Bhagavatapurana 7.15: atha pañcadaśo'dhyāyaḥ

7.15.1

/0 śrīnārada uvāca
karmaniṣṭhā dvijāḥ kecit taponiṣṭhā nṛpāpare /
svādhyāye 'nye pravacane kecana jñānayogayoḥ //

Glorious Nārada said: / Some twice-born are devoted to ritual works, O king, others to asceticism, / others to Vedic study and recitation, and some to knowledge and yoga.

1. Narada said:—Some Brahmins are specially devoted to the duties enjoined upon them, and some to performing Tapas, O king; some again to the study of the Vedas and others still to teaching, while some others are devoted to the attainment of wisdom and perfection in Yoga.

7.15.2

jñānaniṣṭhāya deyāni kavyānyānantyamicchatā /
daive ca tadabhāve syāditarebhyo yathārhataḥ //

Offerings to the ancestors should be given to one devoted to knowledge by one desiring endless benefit; / in offerings to the gods, or if such [a sage] is absent, to the others according to their worth.

2. He who would look forward to extensive (lasting) merit, should bestow the gifts of food and other things intended for the Pitris and also for the gods, on one who is devoted to knowledge

and wisdom, and in the absence of such a person, on others according to their merit.

7.15.3

dvau daive pitṛkārye trīn ekaikamubhayatra vā /
bhojayet susamṛddho 'pi śrāddhe kuryān na vistaram //

One should feed two [brāhmaṇas] in a rite for the gods and three in a rite for the ancestors, or one in each; / even if very wealthy, one should not make a lavish display at an ancestral rite.

3. In observances intended to propitiate the gods or Pitris he should, even though very rich, feed two Brahmins and three Brahmins respectively, or only one in either case. He ought not to entertain a large number on Sraddha occasions.

7.15.4

deśakālocitaśraddhā dravyapātrārhaṇāni ca /
samyag bhavanti naitāni vistarāt svajanārpaṇāt //

Proper faith, suitable place and time, and the worship of offerings and recipients / are not properly accomplished because of lavish display and distributing to relatives.

4. By doing them on a large scale and distributing the gifts among his own relations, the main conditions are not properly fulfilled;—the conditions of proper places and time, piety, devotion, articles used for the purpose, worthy recipients and proper attention to them: but they are, only when a limited number is entertained.

7.15.5

deśe kāle ca samprāpte munyannaṃ haridaivatam /
śraddhayā vidhivat pātre nyastaṃ kāmadhug akṣayam //

When place and time are met, hermit's food dedicated to Hari, / offered with faith and proper rites to a worthy recipient, yields all desires and is inexhaustible.

5. When a proper place or time offers itself, a hermit's fare offered to Hari and given piously and devoutly to a worthy man according to Sastras, bears all the desired fruits and becomes a source of inexhaustible merit.

7.15.6

devarṣipitṛbhūtebhya ātmane svajanāya ca /
annaṃ saṃvibhajan paśyet sarvaṃ tat puruṣātmakam //

Distributing food to deities, seers, ancestors, living beings, / to oneself, and to one's kin, one should see all that as consisting of the Puruṣa.

6. In properly distributing food among the gods, Rishis, Pitris, and Bhutas, self and relations of self, a person should consider all that (all of them), as the forms of the Supreme Lord.

7.15.7

na dadyādāmiṣaṃ śrāddhe na cādyāddharmatattvavit /
munyannaiḥ syāt parā prītiryathā na paśuhiṃsayā //

One who knows the truth of dharma should not offer meat in an ancestral rite, nor should he eat it; / the supreme satisfaction that comes from hermit's food does not arise from killing animals.

7. In Shraddha he should not offer flesh nor should he at all eat it, if he knows the truth of Dharma; what supreme gratification arises from the simple fare of a hermit cannot be had by killing animals.

7.15.8

naitādṛśaḥ paro dharmo nṛṇāṃ saddharmamicchatām /
nyāso daṇḍasya bhūteṣu manovākkāyajasya yaḥ //

There is no higher dharma for men who desire true dharma / than laying down violence toward living beings arising from mind, speech, and body.

8. For men who are intent upon (pursuing) the true course of Dharma there is no higher Dharma or righteous course that can be compared to this—to refrain from inflicting injury on any being.

7.15.9

eke karmamayān yajñān jñānino yajñavittamāḥ /
ātmasaṃyamane 'nīhā juhvati jñānadīpite //

Some possessors of knowledge, knowing sacrifice best, free from selfish exertion, / offer ritual sacrifices into the restraint of the self kindled by knowledge.

9. Some men of great understanding, knowing the truth of sacrifices and free from desires, offer all the sacrifices usually done in the form of external activities, into the fire of self-control kindled by wisdom.

7.15.10

dravyayajñairyakṣyamāṇaṃ dṛṣṭvā bhūtāni bibhyati /
eṣa mākaruṇo hanyādatajjño hyasutṛp dhruvam //

Seeing one about to sacrifice with material offerings, living beings are terrified: / 'This merciless man, ignorant of the truth, seeking only his own life's gratification, will surely kill me!'

10. On seeing the person who proceeds to perform sacrifices with gross physical substances, creatures are filled with fear thus—"This merciless creature not knowing the truth of it and only thirsting after my life would kill me''.

7.15.11

tasmāddaivopapannena munyannenāpi dharmavit /
santuṣṭo 'harahaḥ kuryān nityanaimittikīḥ kriyāḥ //

Therefore, satisfied with whatever comes by providence, even hermit's food, / one who knows dharma should perform daily and occasional rites day by day.

11. Therefore he who has a true perception of Dharma should

from day to day discharge his daily and special duties, contented with even the hermit's fare providentially got by him.

7.15.12

vidharmaḥ paradharmaśca ābhāsa upamā chalaḥ /
adharmaśākhāḥ pañcemā dharmajño 'dharmavat tyajet //

Opposing dharma, another's dharma, the mere appearance of dharma, deceptive dharma, and word-twisting: / these are the five branches of adharma; one who knows dharma should abandon them as adharma itself.

12. Vidharma, Paradharma, Dharma-abhasa, Dharmopama, and Dharmachala—are the five branches of (the Tree of) Adharma: the man who knows what true Dharma is, ought to shun these like Adharma itself (what is distinctly prohibited).

7.15.13

dharmabādho vidharmaḥ syāt paradharmo 'nyacoditaḥ /
upadharmastu pākhaṇḍo dambho vā śabdabhic chalaḥ //

That which obstructs dharma is opposing dharma; another's dharma is prescribed for someone else; / an invented dharma is hypocrisy or pretension; deceptive wordplay is twisting speech.

13. Vidharma is what one does to obstruct Dharma; and Paradharma is that which is laid down for another; Upadharma is the course of heretic or of the hypocrite, and Chaladharma is misinterpretation of the text and an attempt thereby to pretend to follow the letter of the rule.

7.15.14

yastvicchayā kṛtaḥ pumbhirābhāso hyāśramāt pṛthak /
svabhāvavihito dharmaḥ kasya neṣṭaḥ praśāntaye //

And that which is invented arbitrarily by men apart from their life-stage is a mere appearance; / what dharma prescribed by one's own nature is not conducive to peace?

14. That course of action which is sketched by men according to their fancy is Dharma-abhasa, being quite different from what is laid down by the Vedas for Varna or Asramas. (On the other hand), who would find it unacceptable to follow that course of Dharma which is, agreeably to his nature, laid down for his peace and happiness?

7.15.15

dharmārthamapi neheta yātrārthaṃ vādhano dhanam /
anīhānīhamānasya mahāheriva vṛttidā //

Even for the sake of dharma or for bodily maintenance, a man without wealth should not strive for wealth; / lack of striving provides livelihood for one who does not strive, like a great python.

15. The penniless man ought not to exert himself for money (by begging) or even follow particular professions for the sake of performing some righteous duty or for the sake of his living. The very inactive state of the person who keeps quiet will bring him his living as in the case of the great serpent.

7.15.16

santuṣṭasya nirīhasya svātmārāmasya yat sukham /
kutastat kāmalobhena dhāvato 'rthehayā diśaḥ //

The happiness belonging to one who is contented, free from striving, delighting in his own self— / how could it belong to one who runs in all directions through lust, greed, and the pursuit of wealth?

16. How could that happiness which is reaped by the man who sits quiet, contented and delighted in his own Atman, be obtained by that person who, urged by the desire of pleasure and covetousness, runs about in different directions in quest of wealth?

7.15.17

sadā santuṣṭamanasaḥ sarvāḥ śivamayā diśaḥ /
śarkarākaṇṭakādibhyo yathopānatpadaḥ śivam //

For one whose mind is always contented, all directions are auspicious, / just as for one whose feet are shod in leather, pebbles and thorns are harmless.

17. To the man of a contented heart all the directions always promise perfect happiness, just as for the person whose feet are protected by shoes, there is complete security from gravel, thorns and other things (that may injure his feet).

7.15.18

santuṣṭaḥ kena vā rājan na vartetāpi vāriṇā /
aupasthyajaihvyakārpaṇyādgṛhapālāyate janaḥ //

With what would a contented person not subsist, O king, even with water? / Because of wretched subjugation to genitals and tongue, a person behaves like a watchdog.

18. O king, with what cannot a contented man get on, say even with water? (*i.e.*, A contented man can get on with any simple means, even with mere water). People behave like the dog on account of their desire to gratify the sense of touch or of taste.

7.15.19

asantuṣṭasya viprasya tejo vidyā tapo yaśaḥ /
sravantīndriyalaulyena jñānaṃ caivāvakīryate //

For a discontented brāhmaṇa, splendor, learning, asceticism, and renown / drain away through the instability of the senses, and his knowledge is scattered.

19. Of a brahmin who is not contented, the spiritual power, learning, Tapas, reputation, all leak out and through his uncontrolled senses, (D. through his senses given to objects) his wisdom becomes dissipated.

7.15.20

kāmasyāntaṃ hi kṣuttṛḍbhyāṃ krodhasyaitat phalodayāt /
jano yāti na lobhasya jitvā bhuktvā diśo bhuvaḥ //

A person reaches the end of desire through hunger and thirst, and the end of anger through its fruition; / but one does not reach the end of greed even having conquered and enjoyed all quarters of the earth.

20. A person might cease to have the passion of love under the force of hunger and thirst; or he might see the end of his anger (revenge) when the fruit of it is seen; but no one sees the end of his covetousness, even by conquering and enjoying all the directions of the earth.

7.15.21

paṇḍitā bahavo rājan bahujñāḥ saṃśayacchidaḥ /
sadasas patayo 'pyeke asantoṣāt patantyadhaḥ //

Many learned men, O king, knowing many things, dispellers of doubt, / leaders of assemblies though they be, fall downward through discontent.

21. O king, many who are learned men of extensive knowledge, capable of clearing other's doubts, and some even who are leaders of great assemblies, fall through want of contentment.

7.15.22

asaṅkalpāj jayet kāmaṃ krodhaṃ kāmavivarjanāt /
arthānarthekṣayā lobhaṃ bhayaṃ tattvāvamarśanāt //

One should conquer desire by abandoning longing, anger by relinquishing desire, / greed by observing wealth as misfortune, and fear by contemplating truth.

22. A person should conquer desire by shunning the wish or determination to gratify it and conquer the passion of anger by eschewing Kama (desire to gain particular objects), and covetousness by seeing the evil in the worldly things sought after and fear by a thorough perception of truth.

7.15.23

ānvīkṣikyā śokamohau dambhaṃ mahadupāsayā /
yogāntarāyān maunena hiṃsāṃ kāmādyanīhayā //

One should conquer grief and delusion through philosophical inquiry, hypocrisy through serving exalted devotees, / obstacles to yoga through silence, and violence by absence of desire.

23. He should get rid of grief and attachment through a distinct knowledge of what is Atman and Anatman, and of hypocricy by service at the feet (D. association with) of the great and the interruptions to Yoga (concentration) by the force of silence and avoid harm to other creatures by cherishing no love to the body and its belongings.

7.15.24

kṛpayā bhūtajaṃ duḥkhaṃ daivaṃ jahyāt samādhinā /
ātmajaṃ yogavīryeṇa nidrāṃ sattvaniṣevayā //

One should dispel suffering caused by living beings through compassion, that caused by providence through absorption, / that caused by oneself through the power of yoga, and sleep through cultivating purity.

24. He should get over the troubles arising from other beings through kindness and mercy and those caused by the gods through contemplation of the gods and those arising in his own body and mind by the strength of Yoga practices (Pranayama and the like), and sleep by using Satvic food and the like.

7.15.25

rajastamaśca sattvena sattvaṃ copaśamena ca /
etat sarvaṃ gurau bhaktyā puruṣo hyañjasā jayet //

One should conquer passion and darkness by purity, and purity by peaceful calm; / through devotion to the guru, a person can easily conquer all of this.

25. He should conquer Rajas and Tamas by means of the Satva and also Satva by complete withdrawal from activity; and he may

have all this conquest assured to him through his intense devotion to the preceptor.

7.15.26

yasya sākṣādbhagavati jñānadīpaprade gurau /
martyāsaddhīḥ śrutaṃ tasya sarvaṃ kuñjaraśaucavat //

One who harbors the foolish notion that the guru—who is the Lord directly, the giver of the lamp of knowledge—is a mere mortal, / all his learning is like an elephant's bath.

26. All that is imparted to, and learnt by, any one who improperly regards, as an ordinary mortal, his Guru (Preceptor) who is directly the Almighty Lord and gives him the light of wisdom, is comparable to the cleansing or bath of an elephant.

7.15.27

eṣa vai bhagavān sākṣāt pradhānapuruṣeśvaraḥ /
yogeśvarairvimṛgyāṅghrirloko yaṃ manyate naram //

He is indeed the Lord in person, the master of both primal nature and the person, / whose feet are sought by the lords of yoga, yet whom the world considers a mere man.

27. This guru is indeed directly the Almighty Lord, the Supreme Ruler, Pradhana and Purusha (matter and self) whose feet are sought after by the great masters of Yoga and the ignorant world regards him a mortal.

7.15.28

ṣaḍvargasaṃyamaikāntāḥ sarvā niyamacodanāḥ /
tadantā yadi no yogān āvaheyuḥ śramāvahāḥ //

All the injunctions of moral discipline have the sole purpose of restraining the six senses; / if they do not lead to yoga as their final goal, they only bring about fatigue.

28. All the rules restricting the conduct and habits of man have but one purpose to serve, viz., restraining of the six passions; and they would be only a source of mere labour and pain if they do not lead to contemplation and concentration.

7.15.29

yathā vārtādayo hyarthā yogasyārthaṃ na bibhrati /
anarthāya bhaveyuḥ sma pūrtamiṣṭaṃ tathāsataḥ //

Just as occupations such as agriculture do not achieve the true purpose of yoga, / even so sacrifices and public works yield only misfortune for the unrighteous.

29. Just as agriculture and other pursuits and their benefits cannot bear the fruit of Yoga (Moksha), so also the performance of sacrifices and the construction of wells and tanks would all tend to evil consequences in the case of an unrighteous man (who only looks to the external objects).

7.15.30

yaścittavijaye yattaḥ syān niḥsaṅgo 'parigrahaḥ /
eko viviktaśaraṇo bhikṣurbhaikṣyamitāśanaḥ //

He who endeavors to conquer the mind should be free from attachment, without possessions, / solitary, dwelling in seclusion, a mendicant eating only measured food received as alms.

30. He, who is resolved on conquering his mind, should rid himself of all associations and give up all his belongings, should be alone in a secluded place, and live by alms, eating but very little of it.

7.15.31

deśe śucau same rājan saṃsthāpyāsanamātmanaḥ /
sthiraṃ sukhaṃ samaṃ tasminnāsītarjvaṅga omiti //

Setting up his seat in a pure and level place, O king, / steady, comfortable, and even, he should sit upon it with straight limbs, [chanting] 'Oṃ'.

31. O King, in a hallowed and level place he should arrange a seat for himself, stable, level, not in any way irksome and thereon he should sit, with his body erect, contemplating the sacred syllable.

7.15.32

prāṇāpānau sannirundhyāt pūrakumbhakarecakaiḥ /
yāvan manastyajet kāmān svanāsāgranirīkṣaṇaḥ //

He should restrain the incoming and outgoing breaths through inhalation, retention, and exhalation, / until the mind renounces desires, gazing at the tip of his own nose.

32. He should properly control the breath (Prana and Apana) by the processes of filling, stopping and emptying and fix his eyes on the tip of his nose till the mind should be divested of all passions.

7.15.33

yato yato niḥsarati manaḥ kāmahataṃ bhramat /
tatastata upāhṛtya hṛdi rundhyāc chanairbudhaḥ //

Wherever the wandering mind strays, struck by desire, / withdrawing it from there, the wise man should gently restrain it in the heart.

33. The wise man should slowly and gradually confine it to the heart by bringing the mind back from the several objects to which it has gone out, wandering under the force of passions.

7.15.34

evamabhyasyataścittaṃ kālenālpīyasā yateḥ /
aniśaṃ tasya nirvāṇaṃ yātyanindhanavahnivat //

As the renunciant practices thus, his mind in a very short time / continually attains extinction, like a fire without fuel.

34. And the mind of the ascetic, who is thus day and night

given to exercising this control, becomes in a short time peaceful (undisturbed by passions) like fire without fuel (to feed it).

7.15.35

kāmādibhiranāviddhaṃ praśāntākhilavṛtti yat /
cittaṃ brahmasukhaspṛṣṭaṃ naivottiṣṭheta karhicit //

When the mind, unstruck by desire and the rest, with all its fluctuations calmed, / is touched by the bliss of Brahman, it would never rise again.

35. Then the mind unassailed by desire and other passions and divested of all activity rises to the experience of blissful realisation of Brahman and would never again turn (towards the Samsara).

7.15.36

yaḥ pravrajya gṛhāt pūrvaṃ trivargāvapanāt punaḥ /
yadi seveta tān bhikṣuḥ sa vai vāntāśyapatrapaḥ //

If a mendicant who has previously renounced home, which is the field for the three aims of life, / should resort to them again, he is shameless, an eater of his own vomit.

36. He who, having first renounced the house, (householder's life) the field of Dharma, Artha, and Kama, again takes to their enjoyment is verily a shameless ascetic who swallows (may be compared to one that swallows) the food he had vomited.

7.15.37

yaiḥ svadehaḥ smṛto 'nātmā martyo viṭkṛmibhasmavat /
ta enamātmasāt kṛtvā ślāghayanti hyasattamāḥ //

Those who had considered their own body non-self, mortal, and like feces, worms, and ash, / yet adopt it as the self and praise it—they are the lowest of the wicked.

37. Most wicked-minded are those who at one time consider their body to be a lifeless and mortal thing equal unto the offal or worm or ashes, but again think of it as a living principle and as Atman and speak highly of it.

7.15.38

gṛhasthasya kriyātyāgo vratatyāgo vaṭorapi /
tapasvino grāmasevā bhikṣorindriyalolatā //

For a householder, abandonment of rituals; for a student, abandonment of his vow; / for an ascetic, living in a village; and for a mendicant, indulgence of the senses—

38. & 39. The omission of religious duties on the part of a Grihastha, the violation of his vow on the part of a Brahmacharin, residing in inhabited places of one engaged in Tapas and want of restraint of the senses on the part of an ascetic:— these are respectively the most vitiating circumstances affecting the four orders and these are the accursed instances belonging to these asramas and they are only aping the form. One should out of pity neglect them as beings deluded by the Almighty Lord's Maya.

7.15.39

āśramāpasadā hyete khalvāśramaviḍambanāḥ /
devamāyāvimūḍhāṃstān upekṣetānukampayā //

these are the dregs of the life-stages, veritable mockeries of the ashrams; / bewildered by the Lord's creative power, one should disregard them with compassion.

7.15.40

ātmānaṃ cedvijānīyāt paraṃ jñānadhutāśayaḥ /
kimicchan kasya vā hetordehaṃ puṣṇāti lampaṭaḥ //

If one has known the supreme self, with heart cleansed by knowledge, / desiring what, or for what reason, would a sensualist pamper the body?

40. Having shaken off all the trace of attachments lingering in his mind with the strength of wisdom, if any one should realise the Paramatman, for what purpose and reason should he then seek after pleasures and nourish the body?

7.15.41

āhuḥ śarīraṃ rathamindriyāṇi hayān abhīṣūn mana indriyeśam /
vartmāni mātrā dhiṣaṇāṃ ca sūtaṃ sattvaṃ bṛhadbandhuramīśasṛṣṭam //

They say the body is a chariot, the senses the horses, the mind, the master of the senses, the reins, / the sense-objects the roads, intellect the charioteer, and purity the great frame fashioned by the Lord.

41. The wise say that the body is a chariot, the senses are horses, and the mind, the ruling sense, is the reins, the objects are destinations, and the thinking faculty (Reason) is the charioteer and the *heart* (V. Strength) is the all-encompassing cordage instituted by the Lord.

7.15.42

akṣaṃ daśaprāṇamadharmadharmau cakre 'bhimānaṃ rathinaṃ ca jīvam /
dhanurhi tasya praṇavaṃ paṭhanti śaraṃ tu jīvaṃ parameva lakṣyam //

The axle is the ten vital airs, unrighteousness and righteousness the two wheels, ego the passenger, the soul; / the bow, they recite, is the praṇava, the soul is the arrow, and the Supreme alone is the target.

42. The ten vital breaths form the axle, Dharma and Adharma

its two wheels, the soul (V. the soul having attachment to the body as associated with Ahankara) is the owner (the Lord in it), the sacred syllable is the bow, the pure soul the shaft and Paramatman the aim.

7.15.43

rāgo dveṣaśca lobhaśca śokamohau bhayaṃ madaḥ /
māno 'vamāno 'sūyā ca māyā hiṃsā ca matsaraḥ //

Attachment, aversion, and greed; grief, delusion, fear, and pride; / vanity, insult, and malice; deceit, violence, and jealousy;

43. & 44. Attachment (love), hatred, covetousness (greed), grief, infatuation, fear, pride, haughtiness, disgrace, jealousy, defrauding tendency, harmfulness, envy and passion, ignorance, hunger, sleep:—these and the like are his enemies; generally creatures are constituted of Rajas and Tamas; and very rare are those that are constituted of pure Satva.

7.15.44

rajaḥ pramādaḥ kṣunnidrā śatravastvevamādayaḥ /
rajastamaḥprakṛtayaḥ sattvaprakṛtayaḥ kvacit //

passion, carelessness, hunger, and sleep—such are the enemies, / originating in passion and darkness, and sometimes originating in purity.

7.15.44.p1

yāvan nṛkāyarathamātmavaśopakalpaṃ $ dhatte gariṣṭhacaraṇārcanayā niśātam &

As long as one holds this chariot of the human body, equipped under one's control, sharpened by worshiping the feet of the most exalted,

45. While yet he rides in this chariot of human body with all its belongings (the senses and organs) under his control, he should worship the feet of the great and, thereby securing the sharp sword of wisdom and the strong support of Achyuta, and (with it) having destroyed the enemies and become contented with the bliss of self, get free from all things and attain tranquility and (thereafter) cast off this body.

7.15.45

jñānāsimacyutabalo dadhadastaśatruḥ % svānandatuṣṭa upaśānta idaṃ vijahyāt //

wielding the sword of knowledge empowered by Acyuta, with enemies destroyed, satisfied in one's own bliss, pacified, one should renounce this [chariot].

7.15.45.p2

nocet pramattamasadindriyavājisūtā $ nītvotpathaṃ viṣayadasyuṣu nikṣipanti &

Otherwise, the horses and charioteer—the evil senses—lead the heedless person astray and cast him among robbers, the sense-objects.

46. Otherwise the horses and the charioteer of wicked senses carry the careless man astray and betray him into the hands of the robbers of objects; and these thieves hurl him, his horse and charioteer down into the well of Samsara full of blinding darkness and beset with the great fear of death.

7.15.45.p3

nocet pramattamasadindriyavājisūtā $ nītvotpathaṃ viṣayadasyuṣu nikṣipanti &

Otherwise, the horses and charioteer—the evil senses—lead the heedless person astray and cast him among robbers, the sense-objects.

7.15.46

te dasyavaḥ sahayasūtamamuṃ tamo 'ndhe % saṃsārakūpa urumṛtyubhaye kṣipanti //

Those robbers fling him, along with his horses and charioteer, into the dark, blind well of the cycle of rebirth, full of great fear of death.

7.15.47

pravṛttaṃ ca nivṛttaṃ ca dvividhaṃ karma vaidikam /
āvartate pravṛttena nivṛttenāśnute 'mṛtam //

Vedic action is of two kinds: active engagement and renunciation; / by engagement one returns, and by renunciation one attains immortality.

47. The course of the Vedic Karma is two-fold as Pravritta and Nivritta; by the former he continues to be in Samsara and by the latter he attains to Immortality or Moksha.

7.15.48

hiṃsraṃ dravyamayaṃ kāmyamagnihotrādyaśāntidam /
darśaśca pūrṇamāsaśca cāturmāsyaṃ paśuḥ sutaḥ //

Injurious, material, motivated by desire, yielding no peace, are the Agnihotra and the like, / the new-moon and full-moon sacrifices, the Cāturmāsya, animal sacrifice, and Soma sacrifice.

48. The sacrificial Karma or Agnihotra and other acts, involves injury to life, wastage of substance, leading to some desired end, creating more attachment; for instance, Darsa, Purnamasa, Chaturmasya, Pasuyaga, and Somayoga (are such).

7.15.49

etadiṣṭaṃ pravṛttākhyaṃ hutaṃ prahutameva ca /
pūrtaṃ surālayārāma kūpājīvyādilakṣaṇam //

These are called iṣṭa, belonging to active engagement, as are offerings in fire and hospitality; / pūrta is characterized by temples, rest-gardens, wells, public amenities, and the like.

49. This sacrificial course called *Pravritta* consists of *Vaisva-*

*deva and Baliharana*; (if this is done with any hope of gratifying desires it does not bring peace to the mind); construction of tanks and lakes, temples, gardens, wells, water-sheds, planting trees and the like and is conveyed by the term (*Purtā*).

7.15.50

dravyasūkṣmavipākaśca dhūmo rātrirapakṣayaḥ /
ayanaṃ dakṣiṇaṃ somo darśa oṣadhivīrudhaḥ //

There is subtle digestion of matter, and smoke, night, the waning moon, / the southern solstice, the moon, the new-moon day, herbs and plants,

50. The subtle modification of substances thrown (into Agni) as offerings, the smoke, the night, the dark fortnight; Dakshinayana (the region of) Soma, Darsa, the plants and creepers;

7.15.51

annaṃ reta iti kṣmeśa pitṛyānaṃ punarbhavaḥ /
ekaikaśyenānupūrvaṃ bhūtvā bhūtveha jāyate //

food, and semen: this, O lord of the earth, is the path of the ancestors, rebirth; / passing through each of these in succession, one is born again and again in this world.

51. O king, the food and the seed, the path of the Pitris and again birth in the world;—having gone through one by one of these stages in the regular order he is born here again.

7.15.52

niṣekādiśmaśānāntaiḥ saṃskāraiḥ saṃskṛto dvijaḥ /
indriyeṣu kriyāyajñān jñānadīpeṣu juhvati //

Consecrated by the rites beginning with conception and ending at the cremation ground, the twice-born / sacrifice rites of action into the senses, which are lamps of knowledge.

52. Having undergone the sixteen purifying rites from nuptials to death, the (true) Brahmin offers all his active sacrifices (activities as sacrifices) into his (five) senses, the lights of wisdom (that bring the light of knowledge).

7.15.53

indriyāṇi manasyūrmau vāci vaikārikaṃ manaḥ /
vācaṃ varṇasamāmnāye tamoṃkāre svare nyaset /
oṃkāraṃ bindau nāde taṃ taṃ tu prāṇe mahatyamum //

One should merge the senses into the mind, their source of agitation; the transforming mind into speech; / speech into the alphabet; that into the sound 'Oṃ'; / the sound 'Oṃ' into the bindu, that into nāda, and that into the great vital breath.

52. D. By the expression 'activities as sacrifices' should be taken, the deities presiding over the gross sacrificial activities; so also "into his five senses." Here the active offering consists in contemplating each deity as being under the control of the higher one. 53. He offers these senses into the mind (full of various thoughts) and the mind produced out of Vaikarika Ahankara into Speech and Speech into the body of articulate sounds and that collection into the sacred syllable (consisting of three vowels) and that syllable into Bindu and that into Nada and Nada into Prana called Sutratman and that Prana into the perfect Brahman.

7.15.54

agniḥ sūryo divā prāhṇaḥ śuklo rākottaraṃ svarāṭ /
viśvo 'tha taijasaḥ prājñasturya ātmā samanvayāt //

Fire, the sun, day, the forenoon, the bright fortnight, the full moon, the northern solstice, the self-luminous; / the waking state, then the dreaming state, the deep sleep state, and the fourth state—the self, by cosmic coherence.

54. The path which has the stages watched by the deities presiding over Agni, Surya, (the time) Day Time, the latter part of the day, the bright fortnight, the full moon, Uttarayana, and Brahma and having thus passed on to Brahmaloka, Visva, Taijasa, Prajna, and the fourth Atman, all being gradually absorbed into one, the release is completed.

7.15.55

devayānamidaṃ prāhurbhūtvā bhūtvānupūrvaśaḥ /
ātmayājyupaśāntātmā hyātmastho na nivartate //

This they call the path of the gods; passing through each in succession, / the sacrificer of the self, peaceful in self and established in the self, does not return.

55. This is called the path of the gods: having reached the different stages in due order, the worshipper of Atman attains tranquility and, being firm in Atman, does not return to Samsara.

7.15.56

ya ete pitṛdevānāmayane vedanirmite /
śāstreṇa cakṣuṣā veda janastho 'pi na muhyati //

He who knows through the eye of scripture these two paths, of the ancestors and of the gods, fashioned by the Veda, / though situated in a human body, is never bewildered.

56. Even that man who distinctly knows of these two paths of Pitris and the gods made known by the Vedas, through the eye of

Sastra, does not become deluded though he is still in this body.

7.15.57

ādāvante janānāṃ sadbahirantaḥ parāvaram /
jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ vaco vācyaṃ tamo jyotistvayaṃ svayam //

In the beginning and in the end of beings, existing outside and inside, higher and lower, / knowledge, the object of knowledge, speech, the object of speech, darkness and light—He Himself is this.

57. For, whatever exists before the bodies were produced and after the bodies are destroyed, in and out of them, what is high and low, or darkness and light, knowledge and the known, or the word and the thing denoted by it—everything is Himself.

7.15.58

ābādhito 'pi hyābhāso yathā vastutayā smṛtaḥ /
durghaṭatvādaindriyakaṃ tadvadarthavikalpitam //

Just as an appearance, even though sublated, is remembered as real, / so the objects constructed by the senses [are thought real], because they are difficult to refute.

58. Just as a reflection is, though completely disproved, supposed to be something real, so is everything given as an object of the senses, or whatever is fancied as having an existence; for the reality of the dual existence is impossible.

7.15.59

kṣityādīnāmihārthānāṃ chāyā na katamāpi hi /
na saṅghāto vikāro 'pi na pṛthaṅ nānvito mṛṣā //

Of the objects here, such as earth, a shadow is none of these: / neither an aggregate, nor a transformation, nor separate, nor connected; it is unreal.

59. The shadow is nothing whatever of the earth and other things known as the five Bhutas; for it is neither their collection nor their modification nor any of them separately or conjointly and so everything is unreal at the bottom.

7.15.60

dhātavo 'vayavitvāc ca tanmātrāvayavairvinā /
na syurhyasatyavayavinyasannavayavo 'ntataḥ //

The elements, being composites, cannot exist without their subtle constituents; / and when the composite is unreal, the constituent is ultimately unreal as well.

60 The five Bhutas, the roots of all the gross bodies, being

7.15.61

syāt sādṛśyabhramastāvadvikalpe sati vastunaḥ /
jāgratsvāpau yathā svapne tathā vidhiniṣedhatā //

The illusion of similarity lasts only as long as there is mental differentiation of reality; / just as waking and sleeping exist within a dream, so do injunction and prohibition.

61. When there is no difference in the thing or it is only fancied under the force of Avidya, the mistake of identifying may arise through similarity between successive perceptions; but it is only of that duration, *i.e.*, it lasts till ignorance is broken up; the significance of the Sastra in the form of injunctions and prohibitions is like that of the distinction between wakefulness and sleep perceived in the course of a dream.

7.15.62

bhāvādvaitaṃ kriyādvaitaṃ dravyādvaitaṃ tathātmanaḥ /
vartayan svānubhūtyeha trīn svapnān dhunute muniḥ //

Practicing non-duality of being, non-duality of action, and non-duality of substance of the self / through direct self-realization here, the sage shakes off the three dream-states.

62. The contemplative sage, thinking over the Bhavadvaita,

Kriyadvaita and Dravyadvaita of Atman and by means of his realisation, shakes off the three dreams, *i.e.* the three states.

7.15.63

kāryakāraṇavastvaikya darśanaṃ paṭatantuvat /
avastutvādvikalpasya bhāvādvaitaṃ taducyate //

Perceiving the oneness of substance in cause and effect, as with cloth and thread, / because the conceptual division is unreal—that is called non-duality of being.

63. To think of and conclusively understand, the oneness of substances connected as causes and consquences, like the threads and the cloth, the difference not being real, is spoken of as Bhavadvaita.

7.15.64

yadbrahmaṇi pare sākṣāt sarvakarmasamarpaṇam /
manovāktanubhiḥ pārtha kriyādvaitaṃ taducyate //

The direct offering of all actions unto the Supreme Brahman / with mind, speech, and body, O son of Pṛthā—that is called non-duality of action.

64. The resigning of all activities in the form of thought, word and deed directly to the perfect Brahman is said to be Kriya-advaita, O son of Pritha's race.

7.15.65

ātmajāyāsutādīnāmanyeṣāṃ sarvadehinām /
yat svārthakāmayoraikyaṃ dravyādvaitaṃ taducyate //

For oneself, one's wife, children, and others—indeed for all embodied beings— / seeing the unity of self-interest and desires, that is called non-duality of substance.

65. To realise the oneness of Artha and Kama (substance and desire) in the case of his own self, his wife, children and others and also of all the embodied creatures is spoken of as Dravyadvaita.

7.15.66

yadyasya vāniṣiddhaṃ syādyena yatra yato nṛpa /
sa teneheta kāryāṇi naro nānyairanāpadi //

Whatever is not forbidden for a person, by whatever means, wherever, and from whatever source, O king, / a man should perform his duties with that, and not with other means, except in distress.

66. Whatever is not prohibited for any one and what must be done in some particular manner, at a particular place or time, he should proceed to do in the same way, but not differently except under insuperable danger and difficulty.

7.15.67

etairanyaiśca vedoktairvartamānaḥ svakarmabhiḥ /
gṛhe 'pyasya gatiṃ yāyādrājaṃstadbhaktibhāṅ naraḥ //

Abiding by these and other duties prescribed in the Vedas, / even while living at home, a man devoted to Him attains His supreme state, O king.

66. D. When not in insuperable difficulty, a person should try to do acts of worship with the substance which he is permitted to use having obtained it from the person from whom he may accept it and at the place and time as may be declared proper in the Shastras. 67. If a man discharges these and other duties laid down for him by the Vedas and is full of devotion to the Lord, he would attain His grace (heaven), even if he be a householder.

7.15.68

yathā hi yūyaṃ nṛpadeva dustyajād āpadgaṇāduttaratātmanaḥ prabhoḥ /
yatpādapaṅkeruhasevayā bhavān ahāraṣīn nirjitadiggajaḥ kratūn //

Just as you, O lord of men, crossed over an insurmountable host of calamities through your Master, / by whose lotus feet you, having conquered the elephants of the quarters, performed sacrifices.

68. O great king, may you (all) also completely get over the series of insurmountable difficulties through the grace of the most powerful Lord Krishna, by worshipping His lotus like-feet, even as you have conquered the powerful kings in all directions and successfully performed sacrifices.

7.15.69

ahaṃ purābhavaṃ kaścidgandharva upabarhaṇaḥ /
nāmnātīte mahākalpe gandharvāṇāṃ susammataḥ //

In a past great cycle of time, I was a certain Gandharva / named Upabarhaṇa, highly honored among the Gandharvas.

69. In the past Mahakalpa I was a Gandharva, Upabarhana by name, highly esteemed among the Gandharvas.

7.15.70

rūpapeśalamādhurya saugandhyapriyadarśanaḥ /
strīṇāṃ priyatamo nityaṃ mattaḥ svapuralampaṭaḥ //

Handsome, graceful, sweet, fragrant, and pleasing to look upon, / I was constantly beloved of women, intoxicated, and wanton in my own city.

70. Being most pleasing to the eye by my shape and fine form, gracefulness, sweetness of behaviour and perfumes, I was most beloved of women and was ever careless of self, deeply given to the gratification of the senses.

7.15.71

ekadā devasatre tu gandharvāpsarasāṃ gaṇāḥ /
upahūtā viśvasṛgbhirharigāthopagāyane //

Once, during a sacrifice of the gods, troops of Gandharvas and Apsarases / were summoned by the creators of the universe to sing the praises of Hari.

71. Once, in a sacrifice of the gods, parties of Gandharvas and Apsaras women were invited by Prajapatis for the purpose of singing the stories of Hari (D. and they sang there).

7.15.72

ahaṃ ca gāyaṃstadvidvān strībhiḥ parivṛto gataḥ /
jñātvā viśvasṛjastan me helanaṃ śepurojasā /
yāhi tvaṃ śūdratāmāśu naṣṭaśrīḥ kṛtahelanaḥ //

And I, knowing that, went singing surrounded by women. / Knowing this, the creators of the universe by their power cursed me for my disrespect: / 'Go quickly into the state of a śūdra, your splendor ruined, you disrespectful one!'

72. Informed of the invitation I also went singing in the company of women; the Prajapatis perceiving this ridiculous behaviour of mine, severely cursed me, "Do thou soon become a Sudra, having lost all thy splendour for thy contemptible behaviour".

7.15.73

tāvaddāsyāmahaṃ jajñe tatrāpi brahmavādinām /
śuśrūṣayānuṣaṅgeṇa prāpto 'haṃ brahmaputratām //

Then I was born from a maidservant; even there, through service to those who speak of Brahman / and through association with them, I attained the state of being a son of Brahmā.

73. First I was born of a servant-woman; even in that life by virtue of doing service to Brahmins versed in the Vedas, who also realised Brahman; and by association with them I became the son of Brahma.

7.15.74

dharmaste gṛhamedhīyo varṇitaḥ pāpanāśanaḥ /
gṛhastho yena padavīmañjasā nyāsināmiyāt //

The dharma of the householder has been described to you, destroying sin, / by which a householder may easily attain the station of renunciants.

74. The course of righteousness relating to the house-holder and capable of removing sin has been described to thee; by following that course a Grihasta too may surely attain to the place assigned to ascetics.

7.15.75

yūyaṃ nṛloke bata bhūribhāgā lokaṃ punānā munayo 'bhiyanti /
yeṣāṃ gṛhān āvasatīti sākṣād gūḍhaṃ paraṃ brahma manuṣyaliṅgam //

Ah, how exceedingly fortunate you are in the world of men! Sages who purify the world approach you, / in whose house the supreme Brahman directly dwells in secret, having human form!

75. In the human world you are indeed highly blessed, for, to your house sages, who purify the world, resort for the reason that Parabrahman concealed under a human form dwells there (in your house).

7.15.76

sa vā ayaṃ brahma mahadvimṛgya kaivalyanirvāṇasukhānubhūtiḥ /
priyaḥ suhṛdvaḥ khalu mātuleya ātmārhaṇīyo vidhikṛdguruśca //

He is indeed that Brahman sought by the great, the experience of the bliss of absolute liberation and extinguishing [of sorrow], / your beloved friend, indeed your maternal cousin, your self, the worthy recipient of worship, the order-giver, and your guru.

76. This Krishna is the Perfect Brahman hard to find, ever in realisation of pure bodiless (unlimited) blissfulness, your beloved friend and uncle's son, your soul, most worshipped of you, your Law-giver and Preceptor.

7.15.77

na yasya sākṣādbhavapadmajādibhī rūpaṃ dhiyā vastutayopavarṇitam /
maunena bhaktyopaśamena pūjitaḥ prasīdatāmeṣa sa sātvatāṃ patiḥ //

Whose form has not been directly described in its real essence even by Śiva, Brahmā, and the rest with their intellect; / worshipped with silence, devotion, and tranquility, may he, that protector of the Sātvatas, be pleased!

77. May this Lord of Satvatas be gracious unto you, unto us all, whose essential form is not fully described (comprehended) even with their mental faculties by Siva, Brahma and others, and who is best worshipped in silence, devotion and tranquillity!

7.15.78

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
iti devarṣiṇā proktaṃ niśamya bharatarṣabhaḥ /
pūjayāmāsa suprītaḥ kṛṣṇaṃ ca premavihvalaḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / Hearing what was spoken by the divine sage, the bull of the Bharatas, / greatly delighted and overwhelmed with love, worshipped Kṛṣṇa.

78. Sri Suka said:— On hearing what the divine sage thus expounded, the foremost one of Bharatas was highly rejoiced and, overcome with love, worshipped Sri Krishna as well as (the sage).

7.15.79

kṛṣṇapārthāvupāmantrya pūjitaḥ prayayau muniḥ /
śrutvā kṛṣṇaṃ paraṃ brahma pārthaḥ paramavismitaḥ //

Taking leave of Kṛṣṇa and Pārtha, worshipped [by them], the sage departed. / Hearing that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme Brahman, Pārtha was filled with the greatest wonder.

79. Having taken leave of Krishna and Yudhishtira and honoured by them, the sage took his departure and the king was highly astounded to hear that Sri Krishna was the Perfect Brahman.

7.15.80

iti dākṣāyiṇīnāṃ te pṛthag vaṃśā prakīrtitāḥ /
devāsuramanuṣyādyā lokā yatra carācarāḥ //

Thus the distinct lineages of the daughters of Dakṣa have been proclaimed to you, / in which the moving and unmoving worlds consisting of gods, asuras, humans, and others exist.

80. Thus the lines (races) of Daksha's daughters have been severally described to thee, wherein all the moving and stationary creatures, the gods, Asuras, men and others have had their origin.