Source
Texts:
The
Prayers of the Personified Vedas
Text
1
S'rî
Parîkchit said: 'O brahmin, how can the sacred texts
[the s'ruti,
the Vedas], covering the different modes of nature, be of
direct reference to the inexpressible [*]
Absolute Truth transcendental to cause [the subtle] and
effect [the gross]?'
S'rî
Parîkchit said: O brâhmana, how can the Vedas
directly describe the Supreme Absolute Truth, who cannot be
described in words? The Vedas are limited to describing the
qualities of material nature, but the Supreme is devoid of
these qualities, being transcendental to all material
manifestations and their causes.
Text
2
S'rî
S'uka said: 'The intelligence, senses, mind and life force of
the living beings were by their Lord and Master evolved for the
sake of sensuality, for the sake of getting a life and for the
sake of the [emancipation of the] soul and its ultimate
liberation.
S'ukadeva
Gosvamî said: The Supreme Lord manifested the material
intelligence, senses, mind and vital air of the living
entities so that they could indulge their desires for sense
gratification, take repeated births to engage in fruitive
activities, become elevated in future lives and ultimately
attain liberation.
Text
3
Indeed
was this same philosophical exercise about the absolute Truth
observed by the predecessors [like the kumâras]
of our predecessors [like Nârada]; whoever with
faith concentrates upon it will attain peace and tranquility
free from material attachment [see also
8.24:
38].
Those
who came before even our ancient predecessors meditated upon
this same confidential knowledge of the Absolute Truth.
Indeed, anyone who faithfully concentrates on this knowledge
will become free from material attachments and attain the
final goal of life.
Text
4
To
this I'll relate to you an account concerning Lord
Nârâyana. It is a conversation between
Nârâyana Rishi and Nârada
Muni.
In
this connection I will relate to you a narration concerning
the Supreme Lord Nârâyana. It is about a
conversation that once occurred between S'rî
Nârâyana Rishi and Nârada Muni.
Text
5
Once
did the Supreme Lord's beloved Nârada traveling the
worlds go to visit the âs'rama of the Eternal Seer
Nârâyana.
Once,
while traveling among the various planets of the universe,
the Lord's beloved devotee Nârada went to visit the
primeval sage Nârâyana at His
âs'rama.
Text
6
He
just for the welfare, in this and the next life, of the human
beings abiding in dharma,
jnâna
and self-control in Bhârata-varsha, has been performing
penances from the beginning of Brahmâ's day [see
kalpa].
From
the very beginning of Brahmâ's day Lord
Nârâyana Rishi has been undergoing austere
penances in this land of Bhârata while perfectly
performing religious duties and exemplifying spiritual
knowledge and self- control - all for the benefit of human
beings in both this world and the next.
Text
7
There
bowed he down to Him sitting there surrounded by sages in
Kalâpa, the village where He resided, and asked he this
very same question, o best of the Kurus.
There
Nârada approached Lord Nârâyana Rishi, who
was sitting amidst sages of the village of Kalâpa.
After bowing down to the Lord, O hero of the Kurus,
Nârada asked Him the very same question you have asked
me.
Text
8
As
the seers were listening related the Supreme Lord this ancient
discussion among the inhabitants of the world of the mortals
[janaloka]
about the Absolute Truth.
As
the sages listened, Lord Nârâyana Rishi related
to Nârada an ancient discussion about the Absolute
Truth that took place among the residents of
Janaloka.
Text
9
The
Supreme Lord said: 'O son of the selfborn lord
[Brahmâ], in the past was there, among the ones
residing in the world of the mortals, a sacrifice held to which
the [ûrdhva-retah]
celibate sages born from Brahmâ ['from the mind']
exercised the spiritual.
The
Personality of Godhead said: O son of self-born
Brahmâ, once long ago on Janaloka, wise sages who
resided there performed a great sacrifice to the Absolute
Truth by vibrating transcendental sounds. These sages,
mental sons of Brahmâ, were all perfect
celibates.
Text
10
With
you having gone to S'vetadvîpa
to see its Controller, ensued about Him [Vishnu as
Aniruddha] in whom the Vedas lay down to rest [after
the dissolution of the material world], indeed a lively
exposition, which brought up the question that you again are
asking Me.
At
that time you happened to be visiting the Lord on
S'vetadvîpa - that Supreme Lord in whom the Vedas lie
down to rest during the period of universal annihilation. A
lively discussion arose among the sages on Janaloka as to
the nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Indeed, the same
question arose then that you are asking Me now.
Text
11
Though equal of
character in their penance and their hearing from the s'ruti,
though equal to friends, foes and neutrals, appointed they one
of them as their speaker while the rest eagerly
listened.'
Although
these sages were all equally qualified in terms of Vedic
study and austerity, and although they all saw friends,
enemies and neutral parties equally, they chose one of their
number to be the speaker, and the rest became eager
listeners.
Text
12-13
S'rî
Sanandana said: 'When He having created this universe at its
end withdrew and was lying asleep, awakened the Veda's in
person the Supreme One with descriptions of His
characteristics,
the same way a sleeping king by his court poets is awakened as
they as his servants approach him at dawn with
[reciting] his heroic deeds.
S'rî
Sanandana, replied: After the Supreme Lord withdrew the
universe He had previously created, He lay for some time as
if asleep, and all His energies rested dormant within Him.
When the time came for the next creation, the personified
Vedas awakened Him by chanting His glories, just as the
poets serving a king approach him at dawn and awaken him by
reciting his heroic deeds.
Text
14
The Vedas said:
'All glories, all glories to You, please o Unconquerable One
who assumed the modes to create the detrimental, defeat the
eternal illusion; because You in Your original status are
complete in all opulences can You, at times engaging Yourself
with the from Your inner self springing energies of the
embodied ones moving and nonmoving, be appreciated by us, the
Vedas, as the root [**].
The
s'rutis said: Victory, victory to You, O unconquerable one!
By Your very nature You are perfectly full in all opulences;
therefore please defeat the eternal power of illusion, who
assumes control over the modes of nature to create
difficulties for conditioned souls. O You who awaken all the
energies of the moving and nonmoving embodied beings,
sometimes the Vedas can recognize You as You sport with Your
material and spiritual potencies.
Text
15
This
world perceived as the great [as brahman]
do the seers consider as being the all-pervading foundation,
for it is like with clay that in transformation leading to
forms and dissolving again itself does not change; therefore
have they dedicated their minds, words and actions to You - how
can it be else that the steps men take are placed on the ground
[of their existence, see also 6.16:
22,
11.24:
18
and B.G. 7:
20-25].
This
perceivable world is identified with the Supreme because the
Supreme Brahman is the ultimate foundation of all existence,
remaining unchanged as all created things are generated from
it and at last dissolved into it, just as clay remains
unchanged by the products made from it and again merged with
it. Thus it is toward You alone that the Vedic sages direct
all their thoughts, words and acts. After all, how can the
footsteps of men fail to touch the earth on which they
live?
Text
16
Thus
do Your people of enlightenment o Master of the Three of All
Worlds, rid themselves of their troubles by diving deep into
the ocean of the nectar of kathâ
that eradicates the contamination; what again to say about
those who by the power of their own minds dispelled the
qualities of the temporal, O Supreme One, and who in worship
experience the uninterrupted happiness of Your
abode.
Therefore,
O master of the three worlds, the wise get rid of all misery
by diving deep into the nectarean ocean of topics about You,
which washes away all the contamination of the universe.
Then what to speak of those who, having by spiritual
strength rid their minds of bad habits and freed themselves
from time, are able to worship Your true nature, O supreme
one, finding within it uninterrupted bliss?
Text
17
They
who bellow as if they are breathing [see B.G.
18.61]
are really alive if they are Your faithful followers, for You,
above cause and effect, are the underlying reality of Whose
mercy the universal egg of the totality, the separateness and
the other elements of the person was produced [see
3.26:
51-53];
with You, according to the particular forms they furthermore
lead to, appearing among these as the Ultimate One in relation
to the [mere] physical coverings and so on [the
kos'as
and B.G. 18:
54].
Only
if they become Your faithful followers are those who breathe
actually alive, otherwise their breathing is like that of a
bellows. It is by Your mercy alone that the elements,
beginning with the mahat-tattva and false ego, created the
egg of this universe. Among the manifestations known as
anna-maya and so forth, You are the ultimate one, entering
within the material coverings along with the living entity
and assuming the same forms as those he takes. Distinct from
the gross and subtle material manifestations, You are the
reality underlying them all.
Text
18
According
the standards of the seers are they with a gross vision of
worship for the abdomen [the lower centers] and are the
ârunis
[the superior yogîs] of respect for the
prânic knot of the subtle energies [see
cakra]
of the heart, after which they, o Unlimited One, go upward to
the head which is Your abode and next go to the highest
destination from reaching which they never fall down again into
the mouth of death [see also B.G. 8:
16].
Among
the followers of the methods set forth by great sages, those
with less refined vision worship the Supreme as present in
the region of the abdomen, while the Ârunis worship
Him as present in the heart, in the subtle center from which
all the prânic channels emanate. From there, O
unlimited Lord, these worshipers raise their consciousness
upward to the top of the head, where they can perceive You
directly. Then, passing through the top of the head toward
the supreme destination, they reach that place from which
they will never again fall to this world, into the mouth of
death.
Text
19
Apparently
entering within the by You variegated created species of life
as their motivator [pro or con], do You in imitation of
Your own creation become visible, like fire does, according
their relative positions; You thus being among them as expanded
[or real] and as not expanded [untrue or
temporary] are by those connected with Your manifestation,
who free from being entangled have minds that are spotless,
understood as being one [unchanging, permanent] state
of love [see also B.G. 2:
12].
Apparently
entering among the variegated species of living beings You
have created, You inspire them to act, manifesting Yourself
according to their higher and lower positions, just as fire
manifests differently according to the shape of what it
burns. Therefore those of spotless intelligence, who are
altogether free from material attachments, realize Your
undifferentiated, unchanging Self to be the permanent
reality among all these impermanent life forms.
Text
20
The
person within the bodies he arranged for himself is in fact as
the expansion of You, the possessor of all energies, so is said
[by the Vedas], not of the external [the gross
body, the deha],
nor of the internal [the subtle body, the
linga]
but enveloped; and so do, once they have developed faith
ascertaining the status of the living entity as being
manifested in this manner, the ones learned in the sacred
precepts worship Your feet as the source of liberation and
field in which all offerings are sown.
The
individual living entity, while inhabiting the material
bodies he has created for himself by his karma, actually
remains uncovered by either gross or subtle matter. This is
so because, as the Vedas describe, he is part and parcel of
You, the possessor of all potencies. Having determined this
to be the status of the living entity, learned sages become
imbued with faith and worship Your lotus feet, to which all
Vedic sacrifices in this world are offered, and which are
the source of liberation.
Text
21
The
few that are tired of the trouble [of a material life]
do, by diving into the vast ocean of nectar of the pastimes of
the forms You assumed in order to propagate the hard to grasp
principle of soul, not even wish to leave this world behind, o
Lord, in abandoning their homes having found the association
with the community of the swans at Your lotus feet
[see e.g.
4.24:
58,
4.30:
33,
5.12:
16,
5.13:
21,
7.6:
17-18 ,
7.14:
3-4]
My
Lord, some fortunate souls have gotten relief from the
fatigue of material life by diving into the vast nectar
ocean of Your pastimes, which You enact when You manifest
Your personal forms to propagate the unfathomable science of
the self. These rare souls, indifferent even to liberation,
renounce the happiness of home and family because of their
association with devotees who are like flocks of swans
enjoying at the lotus of Your feet.
Text
22
This body
useful for serving You acts as one's self, one's friend and
beloved; however, although You, favorably disposed as their
very Self, are helpful and affectionate, do they who alas fail
to delight in You rather find the degradation of the physical
frame [in successive births], being of suicide in
worship of the unreal as they persistently wander far and wide
in the existential fear [see also B.G.
16: 19].
When
this human body is used for Your devotional service, it acts
as one's self, friend and beloved. But unfortunately,
although You always show mercy to the conditioned souls and
affectionately help them in every way, and although You are
their true Self, people in general fail to delight in You.
Instead they commit spiritual suicide by worshiping
illusion. Alas, because they persistently hope for success
in their devotion to the unreal, they continue to wander
about this greatly fearful world, assuming various degraded
bodies.
Text
23
That
which the sages with the breathing, mind and senses brought
under control in steadfast yoga worship in the heart, is also
attained by the ones remembering in enmity [see also
3.2:
24
10.74:
46];
and so will we do, equally relishing the same nectar from the
lotuslike feet, as do the women [the gopîs, the
wives] who in their mind and vision are attracted to Your
arms firm as mighty snake bodies.
Simply
by constantly thinking of Him, the enemies of the Lord
attained the same Supreme Truth whom sages fixed in yoga
worship by controlling their breath, mind and senses.
Similarly, we s'rutis, who generally see You as all-
pervading, will achieve the same nectar from Your lotus feet
that Your consorts are able to relish because of their
loving attraction to Your mighty, serpentine arms, for You
look upon us and Your consorts in the same way.
Text
24
Ah,
who out here recently born and soon to die indeed knows who
came first, from whom arose the seer [Brahmâ] and
from whom followed the two groups of demigods [to the
senses and the principles] [see B.G.
7: 26]?
When He lies down to withdraw is there at that time neither the
gross, nor the subtle, nor that [the bodies] comprising
both; nor is there the flow of Time or are the
s'âstras
there [B.G.
9: 7].
Everyone
in this world has recently been born and will soon die. So
how can anyone here know Him who existed prior to everything
else and who gave rise to the first learned sage,
Brahmâ, and all subsequent demigods, both lesser and
greater? When He lies down and withdraws everything within
Himself, nothing else remains - no gross or subtle matter or
bodies composed of these, no force of time or revealed
scripture.
Text
25
They
who teaching with authority declare that life springs from dead
matter and that there is cessation from the eternal [see
B.G. 2:
16],
that the soul wouldn't be one [see 10.14:
9]
and that the duality of mundane business is something real
[see B.G.
17: 28],
are mistaken in their from ignorance born dualistic conception
that the living entity thus would be produced from the three
modes [only without You, their Oneness Beyond, see B.G.
14:
19
and 13:
28];
that is what one gets when one to such transcendental matters
is not in [knowledge with] You, the Essence of Full
Perception [see also 5.6:
9-11].
Supposed
authorities who declare that matter is the origin of
existence, that the permanent qualities of the soul can be
destroyed, that the self is compounded of separate aspects
of spirit and matter, or that material transactions
constitute reality - all such authorities base their
teachings on mistaken ideas that hide the truth. The
dualistic conception that the living entity is produced from
the three modes of nature is simply a product of ignorance.
Such a conception has no real basis in You, for You are
transcendental to all illusion and always enjoy perfect,
total awareness.
Text
26
The
[temporal of form and thus] untrue threefold and its
[mind-]phenomena up to the human beings, appear in You
as if they are true, and are by the knowers of the Soul
considering this entire world as true not rejected for being
transformations non-different from Him; they, created by
Himself entering, are as such indeed ascertained to be as much
the True Self as gold is, not differing from its projections
[see also 6.16:
22].
The
three modes of material nature comprise everything in this
world - from the simplest phenomena to the complex human
body. Although these phenomena appear real, they are only a
false reflection of the spiritual reality, being a
superimposition of the mind upon You. Still, those who know
the Supreme Self consider the entire material creation to be
real inasmuch as it is nondifferent from the Self. Just as
things made of gold are indeed not to be rejected, since
their substance is actual gold, so this world is undoubtedly
nondifferent from the Lord who created it and then entered
within it.
Text
27
They
who worship You as the shelter of all created beings simply
step with their feet upon the head of Death, while You with
Your words even tie up the wise if they are of neglect; they
who turned to friendship indeed purify themselves, not so they
who turned their face away.
The
devotees who worship You as the shelter of all beings
disregard Death and place their feet on his head. But with
the words of the Vedas You bind the nondevotees like
animals, though they be vastly learned scholars. It is Your
affectionate devotees who can purify themselves and others,
not those who are inimical to You.
Text
28
You
self-effulgent not effecting are the sustainer of all that are
effecting [with the sensory functions]; the godly
vigilant with the material nature carry You tribute and do
partake in that offering, as if they are the local rulers in a
kingdom in relation to their lord ruling over the entire land -
that is how they, the ones who make it indeed, in fear of You
execute their assigned services.
Though
You have no material senses, You are the self-effulgent
sustainer of everyone's sensory powers. The demigods and
material nature herself offer You tribute, while also
enjoying the tribute offered them by their worshipers, just
as subordinate rulers of various districts in a kingdom
offer tribute to their lord, the ultimate proprietor of the
land, while also enjoying the tribute paid them by their own
subjects. In this way the universal creators faithfully
execute their assigned services out of fear of You.
Text
29
With the
material energy are the species of life, that manifest
themselves as stationary and moving, awakened in their motives
of action if You being aloof, o Eternally Liberated one, by
Your brief glance assume [Your forms to] sport to her;
to the Supreme indeed can no one be strange or a friend, just
as it is with the ethereal sky having no perceptible qualities
- in that You bear resemblance to a void.
O
eternally liberated, transcendental Lord, Your material
energy causes the various moving and nonmoving species of
life to appear by activating their material desires, but
only when and if You sport with her by briefly glancing at
her. You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, see no one as
an intimate friend and no one as a stranger, just as the
ethereal sky has no connection with perceptible qualities.
In this sense You resemble a void.
Text
30
If the
countless embodied beings wouldn't be time-bound, would then
the omnipresent not be such a sovereign rule, o Unchanging One;
[because of You] not separating from the substance from
which they were generated must [You] the regulator
[of Time] be known as being equally present everywhere,
not as being somewhere else; and thus is one having it wrong
supposing that one knows [the complete of You] since
one is of the imperfect [local order] of what is known
[see 6.5:
19].
If
the countless living entities were all-pervading and
possessed forms that never changed, You could not possibly
be their absolute ruler, O immutable one. But since they are
Your localized expansions and their forms are subject to
change, You do control them. Indeed, that which supplies the
ingredients for the generation of something is necessarily
its controller because a product never exists apart from its
ingredient cause. It is simply illusion for someone to think
that he knows the Supreme Lord, who is equally present in
each of His expansions, since whatever knowledge one gains
by material means must be imperfect.
Text
31
The generation
of material nature and its male principle, the person, does not
really happen; by the combination of both being unborn come
these living bodies in You into being like bubbles on the water
[in touch with the air] and have they therefore
different names and qualities [later again] merging in
the Supreme as rivers merging into the ocean and all flavors of
nectar merging into honey [see also B.G.
9: 7].
Neither
material nature nor the soul who tries to enjoy her are ever
born, yet living bodies come into being when these two
combine, just as bubbles form where water meets the air. And
just as rivers merge into the ocean or the nectar from many
different flowers blends into honey, so all these
conditioned beings eventually merge back into You, the
Supreme, along with their various names and
qualities.
Text
32
The ones of
wisdom fervent unto You understanding how Your mâyâ
bewilders the human beings render potent loving service unto
You, the source of liberation; how would for those who
faithfully follow You, there be any of the fear of a material
existence that the three rimmed [wheel of Time of past,
present and future] of Your furrowing eyebrows repeatedly
creates with those who do not take shelter of You? [see
also B.G.
4: 10,
7:14
& 14:26]
The
wise souls who understand how Your Mâyâ deludes
all human beings render potent loving service to You, who
are the source of liberation from birth and death. How,
indeed, can fear of material life affect Your faithful
servants? On the other hand, Your furrowing eyebrows - the
triple-rimmed wheel of time - repeatedly terrify those who
refuse to take shelter of You.
Text
33
Conquered
by the senses and breath is the mind like a horse not brought
under control [B.G.
2:
60 and
5.11:
10]; those
who
out here endeavor to regulate but abandon the feet of the guru,
meet with hundreds of obstacles being distressed and unsteady
in the various methods of control as if they, o Unborn One, are
merchants on the ocean not having taken a
helmsman [see
10.51:
60 B.G.
4:
34].
The
mind is like an impetuous horse that even persons who have
regulated their senses and breath cannot control. Those in
this world who try to tame the uncontrolled mind, but who
abandon the feet of their spiritual master, encounter
hundreds of obstacles in their cultivation of various
distressful practices. O unborn Lord, they are like
merchants on a boat in the ocean who have failed to employ a
helmsman.
Text
34
What
do servants, children, a body, a wife, money, a home, land,
vitality, and vehicles mean to human beings taking shelter of
their very Self, the Embodiment of All Pleasure; what at all
will to those who, carrying on with their indulgence in sexual
matters and failing to appreciate the truth [of Him],
bring [real] happiness in this world that of its own is
subject to destruction and on itself is void of any essence?
[see also B.G. 13:
8-12]
To
those persons who take shelter of You, You reveal Yourself
as the Supersoul, the embodiment of all transcendental
pleasure. What further use have such devotees for their
servants, children or bodies, their wives, money or houses,
their land, good health or conveyances? And for those who
fail to appreciate the truth about You and go on pursuing
the pleasures of sex, what could there be in this entire
world - a place inherently doomed to destruction and devoid
of significance - that could give them real
happiness?
Text
35
The
seers free from false pride who, with the greatest piety on
this earth [living] to the places of pilgrimage and the
sites of His pastimes, have Your feet in their heart, destroy
with the water of their feet indeed the sins; they who but once
turn their mind towards You, the Supreme Soul Ever happy, are
never again of worship for the homely affair that steals away a
persons essential qualities.
Sages
free from false pride live on this earth by frequenting the
sacred pilgrimage sites and those places where the Supreme
Lord displayed His pastimes. Because such devotees keep Your
lotus feet within their hearts, the water that washes their
feet destroys all sins. Anyone who even once turns his mind
toward You, the ever-blissful Soul of all existence, no
longer dedicates himself to serving family life at home,
which simply robs a man of his good qualities.
Text
36
'From
the true arose this true' so said may be refuted as a logical
contradiction since it is inconsistent in some cases while in
other cases it is not untrue; of the conjunction of both are by
a succession of people groping in the dark alternations desired
in common matters to which Your numerous words of wisdom do
bewilder with them getting dulled by the incantations in ritual
utterings.
It
may be proposed that this world is permanently real because
it is generated from the permanent reality, but such an
argument is subject to logical refutation. Sometimes,
indeed, the apparent nondifference of a cause and its effect
fails to prove true, and at other times the product of
something real is illusory. Furthermore, this world cannot
be permanently real, for it partakes of the natures of not
only the absolute reality but also the illusion disguising
that reality. Actually, the visible forms of this world are
just an imaginary arrangement resorted to by a succession of
ignorant persons in order to facilitate their material
affairs. With their various meanings and implications, the
learned words of Your Vedas bewilder all persons whose minds
have been dulled by hearing the incantations of sacrificial
rituals.
Text
37
As
this all did not exist in the beginning and hence will not
exist after its annihilation, can be concluded that it, in
between appearing within You, is the untruth to be avoided; and
thus is it to those stable in their spirituality, contrary to
the fact that it may be compared to categories of material
substance [or elements, appearing] in varieties of
transformations [see text
26],
but a figment of the imagination that the unintelligent think
of as something suitable for worship [see B.G.
6:
8].
Since
this universe did not exist prior to its creation and will
no longer exist after its annihilation, we conclude that in
the interim it is nothing more than a manifestation imagined
to be visible within You, whose spiritual enjoyment never
changes. We liken this universe to the transformation of
various material substances into diverse forms. Certainly
those who believe that this figment of the imagination is
substantially real are less intelligent.
Text
38
He
[the living entity] because of the insurmountable
matter lies down next to the energy and, assuming her
qualities, takes on forms accordingly, following which deprived
of his assets he runs into [birth and] death; You on
the other hand endowed with all Your grace leave her aside like
a snake shedding its skin and are in Your eightfold greatness
[see siddhis]
glorified as the One Unlimited in His Glory.
The
illusory material nature attracts the minute living entity
to embrace her, and as a result he assumes forms composed of
her qualities. Subsequently, he loses all his spiritual
qualities and must undergo repeated deaths. You, however,
avoid the material energy in the same way that a snake
abandons its old skin. Glorious in Your possession of eight
mystic perfections, You enjoy unlimited opulences.
Text
39
If
persons having entered a renounced life do not uproot the
traces of material desires in their hearts and as yoga
practitioners [just] satisfy their animal life, have
they, not removed from death being unhappy in both [this
life and the hereafter], missed Your heavenly kingdom
impossible to realize for the impure and forgotten the jewel
[of You] around their neck [see also B.G.
6:
41-42].
Members
of the renounced order who fail to uproot the last traces of
material desire in their hearts remain impure, and thus You
do not allow them to understand You. Although You are
present within their hearts, for them You are like a jewel
worn around the neck of a mall who has totally forgotten it
is there. O Lord, those who pratice yoga only for sense
gratification must suffer punishment both in this life and
the next: from death, who will not release them, and from
You, whose kingdom they cannot reach.
Text
40
Someone who
understands You takes no heed of the good and bad consequences
of the auspicious and inauspicious at the moment rising from
You, nor of the words of other living beings; every day, o You
of All qualities, is he of the song in every age heard through
the disciplic succession of the children of Manu [see
3.22:
34-39 and
5.13:
25],
because of which You are the ultimate goal of
liberation.
When
a person realizes You, he no longer cares about his good and
bad fortune arising from past pious and sinful acts, since
it is You alone who control this good and bad fortune. Such
a realized devotee also disregards what ordinary living
beings say about him. Every day he fills his ears with Your
glories, which are recited in each age by the unbroken
succession of Manu's descendants, and thus You become his
ultimate salvation.
Text
41
Neither the
masters of heaven can reach the end of the glories of You so
Unlimited, nor even You Yourself, within whom the multitudes of
universes - each in their own shell - with the Course of Time
are blown about in the sky as particles of dust; indeed is it
because the s'rutis in You bear fruit by
[neti
neti]
eliminating what is not the Absolute, that they in You find
their ultimate conclusion [see siddhânta]'
Because
You are unlimited, neither the lords of heaven nor even You
Yourself can ever reach the end of Your glories. The
countless universes, each enveloped in its shell, are
compelled by the wheel of time to wander within You, like
particles of dust blowing about in the sky. The s'rutis,
following their method of eliminating everything separate
from the Supreme, become successful by revealing You as
their final conclusion.
Text
42
The Supreme
Lord said: 'Thus having heard this instruction about the True
Self, understood the sons of Brahmâ their final
destination and worshiped they following perfectly satisfied
the sage Sanandana.
The
Supreme Lord, S'rî Nârâyana Rishi, said:
Having heard these instructions about the Supreme Self, the
Personality of Godhead, the sons of Brahmâ now
understood their final destination. They felt perfectly
satisfied and honored Sanandana with their worship.
Text
43
Thus was by the
ancient ones, the saintly souls born to roam the higher
regions, of all the Vedas and Purânas the nectar of the
underlying mystery [of the upanishad philosophy]
distilled.
Thus
the ancient saints who travel in the upper heavens distilled
this nectarean and confidential essence of all the Vedas and
Purânas.
Text
44
O you heir of
Brahmâ [Nârada], wander the earth as you
wish, meditating with faith upon this instruction about the
Soul that burns up the desires of man.'
And
as you wander the earth at will, My dear son of
Brahmâ, you should faithfully meditate on these
instructions concerning the science of the Self, which burn
up the material desires of all men.
Text
45
S'ri S'uka
said: 'He, the self-possessed, this manner commanded by the
sage accepted it faithfully, o King, and spoke, now fully of
success, heroic to his vow meditating upon what he had
heard.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: When S'rî
Nârâyana Rishi ordered him in this way, the
self-possessed sage Nârada, whose vow is as heroic as
a warrior's, accepted the command with firm faith. Now
successful in all his purposes, he thought about what he had
heard, O King, and replied to the Lord as follows.
Text
46
S'rî
Nârada said: 'My obeisances to Him, the Supreme Lord
Krishna spotless in His glories, who manifests His
all-attractive expansions for the liberation of all living
beings [1.3:
28].'
S'rî
Nârada said: I offer My obeisances to Him of spotless
fame, the Supreme Lord Krishna, who manifests His
all-attractive personal expansions so that all living beings
can achieve liberation.
Text
47
Thus speaking
bowing down to the Original Rishi
[Nârâyana] and to the great souls that were
His pupils, went he from there to the hermitage of my direct
father, Dvaipâyana Vedavyâsa.
[S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî continued:] After saying this,
Nârada bowed down to S'rî Nârâyana
Rishi, the foremost of sages, and also to His saintly
disciples. He then returned to the hermitage of my father,
Dvaipâyana Vyâsa.
Text
48
By
the great devotee having been honored and having accepted a
seat from him, described he to him that what he had heard from
the mouth of S'rî Nârâyana.
Vyâsadeva,
the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, respectfully
greeted Nârada Muni and offered him a seat, which he
accepted. Nârada then described to Vyâsa what he
had heard from the mouth of S'rî Nârâyana
Rishi.
Text
49
Thus
has been replied to the question you asked us, o King, on how
in the Absolute Truth - that without material qualities so
elusive to terms - the mind would find its way.
Thus
I have replied to the question You asked me, O King,
concerning how the mind can have access to the Absolute
Truth, which is indescribable by material words and devoid
of material qualities.
Text
50
He who watches
over this universe in the beginning, the middle and the end; He
who is the Lord of the unmanifested of the individual soul; He
who, sending forth this universe, entered it along with the
individual seer and producing bodies regulates them; He unto
whom surrendering the one [illusioned] not being
[re-]born gives up the body he embraces as if asleep;
by His pure spiritual status being kept away from a material
birth, should one, to be freed from the fear [see B.G.
16:
11-12],
incessantly meditate upon the Supreme Personality [see
1.9:
39 and the
bhajan Sarvasva
Tomar].
He
is the Lord who eternally watches over this universe, who
exists before, during and after its manifestation. He is the
master of both the unmanifest material energy and the spirit
soul. After sending forth the creation He enters within it,
accompanying each living entity. There He creates the
material bodies and then remains as their regulator. By
surrendering to Him one can escape the embrace of illusion,
just as a dreaming person forgets his own body. One who
wants liberation from fear should constantly meditate upon
Him, Lord Hari, who is always on the platform of perfection
and thus never subject to material birth.
*
S'rîla S'rîdhara Svâmî elaborately
analyzes this problem, of describing the inexpressible Truth in
definable terms, by means of the traditional discipline of
Sanskrit poetics that states that words have three kinds of
expressive capacities, called s'abda-vrittis. These are
the different ways a word refers to its meaning, distinguished
as mukhya-vritti - literal meaning (divided in
rudhi, conventional use and yoga, derived use as
in etymology), lakshanâ-vritti - metaphorical
meaning, and the closely related gauna-vritti, a similar
meaning; exemplified by: the word lion has the three expressive
forms of: it is a lion - literal, he is a lion - metaphorical
and he is like a lion - similar use. So in fact the question is
how the Absolute would be covered taken literal, in metaphor
and in simile.
**According
to S'rîla Jîva Gosvâmî, the
twenty-eight verses of the prayers of the personified Vedas
(Texts 14 - 41) represent the opinions of each of the
twenty-eight major s'rutis. These chief Upanishads and other
s'rutis concern themselves with the various approaches to the
Absolute Truth. See the purports pp
10.87
of this chapter of the paramparâ for specific
quotes.
