Mudgalapurana 2.16: ṛṣabhacaritravarṇanaṃ nāma ṣoḍaśo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Mudgala said: / Agnīdhra was the son of Priyavrata, and Nābhi was his son; / and from his sacrifice an excellent son was born.

Viṣṇu himself, having the nature of sacrifice, bearing a body by a portion of himself, / assumed the status of a son and stayed in his house.

One hundred sons were born to him, with Bharata as the eldest, O Prajāpati; / and eighty-one sons became brāhmaṇas through austerity.

Nine others became yogins, agreed upon everywhere [as masters], / illustrious Gāṇapatyas, free from all bodily attachments:

Kavi, Hari, Antarikṣa, Prabuddha, Pippalāyana, / Āvirhotra, then Drumila, Camasa, and Karabhājana;

ever maintaining yoga, foremost, their semen drawn upward, / going everywhere, respected by all, they wander through the worlds.

And nine of them were kings there in Jambudvīpa, O Prajāpati; / among those divisions, Bharata, the eldest son, was chief.

He stood in the position of emperor over his nine brothers. / Having thus divided his kingdom, Ṛṣabha went to the forest.

Having performed various austerities there, he gradually became / an avadhūta, illustrious, practicing yoga, knower of yoga.

Purifying various levels [of awareness] through various forms of yoga, / [he appeared as] dull, mad, or a ghost, and then became established in the innate [state].

The innate, Śiva-nature Brahman, free from delusion, the fourth [state], / self-dependent, of the nature of 'not [this]', unmanifest—that was resorted to by him.

Thereby he became a follower of Śambhu, revealing the path of Śiva. / (

[Section 2, Chapter 16, Page 36] The yogin wandered here and there, teaching Śiva to people.

Then, through yoga, seeing right there a fault in a 'self-dependent' Brahman, / he cast off peace and was filled with astonishment:

'In Brahman there is never other-dependence or self-dependence; / this Śiva is of the nature of self-dependence; therefore he cannot be the lord of yogins.'

Reflecting thus, out of mental agitation he came to the abode of Śaṅkara. / Having bowed to him, the yogin stood, highly honored by Śiva.

Illustrious yogins, disciples of Śiva and Gāṇapatyas, / were staying there; seeing them, he became astonished in his mind.

Then, having obtained an opportunity and bowed to Śiva with hands folded in reverence, / that lord of yogins spoke to him with a heart endowed with devotion.

Ṛṣabha said: / Homage to you, Śaṅkara! Homage to you whose form is yoga! / Homage to you, support of the universe! Homage to the lord of Brahman!

Teach the yoga of peace, O Lord, which bestows complete peace. / I am your servant, now your disciple; [reveal it] to me, O God, ocean of compassion!

Through discernment no Brahman beyond the innate was known by me; / but self-dependence was seen therein, and through that my peace was lost.

Mudgala said: / Hearing the words of Ṛṣabha, Śaṅkara, filled with joy, / spoke words of the complete Pāśupata to that great devotee.

Śiva said: / What was asked by you, O great yogin, is the delivering doctrine of yogins; / I shall declare it with great love; listen with an attentive mind.

Directly consisting of the yoga of peace, told of old in the Vedas, / is Gaṇeśa, named 'Yoga-form', ever served by yogins.

From him all has arisen, supported by him it remains; / and in the end, O lord, this assumes his form through yoga.

Declared in the Sāmaveda—hear the secret of the Veda, / by which you will be endowed with peace, there is no doubt.

All that is composed of mind and speech, having the nature of visible and invisible, / consists of the syllable 'ga', and Brahman there is the syllable 'ga'.

And that which is devoid of mind and speech, resting in union and non-union, / consists of the syllable 'ṇa', and the syllable 'ṇa' is established there.

Diverse [manifestations] are born from the syllable 'ga', O noble-minded one; / those Brahmans are described by yogins as having the nature of principles.

And the Brahmans born from the syllable 'ṇa' / are described everywhere by yogins as having the nature of restraint.

Both the syllable 'ga' and the syllable 'ṇa' are situated in the name of Gaṇapati; / therefore know them, O yogin, from the mouth of the Śruti as having the form of Brahman.

The master of both is Gaṇeśa, situated in the form of yoga; / worship him according to rule, by the path of peace, my son.

All that is composed of mind and speech is conceived as the form of Gaṇeśa; / and that which is devoid of mind and speech, meditate upon as his form.

All that is composed of mind and speech is declared to be the form of māyā; / that which is devoid of mind and speech is considered just the same.

He is remembered as the illuminator of the five states of consciousness; / therefore he, the leader of the gaṇas, has come to be named Cintāmaṇi.

Worship him, O great yogin, established in the form of yoga; / through the path of renouncing the states of consciousness, you will attain peace of mind.

Gaṇeśa is indeed this Gaṇeśa, free from union and non-union; / delusion arose through māyā; abandoning it, you will attain happiness.

Having spoken thus, Śiva, who bestows auspiciousness on the virtuous, fell silent.
(

Section 2, Chapter 16, page 37) Ṛṣabha too, with a tranquil mind, bowed to him and went to the forest.

Practicing the supreme yoga thus taught by Śaṅkara,
that former yogin gradually came to embody peace.

Even so, O Dakṣa, the sage did not leave the lord of Gaṇas for an instant;
therefore, Gaṇeśa came into his presence.

Seeing Gaṇapa arrived, bound by the bond of devotion,
he prostrated with all eight limbs, speaking with a voice faltering with joy.

His body bristling with horripilation and his eyes filled with tears, the illustrious one,
with folded hands and a joyful heart, praised that Gaṇādhīśa.

Ṛṣabha said:
Salutations to you whose nature is Brahman, O Gaṇeśa, ocean of compassion!
Salutations to the Lord of the gaṇas, free from difference, non-difference, and the like!

To you who are formless, eternal, whose form is the shape of the universe,
Endless, the supreme Lord, higher than the highest;

To you who are devoid of beginning, middle, and end, who have the forms of the guṇas, salutations!
To the Lord of the guṇas, the creator of the universe, the preserver, and the destroyer;

Salutations to you who assume many incarnations for the sake of protecting devotees,
Whose essence is the gods and asuras, and who are well-worshiped by gods and asuras!

To you who are yoga, the giver of yoga, and whose form is yoga, salutations!
Salutations to you, the Lord of yogas, the Lord of the Brahmans!

O Gaṇādhyakṣa, the origin of all, to Ḍhuṇḍhi, worshipful to all,
To Vighneśa, who remains at the end of all, salutations, salutations!

To Heramba, dwelling in his own bliss, served by the siddhas;
To you, the Lord of Siddhi and Buddhi, who perform various divine sports;

To the giver of dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa, salutations, salutations!
To the one who causes absorption into Brahman, whose nature is Brahman realized;

How can I praise you, O Gaṇādhīśa, whose nature is yoga and peace, O Lord,
Whom even the Vedas and the foremost [gods] headed by Śiva are not able to praise?

Even so, according to the knowledge of my intellect, you have been praised by me.
Grant me devotion unto you, firm and unswerving!

Mudgala said:
Having spoken thus, the highly renowned one fell to the earth, grasping the foot
Of Gaṇeśa, and by him he was raised up respectfully.

That lord of the gaṇas spoke to Ṛṣabha, the excellent devotee,
The disciple of Śiva, possessing the wisdom of Śiva, visibly eternal Viṣṇu:

Gaṇeśa said:
O sinless one, devotion to me will become exceedingly unwavering [in you].
Indeed, this hymn of praise composed by you to me will bestow peace.

Whatever one desires, that very thing I shall certainly grant from reciting this hymn of praise,
And from hearing it, there is no doubt here; such is my opinion, full of love.

Having spoken thus, the god Gaṇeśa, beloved of the gaṇas, vanished;
And Ṛṣabha, ever peaceful, a yogin, attained oneness with Gaṇeśa.

Whatever best of men hears this principal story
Of Ṛṣabha, which is of great merit, or recites it, it grants everything to him.

It will bestow the state of Brahman, there is no doubt;
It brings peace to those of peaceful minds; it has been told full of devotion.

Oṃ tat sat. Thus, in the glorious, final Purāṇopaniṣad, the glorious Mahāpurāṇa of Mudgala, in the second section on the deeds of Ekadanta, the sixteenth chapter, entitled ‘The Description of the Deeds of Ṛṣabha.’

Section 2, Chapter 17, Page 38)