Bhagavatapurana 11.8
English (machine translation) 11.8
- Language
- English
Contents
11.8.1
The Brāhmaṇa said:
Sensory pleasure, O King, in heaven and even in hell, / comes to embodied beings just as sorrow does; therefore the wise man should not crave it.
11.8.2
Whether the morsel be delicious or tasteless, plentiful or very little, / the inactive python should swallow whatever has arrived by mere chance.
11.8.3
He should lie motionless for many days, taking no food and making no effort,
if no mouthful arrives, accepting his fate like a great python.
11.8.4
Maintaining a body endowed with vigor, endurance, and strength, yet engaging in no action,
lying awake and with all senses intact, he should make no exertion.
11.8.5
A sage should be tranquil and profound, inscrutable, insurmountable,
boundless, and unshakeable, like the calm waters of the ocean.
11.8.6
Whether his desires are fulfilled or frustrated, the sage devoted to Nārāyaṇa
does not swell, nor does he dry up, just as the ocean [remains unchanged] by the rivers.
11.8.7
Seeing a woman, the creative power of God, he who has not conquered his senses,
enticed by her alluring gestures, falls into blind darkness, as a moth into fire.
11.8.8
A fool, seduced by women, gold, ornaments, clothing, and other objects
fashioned by creative power, his mind enticed by thoughts of enjoyment, perishes with ruined vision, like a moth.
11.8.9
He should swallow food in tiny morsels, only as much as sustains the body;
without harming households, a sage should adopt the bee-like lifestyle.
11.8.10
From small and large scriptures alike, a skilled person
should extract the essence from everywhere, like a bee from flowers.
11.8.11
He should not hoard alms for the evening or for the next day;
having only his hands for a vessel and his belly for a measure, he should not collect [stores] like a honeybee.
11.8.12
An ascetic should not store up food for the evening or for the morrow;
if he hoards like a honeybee, he perishes along with his hoard.
11.8.13
An ascetic should not touch a young woman even with his foot, nor even a wooden image [of one];
touching her, he would be bound like a male elephant through bodily contact with a female elephant.
11.8.14
A wise person should never approach a woman, who is death to him;
he would be killed by others stronger than himself, as an elephant is by other [rival] elephants.
11.8.15
Whatever has been gathered with hardship by greedy men, neither given away nor enjoyed,
even that is enjoyed by someone else, as a honey-gatherer takes the honey.
11.8.16
Householders desire worldly blessings through wealth acquired with great sorrow;
the ascetic enjoys the foremost part of it, like a honey-gatherer [taking honey].
11.8.17
A forest-dwelling ascetic should never listen to vulgar songs;
he should learn from the deer that is captured by a hunter, charmed by music.
11.8.18
Enjoying the vulgar dances, instruments, and songs of women,
the sage Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, the son of a doe, became their plaything and subject to their will.
11.8.19
Deluded by taste through the violently agitating tongue,
a person of foolish intellect meets death, just as a fish does by the hook.
11.8.20
Wise people swiftly conquer the senses by fasting from food,
except for the tongue; indeed, the [desire of the] tongue increases for one who fasts.
11.8.21
A person who has conquered the other senses cannot be considered master of the senses
until he conquers the tongue; when taste is conquered, everything is conquered.
11.8.22
Formerly, in the city of Videha, there was a prostitute named Piṅgalā;
learn from me, O prince, what was learned from her.
11.8.23
Once, that self-willed woman, intending to bring a lover to a rendezvous,
stood at the outer door at the appointed hour, displaying an exquisite form.
11.8.24
Seeing men coming along the street, O best of men,
she, longing for money, regarded them as lovers capable of paying the fee and having wealth.
11.8.25
As they came and went, she, whose livelihood depended on such encounters, thought:
'Perhaps some other wealthy man, giving lavishly, will come to me.'
11.8.26
Thus, deprived of sleep by false hope, lingering at the door,
going out and coming in, midnight arrived.
11.8.27
In her, with a drying mouth and wretched mind through hope of wealth,
there arose supreme detachment, born of anxiety, which brings happiness.
11.8.28
Listen to her song, as [it became] mine, when her mind was filled with detachment;
for detachment is indeed a sword to sever the fetters of desire for a person.
11.8.29
One in whom detachment has not arisen, my dear, does not wish to abandon the bondage of the body,
just as a person devoid of wisdom does not abandon possessiveness, O king.
11.8.30
Piṅgalā said:
Alas, look at the extent of my delusion, I whose self is uncontrolled,
such that, foolish as I am, I desire lustful pleasure from an unworthy paramour!
11.8.31
Leaving this eternal lover who is near at hand, who grants bliss and gives wealth,
ignorant me, I court a petty man who cannot grant true desires and brings grief, fear, mental anguish, sorrow, and delusion!
11.8.32
Alas, in vain have I tormented my soul with the trade of assignation, a most contemptible occupation,
wishing for wealth and pleasure by selling myself to a lustful, pitiable man who thirsts for money!
11.8.32.p1
This dwelling constructed with bones for rafters and beams,
covered with skin, hair, and nails,
11.8.33
leaking through nine gates, filled with feces and urine—
what other woman would embrace it besides me?
11.8.33.p1
[…]
11.8.34
Indeed, in this city of the Videhas, I alone am dull-witted,
for I desire pleasure from someone else, untrue, rather than from Acyuta who gives Himself!
11.8.35
He is the friend, dearest one, lord, and very self of all embodied beings;
having offered myself to Him, I shall delight in Him, just as Ramā does.
11.8.36
How much pleasure could those desires give, or those men who grant desires,
who have a beginning and an end, or even the gods, who are swept away by Time?
11.8.37
Surely the Lord Viṣṇu is pleased with me on account of some past deed,
since this detachment, which brings happiness, has arisen in me, dispelling wicked hope.
11.8.38
Such afflictions, which lead to detachment,
by which a man severs his attachment and attains peace, would not occur to an unfortunate woman.
11.8.39
Accepting His favor with bowed head, and renouncing the vain hopes
associated with vulgar worldly attachments, I take refuge in that supreme Lord.
11.8.40
Content and full of faith in this, living on whatever is obtained by chance,
I shall sport only with Him, my Self and lover.
11.8.41
When the soul has fallen into the well of the cycle of rebirth, blinded by sense objects,
and seized by the serpent of Time, who else is capable of protecting it?
11.8.42
The self alone is indeed the protector of the self, when it becomes detached from everything,
and, vigilant, sees this universe swallowed by the serpent of Time.
11.8.43
The brāhmaṇa said:
Having thus resolved her mind, cutting through the false hope born of longing for a lover,
and resting in serenity, she sat down upon her bed.
11.8.44
Hope is indeed the greatest misery, and freedom from hope is the greatest joy;
just as Piṅgalā, having severed hope for a lover, slept happily.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit