Canto
2
Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization
(-) My obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva. (1) S'rî S'uka said: 'The question you asked is a glorious one, as being beneficial to all men, o King, it carries the approval of the transcendentalists and constitutes the Supreme for everybody in all kinds of hearing. (2) There are countless of subject matters to hear about in human society, o Emperor, that are the interest of those materially engrossed who are blind to the reality of the soul. (3) Wasting their nights sleeping or indulging in sex they either spend their lives during the day with making money, or with maintaining their family, o King. (4) In spite of experiencing the destructivity of the fallible soldiers of the body, the children, the wife and everything thereto, they, being too attached, do not see. (5) For this reason, o descendant of Bharata, must the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality who is the controller and vanquishing Lord, be heard of, be glorified and also be remembered as He frees the ones in desire from anxiety. (6) All this analyzing in the knowledge of yoga of one's particular nature and on how a person from his birth should attain to the full awareness of the Supreme, in the end only concerns the remembrance of Nârâyana [Krishna as the Supreme Personality]. (7) Predominantly those sages, o King, who through the restrictions are transcendentally situated above the regulative principles, are the ones taking pleasure in distinctly describing the glories of the Lord.
(8) This story called the Bhâgavatam containing the essence of the Vedas, was, was by me, at the end of this Dvâpara Yuga [the age of honoring monarchs] studied with my father Dvaipâyana Vyâsa.. (9) In spite of being fully realized in transcendence my attention was drawn towards the enlightened verses on the pastimes, o saintly King, of which I studied the content. (10) Those I will recite to you, as you from your good self are a most sincere devotee - they who give full respect and attention very soon will find an unflinching faith in Mukunda [Krishna as the Lord granting liberation]. (11) Of those free from material desires, of those who are desirous ànd of all who free from fear and doubts are united within [the yogis], o King, is it to the decided truth of the Lord His holy name that one is ['always'] singing in succession. (12) What is there better, to the bewildered in the inexperienced of their many years in this world, than a moment of consciously trying for the matter of the supreme interest? (13) The saintly king known as Khatvânga, knowing that the duration of life in this world is but a moment, set aside everything and experienced the full safety of the Lord. (14) O, member of the Kuru-family, therefore also your life's duration limited to seven days should inspire you to perform everything that traditionally belongs to the rituals for a next life. (15) Seeing the end of one's life one should be free from the fear of death in cutting, by means of the weapon of non-attachment, with all desires, as well as with everybody associated with them. (16) Piously self-controlled having left one's home for a sacred place, one should, properly cleansed and purified, seat oneself poised, in solitude according the regulations. (17) The mind should be set to the practice of the three transcendental letters [A-U-M], and thus one attains, without forgetting the seed of the absolute [Brahman, the impersonal spirit], to the control of the Supreme by regulating the breath. (18) For the sake of the virtue, being fixed in meditation, withdraw the mind from the senses their engagement, for, being absorbed in fruitive labor, the intelligence tends to be driven by the mind. (19) Concentrating, without losing sight of the complete, the mind thereafter on the different parts and divisions [of the body as also of the logic], one should consequently not think of anything but the feet of that Supreme Vishnu, the reconciler of the mind. (20) By the passion and inertia of nature the mind is always agitated and bewildered, but one will find that rectified in the concentration of the pacified that destroys all the wrong done. (21) Being fixed in the habit of such systematic remembrance the mystics holding on to this devotion will soon attain to success in the shelter of the yoga that sees this as all-good.
(22) The king, attentive to what was said, asked: 'O brahmin, what is in short the idea of where and how a person must engage in or hold on to, to escape without delay from a polluted mind?'
(23) S'rî S'uka said: 'From the controlled sitting and breathing, one's association to the senses about the gross matter of the Supreme Lord His features, must engage the thinking intelligently.
(24) His individual body is this gross material world wherein we experience all past, the present and future of this universe its existence. (25) This outer shell of the universe known as a body with seven coverings [fire, water, earth, sky, ego, noumenon and phenomenon, see also kos'as], is the conception of the object of the Universal Form of the purusha as the Supreme Lord. (26) The lower worlds are recognized by the ones who studied it as the soles of His feet [called Pâtâla] to which His heels and toes are called Rasâtala, His ankles Mahâtala while the shanks of the gigantic person are called the Talâtala worlds. (27) The two knees of the Universal Form are called Sutala, the thighs Vitala and Atala and the hips are named Mahîtala, o King, while outer space is taken to be the depression of His navel. (28) The higher illumined worlds are of His chest, with above it the neck called Mahar, His mouth called Jana while Tapas is the name of the worlds of the forehead with Satyaloka [the world of Truth] as the uppermost of the [middle] worlds of the Original Personality who has a thousand heads. (29) The gods headed by Indra are His arms, the four directions are His ears and sound is His sense of hearing. The nostrils of the Supreme are the As'vinî-Kumâras [a type of demigods], while fragrance is His sense of smell and His mouth the blazing fire. (30) The sphere of outer space are the pits of His eyes, while the eyeball of the sun is making up His seeing. The eyelids of Vishnu are the day and night, the movements of His eyebrows are the supreme entity [Brahmâ and other demigods], His palate is the director of water [Varuna] and His tongue is verily the nectarine juice. (31) They say that the vedic hymns are the thought process of the Unlimited One, that His jaws make up Yamarâja [the Lord of death], His teeth are His affection and that His smile is the most alluring unsurpassable material energy [mâyâ]; the material creation is but the casting of His glance. (32) Modesty is His upper lip, His chin for sure the hankering, religion is His breast, and the way of irreligion His back. Brahmâ is His genitals, His testicles are the Mitrâ-varunas [the friends], His waist the oceans and the stack of His bones are the mountains. (33) His veins are the rivers and the plants and trees are the hairs on the body of the Universal Form, o King. The air is His omnipotent breathing, the passing ages are His movement and the reactions of the modes of material nature are His activities. (34) Let me tell you that the hairs on the head of the Supreme Controller are the clouds, o best of the Kurus, and that the intelligence of the Almighty is the prime cause of the material creation, so one says. His mind, the reservoir of all changes, is known as the moon. (35) The material principle constitutes His consciousness, so one says, while Lord S'iva is the cause within (His ego, His self). The horse, mule, camel and elephant are His nails, and all other game and quadrupeds are represented in the region of His belt. (36) The singing of the birds is His artistic sense and Manu, the father of man forms the contents of His thought with humanity as His residence. The angelic and celestial beings [the Gandharvas, Vidyâdharas and Caranas] constitute His musical rhythm while the remembrance of terrorizing soldiers represents His prowess. (37) With the intellectuals [brahmins] for the face and the rulers [kshatriyas] for the grip of the Universal Form, are the traders [vais'yas] the thighs and the laborers [s'ûdras, the dark or 'krishna'-class] those who are protected by His feet. Through the various names of the demigods He overtakes with the provision of feasible goods [that appease Him] through the performance of sacrifices.
(38) I explained all these locations in the Form of the Supreme Lord to you so that anyone who may concentrate the mind on this virâth-rûpa Universal Form can attain through intelligence, as beyond Him as such there is nothing else to be found in the gross of matter. (39) He who from all realization knows everyone as the Supersoul as much as a dreamer sees it, is the one and only Supreme Truth and ocean of bliss. Towards Him one should never worship anything else or else see oneself degraded by attachments.'
Second edition, loaded 28 March 2006.
Source texts:
The First Step in God Realization
My obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva.
O my Lord, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. (Vedabase)
S'rî S'uka said: The question you asked is a glorious one, as being beneficial to all men, o King, carries the approval of the transcendentalists and constitutes the Supreme for everybody in all kinds of hearing.
S'rî S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: My dear King, your question is glorious because it is very beneficial to all kinds of people. The answer to this question is the prime subject matter for hearing, and it is approved by all transcendentalists. (Vedabase)
There are countless of subject matters to hear about in human society, o Emperor, that are the interest of those materially engrossed who are blind to the reality of the soul.
Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, leave many subject matters for hearing in human society, o Emperor. (Vedabase)
Wasting their nights sleeping or indulging in sex they either spend their lives during the day with making money, or with maintaining their family, o King.
The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members. (Vedabase)
In spite of experiencing the destructivity of the fallible soldiers of the body, the children, the wife and everything thereto, they, being too attached, do not see.
Persons devoid of âtma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction. (Vedabase)
For this reason, o descendant of Bharata, must the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality who is the controller and vanquishing Lord, be heard of, be glorified and also be remembered as He frees the ones in desire from anxiety.
O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify and also remember the personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries. (Vedabase)
All this analyzing in the knowledge of yoga of one's particular nature and on how a person from his birth should attain to the full awareness of the Supreme, in the end only concerns the remembrance of Nârâyana [Krishna as the Supreme Personality].
The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life. (Vedabase)
Predominantly those sages, o King, who through the restrictions are transcendentally situated above the regulative principles, are the ones taking pleasure in distinctly describing the glories of the Lord.
O King Parîkshit, mainly the topmost transcendentalists, who are above the regulative principles and restrictions, take pleasure in describing the glories of the Lord. (Vedabase)
This story called the Bhâgavatam containing the essence of the Vedas, was, at the end of this Dvâpara Yuga [age of honoring] studied with my father Dvaipâyana Vyâsa by myself.
At the end of the Dvâpara-yuga, I studied this great supplement of Vedic literature named S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam, which is equal to all the Vedas, from my father, S'rîla Dvaipâyana Vyâsadeva. (Vedabase)
In spite of being fully realized in transcendence my attention was drawn towards the enlightened verses on the pastimes, o saintly King, of which I studied the content.
O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence, yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who is described by enlightened verses. (Vedabase)
Those I will recite to you, as you from your good self are a most sincere devotee - they who give full respect and attention very soon are the cause of an unflinching faith in Mukunda [Krishna as the Lord granting liberation].
That very S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam I shall recite before you because you are the most sincere devotee of Lord Krishna. One who gives full attention and respect to hearing S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam achieves unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord, the giver of salvation. (Vedabase)
Of those free from material desires, of those who are desirous ànd of all who free from fear and doubts are united within [the yogis], o King, is it to the decided truth of the Lord His holy name that one is ['always'] singing in succession.
O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge. (Vedabase)
What is there better, to the bewildered in the inexperienced of their many years in this world, than a moment of consciously trying for the matter of the supreme interest?
What is the value of a prolonged life which is wasted, inexperienced by years in this world? Better a moment of full consciousness, because that gives one a start in searching after his supreme interest. (Vedabase)
The saintly king known as Khatvânga, knowing that the duration of life in this world is but a moment, set aside everything and experienced the full safety of the Lord.
The saintly King Khatvânga, after being informed that the duration of his life would be only a moment more, at once freed himself from all material activities and took shelter of the supreme safety, the Personality of Godhead. (Vedabase)
O, member of the Kuru-family, therefore also your life's duration limited to seven days should inspire you to perform everything that traditionally belongs to the rituals for a next life.
Mahârâja Parîkshit, now your duration of life is limited to seven more days, so during this time you can perform all those rituals which are needed for the best purpose of your next life. (Vedabase)
Seeing the end of one's life one should be free from the fear of death in cutting, by means of the weapon of non-attachment, with all desires, as well as with everybody associated with them.
At the last stage of one's life, one should be bold enough not to be afraid of death. But one must cut off all attachment to the material body and everything pertaining to it and all desires thereof. (Vedabase)
Piously self-controlled having left one's home for a sacred place, one should, properly cleansed and purified, seat oneself poised, in solitude according the regulations.
One should leave home and practice self-control. In a sacred place he should bathe regularly and sit down in a lonely place duly sanctified. (Vedabase)
Text 17
The mind should be set to the practice of the three transcendental letters [A-U-M], and thus one attains, without forgetting the seed of the absolute [Brahman, the impersonal spirit], to the control of the Supreme by regulating the breath.
After sitting in the above manner, make the mind remember the three transcendental letters [A-U-M], and by regulating the breathing process, control the mind so as not to forget the transcendental seed. (Vedabase)
For the sake of the virtue, being fixed in meditation, withdraw the mind from the senses their engagement, for, being absorbed in fruitive labor, the intelligence tends to be driven by the mind.
Gradually, as the mind becomes progressively spiritualized, withdraw it from sense activities, and by intelligence the senses will be controlled. The mind too absorbed in material activities can be engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead and become fixed in full transcendental consciousness. (Vedabase)
Concentrating, without losing sight of the complete, the mind thereafter on the different parts and divisions [of the body as also of the logic], one should consequently not think of anything but the feet of that Supreme Vishnu, the reconciler of the mind.
Thereafter, you should meditate upon the limbs of Vishnu, one after another, without being deviated from the conception of the complete body. Thus the mind becomes free from all sense objects. There should be no other thing to be thought upon. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, is the Ultimate Truth, the mind becomes completely reconciled in Him only. (Vedabase)
By the passion and inertia of nature the mind is always agitated and bewildered, but one will find that rectified in the concentration of the pacified that destroys all the wrong done.
One's mind is always agitated by the passionate mode of material nature and bewildered by the ignorant mode of nature. But one can rectify such conceptions by the relation of Vishnu and thus become pacified by cleansing the dirty things created by them. (Vedabase)
Being fixed in the habit of such systematic remembrance the mystics holding on to this devotion will soon attain to success in the shelter of the yoga that sees this as all-good'."
O King, by this system of remembrance and by being fixed in the habit of seeing the all-good personal conception of the Lord, one can very soon attain devotional service to the Lord, under His direct shelter. (Vedabase)
"The king, attentive to what was said, asked: 'O brahmin, what is in short the idea of where and how a person must engage in or hold on to, to escape without delay from a polluted mind.'
The fortunate King Parîkshit, inquiring further, said: O brâhmana, please describe in full detail how and where the mind has to be applied and how the conception can be fixed so that the dirty things in a person's mind can be removed. (Vedabase)
S'rî S'uka said: 'From the controlled sitting and breathing, one's association to the senses about the gross matter of the Supreme Lord His features, must engage the thinking intelligently.
S'ukadeva Gosvâmî answered: One should control the sitting posture, regulate the breathing process by the yogic prânâyâma and thus control the mind and senses and with intelligence apply the mind to the gross potencies of the Lord [called the virâth-rûpa]. (Vedabase)
His individual body is this gross material world wherein we experience all past, the present and future of this universe its existence.
This gigantic manifestation of the phenomenal material world as a whole is the personal body of the Absolute Truth, wherein the universal resultant past, present and future of material time is experienced. (Vedabase)
This outer shell of the universe known as a body with seven coverings [fire, water, earth, sky, ego, noumenon and phenomenon, see also kos'as], is the conception of the object of the Universal Form of the purusha as the Supreme Lord.
The gigantic universal form of the Personality of Godhead, within the body of the universal shell, which is covered by sevenfold material elements , is the subject for the virâth conception. (Vedabase)
The lower worlds are recognized by the ones who studied it as the soles of His feet [called Pâtâla] to which His heels and toes are called Rasâtala, His ankles Mahâtala while the shanks of the gigantic person are called the Talâtala worlds.
Persons who have realized it have studied that the planets known as Pâtâla constitute the bottoms of the feet of the universal Lord, and the heels and the toes are the Rasâtala planets. The ankles are the Mahâtala planets, and His shanks constitute the Talâtala planets. (Vedabase)
The two knees of the Universal Form are called Sutala, the thighs Vitala and Atala and the hips are named Mahîtala, o King, while outer space is taken to be the depression of His navel.
The knees of the universal form are the planetary system of the name Sutala, and the two thighs are the Vitala and Atala planetary systems. The hips are Mahîtala, and outer space is the depression of His navel. (Vedabase)
The higher illumined worlds are of His chest, with above it the neck called Mahar, His mouth called Jana while Tapas is the name of the worlds of the forehead with Satyaloka [the world of Truth] as the uppermost of the [middle] worlds of the Original Personality who has a thousand heads.
The chest of the Original Personality of the gigantic form is the luminary planetary system, His neck is the Mahar planets, His mouth is the Janas planets, and His forehead is the Tapas planetary system. The topmost planetary system, known as Satyaloka, is the head of He who has one thousand heads. (Vedabase)
The gods headed by Indra are His arms, the four directions are His ears and sound is His sense of hearing. The nostrils of the Supreme are the As'vinî-Kumâras [a type of demigods], while fragrance is His sense of smell and His mouth the blazing fire.
His arms are the demigods headed by Indra, the ten directional sides are His ears, and physical sound is His sense of hearing. His nostrils are the two As'vinî-kumâras, and material fragrance is His sense of smell. His mouth is the blazing fire. (Vedabase)
The sphere of outer space are His eyeballs while His seeing is the sun. The eyelids of Vishnu are the day and night, the movements of His eyebrows are the supreme entity [Brahmâ and other demigods], His palate is the director of water [Varuna] and His tongue is verily the nectarine juice.
The sphere of outer space constitutes His eyepits, and the eyeball is the sun as the power of seeing. His eyelids are both the day and night, and in the movements of His eyebrows, the Brahmâ and similar supreme personalities reside. His palate is the director of water, Varuna, and the juice or essence of everything is His tongue. (Vedabase)
They say that the vedic hymns are the thought process of the Unlimited One, that His jaws make up Yamarâja [the Lord of death], His teeth are His affection and that His smile is the most alluring unsurpassable material energy [mâyâ]; the material creation is but the casting of His glance.
They say that the Vedic hymns are the cerebral passage of the Lord, and His jaws of teeth are Yama, god of death, who punishes the sinners. The art of affection is His set of teeth, and the most alluring illusory material energy is His smile. This great ocean of material creation is but the casting of His glance over us. (Vedabase)
Modesty is His upper lip, His chin for sure the hankering, religion is His breast, and the way of irreligion His back. Brahmâ is His genitals, His testicles are the Mitrâ-varunas [the friends], His waist the oceans and the stack of His bones are the mountains.
Modesty is the upper portion of His lips, hankering is His chin, religion is the breast of the Lord, and irreligion is His back. Brahmâjî, who generates all living beings in the material world, is His genitals, and the Mitrâ-varunas are His two testicles. The ocean is His waist, and the hills and mountains are the stacks of His bones. (Vedabase)
His veins are the rivers and the plants and trees are the hairs on the body of the Universal Form, o King. The air is His omnipotent breathing, the passing ages are His movement and the reactions of the modes of material nature are His activities.
O King, the rivers are the veins of the gigantic body, the trees are the hairs of His body, and the omnipotent air is His breath. The passing ages are His movements, and His activities are the reactions of the three modes of material nature. (Vedabase)
Let me tell you that the hairs on the head of the Supreme Controller are the clouds, o best of the Kurus, and that the intelligence of the Almighty is the prime cause of the material creation, so one says. His mind, the reservoir of all changes, is known as the moon.
O best amongst the Kurus, the clouds which carry water are the hairs on His head, the terminations of days or nights are His dress, and the supreme cause of material creation is His intelligence. His mind is the moon, the reservoir of all changes. (Vedabase)
The material principle constitutes His consciousness, so one says, while Lord S'iva is the cause within. (His ego, His self) The horse, mule, camel and elephant are His nails, and all other game and quadrupeds are represented in the region of His belt.
The principle of matter [mahat-tattva] is the consciousness of the omnipresent Lord, as asserted by the experts, and Rudradeva is His ego. The horse, mule, camel and elephant are His nails, and wild animals and all quadrupeds are situated in the belt zone of the Lord. (Vedabase)
The singing of the birds is His artistic sense and Manu, the father of man forms the contents of His thought with humanity as His residence. The angelic and celestial beings [the Gandharvas, Vidyâdharas and Caranas] constitute His musical rhythm while the remembrance of terrorizing soldiers represents His prowess.
Varieties of birds are indications of His masterful artistic sense. Manu, the father of mankind, is the emblem of His standard intelligence, and humanity is His residence. The celestial species of human beings, like the Gandharvas, Vidyâdharas, Câranas and angels, all represent His musical rhythm, and the demoniac soldiers are representations of His wonderful prowess. (Vedabase)
With the intellectuals [brahmins] for the face and the rulers [kshatriyas] for the arms of the Universal Form, are the traders [vais'yas] the thighs and the laborers [s'ûdras, the dark or 'krishna'-class] those who are protected by His feet. Through the various names of the demigods He overtakes with the provision of feasible goods [that appease Him] through the performance of sacrifices.
The virâth-purusha's face is the brâhmanas, His arms are the kshatriyas, His thighs are the vais'yas, and the s'ûdras are under the protection of His feet. All the worshipable demigods are also overtaken by Him, and it is the duty of everyone to perform sacrifices with feasible goods to appease the Lord. (Vedabase)
I explained all these locations in the Form of the Supreme Lord to you so that anyone who may concentrate the mind on this virâth-rûpa can attain through intelligence, as beyond Him as such there is nothing else to be found in the gross of matter.
I have thus explained to you the gross material gigantic conception of the Personality of Godhead. One who seriously desires liberation concentrates his mind on this form of the Lord, because there is nothing more than this in the material world. (Vedabase)
He who from all realization knows everyone as the Supersoul as much as a dreamer sees it, is the one and only Supreme Truth and ocean of bliss. Towards Him one should never worship anything else or else see oneself degraded by attachments.'
One should concentrate his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who alone distributes Himself in so many manifestations just as ordinary persons create thousands of manifestations in dreams. One must concentrate the mind on Him, the only all-blissful Absolute Truth. Otherwise one will be misled and will cause his own degradation. (Vedabase)
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