Bhagavatapurana 6.2: atha dvitīyo'dhyāyaḥ

6.2.1

/0 śrībādarāyaṇiruvāca
evaṃ te bhagavaddūtā yamadūtābhibhāṣitam /
upadhāryātha tān rājan pratyāhurnayakovidāḥ //

Śrī Bādarāyaṇi said:
Having thus heard what was spoken by the messengers of Yama, O King, / the messengers of the Lord, skilled in reasoning, replied to them:

1. Sri Suka said:—Having thus heard the explanation of Yama’s messengers, the Lord’s angels, well versed in the rules of equity and justice, said to them as follows:—

6.2.2

/0 śrīviṣṇudūtā ūcuḥ
aho kaṣṭaṃ dharmadṛśāmadharmaḥ spṛśate sabhām /
yatrādaṇḍyeṣvapāpeṣu daṇḍo yairdhriyate vṛthā //

The messengers of Viṣṇu said:
"Alas, how dreadful that adharma touches the assembly of the seers of dharma, / wherein punishment is vainly inflicted by them upon the guiltless who do not deserve punishment!

2. The Lord’s angels said:—It is a great pity that vice finds its way to the court of those that should protect Dharma (justice), where punishment is in vain inflicted upon those that do not deserve it and have not committed any sin.

6.2.3

prajānāṃ pitaro ye ca śāstāraḥ sādhavaḥ samāḥ /
yadi syāt teṣu vaiṣamyaṃ kaṃ yānti śaraṇaṃ prajāḥ //

Those who are the fathers of the people, their rulers, virtuous, and impartial— / if there should be partiality among them, to whom do the people go for refuge?

3. If those who are parents of creatures, who rule them and are righteous and impartial, indulge in unfairness (to enter their heart), to whom could they (then) resort for protection?

6.2.4

yadyadācarati śreyān itarastat tadīhate /
sa yat pramāṇaṃ kurute lokastadanuvartate //

Whatever a superior person practices, that very thing other people perform; / whatever standard he sets, the world follows that.

4. Whatever the venerable man does, every other person tries to do; whatever he regards as authority or adopts as the rule of conduct, the world in general follows (it).

6.2.5

yasyāṅke śira ādhāya lokaḥ svapiti nirvṛtaḥ /
svayaṃ dharmamadharmaṃ vā na hi veda yathā paśuḥ //

On whose lap the world places its head and sleeps in peace, / not knowing by itself what is dharma or adharma, just like an animal—

5. When any one naturally incapable, like a brute, of understanding, himself, what is righteous and what is not, sleeps resting in confidence his head on another’s lap,

6.2.6

sa kathaṃ nyarpitātmānaṃ kṛtamaitramacetanam /
visrambhaṇīyo bhūtānāṃ saghṛṇo dogdhumarhati //

how can that [ruler], trustworthy to all creatures and compassionate, / bring ruin upon one who has surrendered himself, placed his trust, and is senseless?

6. How is it right that he, who is so trusted, proves, if he have any feeling, treacherous to him that has surrendered his own self in friendship and remains in a state of unconsciousness?

6.2.7

ayaṃ hi kṛtanirveśo janmakoṭyaṃhasāmapi /
yadvyājahāra vivaśo nāma svastyayanaṃ hareḥ //

This man has indeed atoned for the sins of ten million lifetimes, / because, helpless, he uttered the auspicious name of Hari.

7. He (Ajamila) has indeed expiated for sin committed through millions of lives, since forgetting himself he has uttered the name of Hari which is the way to the attainment of heaven.

6.2.8

etenaiva hy aghono 'sya kṛtaṃ syādaghaniṣkṛtam /
yadā nārāyaṇāyeti jagāda caturakṣaram //

Indeed, by this alone the expiation for the sins of this sinner was accomplished: / when he spoke the four syllables 'Nārāyaṇāya'.

8. Complete expiation must have been made for all his sin by this sinful person, when he (somehow) uttered the four syllables “Narayanaya”.

6.2.9

stenaḥ surāpo mitradhrug brahmahā gurutalpagaḥ /
strīrājapitṛgohantā ye ca pātakino 'pare //

A thief, a drinker of liquor, a betrayer of a friend, a slayer of a brahmin, a violator of the guru's bed, / a slayer of women, kings, fathers, or cows, and whichever other sinners there may be—

9 & 10. A thief, a drunkard, one treacherous to a friend, murderer of a Brahmin, one who is faithless to his preceptor, one that does violence to the life of a woman, a king, father, or the cow and those that commit sin in many other ways:—to all these sinful persons this is the one process of expiation that they utter the name of Vishnu, by which the mind is made to turn to Him.

6.2.10

sarveṣāmapy aghavatāmidameva suniṣkṛtam /
nāmavyāharaṇaṃ viṣṇoryatastadviṣayā matiḥ //

even for all these sinful persons, this very utterance of the name of Viṣṇu / is the complete atonement, since their mind is directed toward Him.

6.2.11

na niṣkṛtairuditairbrahmavādibhis tathā viśuddhyaty aghavān vratādibhiḥ /
yathā harernāmapadairudāhṛtais taduttamaślokaguṇopalambhakam //

A sinner is not so completely purified by the penances, vows, and other rites proclaimed by the teachers of the Veda, / as by the words consisting of the names of Hari being uttered, which reveal the virtues of Him of highest renown.

11. A sinful person is not so (thoroughly and readily) purified by penances and other processes of expiation which Manu and others versed in the Vedas have laid down, as he who is, by uttering those words which are the names of Hari; for that is the means of calling forth in his mind the attributes of the glorious Hari.

6.2.12

naikāntikaṃ taddhi kṛte 'pi niṣkṛte manaḥ punardhāvati cedasatpathe /
tat karmanirhāramabhīpsatāṃ harer guṇānuvādaḥ khalu sattvabhāvanaḥ //

For even after an atonement is performed, it is not ultimate if the mind runs again to the path of unrighteousness; / therefore, for those wishing the eradication of karma, the recitation of Hari's virtues is indeed that which purifies the heart.

12. That process of expiation is not final and absolute, even after observance of which the mind again gets into the wrong path; on the other hand, for those who seek after the final remedy for their sinful Karma, frequent discourse on (repetition of) Hari's (names and) qualities forms really the way to purifying their mind and heart.

6.2.13

athainaṃ māpanayata kṛtāśeṣāghaniṣkṛtam /
yadasau bhagavannāma mriyamāṇaḥ samagrahīt //

Therefore, do not take this man away, who has accomplished the complete atonement for all his sins, / because while dying he uttered the name of the Lord.

13. Therefore do not now carry him (to Yama's abode), for he has fully expiated for all his sin, when about to die he uttered the name of Sri Hari.

6.2.14

sāṅketyaṃ pārihāsyaṃ vā stobhaṃ helanameva vā /
vaikuṇṭhanāmagrahaṇamaśeṣāghaharaṃ viduḥ //

Whether intended to signify something else, spoken in jest, for musical filler, or even in contempt, / the utterance of the name of Vaikuṇṭha is known to destroy all sins.

14. The wise say that to utter the names of Vaikunta (even) conventionally or in joke or without any purpose or in ridicule, is the cure of all sin.

6.2.15

patitaḥ skhalito bhagnaḥ sandaṣṭastapta āhataḥ /
haririty avaśenāha pumān nārhati yātanāḥ //

A person who has fallen, slipped, fractured a bone, been bitten, burned, or struck, / who helplessly cries out 'Hari!', does not deserve torments.

15. The man who, falling, tumbling down, maimed, bitten by venomous reptiles, burnt (alive) or severely beaten, utters even unknowingly the name of Hari, he does not deserve to suffer torment (in hell).

6.2.16

gurūṇāṃ ca laghūnāṃ ca gurūṇi ca laghūni ca /
prāyaścittāni pāpānāṃ jñātvoktāni maharṣibhiḥ //

For grave and light sins, / grave and light penances have been declared by the great sages after careful consideration.

16. With perfect insight the great Rishis have realised and laid down processes of expiation simple or complex according as the sinful acts are.

6.2.17

taistāny aghāni pūyante tapodānavratādibhiḥ /
nādharmajaṃ taddhṛdayaṃ tadapīśāṅghrisevayā //

By those austerities, gifts, vows, and other means, those sins are cleansed, / but not that heart born of adharma; that too is cleansed only by service to the feet of the Lord.

17. By those prescribed processes of Tapas, *daana*, (charitable gift) and *japa*, etc, those touches of sin may be removed; but they do not purify the heart which has developed under the influence of

unrighteousness, and even that heart is purified by worshipping the feet of the Supreme Ruler.

6.2.18

ajñānādathavā jñānāduttamaślokanāma yat /
saṅkīrtitamaghaṃ puṃso dahededho yathānalaḥ //

The name of Him of highest renown, whether chanted / in ignorance or in knowledge, burns away a man's sin as fire burns fuel.

18. The utterance of Sri Hari's name with or without the understanding (of its significance) would burn up the sin of man, just as fire burns out fuel.

6.2.19

yathāgadaṃ vīryatamamupayuktaṃ yadṛcchayā /
ajānato 'py ātmaguṇaṃ kuryān mantro 'py udāhṛtaḥ //

Just as a most potent medicine, when taken by chance, / produces its effect even for one who does not know it, so too does a mantra when uttered."

19. Just as a powerful medicine taken by chance would do the man, though ignorant of its virtue, the good which it can, so also a mantra that is uttered operates for his good.

6.2.20

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
ta evaṃ suvinirṇīya dharmaṃ bhāgavataṃ nṛpa /
taṃ yāmyapāśān nirmucya vipraṃ mṛtyoramūmucan //

Śrī Śuka said:
Having thus clearly determined the dharma of the Bhāgavatas, O King, / they released that brahmin from the nooses of Yama and rescued him from death.

21. Sri Suka said:—O king, having thus decided the Dharma acceptable in the view of the gracious Lord, they loosened the cords of Yama and let the brahmin escape from Death.

6.2.21

iti pratyuditā yāmyā dūtā yātvā yamāntikam /
yamarājñe yathā sarvamācacakṣurarindama //

Thus addressed, the messengers of Yama, having gone to Yama's presence, / recounted everything exactly as it occurred to King Yama, O vanquisher of foes.

22. Being thus remonstrated with, Yama's messengers went up to him and reported every thing as it happened, O slayer of foes.

6.2.22

dvijaḥ pāśādvinirmukto gatabhīḥ prakṛtiṃ gataḥ /
vavande śirasā viṣṇoḥ kiṅkarān darśanotsavaḥ //

The twice-born, released from the noose, freed from fear and returned to his natural state, / bowed with his head to the servants of Viṣṇu, rejoicing at their sight.

23. Set free from the cords (of Yama) and restored to his natural state, the brahmin, becoming himself and fearless, bowed his head to the messengers of Vishnu, to see whom was a feast to his eyes.

6.2.23

taṃ vivakṣumabhipretya mahāpuruṣakiṅkarāḥ /
sahasā paśyatastasya tatrāntardadhire 'nagha //

Perceiving that he wished to speak, the servants of the Supreme Person, / suddenly vanished right there before his eyes, O sinless one.

24. Perceiving him to be eager to say something the messengers of the Supreme Person Vishnu vanished at the very spot, as he was looking on, O sinless one.

6.2.24

ajāmilo 'py athākarṇya dūtānāṃ yamakṛṣṇayoḥ /
dharmaṃ bhāgavataṃ śuddhaṃ traivedyaṃ ca guṇāśrayam //

Then Ajāmila, having heard the pure dharma of the Bhāgavatas / and the triple Vedic path based on the qualities of nature from the messengers of Yama and Kṛṣṇa,

25. Ajamila too heard then (and understood) from their con-

versation the duty of Yama's messengers to be based on the three Vedas and the gunas, and the duty of Sri Krihna's messengers as taught by the Lord Himself to be pure as transcending the sphere of the gunas.

6.2.25

bhaktimān bhagavaty āśu māhātmyaśravaṇāddhareḥ /
anutāpo mahān āsīt smarato 'śubhamātmanaḥ //

“Alas! Great misery has befallen me, uncontrolled in self,
by whom my brahminhood was ruined as I begot children on a Śūdra woman.

26. And as he listened to the glories of Hari he at once conceived intense devotion to the Almighty Lord and great was his repentance as he remembered his sinful folly.

6.2.26

aho me paramaṃ kaṣṭamabhūdavijitātmanaḥ /
yena viplāvitaṃ brahma vṛṣalyāṃ jāyatātmanā //

Fie on me, despised by virtuous devotees, an evildoer, the disgrace of my lineage,
who, abandoning my young, chaste wife, went to an unchaste wine-drinker!

27. O what a deplorable thing it was of me who had no control over my mind that I projected my self upon a Sudra woman and have profaned the very Brahmin race!

6.2.27

dhiṅ māṃ vigarhitaṃ sadbhirduṣkṛtaṃ kulakajjalam /
hitvā bālāṃ satīṃ yo 'haṃ surāpīmasatīmagām //

My aged, helpless parents, who had no other kin, poor souls—
alas, have now been abandoned like a vile wretch by ungrateful me.

28. Fie upon me reproached by the righteous, me the sinful one that blackened the race (family) and abandoned my chaste and young wife and went over to an unchaste wench given to drinking.

6.2.28

vṛddhāvanāthau pitarau nānyabandhū tapasvinau /
aho mayādhunā tyaktāvakṛtajñena nīcavat //

Clearly, that very me will fall into a dreadful hell
where violators of dharma and lustful men suffer the torments of Yama.

29. Like a wretch I have now ungratefully deserted my aged parents in affliction and destitute of a protector and other help.

6.2.29

so 'haṃ vyaktaṃ patiṣyāmi narake bhṛśadāruṇe /
dharmaghnāḥ kāmino yatra vindanti yamayātanāḥ //

Was this a dream, or was it directly seen here, a wonder?
Where have they gone today, those who dragged me with nooses in hand?

30. Being of this character I shall certainly fall into that horrible hell where those, who in violation of Dharma seek after sexual pleasure, suffer the torments of Yama (torments of hell).

6.2.30

kimidaṃ svapna āho svit sākṣāddṛṣṭamihādbhutam /
kva yātā adya te ye māṃ vyakarṣan pāśapāṇayaḥ //

And where have those four perfected beings of beautiful appearance gone,
who released me as I was being led, bound by nooses, beneath the earth?

31. What vision is this! is it a dream? or is it a wonderful sight in fact? where have they now gone, who were dragging me with cords in their hands?

6.2.31

atha te kva gatāḥ siddhāścatvāraścārudarśanāḥ /
vyāmocayan nīyamānaṃ baddhvā pāśairadho bhuvaḥ //

Even so, for unfortunate me, in the sight of the best of immortals,
there must be some good fortune by which my mind is pleased.

32. Again where have those four Siddhas angle-like persons now gone, who rescued me that, bound with cords, was being dragged down the earth?

6.2.32

athāpi me durbhagasya vibudhottamadarśane /
bhavitavyaṃ maṅgalena yenātmā me prasīdati //

Otherwise, for an impure man who is the husband of a Śūdra woman and dying,
how could the tongue here be fit to utter the taking of Vaikuṇṭha’s name?

33. Still when I, wretch as I am, have been favoured with a visit of the great gods, there must be some good to be reaped, since my mind and heart have become serene and peaceful.

6.2.33

anyathā mriyamāṇasya nāśucervṛṣalīpateḥ /
vaikuṇṭhanāmagrahaṇaṃ jihvā vaktumihārhati //

Where am I, a cheat, a sinner, a slayer of a brahmin, shameless—
and where is this auspicious name of the Lord, ‘Nārāyaṇa’?

34. Otherwise the tongue of an impious creature like myself sinful and attached to a bad Sudra woman, cannot be fit when about to die, to utter the name of Sri Narayana, Lord of Vaikunta.

6.2.34

kva cāhaṃ kitavaḥ pāpo brahmaghno nirapatrapaḥ /
kva ca nārāyaṇety etadbhagavannāma maṅgalam //

Therefore I shall make such effort, subduing my mind, senses, and breath,
that I may not plunge my self again into blind darkness.

35. What a sinful and deceitful and shameless creature I am, violating the Vedas and the Brahmin race! How glorious is on the other hand the auspicious (purifying) name of Narayana, the Almighty Lord!

6.2.35

so 'haṃ tathā yatiṣyāmi yatacittendriyānilaḥ /
yathā na bhūya ātmānamandhe tamasi majjaye //

Having released this bond born of ignorance, desire, and action,
a friend to all beings, tranquil, friendly, compassionate, self-possessed,

36. Such as I am, I shall (henceforth) so endeavour to control

my mind, senses, and breath that I may not again draw myself in blinding darkness.

6.2.36

vimucya tamimaṃ bandhamavidyākāmakarmajam /
sarvabhūtasuhṛc chānto maitraḥ karuṇa ātmavān //

I will deliver my self seized by the Lord’s creative power consisting of woman,
by which very power I, a base man, was played with like a toy animal.

37. Having cut asunder this bondage (knot), the result of ignorance, desire and the activity (induced by them), I will be the friend of all beings, calm and loving and merciful, and master of my own mind.

6.2.37

mocaye grastamātmānaṃ yoṣinmayyātmamāyayā /
vikrīḍito yayaivāhaṃ krīḍāmṛga ivādhamaḥ //

Giving up the false notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ in the body and so forth,
I shall fix my mind, purified through His glorification and the like, upon the Lord.”

38. I (shall) liberate myself from the grasp of the Lord's Maya in the form of a woman by whom the wretch of myself was made to dance like the deer kept for amusement.

6.2.38

mamāhamiti dehādau hitvāmithyārthadhīrmatim /
dhāsye mano bhagavati śuddhaṃ tatkīrtanādibhiḥ //

Śrī Śuka said:
Having thus attained complete disgust with worldly life through a moment’s contact with the virtuous,
he went to Gaṅgādvāra, freed from all attachments.

39. Having eschewed the (false) notions of "my, mine and I" with reference to the body and its belongings and having secured the thought of the true, I shall set my purified mind on the Almighty Lord and sing His praise and pray to Him.

6.2.39

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
iti jātasunirvedaḥ kṣaṇasaṅgena sādhuṣu /
gaṅgādvāramupeyāya muktasarvānubandhanaḥ //

Seated in that temple of the gods, taking up yoga,
with the multitude of senses withdrawn, he fixed his mind on the self.

40. Sri Suka said:—Thus by a moment's association with the righteous and glorious souls he felt thorough disgust to worldly life and having shaken off every tie betook himself to Gangadwara (perhaps Haridwar).

6.2.40

sa tasmin devasadana āsīno yogamāsthitaḥ /
pratyāhṛtendriyagrāmo yuyoja mana ātmani //

Then, detaching the self from the qualities by absorption in the self,
he joined it to the Lord’s abode, Brahman, whose nature is direct realization.

41. In that sacred place of the gods he sat down in the proper position, and began to practise Yoga; he withdrew his senses from their objects and settled his mind on Atman.

6.2.41

tato guṇebhya ātmānaṃ viyujyātmasamādhinā /
yuyuje bhagavaddhāmni brahmaṇy anubhavātmani //

When his intellect had ceased [from activity], the twice-born saw those persons before him;
recognizing them as the ones perceived before, he bowed his head to them.

42. Then (Thus) by concentration of the mind he separated his self from the gunas in the body, the senses, etc., and set it on Brahman of glorious and absolute essence, the embodiment of pure consciousness.

6.2.42

yarhy upāratadhīstasminnadrākṣīt puruṣān puraḥ /
upalabhyopalabdhān prāg vavande śirasā dvijaḥ //

Abandoning his body at the sacred ford on the Gaṅgā after the vision,
he at once assumed the form of the Lord’s attendants.

43. When his mind was thus steadily fixed on the Supreme Brahman, the brahmin (again) saw in front of him those persons whom he had seen before and saluted them bending his head.

6.2.43

hitvā kalevaraṃ tīrthe gaṅgāyāṃ darśanādanu /
sadyaḥ svarūpaṃ jagṛhe bhagavatpārśvavartinām //

Together with the servants of the Supreme Person through the sky,
the brahmin mounted a golden aerial chariot and went to where the Lord of Śrī resides.

44. After he saw them he cast off his body in the sacred waters of Ganga and stood up transformed at once into one of those that wait upon the Lord.

6.2.44

sākaṃ vihāyasā vipro mahāpuruṣakiṅkaraiḥ /
haimaṃ vimānamāruhya yayau yatra śriyaḥ patiḥ //

Thus he, who had wrecked all dharma, husband of a servant woman, fallen through reprehensible action,
being thrown into hell, his vows broken, was at once liberated by uttering the Lord’s name.

45. With the messengers of the Supreme Person, the brahmin mounted a golden Vimana (Aerial car) and set off through the sky to the region where the Lord of Sri is (to be directly seen).

6.2.45

evaṃ sa viplāvitasarvadharmā dāsyāḥ patiḥ patito garhyakarmaṇā /
nipātyamāno niraye hatavrataḥ sadyo vimukto bhagavannāma gṛhṇan //

For those who desire liberation there is no better cutting of the bonds of action than repeated glorification of Him whose feet are a sacred ford;
for the mind does not cling again to actions, whereas otherwise it remains turbid with passion and darkness.

46. Thus the brahmin Ajamila who had violated all right-

eous duties, as the husband of a servant-maid and fallen by his reproachful conduct and transgressed the rules of life and who was (therefore) being hurled into hell obtained his release just in a moment for having uttered the name of the glorious Lord.

6.2.46

nātaḥ paraṃ karmanibandhakṛntanaṃ mumukṣatāṃ tīrthapadānukīrtanāt /
na yat punaḥ karmasu sajjate mano rajastamobhyāṃ kalilaṃ tato 'nyathā //

Whoever listens with faith to this supreme, secret narrative that destroys sin,
and whoever repeatedly glorifies it with devotion—

47. For those who seek after Moksha (release from Samsara) there is no instrument to cut the ties of Karma (the root of sin) more efficacious than uttering the name of (than singing the praise of) Hari of hallowed feet, for by virtue of that course alone the mind (of man) does not again get attached to Karma; (but) by any other means the mind continues to be impure through Rajas and Tamas.

6.2.47

ya etaṃ paramaṃ guhyamitihāsamaghāpaham /
śṛṇuyāc chraddhayā yukto yaśca bhaktyānukīrtayet //

he surely does not go to hell, nor is he seen by the servants of Yama;
even if inauspicious, that mortal is honored in the realm of Viṣṇu.

48. & 49. Whoever listens with faith to this history of very secret import which removes sin and whoever devoutly recounts it, does not certainly go to hell and does not meet the eyes of Yama's messengers. Wicked as that mortal might have been he is honoured in the region of Vishnu.

6.2.48

na vai sa narakaṃ yāti nekṣito yamakiṅkaraiḥ /
yady apy amaṅgalo martyo viṣṇuloke mahīyate //

Dying, even Ajāmila went to the abode by uttering the name of Hari addressed to his son;
what then of one who utters it with faith?

6.2.49

mriyamāṇo harernāma gṛṇan putropacāritam /
ajāmilo 'py agāddhāma kimuta śraddhayā gṛṇan //

The king said:
Having heard what was described by his soldiers, what did the god, Dharmarāja, say in reply to them,
whose command was thus thwarted, frustrated as they were by the emissaries of Murāri, [he] under whose control this mankind lies?

50. When, by uttering at the moment of death the name of Hari which he used only for his son without feeling its meaning, Ajamila too attained to that place (of Vishnu); need it then be said that a person, who sings His name with faith and devotion, does go to heaven?