataḥ sa saptarātrānte vidyayā dhāryamāṇayā /
vidyādharādhipatyaṃ ca lebhe 'pratihataṃ nṛpa //

Then, at the end of seven nights, through that sacred lore being held [in mind],
he attained unobstructed sovereignty over the Vidyādharas, O king.

28. Then, O king, at the end of seven nights, by virtue of

having practised this Vidya, he obtained unopposed the lordship over Vidyadharas.

6.16.29

tataḥ katipayāhobhirvidyayeddhamanogatiḥ /
jagāma devadevasya śeṣasya caraṇāntikam //

Then, in a few days, the movement of his mind illuminated by that sacred lore,
he went to the presence of the lotus feet of Śeṣa, the God of gods.

29. Then, in the course of a few days, his mental powers having highly expanded by virtue of the Vidya, he had access to the feet of Sesha, god of gods.

6.16.30

mṛṇālagauraṃ śitivāsasaṃ sphurat kirīṭakeyūrakaṭitrakaṅkaṇam /
prasannavaktrāruṇalocanaṃ vṛtaṃ dadarśa siddheśvaramaṇḍalaiḥ prabhum //

He beheld the Lord, white as a lotus stalk, wearing dark garments, with a shining crown, armlets, girdle, and bracelets, / with a gracious countenance and reddish eyes, surrounded by circles of the masters of the perfected ones.

30. There in the midst of great Siddhas, he saw Lord Sesha who was white like lotus-stalk, clad in violet clothes, adorned with brilliant crown, keyuras, zones, and bracelets, with a gracious countenance and lotus-red eyes.

6.16.31

taddarśanadhvastasamastakilbiṣaḥ svasthāmalāntaḥkaraṇo 'bhyayān muniḥ /
pravṛddhabhaktyā praṇayāśrulocanaḥ prahṛṣṭaromānamadādipuruṣam //

With all his sins destroyed by that sight, his inner heart peaceful and spotless, the sage approached;
with burgeoning devotion, his eyes filled with tears of love, and his hair standing on end, he bowed to the Primeval Person.

31. All his sin being removed at His sight, his mind free from all impurity, he approached Him in silence; with growing devotion, with eyes full of tears of love, with his hair standing on end he prostrated himself before the First Person.

6.16.32

sa uttamaślokapadābjaviṣṭaraṃ premāśruleśairupamehayan muhuḥ /
premoparuddhākhilavarṇanirgamo naivāśakat taṃ prasamīḍituṃ ciram //

Constantly bathing the footstool of the lotus feet of He of highest renown with tears of love, / his utterance of every syllable blocked by love, he was unable to praise him for a long time.

32. Moistening often with his tears of love the foot-stool under the feet of the Supreme Person, his power of distinct utterance of all the syllables being chocked by his overpowering love, he was not for a long time able to offer his praises.

6.16.33

tataḥ samādhāya mano manīṣayā babhāṣa etat pratilabdhavāg asau /
niyamya sarvendriyabāhyavartanaṃ jagadguruṃ sātvataśāstravigraham //

Then, having focused his mind by intellect and having restrained the outward movement of all his senses, / he, having regained speech, spoke thus to the teacher of the world, whose form is the Sātvata scripture:

33. Then, having quieted his mind by the force of reason and recovering the power of speech, and having restrained all other senses from external objects he said to the father of the world who is the very embodiment of Pancharatra.

6.16.34

/0 citraketuruvāca
ajita jitaḥ samamatibhiḥ sādhubhirbhavān jitātmabhirbhavatā /
vijitāste 'pi ca bhajatām akāmātmanāṃ ya ātmado 'tikaruṇaḥ //

Citraketu said: / O Unconquered One, you are conquered by the virtuous devotees who are equal-minded and have conquered themselves; / and they too are conquered by you, who give yourself to those without desire who worship you, being exceedingly compassionate.

34. Chitraketu said:— O Thou unconquered One, Thou art conquered by the righteous whose mind is unperturbed and wholly under their control and they are made Thine own by Thyself; for being very merciful Thou givest Thy own Self to the worshippers who are untouched by desires.

6.16.35

tava vibhavaḥ khalu bhagavan jagadudayasthitilayādīni /
viśvasṛjaste 'ṃśāṃśās tatra mṛṣā spardhanti pṛthag abhimatyā //

Indeed, O Lord, your sovereign power is the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the universe. / The creators of the universe are portions of your portions; yet they falsely rival [you] therein out of their separate pride.

35. Thy own glory indeed, O Lord, are these states of the world, origin, existence and dissolution and the like; those Makers of the world are amsas of Thy amsa; yet they are severally proud of their power and in vain vie with one another.

6.16.36

paramāṇuparamamahatos tvamādyantāntaravartī trayavidhuraḥ /
ādāvante 'pi ca sattvānāṃ yaddhruvaṃ tadevāntarāle 'pi //

You dwell at the beginning, end, and middle of the atom and the immensely great, being free of the three [states]. / What remains constant at the beginning and the end of beings is indeed the same in the interval between.

36. Thou art in the front, at the back and in the middle of Paramanu and that of the highest dimensions; but Thou art without these three limitations and Thou art that very thing which is permanent and unchanging at the beginning and at the end of all things created as well as in the interim.

6.16.37

kṣityādibhireṣa kilāvṛtaḥ saptabhirdaśaguṇottarairaṇḍakośaḥ /
yatra pataty aṇukalpaḥ sahāṇḍakoṭikoṭibhistadanantaḥ //

This cosmic egg is surrounded by seven sheaths, earth and the rest, each ten times greater than the previous; / that in which it falls along with millions upon millions of cosmic eggs like a mere speck—that is Ananta.

37. This egg of the Universe is surrounded by seven enclosures or vestures of the earth and other things, each outer vesture b ten times the extent of the enclosure inner to it and this egg of the Universe together with crores and crores of universes seem to be an atom on Thy head: hence Thou art Ananta, the unlimited.

6.16.38

viṣayatṛṣo narapaśavo ya upāsate vibhūtīrna paraṃ tvām /
teṣāmāśiṣa īśa tadanu vinaśyanti yathā rājakulam //

Thirsting for sense objects, human cattle who worship your manifestations and not you, the Supreme— / their desires, O Lord, perish afterwards, just like [favor from] a royal house.

38. Human brutes they are who, impelled by their thirst for worldly objects, worship Thy aṃśas the other gods, but not Thee the Perfect One—for their blessings, O Lord, come to an end after them, even as the servants lose their fortune with the royal house.

6.16.39

kāmadhiyastvayi racitā na parama rohanti yathā karambhabījāni /
jñānātmany aguṇamaye guṇagaṇato 'sya dvandvajālāni //

Desires directed toward you, the Supreme, do not sprout again, like roasted grains of barley; / for the networks of dualities arise from the qualities, whereas you are pure knowledge and free of the qualities.

39. Thoughts of limited objects entertained with reference to Thee, O Supreme One, do not like fried seed grow at all, for Thou art pure consciousness untouched by the guṇas, whilst all the opposite states of pleasure and pain and the like proceed from the guṇas affecting the Jīva.

6.16.40

jitamajita tadā bhavatā yadāha bhāgavataṃ dharmamanavadyam /
niṣkiñcanā ye munaya ātmārāmā yamupāsate 'pavargāya //

You conquered [all], O Unconquered One, when you proclaimed the faultless Bhāgavata dharma, / which ascetics possessing nothing, who delight in the self, practice for liberation.

40. Thou art the foremost, O Ajita. Then Thou provedest Thyself to be foremost when Thou taughtest the pure righteous course towards the Supreme Lord; since the sinless sages, Sanatkumāra and others, finding their delight in Paramātman, adopt that course for salvation.

6.16.41

viṣamamatirna yatra nṛṇāṃ tvamahamiti mama taveti ca yadanyatra /
viṣamadhiyā racito yaḥ sa hy aviśuddhaḥ kṣayiṣṇuradharmabahulaḥ //

In it, there is no unequal view among men of 'you' and 'I' or 'mine' and 'yours', which exists elsewhere; / for whatever is constructed with an unequal mind is impure, perishable, and full of adharma.

41. In respect of the Dharma leading to the grace of the Lord, men have no crooked notions of “Thou and I, and Thine and Mine,” as in the case of other Dharmas; whatever is done with the notion of difference is impure, of perishable consequence, mostly involving adharma also.

6.16.42

kaḥ kṣemo nijaparayoḥ kiyān vārthaḥ svaparadruhā dharmeṇa /
svadrohāt tava kopaḥ parasampīḍayā ca tathādharmaḥ //

What welfare is there for oneself or another, or what purpose is served by a religious duty that harms self and other? / Through injury to oneself arises your wrath, and through the torment of another arises adharma.

42. What good to oneself or to another, what the extent of benefit that could be derived from the dharma which is disadvantageous (harmful) to oneself as well as to another; so whatever contributes to your own distress is also the cause of your dislike and it is adharma too, as distressing to another.

6.16.43

na vyabhicarati tavekṣā yayā hy abhihito bhāgavato dharmaḥ /
sthiracarasattvakadambeṣv apṛthagdhiyo yamupāsate tvāryāḥ //

Your vision never strays, by which the Bhāgavata dharma was proclaimed, / which noble ones practice with an undifferentiated view toward the multitudes of moving and stationary beings.

43. Thy vision does not stray from the truth, and by that vision the dharma acceptable to the Almighty Lord was discovered (to the world); the worthy souls who have no notions of difference

in respect of all creatures, mobile and immobile, follow that dharma.

6.16.44

na hi bhagavannaghaṭitamidaṃ tvaddarśanān nṛṇāmakhilapāpakṣayaḥ /
yannāma sakṛc chravaṇāt pukkaśo 'pi vimucyate saṃsārāt //

Indeed, O Lord, it is not unexpected that seeing you destroys all sins of men, / since by hearing your name even once even an outcaste is freed from the cycle of rebirth.

44. O glorious one, it is no wonder that all sin is dissolved on seeing Thee; for, even by hearing once Thy name, a Chandala too attains release from samsara.

6.16.45

atha bhagavan vayamadhunā tvadavalokaparimṛṣṭāśayamalāḥ /
suraṛṣiṇā yat kathitaṃ tāvakena kathamanyathā bhavati //

Now, therefore, O Lord, our inner impurities have been cleansed by the sight of you; / how could that which was spoken by the divine sage, who is your own, turn out otherwise?

45. Now, O Lord, we have our heart cleansed of all impurity at Thy sight. What the divine sage, Thy own devotee said, how could it prove untrue?

6.16.46

viditamananta samastaṃ tava jagadātmano janairihācaritam /
vijñāpyaṃ paramaguroḥ kiyadiva savituriva khadyotaiḥ //

Everything done by men here is known to you, O Ananta, the Self of the universe; / what could be communicated to the supreme teacher, any more than [giving light] to the sun by fireflies?

46. Thou art the Atma of the world. Thou knowest everything done by every being in the world; there is nothing to be made known to Thee, the first and foremost Father and Preceptor of all, just as there is nothing to be shown to the sun by fire-flies.

6.16.47

namastubhyaṃ bhagavate sakalajagatsthitilayodayeśāya /
duravasitātmagataye kuyogināṃ bhidā paramahaṃsāya //

Obeisance to you, the Lord, the master of the maintenance, dissolution, and creation of all the worlds, / whose inner nature is difficult to ascertain, a paramahaṃsa to those of diverse views, the bad yogins.

47. Salutation to Thee the glorious Lord, who controllest the creation, subsistence and destruction of the Universe, whose course cannot be comprehended through the notion of difference entertained by bad yogins and who art the purest of the pure.

6.16.47.p1

yaṃ vai śvasantamanu viśvasṛjaḥ śvasanti $ yaṃ cekitānamanu cittaya uccakanti &

Breathing after whom the creators of the universe breathe, shining by whose consciousness the minds are conscious—

48. When Thou actest the Makers of the world do act; when Thou realisest, all the intellectual senses produce perception; on Thy head the whole sphere of earth is but like a mustard seed and to Thee of such immense powers and possessed of a thousand heads, I make my Salutation.

6.16.48

bhūmaṇḍalaṃ sarṣapāyati yasya mūrdhni % tasmai namo bhagavate 'stu sahasramūrdhne //

on whose head the earth behaves like a mustard seed—to that thousand-headed Lord let there be obeisance!

6.16.49

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
saṃstuto bhagavān evamanantastamabhāṣata /
vidyādharapatiṃ prītaścitraketuṃ kurūdvaha //

Śrī Śuka said: / Praised in this manner, the Lord Ananta, pleased, / spoke to that king of the Vidyādharas, Citraketu, O bearer of the Kuru line.

49. Sri Suka said:— Thus praised the glorious Ananta, very much pleased, said to Chitraketu, king of Vidyadharas, O best of Kurus (as follow).

6.16.50

/0 śrībhagavān uvāca
yan nāradāṅgirobhyāṃ te vyāhṛtaṃ me 'nuśāsanam /
saṃsiddho 'si tayā rājan vidyayā darśanāc ca me //

The Lord said: / By that teaching of mine which was spoken to you by Nārada and Aṅgiras, / through that sacred lore and through seeing me, you are perfected, O King.

50. The Lord said:— With the precept of Mine which Narada and Angiras taught thee and the Vidya practised by thee and My sight, thou hast, O king, attained the highest blessing.

6.16.51

ahaṃ vai sarvabhūtāni bhūtātmā bhūtabhāvanaḥ /
śabdabrahma paraṃ brahma mamobhe śāśvatī tanū //

I indeed am all beings, the Self of beings, and the originator of beings; / the sonic Brahman and the supreme Brahman are both my eternal forms.

51. I am indeed all the creatures and their Antaryamin and support; I am Sabda-Brahman, (Vedas) and Parabrahman and both these are My eternal forms.

6.16.52

loke vitatamātmānaṃ lokaṃ cātmani santatam /
ubhayaṃ ca mayā vyāptaṃ mayi caivobhayaṃ kṛtam //

Look upon the self as extended throughout the world and the world as continually resting in the self; / both are pervaded by me, and both are made to abide in me alone.

52. Know that Atman is pervading all the world (as the subject of experience) and that the world (the object of experience) is resting on Atman (superimposed on Me); and that both are pervaded by Me as the prime cause and that both are super-imposed on Me.

6.16.53

yathā suṣuptaḥ puruṣo viśvaṃ paśyati cātmani /
ātmānamekadeśasthaṃ manyate svapna utthitaḥ //

Just as a person in deep sleep sees the universe within himself, / and, having awakened from a dream, considers himself situated in a single place,

53. & 54. Just as a sleeping person sees the whole Universe in himself and after waking thinks that Atman he is at some one point of space, thus wakefulness and other states are the conditions of the Jiva and in relation to Atman they are all mere products of Maya. Having realised this, one should think Paramatman to be their mere witness.

6.16.54

evaṃ jāgaraṇādīni jīvasthānāni cātmanaḥ /
māyāmātrāṇi vijñāya taddraṣṭāraṃ paraṃ smaret //

so having understood waking and the other states of the self, the living being, / to be mere creative power, one should remember the Supreme, their witness.

6.16.55

yena prasuptaḥ puruṣaḥ svāpaṃ vedātmanastadā /
sukhaṃ ca nirguṇaṃ brahma tamātmānamavehi mām //

Know me as that self, the Brahman without qualities, by which / a sleeping person is aware of his own sleep and of bliss.

55. Understand Me to be that Atman and Brahman in whose form the Jiva in sleep thinks himself as in sleep and mere bliss beyond the range of the gunas or the senses.

6.16.56

ubhayaṃ smarataḥ puṃsaḥ prasvāpapratibodhayoḥ /
anveti vyatiricyeta taj jñānaṃ brahma tat param //

That which, for a man remembering both, accompanies and transcends / deep sleep and waking awareness—that is knowledge; that is the supreme Brahman.

56. To the intelligent being who, both in these states of sleep and wakefulness, remembers what appears to be common under both and at the same time distinct from both, that is (the) Consciousness and Para Brahman.

6.16.57

yadetadvismṛtaṃ puṃso madbhāvaṃ bhinnamātmanaḥ /
tataḥ saṃsāra etasya dehāddeho mṛtermṛtiḥ //

When this nature of mine is forgotten by a man, being considered separate from himself, / from that arises his transmigration: from body to body, from death to death.

57. If this fact of being identical with Me is forgotten by a person and I am taken as a different thing, that leads him to Samsara which consists in going from birth to birth and suffering death after death.

6.16.58

labdhveha mānuṣīṃ yoniṃ jñānavijñānasambhavām /
ātmānaṃ yo na buddhyeta na kvacit kṣemamāpnuyāt //

Having obtained here a human birth, which is the ground for knowledge and realization, / whoever does not realize the self would nowhere attain welfare.

58. Having come into this human life wherein Gnana and Vignana (knowledge and wisdom) can be developed, he who does not

open his eyes to Atman cannot find happiness anywhere.

6.16.59

smṛtvehāyāṃ parikleśaṃ tataḥ phalaviparyayam /
abhayaṃ cāpy anīhāyāṃ saṅkalpādviramet kaviḥ //

Remembering the intense affliction in activity and the reversal of its fruit, / and also freedom from fear in cessation from activity, a wise man should desist from desire.

59. Realising that there is great suffering in action and thence contrary results and that there is absence of fear (in Samsara) in the case of inaction, a wise man ought to withdraw himself from the range of desires.

6.16.60

sukhāya duḥkhamokṣāya kurvāte dampatī kriyāḥ /
tato 'nivṛttiraprāptirduḥkhasya ca sukhasya ca //

Husband and wife perform deeds for the sake of happiness and release from distress; / but from that arises non-cessation of distress and non-attainment of happiness.

60. Husband and wife endeavour after happiness and avoidance of misery; but there is no escaping from misery or securing happiness.

6.16.61

evaṃ viparyayaṃ buddhvā nṛṇāṃ vijñābhimāninām /
ātmanaśca gatiṃ sūkṣmāṃ sthānatrayavilakṣaṇām //

Having thus understood the error of men who consider themselves wise, / and the subtle nature of the self, which is distinct from the three states,

61. & 62. Having perceived the consequences quite against expectations persons who in their conceit think that they are very clever and having realised that the nature of Atman is very subtle and something beyond the three states of sleep, dreams and wakefulness and by virtue of its force completely unaffected by experiences direct or indirect; man should find his satisfaction in knowledge and wisdom and in devotion to Me.

6.16.62

dṛṣṭaśrutābhirmātrābhirnirmuktaḥ svena tejasā /
jñānavijñānasantṛpto madbhaktaḥ puruṣo bhavet //

freed by one's own power from the elements, seen and heard, / contented with knowledge and realization, a man should become my devotee.

6.16.63

etāvān eva manujairyoganaipuṇyabuddhibhiḥ /
svārthaḥ sarvātmanā jñeyo yat parātmaikadarśanam //

This much alone should be known as the ultimate goal by men / whose intellects are skilled in yoga, with all their heart: the vision of oneness between the individual and supreme Self.

63. And this is the extent of their own purpose that is to be known by persons who have their intellect and power enhanced by Yoga practices in realising that they are identical with Paramatman.

6.16.64

tvametac chraddhayā rājannapramatto vaco mama /
jñānavijñānasampanno dhārayannāśu sidhyasi //

Holding these words of mine with faith and heedfulness, O King, / endowed with knowledge and realization, you will quickly attain perfection.

64. If you bear in mind and act up to my words with perfect carefulness, thou wilt soon attain knowledge and wisdom and the highest good.

6.16.65

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
āśvāsya bhagavān itthaṃ citraketuṃ jagadguruḥ /
paśyatastasya viśvātmā tataścāntardadhe hariḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / Having thus comforted Citraketu, the Lord, the teacher of the world, / Hari, the Self of the universe, disappeared from there while he looked on.

65. Sri Suka said:— The father of the world, the glorious Lord thus comforted Chitraketu; and as he was witnessing, the glorious Hari (Sankarshana) vanished out of sight at that very place.