Bhagavatapurana 11.14
English (machine translation) 11.14
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Contents
11.14.1
Śrī Uddhava said: / The teachers of Brahman, O Kṛṣṇa, declare many means to the highest good; / is there an option among them in pre-eminence, or is one paramount?
11.14.2
You have declared, O Master, the yoga of devotion, free from desire, / by which casting off attachment everywhere, the mind enters into you.
11.14.3
The Lord said: / Lost through time at the cosmic dissolution, this speech called the Veda / was spoken by me in the beginning to Brahmā, in which is found dharma consisting of myself.
11.14.4
It was spoken by him to his first-born son, Manu; / from him, Bhṛgu and the other seven great seers of Brahman received it.
11.14.5
From those fathers their sons received it: the gods, Dānavas, Guhyakas, / humans, Siddhas, Gandharvas, along with Vidyādharas and Cāraṇas,
11.14.6
Kindevas, Kinnaras, Nāgas, Rākṣasas, Kimpuruṣas, and others; / diverse are their natures, born of passion, purity, and darkness.
11.14.7
By these [dispositions], living beings and likewise the lords of living beings are differentiated; / for according to their nature, varied teachings indeed flow from them all.
11.14.8
Thus, due to the diversity of natures, the opinions of men differ / through tradition for some, while others hold heretical views.
11.14.9
Their minds bewildered by my creative power, O bull among men, / mortals declare various things to be the highest good according to their past karma and personal inclination.
11.14.10
Some speak of dharma, others of renown, of desire, truthfulness, self-control, and inner peace; / others proclaim self-interest, sovereignty, sacrifice and enjoyment, / while some declare Vedic sacrifice, austerity, gift-giving, vows, and the rules of restraint and observance.
11.14.11
The realms fashioned by their karma have both beginning and end; / resulting in sorrow and grounded in ignorance, they are trivial, fleeting, and full of grief.
11.14.12
For him whose self is offered unto me, O noble one, and who is free from longing in all respects, / what joy comes from me through the self—how could that ever belong to those whose minds are set on sensory objects?
11.14.13
For the man of no possessions, self-controlled, peaceful, impartial in mind, / whose heart is satisfied with me, all quarters are full of bliss.
11.14.13.p1
Neither the station of Brahmā, nor the abode of great Indra, nor universal sovereignty, nor dominion over the subterranean realms,
11.14.14
nor yogic perfections, nor even non-rebirth does he desire whose self is dedicated to me, wanting nothing apart from me.
11.14.14.p1
[…]
11.14.15
Neither Brahmā born of the self is so dear to me, nor Śaṅkara, / nor Saṅkarṣaṇa, nor Śrī, nor even my very self, as you are.
11.14.16
Free from desires, a silent sage, peaceful, devoid of enmity, seeing all equally, / I constantly follow behind him, thinking: 'May I be purified by the dust of his feet.'
11.14.17
Possessing nothing, their thoughts attached to me, peaceful, exalted devotees, affectionate toward all creatures, / their minds untouched by desires—they enjoy that joy of mine which is desirelessness, unknown to others.
11.14.18
Even if troubled by sensory objects, my devotee who has not yet mastered his senses / is generally not overcome by them, protected by his fervent devotion.
11.14.19
Just as a fire with blazing flames burns firewood to ashes, / so, O Uddhava, devotion directed toward me burns sins entirely away.
11.14.20
Neither yoga, nor Sāṅkhya, nor dharma, O Uddhava, wins me over, / nor the study of scripture, austerity, or renunciation, as does powerful devotion unto me.
11.14.21
I, the self dear to the virtuous, am to be attained by singular devotion accompanied by faith; / devotion directed to me purifies even dog-eaters from the taint of their birth.
11.14.22
Dharma endowed with truth and compassion, or sacred learning accompanied by austerity, / does not completely purify the self that is devoid of devotion unto me.
11.14.23
Without the hair standing on end, without the heart melting, / without tears of bliss, without devotion, how can the mind be cleansed?
11.14.24
He whose speech is faltering, whose heart melts, who weeps repeatedly and sometimes laughs, / who shamelessly sings loudly and dances, joined with devotion unto me—he purifies the world.
11.14.25
Just as gold smelted by fire sheds its dross and recovers its original form, / so the self, shaking off the residue of past action through the yoga of devotion unto me, attains me.
11.14.26
To the extent that this self is cleansed by hearing and reciting sacred tales of me, / to that extent it sees the subtle truth, just as an eye treated with salving collyrium does.
11.14.27
The mind of one meditating on sensory objects becomes attached to those objects; / the mind of one constantly remembering me dissolves into me alone.
11.14.28
Therefore, abandoning meditation on the unreal like dreams and fantasies, / focus your mind upon me, infused with devotional emotion toward me.
11.14.29
Abandoning from afar association with women and those who associate with women, self-possessed, / seated in safety and seclusion, one should contemplate me without lethargy.
11.14.30
No such affliction and bondage would come to a man through attachment to anything else / as comes from association with women and from association with those who consort with them.
11.14.31
Śrī Uddhava said: / In what manner, of what nature, or of what essence / should one seeking liberation meditate on you, O lotus-eyed one? You ought to explain this meditation to me.
11.14.32
The Lord said: / Seated comfortably on an even seat with an erect body, / placing the hands in the lap, fixing the gaze on the tip of one's own nose,
11.14.33
one should cleanse the pathway of the vital breath through inhalation, retention, and exhalation, / and gradually practice this in the reverse order as well, having subdued the senses.
11.14.34
Having raised the unbroken syllable Om in the heart by the vital breath, like the chime of a bell or the thread of a lotus fiber, / one should then re-enter the resonant sound into it.
11.14.35
Thus one should practice the vital breath united with the praṇava, / ten times at each of the three junctures of the day; within a month, one will have conquered the breath.
11.14.36
Having meditated on the lotus of the heart within, its stalk pointing upward and face downward, / turned upright, fully blossomed, with eight petals and a pericarp,
11.14.37
one should place upon the pericarp the sun, moon, and fire, one after the other; / in the center of the fire one should remember this form of mine, auspicious for meditation:
11.14.38
symmetrical, utterly tranquil, with a gracious face and four long, beautiful arms, / with an exquisitely lovely neck, fine cheeks, and a pure smile,
11.14.39
with flashing shark-shaped earrings placed upon symmetrical ears, / clad in golden garments, dark as a raincloud, bearing the Śrīvatsa mark and the dwelling-place of Śrī,
11.14.40
adorned with conch, discus, mace, lotus, and a garland of wild flowers, / feet radiant with anklets, endowed with the brilliance of the Kaustubha gem,
11.14.41
complete with a glittering crown, bracelets, a waist-chain, and armlets, / charming in every limb, captivating, with a gracious countenance and gaze;
11.14.42
one should contemplate this very delicate form, placing the mind on all limbs. / Drawing back the senses from sense objects by the mind, / the wise person should direct that mind to me everywhere, with the intellect as charioteer.
11.14.43
Withdrawing that all-pervading mind, one should fix it on one place; / one should no longer think of other things, but contemplate only the smiling face.
11.14.44
Withdrawing the mind that has gained a foothold there, one should fix it in the space [of consciousness]; / then letting go even of that and resting in me, one should think of nothing at all.
11.14.45
With his intellect thus absorbed in samādhi, he sees me alone as the self within the self, / united with me, the Self of all, like light joined to light.
11.14.46
For the yogin who thus harnesses his mind through intense meditation, / the delusion of substance, knowledge, and action will swiftly pass into extinction.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Commentaries (1)
- Padaratnāvalī — Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit