Mudgalapurana 2.3: nāradabhaktivarṇanaṃ nāma tṛtīyo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Dakṣa said: / How was that best of sages awakened by Nārāyaṇa? / Relate that to me, king of yogins; I cannot be sated with the nectar of your discourse.

Mudgala said: / (

Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 3, page 6) Once, O Dakṣa, wandering about, Nārada came to Śaṅkara; / there he saw him worshipping Gaṇeśa.

An image of Cintāmaṇi itself, installed and made of jewels, / possessing an elephant-trunk face, Śaṅkara worshipped.

Seeing him engaged in regular observance, the sage Nārada was astonished; / having bowed to him, he reverently went to Viṣṇu in Vaikuṇṭha.

Bowing to him, Nārada, full of great splendour and endowed with humility, / said, filled with devotion: 'O Nārāyaṇa, homage to you!

You are manifestly the lord of the worlds; dispel my doubt, O Lord. / Eager to see Śaṅkara, I went to Kailāsa.

There, having fashioned an image of Gaṇeśa, O Janārdana, / even he worshipped it with great devotion, his body bristling with horripilation.

Seeing Śaṅkara established in meditation, bathed in tears / and overflowing with love, I became silent, O Lord.

Having bowed to him, O Mahāviṣṇu, I have come to your presence; / and you too recite the mantra of the name of the king of the gaṇas.

Nothing is declared higher than Śaṅkara, the unmanifest Brahman; / and Śiva, devoid of modification, is held to be the bestower of all perfections.

You are his great power, O Lord, called Nārāyaṇa; / you are called the embodiment of eternal bliss and the Self of all.

Who is this called Gaṇeśvara? Why do you remember him, O Lord? / Why does Śambhu, the lord of the universe, worship him constantly?

You ought to sever this doubt of mine, O God, O Keśava. / You are omniscient, O lord of Ramā; instruct me, who have approached as a disciple.'

Mudgala said: / Hearing the words of Nārada, Keśava was delighted and spoke, / seeing him as a truly worthy vessel for sincere devotion to Gaṇeśa.

Nārāyaṇa said: / Listen to my words, O Nārada; do not doubt, O sage. / Gaṇeśa is the very embodiment of the peace of yoga; there is no doubt about this.

The lord of Siddhi and Buddhi resides directly in the city named Svānanda; / through the power of devotion to him, we indeed grant all perfections.

He alone is Vināyaka (leaderless), while we have a leader; / filled with devotion, we reverently worship him for the sake of the peace of yoga.

Once I went there, to Kailāsa, to the abode of Śaṅkara; / seeing Śiva worshipping Gaṇeśa, I was greatly astonished.

Seeing his daily rite completed, I said to him: / 'You are directly free from modification and devoid of delusion, O Sadāśiva.

That which is called the unmanifest Brahman, designated the lord of Brahman— / that very one is you according to the Vedas; why do you invoke the lord of obstacles?

Who is this called Gaṇeśvara? Tell me that, O Lord. / You are ever-omniscient Śambhu; save me, your disciple.'

Śiva said: / Listen, O Viṣṇu, to my secret, which grants peace through the practice of yoga, / which is full of yoga, named Gaṇeśa, and bestows the state of becoming Brahman.

The fivefold mental activity is called buddhi by the wise; / by its fivefold division, the supreme nature experiences all.

There, siddhi produces delusion, manifesting various errors; / for the sake of perfection, the fivefold mind engaged in effort.

The perfection of dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation is proclaimed everywhere; / (

Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 3, page 7) know it as directly effecting the state of becoming Brahman, O highest of men.

For one who has become Brahman in Brahman, what error can be spoken of? / Or what of dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation for one who has become Brahman, O pervasive Lord?

Know for certain that for him the fivefold mind does not exist; / then he is proclaimed a yogin, having attained non-difference from Gaṇeśa.

The syllable 'ga' is described by the wise as abiding in samādhi with cognitive awareness; / while the syllable 'ṇa' is described by knowers of the Veda as having the form of samādhi without cognitive awareness.

The master of these two is this Gaṇeśa, who consists eternally of the yoga of peace; / I am of the nature of 'not this' (neti), unmanifest, and you are said to consist of sameness.

Wherever we are seen, all of us consist of worldly existence; / abiding in the yoga of the cause of worldly existence, Gaṇeśa became fivefold.

Indeed, Keśava, he is proclaimed in the Vedas as consisting of māyā; / devoid of māyā, the lord Gaṇeśa consists of the consciousness of the means.

In the manifest form of Gaṇeśa, there is no association with or disassociation from māyā; / therefore, he is attained solely through peace, never otherwise.

I am Gaṇeśa, eternally Brahman, truly the lord of the Brahmans; / this yoga called Gāṇapatya has been declared to you by me, O Lord.

By this method, the knowledge called Gāṇeśa will arise; / having abandoned the fivefold mind, become Cintāmaṇi, O Lord.

Having spoken thus, Mahādeva fell silent, O Nārada; / this knowledge called Gāṇeśa has been recounted to you by me, O great sage.

He is the bestower of our status and the granter of the state of becoming Brahman; / Gaṇeśa is our family deity, and therefore we worship him.

Mudgala said: / Having bowed to that Viṣṇu, the sage Nārada departed; / reaching a penance grove, he engaged in the practice of yoga.

Meditating on Gaṇeśa with his mind, he chanted the supreme mantra; / after ten years, Gaṇeśa was pleased and approached the sage.

Seeing him, Nārada was exceedingly amazed and bowed down; / with folded hands, the sage praised Gaṇapa.

Nārada said: / I bow to that lord of the gaṇas, the destroyer of all obstacles, / beyond the reach of the Vedānta, accessible to knowers of reality, established as Brahman itself.

Neither devoid of mind and speech, nor consisting of mind and speech; / how can I praise the supreme lord of Brahman, the master of Siddhi and Buddhi?

By the sight of you, O Heramba, I have truly accomplished my purpose.' / Having spoken thus, he worshipped him, endowed with a disposition of devotion.

Having worshipped the Lord of Gaṇas, Nārada praised him again, / that great sage whose hair bristled with joy, filled with devotion:

"Salutations, salutations to Gaṇeśa! Salutations to you, King of Obstacles, / the destroyer of obstacles for devotees, and the bringer of obstacles to the non-devoted!

Salutations, salutations to you who are joined with immeasurable māyā, / to you who are the very embodiment of yoga, who bestow bewilderment upon yogis!

Salutations to Vināyaka, Lord of all! Salutations to Cintāmaṇi! / Salutations to you, the support of infinite greatness, who wear the crescent moon on your crown!

To the god Ekadanta, who bestows bewilderment upon magicians, / salutations, salutations to you, the supreme lord, the highest beyond the high!

Salutations to you, without attributes, having the form of attributes, the witness, / whose vehicle is the great rat, who bear the banner of a mouse!

Salutations to you, the beginningless, to Jyeṣṭharāja, to Ḍhuṇḍhi, / the destroyer, the creator, the eternal protector, and full of manifold distinctions!

By drinking the nectar of seeing you, destroyed is my great […] born of delusion, / (

khaṇḍa 2, adhyāya 4, page 8) the death known as the feeling of separateness; I have been made Gaṇeśa by you!

I perceive nothing as separate from you, O Leader of Gaṇas; / having attained yoga that brings peace through your grace, there is no doubt.

Grant supreme devotion to your lotus feet, O Gaṇādhīśa; / make me a Gāṇapatya, full of love for your state!"

Having spoken thus, he fell silent. Then the Lord of Gaṇas spoke to him again: / "My devotion will be yours, exceedingly and ever unshakable.

There will never be any wavering from yoga, O great sage; / you will always be revered by lordly yogis and honoured by everyone.

This hymn of praise composed by you shall bestow the yoga of peace; / it shall grant worldly enjoyment and liberation to whoever recites or hears it."

Having spoken thus, Gajānana dissolved into his heart; / the sage himself continually saw the Lord of Gaṇas within his heart.

Thus the narrative concerning Nārada has been told to you, O Lord of Creatures; / whoever hears it or recites it shall also attain the good destination.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the third chapter, named 'The Description of Nārada's Devotion', in the Ekadanta narrative of the second section in the venerable final Purāṇopaniṣad, the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa.