Bhagavatapurana 2.8

English (machine translation) 2.8

Language: English

2.8.1

The King said: / Commanded by Brahmā, O sage, to recount the qualities of Him who is beyond qualities, / to whom and in what manner did Nārada of divine vision speak?

2.8.2

This I wish to know in truth, O best among knowers of truth: / the narrations of Hari of wondrous valor, which bring supreme auspiciousness to the world.

2.8.3

Relate them, O fortunate one, so that I, fixing my unattached / mind on Kṛṣṇa, the Self of all, may cast off this body.

2.8.4

For one who listens with constant faith and sings of His deeds, / within no great length of time, the Lord enters into the heart.

2.8.5

Entered through the cavity of the ear into the lotus of devotional emotion of His devotees, / Kṛṣṇa washes away impurity, just as autumn clears the water.

2.8.6

A person whose self is purified does not abandon Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, / having been freed from all afflictions, just as a traveler does not leave his home.

2.8.7

How the arising of his body made of physical elements occurs, though he has no elements, O sage, / whether by chance or through a cause, as your revered self knows.

The lotus from whose navel sprang, marked by the configuration of the worlds, / however great this person is with distinct parts of such extent, / so great is He said to be, as if possessing parts like an embodied form.

2.8.9

By whose grace the unborn [Brahmā], the soul of created beings, created all beings, / and by whom that form was seen, he who arose from the navel lotus.

2.8.10

And in whom that Person, who is the origin, preservation, and dissolution of the universe, / laying aside His own creative power, lies as the master of creative power, abiding in the cave of all hearts.

2.8.11

The worlds along with their guardians were formerly conceived as limbs of the Person; / and the limbs of that [Person] were conceived by the worlds along with their guardians—thus we have heard.

2.8.12

How great is an aeon or its subsidiary cycle, and how time is inferred; / what is signified by the terms 'past', 'future', and 'present', and what is the lifespan of an existing being;

2.8.13

What course of time is perceived, both minute and vast; / and how many and of what nature are the destinations of action, O best among the twice-born;

2.8.14

In what the accumulation of karma occurs, and how and by whom it is received / for the gunas and their possessors who desire transformation;

2.8.15

The origin of the earth, the lower realms, the directions, the sky, / the planets, constellations, mountains, rivers, oceans, and islands, and of their inhabitants;

2.8.16

The extent of the cosmic egg, both externally and internally; / the life and conduct of exalted devotees, and the determination of the classes and life-stages;

2.8.17

The ages and the duration of each age, and the dharma of each age; / and the exploits of the incarnations of Hari, which are most wonderful;

2.8.18

The common dharma of men and the specific duties, / and the dharma of guilds, of royal sages, and of people living in distress;

2.8.19

The enumeration of principles, their characteristics, and their causal factors; / the method of worshipping the Person, and of the spiritual yoga;

2.8.20

The attainment of mystical powers by the lords of yoga, and the dissolution of the subtle body for yogins; / the duties of the Vedas, secondary Vedas, Itihāsas, and Purāṇas;

2.8.21

The inundation of all beings, their projection, and their dissolution; / the rules regarding sacrificial rites, charitable works, desired pursuits, and the threefold aim of life;

2.8.22

And the creation of souls burdened with latent impressions, the emergence of heresy, / the bondage and liberation of the self, and its abiding in its essential nature;

2.8.23

How the self-reliant Lord sports through His own creative power, / or how, having cast off creative power, the all-pervading One sits indifferent like a witness.

2.8.24

All this, O venerable one, as I inquire in sequence, / you ought to declare according to the truth to me who have surrendered to you, O great sage.

2.8.25

For here your reverence is the authority, just as the self-born Parameṣṭhin; / and others follow what has been established by the ancients through their forebears.

2.8.26

These life-breaths of mine do not depart from me due to fasting, O sage, / as I drink the nectar of Acyuta emerging from the ocean of your speech.

2.8.27

Sūta said: / Thus questioned in the assembly by King Viṣṇurāta concerning the narration / of the Lord of the virtuous, Brahmarāta was exceedingly pleased.

2.8.28

He proclaimed the Purāṇa called the Bhāgavata, equal to the Veda, / which had been spoken by the Lord to Brahmā when the Brahmakalpa arrived.

2.8.29

Whatever the bull of the Pāṇḍus, Parīkṣit, inquired about, / he began to recount all that in proper sequence.

Translations (1)

The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English

Linked texts (1)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit