Bhagavatapurana 3.29
English (machine translation) 3.29
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3.29.1
Devahūti said:
The characteristics of the Mahat and the rest, of nature and of the person,
by which their ultimate true nature is characterized—
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as it has been declared in the Sāṅkhya teachings, that which they declare to be the root—
tell me, O Lord, in detail the path of the yoga of devotion.
3.29.3
Tell me of the diverse transmigrations of the world of living beings, O Lord,
by which a person may become dispassionate toward everything;
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and of the true nature of time, which is the form of the Lord, and of you who are higher than the highest,
because of which, alas, people perform righteous deeds.
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For the world lacking sight through false self-conceit, long asleep in shelterless darkness,
and exhausted in rituals with a mind deeply absorbed, you have indeed appeared as the sun of yoga.
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Maitreya said:
Welcoming with joy this gentle speech of his mother, the great sage,
pleased and moved by compassion, spoke to her, O best of the Kurus.
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The Lord said:
The yoga of devotion is conceived in many forms through various paths, O noble lady;
the devotional disposition of human beings differs according to the path of their inherent qualities.
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He who, having in mind violence, hypocrisy, or malice,
wrathful and seeing difference, directs his devotional feeling toward me, is of the quality of darkness.
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He who, having in mind sense pleasures, fame, or sovereignty,
worships me in an image and the like, holding a view of difference, is of the quality of passion.
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He who, aiming at the destruction of karma or offering it to the Supreme,
worships, thinking 'it ought to be performed,' yet holding a view of difference, is of the quality of purity.
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Merely by hearing of my divine qualities, the movement of the mind
toward me, who dwell in the secret chamber of all, becomes uninterrupted like the water of the Gaṅgā toward the ocean.
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This is described as the characteristic of the yoga of devotion beyond the qualities:
that devotion toward the Supreme Person which is motiveless and uninterrupted.
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Residence in my realm, equal powers, proximity,
similarity of form, or even oneness—even when offered, people do not accept without service to me.
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That alone is declared to be the ultimate yoga of devotion,
by which, having transcended the three qualities, one attains to my nature.
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Through one's own exalted dharma constantly practiced without selfish motive,
through praiseworthy action-yoga that is not excessively violent,
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through seeing, touching, worshipping, praising, and bowing before my abode [and image],
through the contemplation of me in all beings, through purity, and through non-attachment,
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through high respect for exalted devotees, through compassion for the wretched,
through friendship toward one's equals, through self-restraint and observances,
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through listening to spiritual teachings, through the chanting of my name,
through straightforwardness, through association with noble people, and likewise through egolessness,
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the heart of a person thoroughly purified by these qualities of my dharma
easily reaches me, whose qualities are heard simply by listening.
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Just as a fragrance carried on the chariot of the wind seizes the sense of smell from its source,
so does the mind engaged in yoga reach the self, which is changeless.
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I am always present in all beings as the self of beings;
disregarding him, a mortal makes a mere mockery of worship in an image.
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One who disregards Me, the Lord and Self dwelling in all beings, / and worships an image out of foolishness, merely pours oblations into ashes.
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One who hates Me in another's body, proud and seeing difference, / harboring enmity toward living beings, never attains peace of mind.
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Though worshipped in an image with diverse ritual offerings, O sinless woman, / I am not at all pleased with one who insults the multitude of beings.
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Performing one's own duty, one should worship Me, the Lord, in images and the like, / only so long as one does not recognize Me dwelling in one's own heart and in all beings.
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Whoever makes the slightest distinction between oneself and another— / to that person of divided vision I, as death, bring formidable fear.
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Therefore, one should honor Me, the Self of beings who have made their abode in all beings, / with charity and respect, with friendliness, and with an undividing eye.
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Living beings are superior to non-living things, O auspicious one, / and superior to them are those that breathe; superior to them are those possessing a mind, and superior still are those with active senses.
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Even among them, those who perceive taste are superior to those who only perceive touch; / superior to them are those who perceive smell, and better still are those who perceive sound.
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Superior to them are those who discern differences in form, and next those with teeth in both jaws; / among them the many-legged are superior, then the four-footed, and then the two-legged.
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Next are the four classes, and among them the brāhmaṇa is best; / even among brāhmaṇas, the knower of the Veda is superior, and higher still is the knower of its meaning.
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Better than the knower of the meaning is the resolver of doubts; better than him is the performer of his duty; / greater than him is the unattached person who does not milk his dharma [for personal gain].
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Superior to him is one whose actions, purpose, and self are wholly offered unto Me without interruption; / I see no being superior to that person who has offered his self to Me, whose actions are renounced in Me, / who is free from doership, because of his equal vision.
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One should bow mentally to these beings, showing them great respect, / thinking: 'The Lord, the Bhagavān, has entered them through a fraction of Himself as the living soul.'
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The yoga of devotion and the yoga [of meditation] have both been expounded by Me, O daughter of Manu, / by either one of which a person may attain the Supreme Person.
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This form of the Lord, of Brahman, of the Supreme Self, / is the supreme primal matter, the Person, divine destiny, and the movements of action.
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The divine source of different forms is designated as time, / from which arises fear for beings, beginning with the Mahat, who see difference.
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Entering inside all beings, He consumes beings through beings, the support of all; / named Viṣṇu, He is the presiding deity of sacrifice, time, the master of all who calculate [its passage].
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To Him no one is dear, none is hateful, and none is a relative; / watchful, this bringer of the end enters the unwatchful person.
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From fear of Him this wind blows, from fear of Him the sun gives heat, / from fear of Him the rain god pours down, and from fear of Him the host of stars shines.
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From fear of Him the trees of the forest, the creepers, along with medicinal herbs, / each in their own proper season, bear flowers and fruits.
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In fear rivers flow, and the ocean does not overflow its bounds; / fire blazes, and the earth with its mountains does not sink [into the waters] out of fear of Him.
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The sky provides space for living beings under His governance; / the Mahat expands this cosmos, His body, enveloped by the seven [elements].
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Out of fear of Him, the gods presiding over the qualities of nature remain engaged in creation and the rest age after age, / under whose control is all this moving and unmoving world.
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He is endless, the bringer of the end, time without beginning, the originator, imperishable, / generating creature through creature, and destroying even the god of death through death.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit