Mudgalapurana 5.17: śeṣayogopadeśavarṇanaṃ nāma saptadaśo'dhyāyaḥ

Obeisance to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Mudgala said: / Long ago, the Brahmin Kaśyapa propitiated the two lords, / Śiva and Viṣṇu, through austerity, mantra, meditation, and samādhi, for the sake of obtaining sons.

When ten years had passed, the two boon-givers approached him; / having granted the best of sages the boon of two sons, they departed.

And Śeṣa was born as his son from a portion of the two; / in his role of bearing the earth, he is Viṣṇu himself as protector.

At the end of Brahmā's day, that valorous great serpent, / being a portion of Śaṅkara, burned the great world with a blaze.

That very Śeṣa is called the thousand-headed Puruṣa; / this deathless, infinite one became the destroyer of all.

At dissolution he alone remains, and therefore he is celebrated as Śeṣa; / he bore the cosmic egg and became the support of all.

Śeṣa was born spontaneously, directly embodying both Hari and Hara; / Brahmā, having come right there, consecrated him to the office of king.

Having become the lord of the serpents, he remained universally approved; / then, bowing to Kaśyapa, he spoke words of welfare:

Śeṣa said: / "O lord, how shall I bear the cosmic egg filled with all things? / Teach me, your disciple, for that purpose, O great yogin, O father, O lord!"

Then the best of sages, having duly purified it, / gave him the six-syllable mantra of Gaṇeśa, O lord of creatures.

Then, having bowed to him, he performed supreme austerity; / having gone to the forest and meditated on Gaṇeśa, he was devoted to japa.

Without food, he continually pleased Vighneśa; / endowed with devotion, he worshipped him and praised him with diverse hymns.

Thus after a thousand years the leader of the Gaṇas was pleased, / and he approached him who was reduced to only bones covered with skin.

Seeing him, the serpent lord Śeṣa bowed, arose with reverence, / worshipped him filled with joy, and praised him with folded hands.

Then that king of the Gaṇas said to him: "Choose a wish! / Pleased with your austerity, I will grant whatever will be in your heart."

Śeṣa, bowing to Vighneśa, spoke filled with joy: / "Give me the power to bear the cosmic egg, O lord! Obeisance to you!

Give devotion, O Gaṇādhīśa, that bestows worldly enjoyment and liberation; / make me deathless, the lord of the directions, possessing transcendent fame!"

Having said to him, "So be it," the king of the Gaṇas vanished; / delighted, O Dakṣa, Śeṣa himself returned to his own place.

Beginning from that time, the serpent himself became the bearer of the earth; / he attained the status of a guardian of the directions perpetually, revered and bestowing all objectives.

Then, through the power of yoga, skilled in manifold illusions, / Śeṣa assumed various forms and shone in all spheres.

Thus when much time had passed, out of fear of Hiraṇyakaśipu, / considering worldly sovereignty to be transient, he became intent upon knowledge.

Performing immense austerity, devoted to tranquility and self-restraint, / he remained inwardly focused by staying on the plane of yoga.

Then gradually the lord of serpents entered the state of equanimous Svānanda; / through yoga he perceived peace therein and remained steadfast.

Knowing Viṣṇu to be the supreme state, he self-controlledly directed himself to that end; / by the Vaiṣṇava path alone he pleased Keśava.

Then the boon-giving Viṣṇu went to him, praised by Śeṣa; / he was constantly implored: "Grant me your vision, O Keśava!

Dwelling upon my body, remain perpetually, O Janārdana!" / "So be it," he replied to him, and he became Nārāyaṇa [resting upon him].

He remained constantly resting upon his body as Śeṣaśāyin; / thereby the protector of the serpents became exceedingly delighted.

Then, through the power of yoga, he beheld the delusion of māyā; / seeing equal joy as full of duality, he nonetheless became unpeaceful.

Thus when much time had passed, he became devoted to the path of yoga; / through samādhi, O lord of creatures, he took refuge in innate Brahman.

Recognizing Śaṅkara to be innate, he became devoted to the Śaiva path; / beholding Brahman as self-willed, he attained peace and remained steadfast.

Then the boon-giving Śambhu came to him; having bowed to him, / Śeṣa, delighted, praised Sadāśiva with Śaiva hymns.

Seeing Śaṅkara pleased, he begged for supreme devotion / and companionship with Śaṅkara for the sake of constant vision.

Saying "So be it," the god Śaṅkara did so, O lord of creatures; / he then bound him on his head, who desired his constant vision.

Then, overjoyed and devoted to Śambhu's path, Ananta / served Śaṅkara, whose banner bears the bull, with deep devotion.

Then, solely through the power of yoga, Śeṣa, knowing that supreme innate reality / to be free from delusion, became devoid of peace.

In his mind, he did not consider the Brahman related to Śaṅkara to be the supreme Lord. / Having bowed to Śiva, the great serpent asked [about that] which grants the peace of yoga.

Knowing that Śeṣa was a fit recipient for the yoga of Gaṇeśa, Sadāśiva / declared the knowledge of the Lord of Gaṇas, which brings welfare to all.

Śiva said: / Know Gaṇeśa to be the complete bestower of the peace of yoga, O giver of honor! / In whom the true and the untrue are equal, joined with the innate [nature], indeed,

In whom the Brahmans merge through union, O highly intelligent one. / That, they say, is known to oneself, the supreme Brahman that bestows peace.

In the union of the Lord of Gaṇas, there is the supreme [vision] whose nature is known to oneself,

Section 5, Chapter 18, Page 37) / The vision arises by which one becomes an inhabitant of Svānanda.

And the defect consisting of all union is traditionally remembered as great in that respect; / therefore, it is never regarded by yogins as the complete bestower of peace.

The Brahman which is devoid of being known to oneself and consists of yoga— / in that state, a direct vision of it cannot occur because of exclusion.

From non-difference with one's own self, cessation arises for men therein; / peace is declared there, [yet] that is not considered primary by the wise.

And the defect consisting of non-yoga always persists; / [yet] the Leader of Gaṇas abides through his power free from illusion.

When there is union of union and non-union, yoga is the bestower of peace. / That peace is indeed universally acknowledged in accordance with the declarations of the Veda.

And union resides in the syllable 'ga', [while] the syllable 'ṇa' rests in yoga, O Lord; / behold in the Veda that Gaṇeśāna is the master of both, O discerning one!

The mind consists of the five planes; that alone enters into the state of intellect. / Delusion brings about error among them; that [error] is deemed perfection by the wise.

Gaṇeśāna is called Cintāmaṇi, the master of both of them; / he directly illuminates the mind, bestowing peace through the practice of yoga.

Worship him, O great serpent; then you will obtain peace. / How else could any man attain peace in ten million years?

Having spoken thus to him, the lord Mahādeva ceased. / And having bowed, Śeṣanāga went to the supreme penance-grove.

Om Tat Sat. Thus, in the glorious final Upaniṣad of the Purāṇas, the glorious and great Maudgala Purāṇa, in the fifth section dealing with the deeds of Lambodara, the seventeenth chapter, titled 'The Description of the Teaching of Yoga to Śeṣa'.