1. Brahma, accompanied by his offspring like Sanaka, and the Prajapatis and celestials, came to Dwaraka one day. Bhava – Sri Parmeshwara, who is aware of the past and the future, also came to Dwaraka with his following of demi-gods.
2-4. Prompted by their keen desire to behold Krishna of the world-enchanting form, whose holiness had reverberated the worlds over, there came to Dwaraka a host of other celestials, too, including the Maruts, Indra with the other sons of Aditi, the eight Vasus, Aswini-Devas, Ribhus, Angirasas, Rudras, Viswe-Devas, Saadhyas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Nagas, Siddhas, Charanas, Guhyakas, Rishis, Pitris, Vidyadharas and Kinnaras.
5. In the city of Dwaraka, resplendent with riches and prosperity, they saw the wondrous form of Krishna and looked at him for long with un-winking eyes, un-satiated.
6. After almost covering the noblest one of Yadu’s lineage with heaps of garlands made of celestial flowers, they began to extol Krishna, the Lord of all worlds, in praise.
7. ‘Oh Lord! The devotees seeking liberation from the bondage of karma can only meditate with devotion on Thy lotus feet in their hearts. But we have, in reality, been allowed to adore them with our senses, vital forces, mind, intellect and words.
8. Oh unconquerable Lord! Remaining as the inner-controller of Thy Maya with its three gunas, Thou art creating, preserving and dissolving in Thyself this universe of unimaginable vastness and mystery. Still Thou art not in the least bound by these works, because Thou art ever established in Thy inherent bliss, uncorrupted by passions.
9. Oh praise-worthy one and the Lord of all! Men of impure mind striving through meditation, learning, charity, austerity and rituals fail to attain the purity of mind attained by yogis who ever listen to Thy sportive deeds and excellences.
10. Thy feet are meditated upon in ecstatic love by contemplatives for attainment of salvation; Thy feet are worshipped by devotees as those of one or the other of the four Spirits (vyuhas) as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha for attainment of equality with Thee in divine glory; Thy feet are adored by the seekers after Truth at the three sandhyas. May those very feet become the fiery force for annihilation of all our sins?
11. Thy feet are contemplated upon by sages while performing Vedic rites; Thy feet are meditated upon by yogis seeking psychic powers such as asta-siddhis; Thy feet are worshipped by devotees in pure love, seeking no worldly gains. May those very feet become the fiery force for annihilation of all our sins?
12. Just as a wife gets annoyed with another wife of her husband occupying her place, Sri Devi is much concerned to see that her seat, Thy chest, is occupied by the garland of wild flowers offered by Thy devotees, illumining Thy whole form. But unconcerned by Thy consort’s attitude, Thou continue to retain the floral garlands of Thy devotees and receive more of them joyfully. May Thy feet decorated with the floral wreaths become the fiery force for annihilation of all our sins?
13. Oh worshipful Lord of unlimited powers! May our sins be effaced and ourselves purified by Thy feet which covered all the worlds in three strides – the feet that signify victory of good over evil.
14. May our welfare be looked after by the adorable feet of Thine, the Supreme Being whose potencies control the destinies of all the mutually conflicting embodied beings from Brahma downward, even as cattle breeders control cattle by their nose-string?
15. Thou art the material cause for all the worlds to rise, remain in manifestation and then dissolve. The Veda speaks of Thee as the instrumental cause for creation of the perceived universe. Thou art the wheel of Time that moves with incredible speed driving all to their annihilation. Thou art verily the Supreme Being, the eternal, all-pervasive and infinite consciousness.
16. The Purusa – the Cosmic Being deriving His power from Thee bears, in association with Yogamaya, the Mahatattva, which is the universe in embryo. With continuing association with Maya, the Purusa projects the universe, the cosmic shell (egg), brilliant and covered with a shelter of sheaths.
17. Oh Hrishikesa! Lord of all senses! All the experiences, joyful and otherwise, that the play of Maya pours on Thee through sense contacts fail to involve and bind Thee. Even when Thou art in the enjoyment of these objects, they do not affect Thee in the least, whereas others, even while keeping themselves aloof from them, live in constant dread of their influence. Thou art, therefore, the master of the whole universe, moving and unmoving.
18. No wonder, then, that all Thy sixteen thousand and more wives could not produce even the least excitement in Thy mind by their charming glances and ravishing smiles, conveying their mystic love for you.
19. The two streams flowing from Thee – the hymns and songs eulogizing Thy divine sportive deeds and the river Ganges carrying the water that has washed Thy feet – have the power to destroy the sins of the whole world. The sages following the commandments of the Veda are immersed in these streams by way of contemplating the Vedic hymns, and bathing in the holy waters of the Ganges.
Sri Suka said:
20. Brahma, having thus extolled Govinda, stationing himself in the sky after making due prostrations, along with Parameshwara and the celestials, addressed the Lord as follows.
Brahma said:
21. Oh Lord! In times gone by, we came to Thee praying that the Earth-deity be relieved of her burden of evil men. Oh Soul of the worlds! Thou hast truly accomplished this.
23. Thou hast established dharma in the minds of men who venerate Truth. Thou hast spread Thy sanctifying fame all the worlds over. Born in the lineage of Yadu, with a form of un-paralled beauty, Thou hast engaged in various sportive actions for the good of the world.
24. Oh Lord! By hearing and singing about Thy divine and sportive actions, men, in the age of Kali, would get purified and easily overcome the darkness of ignorance.
25. Oh Lord! Thou Supreme Being! It is now one hundred and twenty five years since Thou incarnated in the clan of the Yadus.
26. Oh Thou, the support of the universe! Thou hast now accomplished all that has been sought by Devas, and there is nothing more for Thee to accomplish. By the curse of the holy men, even the clan of the Yadus is on the verge of extinction.
27. So, if Thou thinkest it fit, may Thou be pleased to come back to Thy transcendental abode? Protect us, Thy servants, appointed as guardians of the world.
Sri Bhagawan said:
Bhagawan is described as one having bhaga or majesty. The bhaga or majesty is described as six-fold – omnipotence, virtue, glory, beauty, omniscience and non-affectedness. The full manifestation of all these six excellences is called bhaga. He who is distinguished by these excellences is the Bhagawan. For the Vaishnava Puranas – and the Bhagavata is one such – Mahavishnu, including all His emanations and incarnations, is the Bhagawan.
28. Oh Brahma! Leader of the celestials! I have already decided upon the course you have suggested. I have fulfilled all your wants, and I have lightened the burden of the earth.
29. The Yadava clan is now proud and domineering because of its plentiful wealth supported by strength and courage. The Yadus would have overrun the whole world, had I not been holding them within bounds, as the shore halts the advance of the sea.
30. If I go away leaving behind this powerful and over-bearing clan of Yadavas, they will ruin the society by their unrestrained excesses.
31. Their destruction has already commenced with the curse pronounced on them by the sages. After their annihilation, I shall go to your abode of Satyaloka on my way to Vaikuntha – my own abode.
Sri Suka said:
32. Thus told by Krishna, the Lord of the universe, Brahma and the celestials prostrated before Him and departed to their respective abodes.
33. Afterwards, portents foreboding evil began to appear in Dwaraka and, to the elders of the Yadava clan who went to him to report about this, the Lord said thus.
Sri Bhagawan said:
34. Alas! These evil portents are appearing everywhere here. And we have the curse of the sages hanging over us, threateningly.
35. Oh respected sirs! If we love our lives, we shall not stay here any longer. We shall immediately go to the holy place of Prabhasa.
36. It was by bathing there that the moon, cursed by Daksha Prajapati to be affected by phthisis, got over the effects of the curse, and had all the digits restored.
37-38. We shall bathe in those waters, offer libations (tarpana) to the manes and the divinities, feed brahmanas sumptuously and give gifts liberally to worthy men. With these offerings as our life boat, we shall cross the ocean of this misfortune.
Sri Suka said:
39. Oh King! Directed by the Lord in this way, the Yadavas decided to leave for Prabhasa, and got ready their chariots harnessing horses to them.
40-41. Witnessing all the terrifying portents and listening to the word of the Lord, Uddhava, his constant attendant and follower, approached Krishna in solitude and spoke to him with joined hands, after making due prostrations.
Uddhava said:
42. Oh Thou Lord of all divinities! Thou master of yoga whose holy name is a blessing to those who hear it! Thou art getting ready to quit this world after bringing about the annihilation of this clan of the Yadavas. Though capable of warding off the curse of the holy men, Thou didst nothing to neutralize it.
43. Oh Kesava! My Lord! To remain even a moment without Thee is impossible for me. Therefore, deign to take me also to Thy realm with Thee.
44. Oh Krishna! Hearing about Thy holy and auspicious deeds – veritable ambrosia for the ear, even common people have begun to feel everything else as insipid.
45. How can then we, Thy devotees, bear separation from Thee whom we have been serving our whole life – while sitting and lying, while walking and standing, while eating and playing?
46. We, Thy servants, are sure to get over Thy Maya through Thy service, putting on ourselves the remnants of what Thou hast used of sandal-paste, flower-garlands, clothes, decorations, and eating the remnants of the food of which Thou hast partaken.
47. There are other ascetics who have nothing more than the clothes they wear, ever engaged in spiritual disciplines and practising unbroken continence. These pure, serene and all-renouncing sages attain to Thy realm - the un-decaying Brahman.
48. Oh Thou, the greatest of yogis! As far as we, wandering on the path of karma (work), are concerned, we shall cross the impenetrable darkness of ignorance by absorption in conversations with fellow devotees on Thy deeds and excellences.
49. We shall easily get over the impenetrable darkness of ignorance remembering and extolling Thy ways in human embodiment – Thy deeds, teachings, Thy world-enchanting gait, etc.
Sri Suka said:
50. Oh King! Being appealed to, this way, the worshipful Lord, the son of Devaki, spoke as follows to his dear servant and whole-hearted devotee Uddhava.
II
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. What you have said about my intention to depart from this world to my abode is, indeed, true. Brahma, Parameswara and other divinities, too, are desirous of this.
2. I have accomplished all the purposes of Devas for which, at the request of Brahma, I incarnated in part (with Balarama as the other part).
3. This clan of the Yadavas, doomed by the curse of the holy men, will perish through mutual strife among its members. And this city of Dwaraka will be inundated by the sea on the seventh day from now.
4. On My ascension to My abode, this world, denuded of its good fortune, will be subject to the sway of Kali, the spirit of the evil age.
5. After I have left it, do not stay in this land. For, in the age of Kali that is to follow, men will all be unrighteous in their outlook.
6. Abandoning all attachment to your own people and relatives, take refuge in Me and wander about the world seeing My Presence in everything.
7. Know this world, grasped by the mind, speech, sight, sound and other senses to be unsubstantial and transitory, like a mental projection in a magic show.
8. For the man of uncontrolled mind, there is the erroneous perception of multiplicity; a person with such perception is subject to the notion of good and evil. And for one with that notion arises the distinction among ordinary action, inaction and prohibited action.
9. Therefore, with the mind and the senses controlled, you must see the world in the Atman and the all-pervading Atman in Me, the Supreme Lord.
10. One who is endowed with the knowledge of the scriptures and enlightened, who sees the Atman in everything and is full of the joy of the Spirit, meets with no obstruction from any source.
11. Even when one has transcended the distinction between the harmful and the favourable, one avoids the harmful not because of the compulsion of scriptural injunction; nor does one promote the favourable because it is advantageous. One’s reactions are spontaneous and un-motivated, like those of an infant.
12. Illumined, peaceful and established in universal benevolence, one sees the Lord as the essence of the world, or recognizes the whole of the manifested existence as the Divine Soul, and becomes free from the travails of samsara.
Sri Suka said:
13. Being thus addressed by the worshipful Lord, Uddhava, the great devotee and aspirant of the knowledge of Truth, said to Achyuta, with due prostrations.
Uddhava said:
14. Oh Thou bestower of the fruits of yoga! Oh Thou the wealth of yogis! Oh Thou who revealeth Thyself through yoga! Oh Thou the originator of yoga! Thou hast, for my spiritual advancement, instructed me to abandon all attachments through renunciation (sanyasa).
15. Oh all-powerful One! The abandonment of all objects of desire is very difficult for those who are in the midst of enjoyment. I think it is well-nigh impossible for those who have no devotion to Thee, the soul of all.
16. The ignorant fool that I am, Maya has bound me with the feeling that I am the body, and all those connected with it are mine. Oh worshipful Lord! Instruct me, Thy servant, how I can achieve that abandonment of all attachments commended by Thee.
17. There are none except Thee even among the divinities who are capable of instructing me about that Atman which is the self-effulgent and self-conscious Truth. For, as far as this subject is concerned, all embodied beings including Brahma are confounded owing to Thy Maya which makes them feel that what is external alone is true.
18. Therefore, buffeted by the difficulties of worldly life and thereby filled with disgust for the same, I seek refuge in Thee, Narayana, the friend of the Jiva – Thou who art pure, infinite, all-knowing and the Lord of all, and art established in the eternal Vaikuntha.
Sri Bhagawan said:
19. Generally speaking, persons endowed with the capacity to investigate the truth of things, lift themselves from the evils of instinctive life by their own discriminative power. They need no teacher to guide them in this regard.
20. While even all lower creatures are to some extent capable of looking after their own welfare, man, who is endowed with intelligence and discriminative power, can surely be his own teacher. For, by observation and inference, he is able to understand what contributes to his ultimate good.
21. When a Jiva obtains a human birth, and treads on the path of knowledge and devotion, it clearly understands Me, the Supreme Spirit endowed with all powers.
22. Many are the types of bodies created – some with one, two, three or four legs, some with many more legs, and some with no leg at all. Of all these, the human body is the dearest to Me.
23. Unable to find Me, the Pure Spirit, by sense perception, earnest spiritual aspirants seek Me in this body through presumption and inference. The presumption is that the intellect (buddhi) and the other instruments functioning in the creation of knowledge are in themselves lifeless. The existence of consciousness in them can be explained only by accepting a consciousness behind them. The inference is that the intellect (buddhi) and the senses are in the nature of instruments. They must be functioning for the purpose of an intelligent agent.
24. In illustration of this, great men cite an ancient anecdote in the form of a conversation between Dattatreya, the Avadhuta of blazing spiritual power and King Yadu.
25. King Yadu, a knower of dharma, once met this Avadhuta wandering everywhere fearlessly as he chose. He was young, and bore the signs of the highest enlightenment.
Kind Yadu said:
26. Oh holy one! Though possessed of great wisdom, you are found merely roaming about the world like a young boy. How then could you, who do not do any work, cultivate the outlook which requires great training?
27. Men are found to engage themselves in the observance of duties, and in pursuit of wealth, pleasures and moral values. In all this activity, they are motivated by their desire for longevity, fame and prosperity.
28. You are strong, learned, capable, handsome and eloquent. But you show no desire for anything, nor do you care to do any work. You merely wander about sometimes like a senseless man, sometimes as one inebriated, and sometimes like one possessed.
29. While all men are being burnt in the fire of sexual craving and greed, you remain unaffected like an elephant that has plunged into the waters of the Ganges.
30. Oh holy one! Kindly tell me what it is that fills your heart always with joy, though you are without any object of sense enjoyment and are without any companion, and alone.
Sri Bhagawan said:
31. Being thus questioned, after due prostrations and in all humility, by King Yadu who was highly intelligent and devoted to holy men, the Avadhuta told him as follows.
The Avadhuta said:
32. Oh King! I have several gurus whom I have mentally accepted as such. Learning many lessons from them, I have become free from desires and bondage, and am roaming about the earth at large. Listen about those gurus.
33-35. There are twenty four gurus who I have had access to. From their ways and characteristics, I have learnt the lessons. These twenty four are: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, sun, moon, Kapota (dove), python, ocean, river, moth, honey-bee, elephant, honey-gatherer, deer-fish, Pingala the courtesan, Kurara (osprey), maiden, arrow-smith, snake, spider and wasp.
36. Oh grandson of Nahusha! Listen now which guru taught me what and how.
37. A man of self-control should not move away from his chosen path even when attacked by beings under the sway of their primordial tendencies, knowing it to be due to their own destiny (prarabdha). This lesson I learnt from the earth.
38. Further, a spiritual aspirant should learn from the mountains on the earth and the trees on them to strive selflessly for the good of others, and find the meaning of his existence in such striving. Becoming a disciple of trees, he should live for others.
39. The sage should be satisfied with as much of food as is required to keep him alive, his knowledge bright, and the faculties of his mind and senses intact. He should not crave for tasty food.
40. Even if a yogi happens to be in contact with sense-objects of various descriptions, he should remain like air, untouched by the good and the bad effects of such contacts.
41. A yogi, who is established in the Atman (Consciousness), even if he is embodied in a material body and performs various functions appropriate to such body, is never affected by the sense-objects, as air is not affected by the odour it carries.
42. Identifying himself with the Brahman, the sage should realize that, like the sky, the Self (the Atman) is un-circumscribed and unaffected by the body, because the Self indwells all beings moving and unmoving, and because IT is an invariable presence everywhere in all beings.
43. Just as the clouds wafted by the wind do not affect the sky, so the Atman is not tainted by abidance in the body which is a combination of the various elements like fire, water and earth into which the gunas of Prakrti evolve when stirred into activity by Time.
44. Pure, holy, naturally loving and sweet, the sage exercises a sanctifying influence on men in which respect he resembles the holy waters of the Ganges which purify men by sight, contact and praise.
45. Impressive and replenished by the fire of penance (tapas), inviolable in his greatness, having no possessions – not even a bowl but only his stomach as a receptacle for food – eating anything and everything offered, the sage, who is ever in communion with the Brahman, remains unpolluted like the all-consuming fire.
46. Sometimes hiding his identity, sometimes revealing it as worthy of worship by those desiring their own welfare, the sage consumes the food offered by house-holders in order to burn their past and future sins, as fire does with all objects put into it.
47. This world, which is of the nature of cause and effect, has been created by the all-powerful Lord by His power Maya. He has entered into it, and is manifesting Himself in different forms through the adjuncts of the body-mind, just as fire does residing in the fuel.
48. The changes that Time, the inscrutable, brings on an individual from the time of conception to the events at the cremation ground, affect only the body and not the atman, just as the waxing and the waning of the moon are only of its digits and not of the moon itself.
49. The extraordinary speed of Time is, every moment, affecting the birth and death of the bodies that the Atman assumes, while the changes involved are not noticed, just like the emergence and subsidence of tongues of flame in a raging fire.
50. Just as the sun absorbs water with its rays and releases it in proper time as rain, so a yogi accepts objects of the senses with the senses, not for his own enjoyment, but to release them to the needy at proper time.
51. When the Atman abides in Itself, no difference is experienced; when IT abides in adjuncts, gross-minded people think IT as many. It is just like the one sun reflected in different adjuncts like pots of water, looked upon as many and diverse.
52. One should not have intense love for or attachment to anyone. Otherwise one will be subjected to excruciating suffering like the afflicted bird kapota of the story.
53. On the branch of a tree in a forest, a kapota had built its nest and had been staying in it with its consort for sometime.
54. Following the ways of householders, the kapota couple was bound together by intense love, their eyes and limbs, and thought closely united.
55. Ever inseparable in lying, sitting, moving about, standing, playing and eating, they merrily spent their time in sporting amidst the trees, without the least suspicion of any danger overtaking them.
56. Catering to the pleasures of and loved by its consort, the female bird had all its needs fulfilled, even under difficult circumstances, by the male kapota who, for want of self-control, was a slave to the female kapota.
57. When the time came for that faithful female bird to lay eggs for the first time, it did so in its nest in the presence of its consort.
58. In due time, thanks to the working of the mysterious power of Sri Hari, lovely fledglings with charming limbs and feathers came out of those eggs.
59. The fond parent birds brought them up with proper care, lost in love on hearing their chirpings and in distinct twitterings.
60. Those parent birds derived the highest delight to see their fluttering soft wings, their sweet sound, their immature movements, and their eager advance to meet them when they returned to the nest.
61. Infatuated by the Lord’s Maya, and bound together by strong bonds of love, they anxiously nourished their offspring.
62. One day they had gone out into the forest to collect food for their fledglings, and were away for a long time from their nest.
63. A fowler who was moving about in the forest happened to see these infant birds fluttering about their nest. He thereupon cast his net and caught them in it.
64. Thereafter, the kapota couple, ever enthusiastic about nourishing the offspring, returned to their nest with food for feeding the infant birds.
65. Seeing its young offspring crying, entangled in the fowler’s net, the female bird rushed to them, screeching in great distress.
66. Bound by cords of love by the Lord’s Yogamaya, the sight of her endangered offspring made the female bird doubly desperate with sorrow. Forgetful of the danger posed by the net and in spite of seeing its offspring’s condition, it rushed in only to be entangled in the net.
67. Seeing the perilous condition of its consort whom the male bird loved as much as itself, and of its offspring who were dearer to it than life, the male bird began to bemoan its fate.
68. It said: ‘Alas! Look at the great danger that my luckless, unfortunate self is in. I am not yet satisfied with the pleasures of life, nor have I gained the means for spiritual enlightenment in life henceforth. And now my home which is the means to attain virtue, wealth and pleasure is threatened with total destruction.
69-70. When my consort, so well-matched, obedient and faithful, has chosen to leave me alone in an empty home in order to go to heaven with its dear offspring, why should I live, alone and grief-stricken, in the empty nest devoid of my consort and offspring?’
71. Seeing them all entangled in the meshes of the nest and struggling in the throes of death, that male bird, senseless and grief-stricken, threw itself also into the net.
72. Having thus got all the birds, the kapota couple and the fledglings, the cruel fowler went home with them, fully satisfied.
73. Thus, a householder, whose senses are uncontrolled and mind restless, who is always engaged in the concerns of the family, runs the risk of perishing with the whole family like the kapota couple and its fledglings.
74. A person who, having attained human birth in which the doors of the mansion of salvation (mukti) lie open to him, still continues to be wholly attached to his home and worldly concerns like the birds mentioned above, is looked upon by great men as one who falls down into a bottomless abyss, after attaining to a great height.
III
1. Just as the heaven affords sensuous pleasures to creatures, so does the hell with suffering predominating. So a wise man should not hanker after sense enjoyment.
2. Whatever food comes to one by chance, whether it is tasty or not, adequate or inadequate, one should partake of it like a python without making any effort to obtain it.
3. If the seeker fails to get any food sometimes, he should not make an effort for it. Considering it as his prarabdha (destiny), he should lie quietly like a python making no search for it.
4. Though endowed with all powers of the senses, mind and body, the seeker should not engage in action, but lie quiet in his place, with his mind awake and vigilant in respect of his ultimate goal in life.
5. The muni (sage) should be like the ocean, still, calm but deep and profound, unfathomable, inviolable, boundless and unperturbed.
6. The sage whose mind is absorbed in the contemplation of Narayana is neither exhilarated by the plentiful supply of the objects of enjoyment, nor dejected in their absence, just like the ocean that keeps in its bounds, neither overflowing nor shrinking, irrespective of whether water flows in or evaporates.
7. At the sight of woman, the Lord’s instrument of delusion, the man of uncontrolled senses, attracted by her charms, falls into the blinding darkness of ignorance, just as the moth attracted by the glow of fire falls into it and perishes.
8. Woman, gold, ornaments, clothes, etc, the creations of Maya offer attraction to man as objects of enjoyment. Their infatuation deprives him of his discriminative vision and generates in him intense attachment to them. He thus becomes a victim to the sense objects as moths to fire, and perishes.
9. Following the way of the honey-gathering bee, the sage may collect small quantities of food from house to house, just enough for the upkeep of his body, without being a burden on the house-holders.
10. An intelligent man seeks the essential teachings of all scriptural texts of varying importance, just as a honey-bee sucks the essence only of flowers.
11. An ascetic should not store food secured as holy alms for the evening or for the next day. His palm should be his receiving plate and his stomach the preserving vessel. He should not accumulate food like the bee.
12. A mendicant should not store anything for the morrow. For, if he accumulates, he is likely to perish like the bee with the accumulated belonging.
13. An ascetic should not allow even his feet to be touched by a young woman. He should not allow even a wooden image of a woman to touch his feet. By such contact, he will get bound, as a male-elephant is entrapped through physical contact with a female-elephant.
14. A wise man should not go for intimacy with a woman as she may turn out to be the cause of his death at the hands of a more powerful rival, just as in the case of an elephant competing with another for a female.
15. The wealth accumulated by a miser without himself enjoying it or making charitable gifts of it is knocked away by someone who knows about it, just as the honey gathered by bees is taken away by the honey-collector.
16. The first portion of what a house-holder cooks with things procured with great difficulty for his household purposes is to be consumed by ascetics, just as the honey gathered by bees is first consumed by the honey-gatherer. For it is the duty of the house-holder to give the best portion of what he cooks as offering (bhiksha) to ascetics. An ascetic need not, therefore, worry about his food.
17. A forest-dwelling ascetic or a sannyasin should not listen to vulgar music, lest he should thereby get entangled. This he should learn from the example of the deer which is captured through the hunter’s imitative cry of the doe.
18. The Rishi Rishyasringa, the son of Mrigi, was enslaved by women and became a mere toy in their hands, because of witnessing their sensuous dances and listening to their songs and instrumental music.
19. Just as fish perish by trying to swallow the angler’s baited hook, so do men perish through the attraction of the palate which causes intense excitement to the mind.
20. By abstinence, wise men conquer all the senses except the palate whose craving becomes only intensified by such abstinence.
21. Even if a person has gained mastery over all the other senses, he cannot be considered a conqueror of the senses until he has subdued the palate. If the palate is conquered, all the other senses are as good as conquered.
22. Oh Prince! Once there lived a well-known courtesan named Pingala in the city of Videha. I learnt a great lesson from her. Listen.
23. Once dressed in all her finery, this libertine of a woman stationed herself outside the door, ready to receive any customer who wanted her service in privacy.
24. Viewing the passers-by, this greedy woman thought that some among them, beautiful and capable of paying handsomely, would come seeking her.
26. Potential clients came and went away, as that woman, whose livelihood came from purveying sex, always expected the arrival of some man still more wealthy and capable of making her a still more handsome payment. Motivated by greed, she used to wait outside, go in, and come out, again and again, thus foregoing sleep till midnight.
27. To her, thus despondent and downcast with unfulfilled greed, a great feeling of revulsion against worldliness came suddenly, making her thoughtful, and full of peace.
28. Hear from me the song that Pingala sang at the dawn of her renunciation, showing how dispassion proves to be a sword that cuts the bonds of desire in man.
29. Oh King! Just as one without illumination will not abandon the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, so also a man without dispassion will not give up, nay even desire to give up, the feeling that he is the body and nothing but the body.
Pingala said:
30. ‘Alas! See the enormity of ignorance of a woman of uncontrolled mind like myself! Under its promptings, I, the stupid woman that I am, have been seeking satisfaction of my passions through unworthy creatures looked upon as lovers.
31. Lo! Giving up the delighting and bounteous Lover seated closest to me in the heart, I, an ignorant woman, have been running after petty creatures that cannot fulfill my wants, but only purvey sorrow, fear, worry and delusion.
32. Alas! Vain and vile has been my struggle in life to gain a livelihood through prostitution – the most detestable way of life in which, by selling my body to lustful, miserly and despicable males, I hoped to gain wealth and pleasure.
33. Who else but a fool like me would approach as a lover, this hutment of a male body, having a bony ridgepole of a spine, rafters of ribs and pillars of limbs; roofed with a mantle of skin, hair and nails, rent with nine perpetually leaking bodily orifices, and filled with excreta, urine and other dirty things!
34. In this holy city of the Videhas, I, an impure woman, am the only fool who has been after objects of love other than the Supreme Lord Achyuta who gives Himself over to those who are devoted to Him.
35. The Supreme Being Achyuta is the friend, the inner-most essence, and the dearest of the dear of all beings. I shall dedicate my body, mind and soul to Him, and just like His consort Rama, seek delight in Him.
36. The delights of sex-life, as well as the men and Devas through whom these satisfactions are derived, are subject to origin and decay, and are at the mercy of hustling Time. What pleasures or protection have such beings conferred on women who satisfy their lust?
37. By virtue of some good and pious work done in the past, the Lord Vishnu has now been gracious to me. Otherwise how can I, who have been greedy and vicious, now attain this spirit of non-attachment and renunciation which has conferred on me great joy!
38. If I were really an unfortunate woman devoid of the Lord’s grace, this misfortune of not getting handsome remuneration would not have befallen me, generating renunciation. It is through renunciation that man breaks the bonds of home, wealth, relatives, etc and attains to supreme peace.
39. Accepting the great blessing He has conferred on me, I give up here and now all my hankering after sense-pleasures and take refuge in Him, the Lord of all.
40. Satisfied with whatever I have and having unfailing faith in the Lord, I shall delight in the company of this Lover who is none other than the Atman.
41. Who else, except the Supreme Lord Mahavishnu, can lift up and save the Jiva that has fallen into the deep pit of transmigratory existence with its vision of discrimination blinded by sense-objects, and caught in the jaws of the serpent of Time?
42. One should realize that this whole universe is in the jaws of the serpent of Time. When, with this awareness, one becomes alert of one’s real situation in life, one develops renunciation. Then one’s own higher-self, the Paramatman becomes one’s saviour.
The Avadhuta said:
43. Resolving like this, Pingala gave up her perverse desire to attract customer-lovers, and went to sleep with a peaceful mind.
44. Desire is the source of the most poignant of sorrows, and desireless-ness of the most intense delight. Here is the example of Pingala as to how, on giving up her desire for customer-lovers, she could sleep happily.
IV
The Avadhuta continued:
1. The more a sense-object is considered desirable and sought after by men, the more is it a source of sorrow and suffering for them. A man who is aware of this and owns nothing including his body and his sense of identification with it attains to infinite joy.
2. An osprey (kurara) that was in possession of a piece of meat was attacked by other powerful birds which had no meat. When it gave up that piece of meat, it was at peace, being free from such attacks.
3. I care not for honour or insult, nor have I the worry of family, possessing house and children. Like a boy I roam about having my sport and joy in the Self only.
4. The child without any thought and purpose of action, and the sage that has transcended the three gunas of Prakrti are alone free from worry and anxiety, and immersed in joy.
5. In a certain place, some people arrived at a house with a proposal for marriage for a girl of that house. As all the elders of the house-hold had gone out elsewhere, the girl herself received the visitors.
6. Oh King! For extending proper hospitality to them, the girl began to de-husk paddy in a solitary place. While doing so, the conch bangles on her arms made a loud sound by mutual impact.
7. The intelligent girl felt ashamed that the sound of the conch bangles – a poor girl’s ornaments, would betray the poverty of the house-hold. So she broke those bangles one after the other, except a pair on each arm.
8. Even these pairs of bangles on the arms produced noise while she continued de-husking. So she broke one more bangle on each arm. Then there was no sound, there being only one bangle on each arm.
9. Wandering as I do to learn truths directly from life in the world, I learnt the following lesson from that girl.
10. If too many people live together, quarrel will ensue. Even if there are only two, they spend time in conversation, and not in contemplation of the Atman. So I should travel alone, like the single bangle on the girl’s arm, conversing with none.
11. After gaining mastery over a sitting posture and the vital energy, one should try to fix the mind on a single object of meditation. Through dispassion, one should check all the outgoing tendencies of the mind, and through practice, its tendency to lapse into sleepy absorption. The mind should thus be held to the object of concentration with great vigilance.
12. The mind should be concentrated on that Being, by getting absorbed in which all tendencies of activity get gradually eliminated. Further, such meditation enhances sattva leading to the elimination of rajas and tamas which cause agitation and inertia in the mind. When this is accomplished, the mind subsides like the fire that has exhausted its fuel.
13. This state of mind is comparable to that of a smith making an arrow-head. His mind being fully concentrated on the arrow-head he is forging, he is unaware even of a King with his retinue passing by. Similarly, the sage whose mind is absorbed in the Atman is without any experience within and without, and of objects pertaining to such experience.
14. Like a serpent, the sage should be a lone wanderer, homeless, always vigilant, residing in caves difficult to recognize by externals, solitary and reserved in his utterances.
15. The life-span being very uncertain, it is a folly to undertake the painful task of building a house. Look at the serpent. It makes no home, but goes into the holes made by other creatures, and rests there happily. So a yogi should have no home of his own, but rest in the homes of others temporarily.
16-18. At the end of each cycle of creation (kalpa), Narayana, the sole Reality, dissolves, by means of His power of Time, the whole universe which His own Maya has created. The dissolution of the universe into the Supreme Being is the bringing of sattva, rajas and tamas – the three gunas of Prakrti into equilibrium. Narayana alone exists as the sole Reality, being Himself His own support, the substratum of all, and the Master of both Prakrti and Purusa. Transcending all relative existence, high and low, He exists as boundless Freedom and the ocean of Pure Consciousness-Bliss.
19. When the cycle of creation begins, Time, which is but His will, agitates His own Maya constituted of sattva, rajas and tamas, and manifests the Sutratman, the all-pervading Spirit known otherwise as Mahatattva.
20. He, the Sutratman formed of the three gunas, is looked upon by wise men as the Creator of this multi-faceted universe. This whole universe is threaded on Him, and the Jiva trans-migrates because of Him.
21. Just as a spider brings out its web from within itself, sports in it for a while and then withdraws it into itself, so does the Supreme Being bring out, manifest and withdraw the universe within.
22. On whatever object a person concentrates his mind, whether it be from love, animosity or fear, that person attains the state of that object.
23. The worm, placed in a hole by the wasp and continually frightened by its buzzing sound, turns into the shape of the wasp even without giving up its old body.
24. These are the lessons I have learnt from teachers. Now listen what I have learnt from my own body.
25. This body has been the teacher from whom I learnt the lessons of dispassion and discrimination. Through repeated birth and death, with incessant misery as its fruit, it has taught me dispassion. It is with the help of the body that I am able to reflect on truth and then practise discrimination. But I go about unattached to it as I am aware that this body belongs to others such as dogs and jackals that might feast on it after its death, if it is left to itself without cremation or burial.
26. Man supports his wife, children, cattle, servants, dependants and relatives with hard earned money, only to nurture this physical body. In the end, this body, nurtured with such great difficulty, perishes, leaving behind, like a tree, the seeds of future bodies in the shape of the effects of karma.
27. As a house-holder is harassed by the divergent pulls of each of his wives, man is attracted by each of his senses to its respective objects such as taste to taste-buds in the tongue, thirst to water, skin to pleasant touch, stomach to edible food, ear to pleasant sound, smell to fragrance, sight to objects of beauty, etc.
28. In the early stages of the cycle of creation, the Lord brought into existence by His power different types of beings such as trees, serpents, animals, birds, insects, fish, etc. Not satisfied with any of these forms, He felt pleased when He brought into existence the homo-sapiens endowed with intelligence suited for intuiting the Brahman – the Supreme Being.
29. This human body, which is attainable only after countless births in various species, is a very rare blessing that one could get. In spite of its impermanence, it is very precious as the knowledge of the Supreme Truth and other values can be had only through it. A wise man should, therefore, strive, as long as the body lasts, for the attainment of the ultimate good – liberation from the trans-migratory cycle. To act otherwise is a great loss, as sense enjoyments are possible in other bodies, too.
30. Learning many lessons in this way from several gurus, dispassion has dawned on me, and I have obtained the light of discriminative intelligence. So I am wandering in this world, established in the Atman, devoid of any attachments, and without any ego-sense or feeling of possession.
31. With one guru alone, knowledge may not be firmly and completely established. For, the subject is so profound that this very non-dual Brahman has been presented very differently by various rishis in the scriptures as acosmic and as the cause of all causes.
Sri Bhagawan said:
32. So saying and much pleased, the sage Dattatreya, of deep understanding, took leave of the King Yadu after receiving the latter’s obeisance. As he came by chance, so he went away, with no particular destination in mind.
33. Instructed by the sage in this way, Yadu, the ancestor of my clan, became completely free from all attachments and established in equanimity.
V
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. Ever careful in the observance of the Bhagavata-dharma revealed by Me, and depending on Me, one should follow the traditions and practices of ones varna, ashrama and kula (clan or family) without personal motives.
2. A man of purified understanding should always reflect on how the actions of sense-bound people with an eye on the fruits of their action and an assumption of their ultimacy bring only contrary results in the end. Happiness which they seek always eludes, while suffering which they want to avoid always results.
3. The experiences of the man in the state of sleep and of the day-dreamer are without any substance, because of their unstable variety. The same is true with regard to the diversity of the objects experienced by the senses in the waking state.
4. One devoted to Me should perform works conducive to renunciation which consists in the daily and periodical rites of an obligatory nature, and works that form one’s duty and those that serve charitable purposes. One should avoid rites, rituals and works for the fulfillment of selfish ends. One who has firmly set one’s foot on the path of enquiry for realization need not care for the Vedic commandments on works.
5. The moral disciplines called Yama (sense-control) should be practised, and the rules of external conduct called Niyama should be practised to the extent possible under varying circumstances. One should seek a guru who has realized Me and serve him as if one were serving Me.
6. A person while serving such a guru should be humble enough to render all services, devoid of personal possessions and attachments, having cordial and loving relationship with the guru, calm and tranquil, keen in his quest for Truth, free from jealousy, and controlled in speech.
7. The Atman being the same in all, it is meaningless to think of any particular person or object as one’s own. Realizing this, a person should become detached towards his wife, children, house, lands, relatives, wealth, etc.
8. Just as fire, because it has burning and lighting properties, is different from the fuel it burns and illumines, so also the Atman, the self-luminous seer, is different from all objects seen, including the gross and the subtle bodies forming its instruments of perception.
9. Just as the fire with which the fuel is joined assumes all the conditions and properties of the fuel like origination, dissolution, smallness, brightness, manifoldness, etc., in the same way the Spirit within the body, though different from the latter, assumes, through identification with it, all the changes the body undergoes.
10. The Jiva’s involvement in samsara, consisting in recurring birth and death, arises from its identification with the subtle and gross bodies generated by the gunas of Prakrti. So the knowledge of the real nature of the Atman will put an end to Jiva’s entanglement in samsara.
11. Therefore, through enquiry, one should understand that the Spirit within is distinct and aloof from the body. Understanding this, one should deny the identification with the gross body, subtle body, etc, one after another.
12. The guru is the lower fire-stick, and the disciple the upper one. The churning stick introduced between them for producing fire is the instruction, and the fire produced, when churned, is the blissful illumination of knowledge arising from the instruction.
13. The pure fire of spiritual illumination thus imparted to the disciple effaces all the bondage caused by the gunas of Prakrti, as well as the gunas themselves, before it subsides, like the fire that has exhausted the fuel.
14-15. There is a view that there is plurality of the Jiva doing karma and enjoying the beneficent and baneful fruits, according to the nature of the karma performed. The world, Time, the Veda and the Jiva are all eternal. The objects of enjoyment are also eternal through their unending recurrence as a stream. Just like all other entities, consciousness too is ridden by plurality, as each apprehension comes into being, changes and perishes with each of the objects of perception.
16. If this view (of the Purvamimamsakas) is accepted, all Jiva will have to be subject to repeated birth and death, as they have to get repeatedly embodied from time to time in order to have continuous consciousness.
17. According to this doctrine, the Jiva that performs karma and reaps the fruits yielding enjoyment and / or suffering is without any freedom. What joy can there be for a slave?
18. Even wise men are not found being happy sometimes, nor are ignorant persons found always unhappy. Thus it is in the nature of things to have both happiness and misery in the embodied state. Vain, therefore, is the boast of the Vedic ritualists that by their rituals they can have pure happiness in an embodied state.
19. Even if their claim that they can secure joyous experiences and avoid painful ones is accepted, there still remains the fact that they, too, do not know how to ward off death.
20. How can wealth or pleasures make one happy, when one knows that death is near at hand? How can a condemned criminal, who is being led to the hangman’s scaffold, feel joy in pleasurable things?
21. The heavenly states we hear about as attainable hereafter are vitiated by the same evils as of this world – mutual antagonism, jealousy, surpassability and finality. Besides, like agriculture, its fruits are uncertain because of many obstacles, and even when obtained, they are not worthwhile, as they are time-bound.
22. Now listen how Vedic rituals, even if done without any obstruction or breach of procedure, yield only perishable results.
23. Performing a yagna by way of worship of a deity in this world, a Vedic ritualist attains to heaven, and like a celestial, he enjoys there the heavenly felicities for which he has made himself eligible by the performance of the Vedic rituals.
24. By virtue of the merits he has acquired, he finds himself in a brilliant mansion full of delightful objects of enjoyment, sports there amidst a bevy of handsomely dressed celestial damsels and enjoys the music of gandharva singers.
25. Sitting in the aerial vehicle having innumerable mini-bells and capable of carrying one wherever one wants, and steeped in and excited by the joy of amorous indulgence with celestial women, the Jiva lives oblivious of the imminent downfall that is in store for it.
26. It can enjoy the felicities of heaven only till the exhaustion of the effects of the meritorious actions making it eligible for the same. Immediately after the merits are exhausted, it will be forced to move to inferior regions, even against its will, by the power of Time.
27 - 28. There are other Jiva who give themselves up to unrighteous living due to the influence of evil company. They become enslaved to the senses, filled with desires, and dominated by greed and sexuality. They turn into persecutors of living beings. They make sacrifice of animals against scriptural commandments to elementals and ghosts. Such Jiva helplessly go to the purgatory where they undergo punishment, and are then reduced to the state of trees and vegetation covered with the darkness of tamas.
29. Performing with one’s body actions that bear evil fruits, one gets new bodies, in succession, generated by those evil actions for undergoing the suffering due to them. What happiness can there be in this way of life leading to birth and death repeated?
30. All the worlds and their protecting deities with the life-span of a kalpa live in fear of Me as Time. Even Brahma with a life lasting two parardhas lives in such fear.
31. The senses which are the products of the gunas of Prakrti perform actions; and it is the gunas that prompt the senses to action, not the Atman. The embodied being, the Jiva, enjoys the fruits of action by identification with the products of the gunas like the body and the mind.
32. Only as long as the evolutes of gunas like the ego-sense, the body, etc exist, there is the experience of plurality for the atman, and it is only so long as there is this plurality that the atman experiences bondage.
33. So long as there is absence of freedom resulting from the perception of multiplicity, Iswara, perceived as Time, the consumer of all is a terror to the Jiva. So the followers of the philosophy of ritualistic action, who emphasize the plurality of the Jiva, are bound to be obsessed with sorrow and fear arising from death.
34. When the creative cycle starts with the unsettling of the perfect equilibrium of the gunas, I am known in several aspects under different names such as Time (Kala), Atman, Scriptures (Agama), the World (Loka), Nature (Swabhava), Dharma, etc.
Uddhava said:
35. Oh Lord! The Atman may be without any adjuncts or coverings. But how can it be maintained that it is not bound when it is actually engaged in action in identification with adjuncts like the body and the senses? If it is naturally without this bondage to adjuncts like the body, how and when did it come to be so bound?
36. How can I recognize a being that is not bound and attached? How does he live? How does he behave? How can he be distinguished? How does he eat, evacuate, lie, sit and walk?
37. Oh Achyuta! Thou art the most competent to answer questions on such profound subjects! How can the same Atman be eternally bound and eternally free as seems to be taught? I am confused and confounded by such thoughts.
VI
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. The talk of bondage and liberation is in respect of the body-mind which is a product of the gunas, and not of the Atman itself. The gunas and their products are the result of My Maya. As the work of Maya does not affect Me, there is no bondage or liberation for the Atman in as much as it is a part of Me or one with Me. This is My teaching, the final authority on the subject.
2. Grief, infatuation, pleasure, pain, birth, and other experiences of the individual life are the projections of My Maya, just like the illusory projections of the Jiva in the dream state. They are not ultimately factual in respect of the Atman.
3. Oh Uddhava! Vidya (knowledge) and avidya (ignorance), causing liberation and bondage respectively to the Jiva from the beginning of creation are aspects of My Maya. They are My attributes.
4. Oh wise one! It is to the Jiva which is one with Me and also a part of Me, that beginning-less avidya causes bondage, and vidya liberation.
5. I shall first tell you about the difference between the Jiva and Iswara, the former bound and the latter free, occupying the same habitat, the body, but having conflicting attributes like sorrow and bliss.
6. Two birds, namely, Iswara and the Jiva, both friends through eternity, reside by chance as it were in the same nest on the same tree of the body. Of these, one bird, the Jiva, eats the fruits of that tree, while the other, Iswara, though not eating the fruits, thrives splendidly on the same tree.
7. Iswara, who entertains no desire to eat the fruits of action, knows His own nature, and that of the other, the world of objects as sat-chit-ananda. But the Jiva, who claims and enjoys the fruits of actions, knows nothing. Being engulfed in beginning-less avidya (ignorance), it is ever bound while Iswara, who is of the nature of vidya (knowledge), is ever liberated.
8. Just as a man who has awakened from sleep will have no identification with the dream body, so the illumined man, though still tenanting his body, will have no identification with it. So, though he is in the body, he is not of it. But the ignorant man, though, in truth, he has no connection with the body, considers himself as one with it, just as the dreaming man does in regard to the dream body.
9. When his senses which are the products of Prakrti grasp their objects, which too are products of Prakrti, the illumined man does not feel identified with those contacts, as he understands that the gunas of Prakrti as senses are only contacting the very gunas as objects. He remains unperturbed.
10. But the ignorant man residing in the body which is a product of one’s past action gets bound, thinking that what his senses are doing is being done by him.
11-12. But the man of dispassion is not bound or affected like the ignorant man, even while lying, sitting, waking, bathing, seeing, touching, smelling, eating and hearing. Though his senses are functioning, he remains a mere witness. Though he is seen in a body which is the product of Prakrti, he is unaffected by the body contacts just like the sky, the sun and the air. The sky, though all-pervading, is not affected by the objects it pervades. The sun, though reflecting in water, is not affected by the ripples of water. The wind, though moving everywhere, remains intact and unaffected.
13. With the powerful sword of insight sharpened by intense dispassion, the sage slashes away all doubts, and rejects all concern as to manifoldness, as an awakened man does with dream experiences.
14. He, whose vital power, senses, mind and intellect assume modes devoid of purposive motivation, is free. Though having a body, he is free from the domination of bodily qualities and urges.
15. A man of knowledge is impassive even when his body is persecuted by wicked men or, by chance, adored by others.
16. The sage will not lavish praise on persons who favour him by word or deed; nor will he be offended with others who do the contrary to him. A liberated sage is one who does not view experiences as favourable or un-favourable to himself, but remains even-sighted always.
17. Doing nothing, speaking little and devoid of reflection on worldly topics, good or bad, he goes about absorbed in the bliss of the Atman, but looking like a mad man to worldly-minded people.
18. A person may be learned in the scriptures; but if his mind is not absorbed in the Supreme Brahman through spiritual disciplines, his efforts are futile like those of a person who maintains a sterile cow.
19. Being steeped in sorrow is the fate of a man who keeps a cow that has ceased calving, maintains a wife who is unfaithful, keeps up a body that is enslaved to another, has a son who is useless and unworthy, accumulates wealth that is not purified by liberal gifts, and is endowed with learning and arts which are never used in the service of the Lord.
20. Oh friend! A wise man should never concern with barren literary gifts that are devoid of reference to, or not descriptive of, My glory expressed through creation, preservation and dissolution, and through My various sportive incarnations.
21. On the other hand, after eradicating the wrong perception of manifoldness in the Atman through proper investigation, an aspirant should withdraw himself from all other concerns and dissolve his purified mind in Me, the all-pervading Self.
22. If you are not able to make your mind absorbed in the Brahman in the manner described, then perform all your actions in dedication to Me, without any selfish motive.
23-24. Oh Uddhava! Listen with full faith to the glorious accounts of My deeds and sing about them in devotional hymns. Again and again remember and ruminate in your mind over My deeds and Me as the Divine Incarnate, and imitate them in high emotional identification. Depending completely on Me, convert all your worldly efforts – your pursuit of dharma, artha and kama – to serving Me as their goal. Following this way, you will gain firm and unwavering devotion to Me, the eternal Being.
25. Those who adore Me with devotion, generated by association with holy men, will easily attain to that spiritual goal revealed by wise men.
Uddhava said:
26. Oh Lord of holy fame! What kind of holy man (sadhu) dost Thou approve of, for association? And what kind of devotion has the approval of saints, and is pleasing to Thee?
27. Oh Thou master of all divinities! Oh Thou Lord of all spheres! Oh Thou Lord of the universe! Deign to explain these matters to me, Thy prostrating and deeply devout refugee.
28. Thou art the Supreme Brahman! Like ether, Thou art unaffected by anything; Thou art the Purusa transcending Prakrti; Thou art now incarnate in a body, divine and auspicious, out of Thy own choice without any extraneous compulsion.
Sri Bhagawan said:
29. A holy man is one who is kind, who does no one wrong, forbearing, fortified in truth, free from impurities of the mind, unperturbed in happiness and suffering, and ever-helpful to all to the best of his ability.
30. He is free from passions; he has mastery of the senses; he is pure, without possessions, non-attached, calm, firm, free from self-centred action, sparingly eating, dutiful and ever resigned to Me.
31. A holy man is ever awake, vigilant and self-possessed. He is courageous in all situations. He has conquered all the six weaknesses of the body. He expects no respect from others, but shows respect to all. He has inherent strength. He is friendly and kind to all. He is the truly learned.
32. He who, knowing fully well the merit of performing and the demerit of neglecting one’s swadharma (duties) ordained by Me in the Vedas, still abandons them for the practice of whole-hearted devotion to Me is the best of holy men.
33. Irrespective of whether one has knowledge of My infinity, My majesty and My attributes or not, if one worships Me whole-heatedly with the feeling that I am one’s ‘own’ and that one has no other support except Me, one is the greatest of My devotees.
34. The ways of devotion and worship are seeing, touching and worshipping My images and My devotees; praising, honouring and extolling My deeds and qualities;
35. steadfastness in listening to accounts of My deeds; meditating on Me always; offering to Me everything one gets; dedicating to Me, oneself, one’s kith and kin, and all one’s possessions in the attitude of a servant of Mine;
36. extolling Me and My deeds as the Incarnate; observing days holy to Me; holding celebrations in My temples to the accompaniment of songs, dance, instrumental music, and devotional gatherings;
37. organizing processions and making great offerings on the occasion of the annual temple celebrations; being initiated in My worship according to the Veda and the Tantra; observing the disciplines connected with days holy to Me like Ekadasi;
38. evincing zeal in consecrating temples, and in installing My images and providing them with proper flower gardens, groves of trees, recreation grounds, sheds, shelters, etc jointly with others or alone;
39. sweeping, cleaning, plastering and decorating My temples in an attitude of humility and sincerity as a servant; and
40. abjuring pride, hypocrisy and the tendency to advertise one’s own pious acts. The entire mentioned above are aids to the development of devotion. The objects once offered should not be offered again to Me, be it even the incense used in the ‘light-waving ritual’.
41. Whatever is considered precious and desirable by men in general and whatever are the dearest and the most precious to oneself alone should be offered to Me. By such offering, one will derive infinite good.
42. There are eleven centres in which My worship can be done. These are the sun, fire, holy man, cow, devotee, sky, air, water, earth, one’s own atman, and the collectivity of all living beings.
43. In the sun, I am worshipped through the chanting of Vedic mantras; in the fire, with sacrificial offerings; in a holy man, through hospitality; in a cow, by feeding it.
44. In a devotee, I am worshipped by honouring him as one’s dearest friend; in the sky of the heart, by meditation; in the air, by meditating on it as the life-breath; and in water, through libation with prescribed materials and water.
45. In the earth, I am to be adored by nyasa (ceremonial chanting of mantras); in one’s own body, by legitimate enjoyment as offering to Me residing in oneself; and in all beings, by seeing Me as the Spirit residing in them all.
46. In all these centres, one should meditate on My Form radiating peace, and having four arms sporting conch, discus, mace and lotus; and should worship with a controlled mind.
47. Whoever worships Me in these centres with a concentrated mind through ritual and whole-heartedly will get firm devotion to Me. The association with and service of holy men is, however, the most potent cause of intense devotion resulting in constant remembrance.
48. There is no easier way to eternal bliss than the practice of devotion generated by association with holy men. For, I am the sole support of the holy ones.
49. This is a highly profound and esoteric subject. Listen to this attentively. I shall expound it, as you are my dear and faithful servant and beloved friend.
VII
Sri Bhagawan said:
1-2. There are various types of spiritual disciplines like practice of the eight-limbed yoga, philosophical reflection, virtuous conduct, enquiry, Vedic study, practice of austerities, performance of work without desire for its fruits, performance of Vedic rites, philanthropic work, gifts, observance of vows and fasts, performance of yajnas, visiting pilgrim centres, chanting of esoteric mantras, and control of the mind (yama) and of the body (niyama). None of these helps the devotee so much as to win My favour, and bind Me to him as association with holy men, an association which eradicates all worldly attachments from the mind of man.
3-7. In different ages, many beings with rajas and tamas predominating in them – asuras, rakshasas, beasts, birds, gandharvas, apsaras, serpents, siddhas, charanas, guhyakas, vidyadharas, and among human beings unqualified persons like women, vaisyas, sudras and outcastes – all have attained to My Being by the power of holy association alone.
8. By devotion alone, generated through holy contact, many an ignorant being – the Gopikas, cows, trees, animals, serpents and the like attained to Me with ease.
9. Me, whom aspirants do not reach even by putting forth great effort by way of practising yoga, philosophical enquiry, charity, vows, austerity, sacrifices, Vedic study and formal renunciation, did they attain through holy contact.
10. After Akrura took Me and Balarama from Vraja to Mathura, these Gopikas, who entertained intense love and attachment to Me, were painfully distressed by separation from Me, and found nothing else in this world to give them solace.
11. Oh friend! Nights which they had passed like moments with Me, their most beloved one, when I had sported with them in Vrindavan, were later spent by them with the feeling that they were aeons.
12. The sages lose name and form while in samadhi, as do the rivers while merging in the ocean. Similarly, the intensely loving Gopikas lost in Me their separate existence, as also the awareness of their kith and kin whom one looks upon as one’s own, lost even the consciousness of the very body with which one identifies oneself.
13. Those women who did not know My real nature as the Lord of all were actuated by passionate love, and looked upon Me as their lover. But still in their hundreds they attained to Me, the Parabrahman, by the sheer power of their holy association with Me.
14-15. Oh Uddhava! Therefore, abandoning reliance on the scriptural injunctions and prohibitions, the ways of work and of renunciation, what you have learnt and what you yet hope to learn, surrender your entire being, body, mind and soul to Me the All-comprehending One, the Essence within all embodied beings. By that shall you be free from all fear, through My grace.
Uddhava said:
16. Oh Supreme Yogi! Hearing Thy words, the doubts in my mind are not getting cleared. On the other hand, I am getting more confounded.
Sri Bhagawan said:
7. The Supreme Spirit manifests Itself through the psychic centres of the spinal column. In association with prana as sound vibration (Nada-brahman), It enters the muladhara as para, and then assuming the vibrations of thought known as pasyanti and madhyama in the centres (chakras) known as Manipura and Visuddha, It finally manifests as audible sound with matra (syllabic time), swara (accent) and varna (audible sound) when It is known as Vaikhari.
18. Through proper friction and the aid of wind, the heat latent in the space within the fire-stick comes out as sparks, and afterwards when the sacrificial offerings are poured into it, it becomes a flaming fire. In the same way the whole realm of sound forms an expression of Me.
19. Just like the generation of sound, the actions of the hands, feet, anus and sex organ, as also the modes assumed by the sense organs, mind, the three gunas and Prakrti are all My expressions.
20. Iswara, the Soul of all, was in the beginning un-manifest and without a second. He, the support of the three gunas of Prakrti and the source of the world-lotus, manifests as the many by the diversification of His power-aspect under the influence of Time, just as a seed becomes a plant or a tree with many branches when put in the soil suited for its germination.
21. Just as a cloth subsists in its spread-out threads, so the world, permeated by Him like the warp and woof of a cloth, subsists in Him only and has no being apart from Him. Existing through eternity, this world-tree of the nature of works has been yielding the flowers of worldly enjoyment and the fruits of liberation.
22. This world-tree has two seeds in the form of merits and demerits. It has numberless roots in the countless tendencies. It has three stems in the three gunas of Prakrti. It has five boughs in the five elements. It has five saps in the five kinds of sense perceptions. It has eleven branches in the ten senses of perception and action, and the mind. It has two birds nesting in it, Iswara and Jiva. It has three layers of bark in the three humours of vata, pitta and kapha. It extends up to the solar sphere.
23. The vultures of the countryside eat one kind of its fruits causing sorrow and suffering. These are the worldly-minded, prompted by greed and lured by sensuous enjoyment. There are the swans in the habitat of forest which eat another kind of its fruits that brings happiness. These are men of renunciation and discrimination who seek liberation. He who understands, through the instruction and blessings of his guru, that the one Paramatman has by virtue of His Yogamaya manifested Himself as the many in various aspects understands the true purport of the Veda.
24. Thus, through the one-pointed devotion developed by service to guru, the axe of knowledge is sharpened. Cut open with it the ego-sense, the prison house of the Jiva, without wavering, and attain to the Supreme Purusa. After that you can discard even that weapon – even the practice of these disciplines, the mental mode of knowledge with which ignorance is overcome.
VIII
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. The three gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas do not belong to the Atman. They are the stuff of which the intellect (buddhi) is formed. By making the sattva into a powerful mode of mind, the modes of rajas and tamas can be overcome, and afterwards sattva as a mode should be reduced to its pristine state which is peace.
2. When sattva becomes powerful in one, it manifests that disposition which generates loving devotion to Me, the Atman. By association with everything that is of the nature of sattva, the disposition of sattva is augmented, and from that, supreme devotion manifests.
3. The dominance of the mode of sattva which is the summit of human evolution will absorb the modes of rajas and tamas, and when these are so absorbed, the sinfulness that they generate (hampering the growth of bhakti) will also disappear.
4. Scripture, water, man, place, time, action, initiation, meditation, mantra, purificatory rites and practices are the ten factors that regulate the growth of the gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas in man.
5. Whatever wise men commend as spiritually beneficial should be understood as sattva in nature. Whatever they condemn should be understood as tamas, and whatever they ignore as rajas.
6. For the development of sattva, man should associate himself with the ten sattva developing entities and substances. From that arise devotion and knowledge, and bondage gets effaced.
7. The fire generated by the friction of bamboos in a forest consumes the whole forest and then subsides. Likewise, the fire of knowledge kindled by the disciplines practised by the Jiva’s embodiment, which is a product of the gunas of Prakrti, ultimately destroys that very embodiment, and then subsides.
Uddhava said:
8. Oh Krishna! Men generally understand that the pursuit of sense objects leads to dangers and unhappiness. Still, how is it that they follow them like dogs, donkeys and goats, forgetting the suffering involved and the dangers ahead?
Sri Bhagawan said:
9. For the man of confused understanding, there arises the sense of absolute identification with the body. Where there is this identification, the mind, in spite of its origin in sattva, happens to be overcome by powerful rajas.
10. When the mind is seized with rajas, it makes plans for ends to be achieved and difficulties to be overcome. Such brooding over material objects and their attractiveness generates intense and irresistible desires in the mind of the perverse man.
11. A man of uncontrolled senses, dominated by desires, and infatuated by the fast flow of rajas, performs actions whose final end is well known to him, to be nothing but misery.
12. Suppose a man becomes subject to the agitation of the mind by rajas and tamas. Even then if he, without getting disappointed and dispirited, strives to perceive the evil of such sense-slavery and makes an effort to control the senses, he will succeed with the help of added strength generated through reflection.
13. Without carelessness and indolence, he should master posture and breath and, with patience, direct his mind to Me and make it centred in Me.
14. I instructed My disciple Sanaka and his group of sages that the highest form of yoga consists in drawing away the mind from all objects and concentrating it wholly in Me.
Uddhava said:
15. Oh Kesava! When and in what form did you give instruction to Sanaka and others? I wish to know all about it.
Sri Bhagawan said:
16. Sanaka and his group of sages, who were spiritual off-spring of Brahma, once asked their father about the very subtle aspects of yoga in its highest reaches.
Sanaka said:
17. “The mind drawn by desire naturally engages itself with sense objects. And sense-objects, by the force of tendencies, enter into the mind as impressions. Oh Lord! How then can a spiritual aspirant, striving to overcome the senses, hope to wean the mind away from the senses?”
18. Though Brahma is the Lord of all divinities, the self-born and the creator of all beings, he could not grasp the real issue involved in the question, as his mind was too much involved in his creative activities.
19. Brahma thereupon thought of Me to know the answer for the question, and I appeared to him in the form of a swan.
20. Seeing Me there, Sanaka and the other sages came near Me and saluted at My feet. Brahma, standing before us, questioned Me who I was.
21. Now listen what I said, on being questioned by those sages who were enquirers after the Truth.
22. I said: ‘Oh holy men! How is the question ‘Who am I?’ relevant, when the Atman in reality is not many? On what basis can I, therefore, answer your question?
23. Even if the question is with reference to the body, it is meaningless. The bodies of all beings, including those of the Devas, are made of the five gross elements. These elements are not separate from their ultimate cause, the Brahman. So all bodies are basically the same and cannot be distinguished from one another.
24. Whatever is grasped by the mind, words, eyes, and other sense organs, all that is Me. Know that there is nothing different from Me.
25. Oh children! The mind enters the sense objects, and the sense objects enter the mind as impressions. Both the mind and the body, with which the sense objects are in contact, are only the adjuncts which apparently clothe the Atman which is not different from Me.
26. The mind becomes bound by repeated contact with the sense objects, and the sense objects entrench themselves in the mind as sense impressions. Both these – the sense objects and their impressions – must be overcome by recognizing their identity with Me.
27. The states of sleep, dream and waking are modes of the individual consciousness only, and not of the atman. The Jiva is distinguished from them as the witness of these states.
28. As long as the atman is connected with the intellect (buddhi) by superimposition, so long will that connection involve the aspirant in the consciousness of the body and the mind, and the experiences gained through them. This involvement in matter can be overcome by recognizing the aspirant’s identity with Me in the fourth (turiya) state of consciousness which is the witness of the first three states.
29. The bondage to sense objects established by ahamkara – the identification with the intellect (buddhi) manifesting as the ego-sense – detracts the atman from the Truth, causing untold suffering. The wise man should, therefore, cultivate dispassion for this life of bondage and its experiences, and abandon all thoughts, dwelling in Me in the fourth state of consciousness.
30. So long as an aspirant has not overcome the sense of reality for the many, through discrimination and reasoning, he is only a dreamer, though all the while he is apparently awake. He is like a somnambulist who is asleep, but behaves like one awake.
31. All the entities other than the Atman are false. So the body and all the institutions associated with it, the ends and practices based upon the false multiplicity like the varnashrama-dharma, the duties and religious practices based on it, and the imagined heavenly regions attainable through these as stated in the Mimamsa are equally false like the objects seen by a dreamer.
32. He who enjoys through the senses the perpetually changing gross objects of the external world during the waking hours, he who enjoys the subjective impressions of the same world in dream; and he who in deep sleep withdraws from all perceptions and is aware of nothing external, is the one unitary self as proved by the continuing memory of all these states of consciousness. He is the witness and master of all these movements of the body and the mind.
33. In this way, let an aspirant come to the conclusion that all the three states of consciousness are the manifestation of the gunas of Prakrti brought about by My Maya within Me. Let him sharpen his sword of understanding by sound reasoning and the instructions of the wise. So fortified, let him cut asunder the very knot of doubt, and resign himself to Me residing in his heart.
34. Know that this world experience is false like the dream experience. It is as unreal as the ring of fire produced by a whirling fire-brand. The one Consciousness appears as the three states and their content. This world of diversity produced by the evolution of Prakrti is only the projection of Maya, My mysterious power.
35. Withdrawing attention from the false objective world, abandoning all ideas of enjoyment from any object of desire, and immersed in the bliss of Self, the aspirant should withdraw from all work and sit absolutely quiet. But the world of multiplicity rejected by him will be experienced now and then owing to the strength of tendencies acquired in the past. But it will not detract and involve him in any way, as he has lost the sense of reality for it. The memory will persist but only as of a dream, all through life.
36. Such a man of realization is not even conscious of the body with the help of which he has attained that state, whatever happens to it by the power of prarabdha, whatever it does, just as a heavily drunken man knows not whether the cloth he has worn is on his body or has fallen off.
37. So long as the prarabdha-karma that has led to the present embodiment lasts, the body will remain alive. But the man of knowledge, who has attained the state of samadhi, will view the body and the world connected with it as a man awakened from dream views his dream-experiences.
38. Oh learned ones! I have now given you the quintessence, the most hidden part of the teachings of yoga and Sankhya. Know Me to be Yajna (Mahavishnu) come here to instruct you in the science of the spirit.
39. I am the goal, the support, the sustaining force behind all great endeavours and values – Sankhya, Yoga, Truth in its absolute and relative forms, lustre, sublimity of beauty, fame and self-control.
40. All the great virtues (gunas) like equanimity, dispassion, etc have their support in Me, the Transcendent beyond the gunas of Prakrti, who depends on nothing else, who is the Self of all, and, therefore, the dearest well-wisher of all.’
41. Sanaka and other rishis of his group had all their doubts cleared by Me in this way. They then saluted Me, and extolled Me in great hymns.
42. After they had thus worshipped and extolled Me, I moved on to My realm, as Brahma and others looked on.
IX
Uddhava said:
1. Oh Krishna! The Vedic scholars speak of many means for spiritual advancement of man. Are they all alike in efficacy individually, or is any one discipline considered the chief?
2. Oh Lord! You have instructed that communion with Thee through love (bhakti), in which one is to abandon desire and attachment for everything else and concentrate one’s mind whole-heartedly and constantly on Thee, is an independent path requiring the help of no other path.
Sri Bhagawan said:
3. The Veda, which was lost at the time of Pralaya, was revealed by Me to Brahma at the beginning of the creative cycle. It is the Veda that contains the dharma, the way of life and disciplines, for directing the mind towards Me.
4. Brahma taught it to Swayambhuva, his son, and his group of seven sages known as the Saptarishis learned the Veda from Swayambhuva.
5-6. From these seven rishis, their off-spring consisting of Devas, asuras, guhyakas, men, siddhas, gandharvas, vidyadharas, charanas, kimdevas, kinneras, nagas, rakshasas and kimpurushas learnt it. According to the preponderance of the three gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas in them, they were of very diverse dispositions.
7. Because of the diversity of disposition, the forms, characters and ways of beings varied very much. So, following their own nature, their interpretation of the Vedas, too, is divergent.
8. Thus, because of the diversity of disposition in beings, their ways of thinking also vary. Some of them, though not instructed in the Vedas and their interpretation, hold to views inherited from ancestral traditions; while others, following their own nature, take to atheistic ways of thinking.
9. Oh noble one! Under the infatuation of My Maya, they speak divergently as to what constitutes the ultimate good of man according to their past karma and present tendencies.
10. Dharma, fame, enjoyment, truth, self-control, prosperity, eating, evacuating, yajna, austerity, charity, vows, etc are all among the divergent human ends and means, conceived by people according to their tendencies.
11. All aspirations and endeavours in these directions will lead the Jiva only to realms that are karma-borne, fleeting and productive of subsequent suffering. Founded in ignorance and yielding only pseudo-pleasure, they are bedeviled even at the time of enjoyment itself with defects like vindictiveness, jealousy, etc.
12. Oh Uddhava! In the case of a devotee who is free from all worldly desires and who has offered himself heart and soul to Me, I shine in his heart as his very self. The joy arising from this experience is something that a sense-bound creature can never realize.
13. The world respects one who is without any attachment, controlled in mind and senses, equipoised and even-sighted, and finding complete satisfaction in Me.
14. A devotee who has completely resigned himself to Me does not desire anything apart from Me, even the position of an emperor, the state of Brahma, the attainment of all yogic powers or even liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
15. Neither Brahma My offspring, nor Shankara My own emanation, nor Balarama My brother, nor Sri My consort, nor even My own Self is so dear to Me as you (devotees) are.
16. I always follow the footsteps of the sage who desires nothing, who is always tranquil and who has enmity to none, in order that all the worlds within Me get purified by the dust of his feet.
17. None else – including aspirants for salvation – can experience that state of desire-less bliss attainable by those devotees who have no wealth except Me, who have deep attachment to Me, who have universal love for all beings, and whose minds are free from the stain of lust.
18. Though a devotee of Mine might be under the domination of the senses at the beginning of his spiritual life, with the gradual growth of devotion, he is able to overcome them.
19. Just as a flaming fire reduces all fuel to ashes, so does devotion to Me destroy all sins obstructing its development.
20. Oh Uddhava! Neither yoga, nor philosophy, nor karma, nor Vedic study, nor austerity, nor renunciation attracts Me as intense bhakti does.
21. I, the very soul and the dearest love of all holy men, can be attained through intense faith and unswerving and whole-hearted devotion to Me. Steady and deep-rooted devotion to Me purifies and elevates even a man of ignoble birth in a society given to unclean ways of life.
22. Any dharma (religious or moral discipline) though it may be inculcating practices of truthfulness, compassion, learning, austerity, etc fails to purify a mind that has no place in it for cultivation of devotion to Me.
23. Where is bhakti, without the liquefaction of mind expressed though horripilation all over and the flow of tears of joy from the eyes? And without this kind of intense devotion, how can total purification of one’s being be effected?
24. A devotee whose words falter owing to excess of joy, whose heart melts owing to the tenderness of love, who weeps from the grief of separation from Me, who now and then loudly laughs at the thought of the mysterious workings of My Maya; and who sings and dances in joy without any inhibition thinking of My play in creation, and as Incarnations, verily purifies the worlds.
25. Just as gold regains its natural brilliance on its impurities being removed by subjection to heat treatment, so too, through bhakti, a Jiva is able to overcome all impurities and attain to Me.
26. As the mind becomes more purified by the discipline of hearing the holy accounts of My deeds and excellences, it becomes more and more capable of understanding the very subtle truth of the Atman, just as the acuteness of eyesight to see subtle things is enhanced by the application of collyrium made of powerful medicinal herbs.
27. The mind of a man who always thinks of sense objects becomes attached to such objects, while the mind that thinks of Me gets dissolved in Me.
28. Therefore, concentrate on Me your mind purified by the practice of devotion to Me, abandoning all thoughts which are on par with the content of dreams and reveries.
29. Abandoning objects exciting sexual passion and persons who indulge in them let a seeker sit indrawn and resolute, in a place pleasing and secluded, and meditate on Me without lethargy.
30. Nothing can make a man spiritually bankrupt and wretched as sexual association with women and with persons addicted to such association can.
Uddava said:
31. Oh Lotus-eyed One! You ought to tell me how a spiritual aspirant should meditate on Thee, in what form and with what attributes.
Sri Bhagawan said:
32-33. Seated on a seat, not too elevated or too low, with body straight and hands in the lap, eyes half-closed and appearing to gaze at the nose, one should purify the path by which the prana is functioning, by the practice of pranayama with the three stages of inhaling (puraka), retaining (kumbhaka) and exhaling (rechaka). After doing it first in the above order, one may also do in the reverse order, from the right to the left nostril. One must exercise control over the senses, too.
34. Like a fine thread of lotus stalk and like a continuous peel of a bell, the mystic sound AUM is extending from the muladhara up. By the regulation of the prana, this mystic sound should be raised to the heart and made clearly manifest there.
35. In this way, pranayama with pranava (AUM) should be practised ten times during the three sandhyas – morning, noon and evening. By practising that way for a month, one gains sufficient control over breath.
36-37. The aspirant should meditate on the lotus of the heart drooping on its stalk with its tip down, as now blooming upward with eight petals and a pericarp in the centre. In the pericarp, meditate on the sun, moon and fire as arranged one over the other. In the middle of the fire, let My Form, so auspicious for meditation, be invoked.
38-39. Let the Form be meditated upon with the following features: well proportioned limbs, extremely calm, tranquil and beautiful; four long and well-formed arms; the neck well-proportioned and handsome; shining cheeks illumined by a charming smile; fish marked pendants be-decking the ears; and gold-coloured cloth covering the body looking blue like a rain cloud, in the background of the habitat of Sri and Srivatsa.
40. The Form is to be meditated upon as equipped with conch, discus, mace and play-lotus, and decorated with a wreath of wild flowers, with shining anklets on the feet and the resplendent jewel Kaustubha on the neck.
41. The Form is to be visualized shining with diadem, wristlets, girdle, armlets, lovely in every limb, heart-bewitching, and with eyes radiating peace and joy.
42. The resolute seeker should withdraw the senses from the objects into the mind, and the mind, directed by the intellect, should be made to dwell on My Form in its fullness.
43. The mind thus made to dwell on the total Form is to be directed to concentrate exclusively on one limb or part, preferably on the face illumined by a smile. When the mind is so fixed, there is no need to think of the rest of the Form.
44. When the mind has thus got one-pointedness of attention, it gets transcended and dwells on Me as the Absolute Being, in a state of thoughtlessness.
45. The seeker who is in this state of consciousness will realize Me, the Supreme Brahman (Paramatman) in the Self, and the Self in the Supreme Brahman, without any difference, even as a minute point of light merges in a very luminous light.
46. For, a yogi who strives assiduously to practise meditation will soon overcome the erroneous view of the distinction among the seer, the seen and the act of seeing.
X
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. To the yogi who has thus conquered the senses, controlled the vital forces, attained steadiness of mind and concentrated only on Me, many psychic powers accrue.
Uddhava said:
2. Oh Achyuta! What kinds of concentration bring about what types of physic powers? How are they obtained? How many are they in number? Be pleased to tell me all about this. For, Thou art the One who bestows these powers on yogis.
Sri Bhagawan said:
3. Experts in yoga say that there are eighteen types of psychic powers related to eighteen kinds of concentration for attaining them. Of these eight are generated from Me while the other ten arise from the dominance of the sattva aspect of Prakrti.
4-5. By concentrating on objects as they appear, as they are in themselves, on the subtle elements that constitute them, on their qualities, etc. one conquers all the elements and obtains the powers such as becoming infinitesimally small (anami), becoming infinitely large (mahima), becoming infinitesimally light (laghima), becoming infinitesimally heavy (gurutvam), the power of touching anything at any distance (prapti), obtaining anything desired (prakamya), lordship over everything (isitva) and control over everything (vasitva). These powers are called the Asta – siddis, the most important ones. There are other less important powers realized, called Riddhis.
6-7. The other siddhis referred to are: to be free from hunger and thirst; seeing and hearing things at a distance; traveling at the speed of the mind; assuming any form one likes; entering into and assuming another body; to die only at will; witnessing the sports of celestials; attaining anything according to one’s desire; and unobstructed movement anywhere.
8. Besides these, there are five other subsidiary powers spoken of. These are: power of understanding the past, present and future; capacity to endure heat and cold and other pairs of opposites; reading the minds of others; overcoming the effects of fire, sun, light, water and poisons; and invincibility.
9. The above is a brief description of the powers attainable by yoga. Now listen what type of concentration leads to what type of siddhi, and how they are attained.
10. Concentrating on the subtle-elements or tanmatras as enlivened by Me, the mind gets to the rarefied state of these subtle elements. Such a meditator on tanmatras obtains the power of making the body very small.
11. The siddhi called mahima (to grow big in size) is obtained by concentrating on the Mahattattva, with Me as indweller. Meditating on Me as the indweller of any of the bhutas (elements) will help one attain to the vastness of the said bhuta.
12. One who concentrates the mind on Me as one with a paramanu (the subtlest atomic-particle) of any of the elements will attain to the lightness of a unit of space measured by the said paramanu.
13. Concentrating on Me with the adjunct of sattva aspect of ego-sense (ahamkara), the yogi will get the power called prapti, which will enable him to identify himself with the sense of any creature, and control it.
14. If one meditates on Me as Sutratman, the all-pervading Spirit, as the energy working through everything in the universe, one will get My most superior manifesting power through the adjunct of Sutratman, called prakamya, whereby even distant objects (both in space and in time) shine clear in one’s vision.
15. Concentrating on Me, Vishnu, the all-pervading, as the master of the three gunas and as manifested in the form of Time, one will obtain the power called isitva, which gives the capacity to control and direct the body and soul of any other being.
16. Concentrating on Me, Narayana who is denoted by the expression Bhagawan meaning the possessor of the six-fold divine treasures, and also called Turiya or the Fourth who transcends the three aspects of Virat, Hiranyagarbha and the First cause, one obtains the power called vasitva, which keeps one unaffected and unperturbed like Me under all conditions.
17. An aspirant who concentrates his purified mind on Me as the Brahman transcending the gunas of Prakrti (nirguna) will attain that Supreme Bliss (paramananda), which is the consummation of all desires.
18. He who meditates on Me as Anirudha, the Lord of the white continent, who is of unsullied purity and of the essence of dharma, will attain to the state of whiteness which consists in freedom from sorrow, delusion and the other six evils of the life of samsara.
19. By meditating on Me as the prana (vital energy) enveloping everything like the akasa (space), one will hear all sounds manifesting in akasa, irrespective of distance.
20. By meditating on Me at the junction where the eyesight is made to unite with the sun, one obtains extreme subtlety of perception, enabling one to see anything, however small or however far it is.
21. By uniting the body and the mind along with the prana accompanying them, with Me in meditation, one attains the power of physically reaching any place that the mind reaches.
22. By the power obtained by meditation on Me, the yogi can assume any form he likes by impressing that form on the mind-stuff.
23. A siddha (one with psychic power) who desires to enter another body should first mentally think as he being in that body. Then his subtle body comes out, merges with the air and as breath, enters into the other body, as a bee transits from one flower to another.
24. While pressing the anus with the heel, the subtle body or the linga-sarira constituting the adjunct of the atman should be raised to the heart, chest, neck and crown of the head, stage by stage. Then with the passing of the subtle body through the aperture at the crown called brahmarandhra, the gross body must be abandoned, and unity with the Brahman attained.
25. Those who desire to sport in heavenly gardens should meditate on suddhasattva, the undiluted divine substance. Then divine damsels who are formed of sattva will arrive in celestial vehicles and attend on him.
26. When an aspirant, who is completely resigned to Me and dependent on Me, fixes his mind on Me, any particular wish willed in that state shall be instantly fulfilled.
27. He who has become absorbed in Me, the Lord and Master of all, the eternally free Being, will not meet with obstruction anywhere. His resolves and commands will be accomplished just like Mine.
28. He whose nature has become purified by bhakti and who knows the art of concentration can gain knowledge of the past, the present and the future, including his own birth and death in different bodies.
29. The yoga-practised body of a contemplative practising meditation will not be endangered by fire, just as aquatic creatures are not adversely affected by water.
30. One who meditates on My divine manifestations having all My embellishments like srivatsa mark, conch and discus, besides other paraphernalia like flag-staff, ceremonial umbrella and cowries will never meet with defeat.
31. Thus, those who practise adoration of Me according to the discipline of concentration described above will attain all the powers mentioned earlier without much difficulty.
32. For a yogi who has controlled the senses and the mind, who has the mastery of the prana, and who knows how to concentrate on Me, what siddhi is there that is unattainable?
33. Great men, however, say that these siddhis are obstacles in the way of a spiritual aspirant. For one who practises the highest yoga to reach Me, they cause delay.
34. All the siddhis that are found to accrue by birth, drugs, austerity, mantras, etc can be had by the practice of the yoga described before. But the siddhis accruing by birth, drugs, austerity, mantras, etc cannot yield as much as attained through yoga alone.
35. I, the Almighty, am the source and master of all siddhis. I am also the source and protector of Sankhya, Yoga, dharma and the knowledge of the Brahman.
36. I am the indwelling Self in all beings without in any way being limited by the bodies of beings. I am the Transcendent-Self, too. Just as the bhutas or the elements are within and without the objects that have come out of them, so am I both within and without, transcending all limitation.
XI
Uddhava said:
1. Thou art verily the Supreme Brahman without any limiting adjuncts, without beginning and end. Thou art also the cause of birth, life, preservation and death of all entities that are of the nature of effects.
2. The knowers of the Veda see and worship Thee in all that is high and low. This is beyond the understanding of impure and immature minds.
3. Deign to speak to Me all those aspects in which the great rishis adore Thee and attain to perfection.
4. Oh Creator! Thou, the all-pervading one, move in all beings, unseen and unclear. Because of the clouding of their vision by Thee, they do not see Thee, the seer of everything.
5. Oh Thou rich in divine attributes! Deign to tell me of whatever there is on the earth, in the heaven, or in rasatala occurring as Thy far-famed glorious manifestations, which are specially fortified by Thy power. My salutations to Thy holy feet, the seat of all sanctity!
Sri Bhagawan said:
6. Oh Uddhava! You are a clever interlocutor! This very question was put to Me at the battlefield of Kurukshetra by Arjuna where he had stationed himself in readiness to meet his enemies in battle.
7. Thinking that the slaughter of one’s own kith and kin in battle for the sake of a Kingdom is sinful, he wanted to withdraw from the battle. For, he was overcome by the ordinary ignorant man’s idea, ‘I am the killer and he is the killed’.
8. When I restored in him the hero’s balance of mind by rational instructions, he put to Me in that battlefield the same question you have now raised.
9. Oh Uddhava! I am the Atman (the Essence), the well-wisher, and the master of all beings. I am the All-formed, and I am simultaneously the One from whom all creations spring, by whom all beings are sustained and in whom they all dissolve.
10. I am the power of movement in all moving creatures; I am Time among all forces that attract all; among gunas I am sattva; and among the virtuous I am their natural virtue.
11. Of all the products of the gunas, I am the Sutratman, the spirit that runs as a thread through all; and of all-comprehending entities, I am the Mahattattva, the primeval category from which all things have evolved. Of subtle entities, I am the Jiva; and of the unconquerable ones, I am the mind.
12. Among the propagators of the Veda, I am Hirangarbha (Brahma). Among mantras, I am the sound symbol ‘AUM’ which combines in itself the three sound syllables a, u and m. Among letters, I am the letter A; and among Vedic metres, Gayatri.
13. Among Devas, I am Indra; and among the eight Vasus, I am Agni (the fire-deity), the transmitter of sacrificial offerings. Among the Adtiyas, I am Vishnu; and among Rudras I am Nilalohita, the blue-throated one.
14. Among brahmarishis, I am Bhrigu; among rajarishis (royal sages) I am Manu; among celestial sages, I am Narada; and among cows, I am Kamadhenu.
15. Among the master-siddhas (adepts), I am Kapila; among the birds, Garuda; among the prajapatis, Daksha; and among pitris (manes), Aryama.
16. Know, Oh Uddhava, that I am Prahlada among daityas; Soma, their King, among the stars and the planets; and Kubera, their ruler, among the rakshas and the yakshas.
17. Among the great elephants, I am Airavata; among dwellers of the water, Varuna, their Lord; among the hot and brilliant bodies, the sun; and among men, the king.
18. Know Me to be Uchchaisravas among horses; gold among metals; Yama among disciplinarians; and Vasuki among serpents.
19. Among the great nagas, I am Ananta; among animals having horns and fangs, their king the lion. Among the various stations of life, I am the sannyasa, and among varnas, the brahmana.
20. I am Ganga (the Ganges) among the holy rivers, and the ocean among lakes; among the weapons, I am the bow, and among wielders of the bow, Parameswara, the destroyer of the Tripuras.
21. Among the places providing residence, I am Meru; and among the regions difficult of access, I am the Himalaya. Among trees, I am Aswattha, and barley among cereals.
22. I am Vasista among the priests, and Brihaspati among the knowers of the meaning (bhashya) of the Veda. Among generals, I am Skanda, and among workers for righteousness, Brahma.
23. Among sacrifices, I am the sacrifice of japa, and among vows, the vow of non-injury. Among purifying agents, I am the purifier in the shape of air, fire, sun, water and the words of holy men.
24. In ways of spiritual communion, I am samadhi; in those who aspire for victory, I am policy based on proper deliberation; among methods of investigation, I am the discriminative process by which the spirit is differentiated from matter; and among theoreticians on the problems of truth and illusion, I am their persisting differences.
25. Among women, I am Satarupa; among men, Swayambhuva; among munis, Narayana; and among celibates, Sanatkumara.
26. Among the virtuous ways of life, I am sannyasa; among the means of happiness, I am the capacity to make the mind inward-looking. Among the means of keeping secrets, I am silence, and sweet and careful speech. Among the couples of men and women, I am Brahma who was the first to assume the forms of both.
27. Among the wink-less and the vigilant, I am the year; among the seasons, the spring; among the months, the Margasirsha; and among the constellations, the Abhijit.
28. Among yugas, I am Krita-yuga; among the wise and firm-minded, I am Asita and Devala. Among the Vyasas (editors), I am Dvaipayana who rearranged the Vedas; and among the farsighted, I am the Rishi Sukra.
29. Among those who deserve the appellation of Bhagawan, I am Vasudev; and among those to be called bhagavatas (devotees), I am yourself. Among kimpurushas, I am Hanuman; and among vidyadharas, Sudarsana.
30. Among precious jewels, I am the ruby (padmaraga); among the beautiful objects, the lotus; among various kinds of grass, kusa; and among materials for offering in yajna, the ghee derived from the milk of the cow.
31. I am the wealth of the industrious; and I am the deceit of the deceitful gambler. I am the fortitude of the forbearing; and I am the power of the powerful.
32. I am the vigour and the sustaining power of the strong; I am the rites which the pious perform; and I am the first of the nine forms of the deity that vaishnavas worship – Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Narayana, Hayagriva, Varaha, Narasimha and Vamana.
33. Among gandharvas, I am Viswavasu; and among apsaras, Purvachitti. I am the firmness of mountains and the subtle fragrance of the earth.
34. I am the sweet taste of water. Among the heat-producing agents, I am fire. I am the shine of the sun, the moon and the stars, and I am the unmodified sound of akasa.
35. Among those who revere holy men, I am Bali; among heroes, I am Arjuna; and I am the origin, sustenance and dissolution of all beings.
36. I am the functioning of the five organs of action – walking, speech, evacuation, holding and regeneration – and also of the functioning of the five organs of knowledge – touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell. I am, in all the senses, the power that enables them to grasp their objects.
37-38. The seven categories consisting of subtle aspects (tanmatras) of the five elements, the earth, air, sky, fire and water, as also the ego-sense and the Mahattattva; the sixteen categories including the five gross elements and the eleven indriyas (sense faculties); and also the Jiva, the Avyakta (the unmodified Prakrti), the three gunas and the Supreme Being – all these categories, their enumeration, their understanding and the determination of their understanding and the determination of their true nature – all these I am. There is no existence other than Me, the all-inclusive and the all-pervading Being, who am Iswara and the Jiva, the substance and the attribute.
39. It may be possible for Me to count all the fundamental particles of the universe in the course of a vast period of time. But even I cannot exhaustively count and estimate My powers and glories; for out of them crores and crores of world systems are always originating, thus setting no limits to them.
40. Know that a part of Me is present wherever you notice extraordinary manifestation of powers, prosperity, fame, lordliness, modesty, renunciation, attractiveness, luck, courage, endurance and knowledge.
41. I have briefly described to you My glories. They are only mental conceptions clothed in words to help man direct his mind to the Supreme Being.
42. Control the speech, control the mind, control the vital energies, control the senses and control the lower self by the higher self. If this is achieved, there is no more involvement in samsara.
43. If a sannyasin fails to control his speech and his mind, the effects of his spiritual striving by means of vows, austerities and acts of charity will all leak out, like water kept in an unbaked pot.
44. Therefore, one who has resigned oneself to Me should control one’s speech, mind and prana with one’s understanding soaked in devotion to Me. That will lead one to life’s fulfillment.
XII
Uddhava said:
1-2. In ancient times Thou hadst given Thy teaching on swadharma, the way of life by following which persons included in the four varnas and ashramas as well as others can attain devotion to Thee. It behoves Thee, Oh lotus-eyed One, to tell me how bhakti is generated by such actions known as swadharma.
3-4. True, in ages past, in Thy incarnation as the Swan, Thou, Oh Madhava, Thou Lord of all, didst reveal to Brahma the dharma, which is the pathway to salvation. The passage of time has, however, dimmed it in the minds of men.
5. Oh Achyuta! Even in the following of Brahma, where all the arts and sciences are present in embodied forms to present their teachings, Thou art the only one competent authority to expound, put into practice and protect dharma.
6. Oh Madhusudana! When Thou, who art the promulgator, the protector and the teacher of dharma, have left the world at the close of Thy divine play as the Incarnate, who will be there to revive this dharma when it is lost by disuse?
7. So, Oh knower of dharma in all its aspects! Deign to speak to me about dharma that will augment devotion to Thee, to whom this dharma is ordained, and how they are to practise it.
Sri Suka said:
8. Being thus questioned by His servant, Sri Hari expounded dharma as follows, with great joy for the benefit of all mankind.
Sri Bhagawan said:
9. Oh Uddhava! Your question pertaining to dharma will be very beneficial to the followers of varnashrama-dharma as also to other righteous men, as it will help to promote their spiritual evolution.
10. In the first Krita-yuga after the beginning of the kalpa, there was only one varna known as hamsa. That yuga was called Krita, because all men then were naturally kritakrityas – self-fulfilled and perfect.
11. In that primeval age, the Veda was pranava (AUM) alone, and I manifested as dharma with its four aspects intact. The worshippers then were pure and sinless, and their worship took the form of meditation.
12. In the Treta-yuga, the Veda emerged from My heart with prana as the medium. Thus I appeared as the Yajna with its three divisions represented by three priestly functionaries – Hota, Adhvaryu and Udgata.
13. From the face, hands, thighs and feet of the Virat-purusa, Me in My cosmic form, were born the four varnas, the brahamana, kshatriya, vaisya and sudra respectively. They have their specific duties naturally laid down for them.
14. The ashrama of the house-holder sprang from my hip; of the brahmacharin from My heart; of the forest-dweller (vanaprastha) from My chest; and of the sannyasin from My head.
15. The nature of the members of the varnas and the ashramas was determined by the place of their origin in the Virat. Those who were born of the higher regions were endowed with nobler nature and those who originated from lower parts were of lower nature.
16. The brahmanas are characterized by control of mind and senses, purity - internal and external, contemplation, contentment, forbearance, integrity, devotion to Me, kindliness and truthfulness.
17. Impressiveness, strength, self-control, courage, endurance, generosity, enterprise, firmness, reverence for holy men and commanding power are the inborn characteristics of a kshatriya.
18. Faith in God and the Veda, charity, absence of arrogance, service of holy men and insatiable acquisitiveness are the natural traits of a vaisya.
19. The spirit of sincere service of the holy men and those of all other varnas, the cows, etc, satisfaction with what he receives for his services are the inborn traits of a sudra.
20. Impurity, duplicity, thieving, lack of belief in God and Veda, wanton quarrelsomeness, lust, anger and greed are the characteristics of people outside the varnashrama-dharma.
21. It is the common dharma (sadharana-dharma) of persons belonging to all varnas to be free from cruelty, dishonesty, thieving, lust, anger and greed as also to do what is good and pleasing to all creatures.
22. A dvija or a member of the first three varnas should have undergone all the prenatal and postnatal purificatory rites and attained his second birth with the upanayana, with the investiture of the sacred thread, which makes him eligible for study of the Veda and performance of the rites enshrined therein. He should then live in the house-hold of the guru, a highly disciplined life, studying the Veda from the guru.
23. Dressed in deer skin, wearing a grass girdle and a sacred thread, having matted locks, holding in hand a staff, stringed beads of japa, a water pot and some kusa grass, a brahmacharin should live without bestowing much attention on his physical appearance, dress, fashions and personal comforts.
24. He should observe silence while bathing, taking food, evacuating, performing sacrificial rites and making japa. He should not pare his nails or shave off his hair, including those under the arm pits and the private parts.
25. A student who has taken the vow of a brahmacharin should never consciously allow the ejaculation of his semen to take place. If it were to take place naturally by itself, he should, immediately thereafter, bathe, perform pranayama and utter the Gayatri mantra.
26. Observing purity of body and mind and bestowing deep attention, he should do service to the fire, sun, teacher, cow, holy men, elders, old people, Devas, etc. At sunrise and sunset he should sit in silence and repeat the Gayatri.
27. He should look upon the guru to be Me, and not as a mere man. He should never insult him or revolt against him. For, the guru is the embodiment of all divinities.
28. The brahmacharin should, morning and evening, go about bhiksha, and present whatever food material or other things he has collected as offerings to the guru. Restraining his own impulse to eat, he should take only such of those things as the guru permits him to eat.
29. He should serve the guru like a servant, going behind him wherever he goes, sleeping near where he sleeps, massaging his feet when he rests, and standing with joined palms nearby when he sits.
30. Until his education is over, he should live in this way at the guru’s house, avoiding luxury, following a code of austere disciplines, and observing the vow of celibacy without compromise.
31. If the brahmacharin aspires to attain to Brahma-loka, he should make his vow of being celibate lifelong, and dedicate himself to the guru with a view to utilizing his whole life for the study of the Veda. Such a lifelong celibate is called a naishthika brahmacharin (in contrast to the upakurvana brahmacharin described earlier).
32. A life-long brahmacharin, with his spiritual splendor augmented by Vedic study and a pure life, should meditate on Me as manifesting in the fire, in the guru, in himself and in all beings, in an attitude of non-separateness.
33. Excepting the house-holder, the others should not indulge in sexually motivated behaviour towards women like viewing, touching, holding homely conversations, joking, etc. They should also avoid the sight of animals and birds copulating.
34-35. The naishthika brahmacharin should, along with members of all other ashramas, practise the following universal disciplines: cleanliness, sipping water ceremonially (achamana), bathing, performing sandhya-vandana, being straightforward, visiting holy places, doing japa, avoiding contacts, food and associations that are degrading, habituating to feel My presence in everyone, and control of mind, speech and action, etc.
36. A naishthika brahmacharin, who follows this intensely austere way of life, will shine like fire; his mind with all its tendencies will be purified in the fire of knowledge. He will consequently develop intense devotion to Me.
37. After having studied the Veda with its meaning, one desirous of entering the life of the house-holder should make adequate parting presents to the learned teacher of the Veda, and with the blessings of the teacher, perform the ceremonial bath of samavartana, indicating the conclusion of Vedic study and of the period of brahmacharya.
38. He is now free to become a house-holder or a forest-dwelling ascetic (vanaprastha) – the former, if he seeks enjoyment, and the later, if he seeks purification of the mind. But if he is an aspirant of the highest order, he can become a sannyasin directly. According to his choice (and fitness), he can pass from one ashrama to a superior ashrama. But a devotee of Me should never do the reverse, nor should he remain without adopting any ashrama.
39. He who enters the house-holder’s ashrama should marry a girl younger than him in age, unblemished in respect of family traditions and auspiciousness, and well-matched to him in all respects. She must be of his own varna and, if absolutely necessary, girls from lower varnas may be taken as wives, in their succeeding order.
40. Performance of Yajna, learning the Veda and making gifts form the duty of all the dvijas (twice-born). But receiving gifts, teaching the Veda and conducting yajnas is the exclusive right of the brahmanas.
41. If one thinks that acceptance of gifts is detrimental to austerity, spirituality and good name, one may live by the other two occupations of teaching Veda and conducting yajnas (sacrifices). If one finds even these defective, one may subsist on fallen grains gathered from the fields after harvest.
42. The body of the brahmana is not meant for indulgence in vulgar enjoyment. It is meant for a life of hardship and austerity here and for eternal bliss hereafter.
43. One, who thus lives on stray grains collected from fields and home-steads, who is content with what one has, and who follows the lofty ideals of a desireless life dedicated to dharma, with his mind wholly resigned to Me and free from attachments, will attain liberation even while remaining a house-holder.
44. I will save anyone who renders help in difficulties to such a holy man who is entirely dedicated to Me, when he is himself in difficulties, as a boat saves a drowning one from the ocean.
45. A king should protect his subjects from all dangers as a father does his children. As an elephant saves itself and its herd, so should a king be a saviour of all.
46. Such a king will overcome all his sins here itself, and he will hereafter reside with Indra in a mansion resplendent like the sun, and enjoy heavenly delights.
47. If a brahmana is in a dangerous situation which upsets his way of life, he may take to trading like a vaisya until he gets over the difficulties. If difficulties overwhelm him there also, he may take to the sword like a kshatriya. But he should never descend to the livelihood of a dog, serving a mean master.
48. A kshatriya, too, when he is in danger, can take to trading or to hunting for his livelihood, or even to the duty of a brahmana, but he should never descend to the life of a dog, serving a mean master.
49. If a vaisya falls into a dangerous situation, he can follow the duty of a sudra, and if a sudra is in difficulty, he can take to a carpenter’s or mat-maker’s work for livelihood. When one is free from the difficulties, one should not continue to live by inferior professions.
50. Feeling My presence in them, a house-holder should daily adore Devas, rishis, pitris, men and lower creations with offerings in the forms of homas, Vedic study, sraaddhas, festive feeding and edibles respectively.
51. With wealth that has come to one unexpectedly or what one has earned by honest means, one may perform other yajnas also without causing any discomfort to one’s dependants and servants.
52. Even though one has a family, one should not get too much attached to its members. Without any slackness, one should be vigilant in regard to the true nature of life. One must bear in mind that all the enjoyments expected in the after-life are as perishable as those of this life.
53. The association with sons, wives, dear friends and relatives is no better than the chance-gathering of a group of travelers in a caravanserai. Just as dream relatives change in the recurring dream-states that follow sleep, so do those of the waking state change in repeated embodiments.
54. A person will not get attached to the home, if he reflects on this truth, and lives in the home like a guest, without any feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, with regard to anything or anybody in life.
55. One who is devoted to Me can continue to live in the home itself till one’s end, performing all the duties related to the home as offerings to Me. Or one can become a forest-dweller, living the life of an ascetic in the forest. Or, entrusting all house-hold affairs to one’s son, one can become a sannyasin, a holy wanderer in the world with no fixed residence.
56. He, whose mind is extremely attached to the home, ever worried with thoughts of his children, wealth and luxuries, and is pitiably petty-minded and grossly ignorant of spiritual matters, is strongly fastened with the chain of ’I’ and ‘mine’.
57. He will be given to such thoughts as this: ‘Alas! Sorrow-stricken by my death, how will my old parents and my wife with orphaned children get on in this world without me!’
58. Attracted in this way by the insatiable attachment to home, the ignorant man ruminates again and again over the experiences and enjoyment of home-life until death overtakes him. Birth in lower level, dominated by the blinding darkness of ignorance, awaits him thereafter.
XIII
1. He who desires to be a forest-dweller should spend the third part of his life (from fifty-one to seventy-five years of age) in the forest hermitage, leaving his wife to the care of his son at home, or accompanied by her.
2. He should subsist on permitted roots, tubers and fruits available in the forest. For dress, he should use tree-bark, grass or deer skin.
3. He should leave his body untended and uncared for, allowing his hair and nails to grow uncut. Care of the teeth must be minimal. He should bathe thrice a day and sleep on the floor.
4. In the summer, he should practise concentration sitting amidst the heat of five fires – four fires on the four sides and the sun above. In the rainy season, he should observe the vow of abhravakasa consisting in exposure to torrential rain. In winter, he should stay-put in neck-deep water, an austere practice called udakavasa. A forest-dweller should thus lead a life of austere practices.
5. He can eat things cooked in fire, or ripened by time. He can use cereals pounded in mortar or with stones, or merely masticate them with the mortar of his teeth.
6. A forest-dweller should gather material of his food from the forest himself. As far as the conditions of place and time would permit, he should not store material of food got from elsewhere, for use afterwards.
7. He can perform seasonal sacrifices like agrayana enjoined on him with offerings of charu and purodasa made of wild cereals. A forest-dweller should not perform any Vedic rite involving animal sacrifice.
8. The Vedic scholars say that the forest-dweller should perform the ordained rites such as agnihotra, darsa, purnamasa and chaturmasya as before, but with the ingredients available in the forest.
9. Worshipping Me, the embodiment of Tapas (penance), in this way by severe austerities that emaciate him to reveal the contours of all his blood vessels, the forest-dweller reaches Me, stage by stage, passing through maharloka and other spheres.
10. Who can be more thoughtless than the one who utilizes this noble and difficult discipline of tapas which can take one to liberation, for attainment of petty worldly pleasures?
11. When a forest-dweller becomes feeble and tottering because of advancing age, and is unable to perform his obligatory duties (swadharma), he should, through contemplation, withdraw into the heart the sacred fires he has been tending, and then concentrating his mind fully on Me immolate himself in a well-lit pyre.
12. When complete dispassion for life is generated in a seeker by the recognition that all places and experiences are unworthy of living, then such a person is fit to give up his duties of fire-rites and take to the life of a wandering sannyasin.
13. Adoring Me with the prajapatya sacrifice according to the instruction received, giving up all one’s possessions as gifts to the assisting priests, and withdrawing one’s sacred fires into the Self, one should take to the life of a sannyasin without looking for anything to depend upon.
14. But out of jealousy that one, taking to sannyasa, will go beyond their pale of influence and importance, the Devas will at first cause obstructions to such an aspirant, appearing in the guise of children.
15. A sannyasin should have cod-piece alone as dress, and should he wear anything more, it should only be a loin cloth to cover the cod-piece. He should not keep with him any properties of his previous station of life except his staff and water-pot. Nothing-else he should keep except in times of grave danger.
16. He should take paces only carefully, lest he should trample upon any living creatures. For the same reason, he should drink water only after filtering it with cloth; he should speak only what has got the sacred stamp of Truth; he should act only what has been sanctified by proper reflection.
17. Oh Uddhava! A person, merely because he carries a three-pronged staff of bamboo (tridanda), will not become a tridandi-sannyasin, unless he is also equipped with the three staffs of silence, breath control and desireless-ness, which constitute the restraints of speech, body and mind.
18. Except from those given to evil ways of life, he can take bhiksha (holy alms) daily from seven homes of persons of the four varnas, without any pre-determination or selection of the homes or persons to be visited.
19. Going out of the village to a river or tank, doing the purificatory water-rites like achamana and prokshana, and observing silence, he can take all that food, after having offered it to God and to whomever he wants to share it with.
20. He should wander alone in the world, unattached, self-controlled, even-sighted, established in the Self, and having his recreation and enjoyment in the Self.
21. Resorting to the sanctuary of solitude, and purified by devotion to Me, the sage should think of the pervading Self in all as One and as non-different from Me.
22. One should reflect on the state of bondage caused by ignorance, and of liberation resulting from firmly established knowledge. Bondage is the state in which the senses are completely outward directed. Their control is salvation (moksha).
23. Therefore, with the mind immersed in Me, the sage should move about, controlling all his senses, entertaining no hankering after mean pleasures, and finding deep joy in the Self.
24. Entering towns, villages, cowherd settlements and alm-houses only to collecting holy alms (bhiksha), he should wander about the world visiting all holy lands, holy rivers, holy mountains, and settlements of holy men.
25. He should take bhiksha (holy alms) frequently from the settlements of forest-dwellers. For, the food of these hermits, made of grains collected by gleaning the fields, is highly purifying; and those who take it will be purified soon in mind, freed from delusion, and blessed with quick advancement in spiritual life.
26. One should not consider this world of sense experiences as ultimate. For, it is seen to be temporary and fleeting. Therefore, let him renounce, without any lingering attachments, all objects of this world and the next.
27. Rejecting, on the proof offered by dream experience, this whole world including one’s own body, pranas and mind as an insubstantial projection of the atman, one should remain established in one’s self, without even the memory of the world.
28. If one has reached the state of firm establishment in knowledge and absolute renunciation, or if one has abandoned even the desire for salvation, one may give up the external symbols of his ashrama like the staff, and move about as a Paramahamsa without being subject to any commandments.
29. Though wise, one should sport like a child unconcerned about status; though highly intelligent, one should behave like a dull-witted person without any plans; though learned, one should speak like an intoxicated person in order to avoid popularity; though established in the Truth taught by the Veda, one should roam about like cattle with absolute unconcern and abandon for all established codes of conduct.
30. A sannyasin should not be concerned with the eulogistic sentences of the Veda which deal with ritualism, nor should he be an unbeliever in the Veda, or a vain disputant. He should not take sides in purposeless logic-chopping controversies.
31. He should have no cause to fear the populace, and men, in general, should have nothing to fear from the sannyasin. He should put up with criticism and disparagement patiently, but he himself should never insult others. He should not have animosity towards others like beasts, from bodily considerations.
32. For, the same Supreme Spirit dwells in all objects and in all living beings, just as the same moon dwells as reflection in numerous water pots. In respect of their bodies too, all creatures have come out of the same matter.
33. A sannyasin should not feel depressed if he fails to get food at times, nor should he feel any glee when he gets it. For, it is all determined by one’s past karma.
34. It is but proper that one strives for food; for, food is needed for keeping oneself alive. A healthy body enables one to reflect on Truth, leading to realization of the Atman and to liberation from samsara.
35. Food that comes to one by chance should be partaken, whether it is well-cooked or ill-cooked. So also one should accept, without any consideration of being good or bad, whatever bed or cloth one gets by chance.
36. One need not do cleaning, bathing, etc on account of any compulsion or commandments enjoining on one. One need attend to them only as a free-spirit, just as I act everywhere as play in complete freedom.
37. One has no divisive consciousness as it has been obliterated on realizing Me. A semblance of it seen in taking food, etc will last only so long as the body is there. When the body falls, one merges into Me.
38. One may realize that suffering is the final fruit of desires and, by this realization, may develop renunciation for worldly life. One may also have mastery of the senses. But one may yet be ignorant of the highest dharma leading to the attainment of Me. Such a person, in order to be so instructed, must seek a guru who is a muni (sage), and who is fully absorbed in the reflection on the Atman.
39. Until one attains to spiritual realization, one should serve the guru with great faith and attention, avoiding all adverse thoughts against him, and looking upon him as Me.
40-41. A man who has not subdued his six enemies, the senses, whose will (buddhi) is perverted by the deep-seated desires, who is devoid of knowledge and renunciation, and yet assumes and displays the triple staff of the sannyasin as a means of livelihood is a traitor to dharma, deceives the adorable Devas, his own self, and Me, the dweller in all beings including himself. With all evil tendencies latent and waiting to come out, he loses this world and the next.
42. The principal dharma of the sannyasin consists in tranquility and practice of universal love; of the forest-dweller in austerity and introspective quest after Truth; of the house-holder in service of all and performance of yajnas; and of the brahmacharin in the service of the teacher.
43. The house-holder, too, should practise, in a way suited to his station in life, such virtues as continence (brahmacharya), austerity, freedom from passions, contentment and friendliness to all. Consorting with one’s wife only at the prescribed time is considered continence for the house-holder. The adoration of the Supreme Being is the duty of all.
44. He who adores Me in this way by the performance of swadharma (prescribed duties) with his mind fixed on Me alone and viewing Me as present in all beings, will attain devotion to Me before long.
45. Oh Uddhava! By that one-pointed and constant devotion will he attain to Me who am the Brahman, the Lord of all the worlds and the Revealer of the Veda – the source, the support and the dissolution of all beings.
46. One who has obtained purity of mind through the observance of swadharma, who has been endowed with the Truth and experienced My Being, and who has fully understood the limitlessness of My Being and power will, without delay, come to Me and attain salvation.
47. The observance of the rules of varna and ashrama in themselves leads one to the world of the pitris. But when it is dedicated to Me out of devotion, it becomes an instrument of liberation.
48. I have now answered your question how a devotee observing his swadharma supported by devotion attains to Me, the Supreme and Transcendent Being.
XIV
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. One endowed with scriptural knowledge ending in realization – for whom spiritual understanding has passed from mere topic of intellectual debate into a matter of experience – should, on knowing that the whole world of objective experience is Maya (an appearance), abandon in Me that world and the knowledge that negates its ultimacy. This is vidvat-sannyasa or enlightened renunciation.
2. For one, endowed with self-knowledge and experience, I am the final end and the means for it; I am, to him, both heaven and liberation. There is no other love for him than Me.
3. Those that are endowed with self-knowledge and experience attain to My Transcendent State. The one of self-knowledge is, therefore, the most beloved of Me. For, through knowledge, he bears Me ever in himself.
4. The attainment through enlightenment (jnana) is not through austerity, pilgrimage to holy places, recantation of mantras, charity and other holy spiritual disciplines.
5. Oh Uddhava! Knowing yourself as the Spirit – the Self, through enlightened understanding, and endowed with self-knowledge and experience, adore Me with loving devotion.
6. The sages of the past made sacrificial offering of their knowledge and realization to Me, the Master of all sacrifices, dwelling as the Self within, and thereby attained the highest.
7. The three-fold formation of the gross, subtle and causal bodies, having you as their centre is only a passing appearance. At the beginning and the end of the series, the bodies are not seen. Change is only a phenomenon in the middle. As the Self subsisted prior to the series of changes and as it is bound to subsist at the end of the series, you have to accept that the Self has been there in the middle, too, though hidden by the changing forms that are phenomenal. In the case of the universe, too, which comes into being, subsists and dissolves, you have no cause to feel confused. The Universal Spirit, from whom the series of changes that you call the world started, existed even before the world came into being and will exist even when it is dissolved. As the Universal Spirit existed in the beginning and exists in the end, IT must be existant in the middle, too, though covered with the ever-changing physicality called the phenomenal universe.
Uddhava said:
8. Oh Lord of all, having the universe as Thy form! Be pleased to explain to me in all facets the ancient gospel of knowledge supported by renunciation and realization, as also Thy path of communion through devotion, a rare gift of Thine which even Brahma and other divinities have not been able to attain.
9. Oh Lord! For men who are tortured by the heat of the miseries of physical, non-physical and meta-physical origin on their journey through samsara, I find no other shelter than the nectar-dripping umbrella of Thy holy feet.
10. Oh great one! Be pleased to shower Thy nectarine words, and lift this humble servant that has fallen into the pit of samsara, and who, in spite of being thus bitten by the serpent of Time, still entertains longing for the petty pleasures of life.
Sri Bhagawan said:
11. Yudhishthira, the one without an enemy, put the same question, in the hearing of all of us, to Bhishma, the greatest among the knowers of dharma.
12. After the all-Bharata war was over, Yudhishthira, depressed by brooding over the slaughter of his kith and kin, sought relief in discussing various aspects of dharma with Bhishma. Finally, he questioned him on the way of man’s spiritual liberation.
13. I shall now tell you what I heard at that time from the mouth of Devavrata - the great teachings on knowledge, renunciation, spiritual experience, sraddha, bhakti and similar subjects.
14. I consider that as knowledge (jnana) by which one perceives, through all beings from Brahma down to an ant, the continuing persistence of the twenty five causal categories and the three gunas, and further sees that all these causal categories and their effects - the embodied beings, are interpenetrated by one Consciousness.
15. Vijnana or immediate experience is this. In jnana or contemplative experience, one sees the presence of the one Substance persisting through numerous changing modes. When the permeating Substance alone is seen to the exclusion of all changing modes apprehended as different from IT, then that understanding is called vijnana. One should perceive all these modes of gunas as originating, subsisting and dissolving in that Substance alone.
16. Only That which thus persistently continues in a series of effects passing from one to the next, maintaining continuity, and remains the same at the end of the series as it was as at the beginning, is the Sat – the Existence (the Essence).
17. The four ways of knowing the Truth – the scripture, perception, inference and traditional wisdom transmitted by the wise declare that diversity has no final basis. A wise man, therefore, renounces this world of multiplicity.
18. The man of discrimination realizes that, just as the pleasures of this ‘seen world’, the result of karma, are temporary, and finally cause misery, so are all the heavenly felicities enjoyed by the Jiva in the ‘unseen realms’ up to that of Brahma.
19. I had taught you Bhakti-yoga earlier, but out of my love for you, I shall teach you that yoga once again, together with what generates and develops bhakti.
20-21. Faith in, and reverence for, the account of My Divine activities and excellences, constant chanting of My name and glory in varied ways, steadiness in the worship of Me, reciting hymns and praises of Me, prostrating with all the limbs and offering salutations to Me, diligence in the service of My devotees, memory of My presence in all beings;
22. utilizing one’s limbs in the services to Me, devoting one’s speech to describe My excellence, dedicating one’s mind to Me, and renouncing all desires;
23. giving up wealth and enjoyment for My sake; and performing all yajnas, charities, sacrifices, repetition of mantras, vows, austerities and other sacred duties as offerings to Me. All these are disciplines for the development of bhakti.
24. Oh Uddhava! Devotees, who have by such disciplines reached the state of complete self-surrender, develop pure loving devotion, motiveless, deep-rooted and unwavering. For them there is nothing greater to achieve.
25. When the mind that is completely pure and tranquil is offered to Me, the Supreme Spirit, then all such excellences like dharma, jnana, renunciation and divine power develop in an aspirant automatically.
26. The same mind when it plunges into the world of multiplicity, runs in the world of multiplicity and runs about along with the senses among the objects of enjoyment, becomes dominated by rajas and gets engrossed with false, unspiritual values. Such a mind moves in just the opposite direction of the state described earlier.
27. Dharma is what generates devotion to Me; jnana is perception of the one Atman pervading all; vairagya is non-attachment to worldly objects; and aishvarya (lordliness) consists in yogic powers like anima, etc.
Uddhava said:
28. Oh Heroic One! How many disciplines are involved in yama and niyama? What is sama? What is dama? And what, Oh Lord, is titiksha (patience) and dhriti (firmness)?
29. What is dana (charity) and what is tapas (austerity)? What is saurya (valour)? What is satya (honesty) and what is rita (truthfulness)? What is tyaga (renunciation) and what is unstained wealth? What is yajna (sacrifice) and what is dakshina (holy gift)?
30. Oh Lord of Sri! What does man’s strength consist in? Oh Kesava! What is bhaga (fortune)? What is profit? What is supreme knowledge and what are supreme Hri (shyness) and Sri (beauty)? What constitutes happiness and what constitutes suffering?
31. Who is a pundit and who is an ignorant one? What is the right path and what is perverse? What is heaven and what is hell? Who is a relative and what is home?
32. Who is wealthy and who is a pauper? Who is a pitiable creature and who is the Lord? Be pleased to enlighten me on these issues explaining both the positive and the negative implications thereof.
Sri Bhagawan said:
33-35. Yama and niyama consist in the observance of disciplines internally and externally. Non-injury, truth, non-covetousness, non-attachment, conscientiousness, non-hoarding, faith in the scriptures, continence, moderation in speech, constancy, forgiveness and fearlessness are the twelve internal disciplines known as yama. Cleanliness, purity of mind, japa (repetition of holy name or mantra), tapas (austerity), homa (sacrificial fire), sraddha (absolute faith in spiritual matters), hospitality, worship of the Divine, pilgrimage to holy places, service to others, contentment and servitude to the guru are the twelve external disciplines known as niyama. Those who follow these disciplines attain whatever they want, either material or spiritual.
36. Apart from yama and niyama, a seeker after liberation is to follow other disciplines known as sama, dama, titiksha and dhriti. Sama is firmly to settle the mind in the Lord, and not mere calmness of mind. Dama is overcoming the senses, and not their suppression. Titiksha is the forbearance of all suffering in the discharge of one’s duties, and not mere endurance. Dhriti is to overcome the sensuality of taste and sex, and not mere avoidance.
37. The highest charity (param-danam) is the abandonment of the tendency to harm other living beings and not mere doling out of alms. The highest form of tapas is the abstinence from sexuality and not the performance of body-torturing rites like kricchra and chadrayana. Heroism (saurya) lies in the conquest of one’s animal nature and not in mere combativeness. And Truth is seeing God in everything, and not mere factual speech.
38. Great men have said that rita consists in speech that is factual and beneficial; purity (soucha) is non-attachment in work; and tyaga (abandonment) is sannyasa or renunciation of worldliness and worldly life.
39. The greatest wealth of man is dharma, not mere material possessions. The real yajna is I, the Supreme Lord, and not a mere ritual. The dakshina is the humble service to the teacher imparting knowledge, and not mere gifts of money or goods. Real strength consists in pranayama which helps one to control the mind, and not in mere muscular strength.
40. Bhaga or bhagya (good fortune) consists in becoming a participant of My bhagas or six divine majesties - lordliness, power, fame, Sri (beauty-cum-prosperity), wisdom and non-attachment. Real profit (labha) is the attainment of devotion to Me and not the gain of wealth, children and other worldly objects. Vidya is eradication of the sense of duality in the atman, and not mere knowledge. Hri or bashfulness is the reluctance to do what is evil, and not mere sense of shame.
41. True beauty arises from desireless-ness and austerity, and not by mere decoration and jewellery. True happiness consists in seeking neither pleasure nor misery, but remaining detached and unconcerned in all situations. True misery lies in seeking sexual satisfactions, and not in fire accidents and similar calamities. A really learned man is one who has a clear apprehension of the states of bandage and liberation, and not a mere learned of books.
42. The ignorant man (murkha) is the one who thinks of himself as the body only and not one merely unlearned. The true path is the path of renunciation that leads one to Me and not the ways that lead to worldly ends. The perverted way is the life of unrestricted extroversion and not merely the way of thieves. Swarga is the dawn of sattva-guna, and not a place in Indra’s heaven.
43. Naraka is dominance of the quality of tamas and not a region called hell. The true relative is the guru, and not brothers and sons. And the guru is Me. The home is the human body, and not what is made of brick and mortar. The wealthy man is one rich in virtues, and not the individual with physical wealth.
44. The pauper is the greedy man who is never satisfied with anything he gets and not one who has not much wealth. The pitiable man is one who is not able to control one’s senses. The true master is one who is free from bondage to gunas or the senses and their objects; and his opposite, the slave, is one who is attached to them.
45. Oh Uddhava! All your questions have been thus properly considered and answered. This, in brief, is the description of the good and the bad. What is the use of too long a description? To transcend the feeling of distinction between the two is real virtue.
XV
Uddhava said:
1. The Veda, which is the commandment of Thine, the Lord of all, consists of injunctions and prohibitions. Injunctions and prohibitions presuppose that some actions are good and, therefore, should be done, and that some are bad and, therefore, should be avoided.
2. The determination of varnas and their duties, the differences between the two types of marriage called anuloma and pratiloma, the nature of substances, place, age and time, the distinction of heaven and hell, etc are the differentiations and classifications stated in the Veda, on the basis of the distinction between the good and the bad, the high and the low.
3. Without accepting the absolute distinction between merit and demerit, how can Thy word, the Veda, stand? How can the doctrine of salvation be justified?
4. Thy word, the Veda, is for men, pitris and Devas the principal guidance in matters unseen and unattained – in understanding the goal and the means in this field of the unseen.
5. From Thy revelation, the Veda, man has come to understand this distinction between the good and the bad; it is not his nature that has helped him do so. So when Thou sayeth that there is no such distinction between them, we are confused.
Sri Bhagawan said:
6. I have proclaimed three types of communion for spiritual enlightenment of man. These are the yogas of jnana, karma and bhakti. There is no other way besides these three.
7. Communion through jnana or knowledge is for those who are disgusted with the Veda-ordained works and their fruits and who, therefore, abandon such works out of true renunciation. Communion through karma or action is for those who have desires and are, therefore, not yet disgusted with works and their fruits.
8. Bhakti yoga becomes easily fruitful in the case of a man who, by some good fortune resulting from his karma or the Lord’s grace, develops sraddha or zealous faith in listening to accounts of My works and excellence, and who is neither endowed with a very keen spirit of renunciation, nor is so much attached to things of the world.
9. It is only until man has developed disgust for worldly fulfillments or until he has had zealous faith in hearing of, and contemplating on My works and excellence, that it is incumbent on him to perform the Veda-ordained works, ritualistic or otherwise.
10. Oh Uddhava! A person, who is devoted to the performance of the Veda-ordained duties (swadharma), if he performs those yajnas ordained in the Veda as an offering to Me without any desire for their fruits, and if he also refrains from any prohibited or desire-prompted actions, will not have to be in heaven for enjoying the felicities springing from his works, nor will he be consigned to the hell (naraka).
11. Oh sinless one! A person who thus performs his swadharma will attain to purity of mind and have knowledge of the Atman. Or if he is very fortunate, he may develop love for Me.
12. Just as those consigned to the hell (purgatory) desire to get a human body, so do the denizens of heaven aspire for such a body. For, it is only with the human body that self-knowledge and bhakti (devotion) can be attained, and not with bodies pertaining to other spheres.
13. Therefore, a man of intelligence and insight should not desire for the heavenly regions even as he does not desire for the hell, where the Jiva suffer for their past karma. He should not entertain any desire for a human body, too, for, the passionate attachment to the body will deny him of his ultimate spiritual goal.
14. Thus understanding that this human body, though capable of taking him to the highest level of enlightenment, is in itself mortal, a man of discrimination should strive with great alertness and self-effort for attainment of the spiritual goal even before death overtakes him.
15. When the wood-cutter cuts down trees without any compassion, the birds having nests thereon fly away easily to places of safety as they are without attachment to their habitats.
16. Similarly, a seeker should realize that the tree of his life-span is being cut down with the passing of every night and day. This realization will help him free himself from all attachments in life, become desireless, and be established in tranquility, contemplating on the Supreme Being.
17. Suppose that one has obtained a human body which is the first requirement of higher life. Though very rare, the ship of a human body, very well-built, has now become available to one by one’s good fortune, and it is captained by a competent guru and favoured by the wind of My Grace. If, with all these favourable conditions, one fails to utilize them and cross the ocean of samsara, one shall be deemed to have committed spiritual suicide.
18. When one has become averse to worldly desires because of true abhorrence of worldly values and when, as a consequence, one has gained mastery over the senses, one should strive to make one’s mind recollected and steady by repeated practice of inward concentration.
19. Though one seeks to concentrate one’s mind on Me, it may still run away in all directions in a chaotic manner. Then the yogi should, with great alertness, bring it round slowly, adopting the conciliatory way of allowing it to dwell on un-prohibited objects of its choice for a while.
20. After one establishes control over the prana and the senses, one should not allow the mind to wander about further. One should bring it under one’s control through pure intellect that arises because of pure food and noble sense-impressions.
21. Such restraint of the mind is what is considered the highest reach of yoga. The seeker should attain it like a horse-trainer brings an uncontrollable horse under his control. He allows the horse some freedom to move about as it likes, but with the reins in hand, he controls its movements slowly and gradually. Similarly, a seeker should establish general control over his mind.
22. Next, until the mind becomes calm and recollected, a seeker should, through philosophic reflection, perceive the origin and evolution of everything from Mahatattva to the elements, and their involution in the reverse order.
23. A seeker who is disgusted with rituals, endowed with renunciation and has received instruction from guru will abandon attachment to, and identification with, the body by repeated reflection on the instruction imparted by the guru.
24. By the disciplines of yoga with its eight steps beginning with yama, through philosophic analysis and reflection on the path of knowledge, or through the worship of My images or other forms of devotion, the mind should be made to dwell exclusively on the Divine which is the goal of yoga. One shall not adopt any other means to still or transcend the mind.
25. If a seeker practising spiritual communion happens to commit a sin, that sin is to be sought to be burnt by the power of spiritual communion, and not by penance (prayaschitta).
26. What is described ‘good’ consists in adhering to works and ways of living, coming within one’s spiritual and moral sphere. This is mainly to regulate and limit desire-prompted actions that are, by nature, impure. As all evil tendencies cannot be abandoned at once by everybody, a gradual process of reaching, step by step, the state of total non-attachment and renunciation is, therefore, prescribed.
27-28. One may have developed strong faith in Me and the scriptures dealing with Me. One may have developed abhorrence for all karma and gained the understanding that all desires lead to suffering ultimately. Yet one may not have the requisite will to practise total renunciation. Such a person may continue to live fulfilling his desires and simultaneously worshipping Me with joy, faith and determination. But he should do so with the full awareness of the unedifying nature of such a life. For, discrimination and worship will soon raise him from that way of life to divinity.
29. When a seeker thus continues to follow the disciplines of bhakti without any let-up, I begin to dwell in his heart and, thereupon, all the desires of the heart are destroyed owing to My presence within.
30. When a seeker realizes Me, the Soul of All, his ego-sense is cut asunder. All his doubts about the reality of God, the Atman, etc are dispelled; the effect of his past karma gets attenuated.
31. For one, who is thus endowed with devotion that constantly makes the mind centred in Me, there is no need of knowledge and renunciation for realization of the Supreme Self.
32-33. A seeker on the path of devotion can attain, without any difficulty, if he so desires, whatever can be attained by performance of Vedic rites and austerities, knowledge, dispassion, yoga, charity or any other spiritual discipline – be that the abode of the celestials, liberation or Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu.
34. But holy men of firm mind, endowed with unswerving devotion to Me, do not desire or accept liberation or salvation which gives freedom from birth and death, even if I offer it to them.
35. The state of mind in which a man is free from any desire or want is the state of blessedness (nishreya), infinite in its scope. Pure devotion for Me dawns only on such a seeker who desires neither worldly fulfillment nor salvation from Me.
36. Holy men, unswerving in their devotion to Me, even-minded in all situations, with intellect transcended, are not affected by any merit or demerit for their actions arising from scriptural commandments or prohibitions.
37. Those that follow the path of devotion and self-surrender propounded by Me attain to the state of My Supreme Beatitude – the Supreme Brahman.
XVI
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. Those that neglect the paths of devotion, knowledge and / or action leading to liberation, and indulge in the enjoyment of vulgar pleasures with their fleeting sense faculties pass from birth to birth, being subject to the effects of their good and bad actions.
2. Adherence to action that comes within one’s power is good; the opposite is evil. Thus are virtue and vice determined according to their relevance in the spiritual advancement of man, and not owing to any thing inherent in them.
3. The system of determining the order of objects and actions as good or bad to be followed or avoided according to one’s power has been laid down in order to check one in the pursuit of one’s natural inclinations, first by generating a doubt in one about their inherent propriety.
4. For the sake of those who are burdened with an obsessive extrovert nature, I have laid down the rules of conduct in the form of smritis. Some of these rules are meant to help man in his spiritual progress in a given situation; some are relevant only from practical considerations of life; and still others are meant for the maintenance of life in dangerous situations.
5. From Brahma down to the immovable objects like trees, all are created on the same pattern, their bodies being combinations of the five elements united with the atman.
6. Being constituted of the five elements, the basic nature of their bodies is the same. But their bodies have developed diversities of names, forms and capacities for the Jiva’s gradual attainment of the four great ends of life, namely, dharma, artha, kama and moksha. The Veda has, therefore, categorized them according to their capacities and laid down rules for their development from stage to stage.
7. Oh Uddhava! It is only to limit karma that propriety and impropriety have been laid down with regard to places, time, results, competent persons and ingredients.
8. The places where there are no black-bucks and where there is no respect for holy men are impure. Even if black-bucks are present, the regions of keekata, the places inhabited by people of low moral standards and deserts are considered impure.
9. An auspicious time for a rite is determined by the availability of the ingredients of worship at that time, or for some other reasons inherent in the time. The seasons when the required ingredients are not available or times when there are obstacles from external circumstances are considered inauspicious for the performance of rites.
10. The purity or impurity of ingredients is determined by contact with other ingredients, by authoritative pronouncements, by purificatory rites, by lapse of time or by relative size.
11. Purity or impurity is determined by one’s strength or weakness, by one’s knowledge or ignorance, or by one’s wealth or poverty. So a virtue or vice arises according to time and place.
12. The purification of objects like grains, wooden utensils, those made of ivory, textiles, oily substances, precious metals, skins and pots is effected by air, fire, earth and water singly or in combination, and by the passage of time.
13. The purifier is that which, with whatever agent, removes the filth and bad odour of an object smeared with dirt, and restores it to its pristine purity.
14. A dwija is to purify himself before he performs a scriptural rite with water, charity, austerity, attainment of proper age and capacity, sandhya-vandana, or meditation on the Supreme Being.
15. The acquisition of a mantra from a guru is the purification of the mantra. A work or a rite is purified by its being offered to Me. Anything conforming to dharma must be subject to purification in time, place, substance, mantra, the performer and the rite itself. Being non-purified in any of these factors reduces a rite into adharma.
16. What is right in one context can become its opposite in another by the force of Vedic injunction. So also what is wrong can become right. The difficulty of determining right or wrong affects the very basis of such distinction.
17. An act which is sin for a man morally elevated or in a particular station of life need not be so for a fallen man, or for one in a low state of evolution, or for one belonging to a different order of life. The reason is that a man who is lying on the ground cannot have a further fall. It is only a man who is at a higher level or erect that is liable to fall.
18. The lesson to be drawn from this indeterminate and flexible nature of dharma and adharma is that man should, little by little and to the extent possible, retire from the pursuit of desires and ritualistic works, and take to renunciation. To the extent he renounces, to that extent he is free. That is the way of life that will eliminate sorrow, delusion and fear, and establish him in bliss.
19-21. Man develops attachment to sense-objects when he falsely begins to think that they will promote his good. Such attachment matures into craving, and it is from the craving of intense desires that conflicts erupt among men. From conflicts arise uncontrollable anger. This is followed by delusion – complete inability to distinguish between right and wrong, the proper and the improper. Delusion quickly swallows his moral sense completely. Oh good friend! Man then becomes a zero as far as his humanity is concerned. He is as good as dead. He loses all the great values that obtain in human life.
22. He merely exists, absorbing food like a tree, and breathing like a pair of bellows. Owing to his excitement with sensuous pleasures, he knows not anything about his own real nature, nor does he have any love and sympathy for others.
23. The karmakanda (the ritualistic section of the Veda) is sweet with promises of enjoyment, as fruits of ritualistic works. They do not enlighten man on his ultimate good. They are only a means to stimulate man engrossed in sensuality to higher goals. Just as children are prompted to take medicine by promise of delicious edibles, the promises of ritualism are meant to stimulate man, stagnating in abject inertia, to the first steps towards the highest good.
24-25. Man is naturally inclined to sense-enjoyment, to his own physical welfare, and to the promotion of the interests of his relatives. All these are hindrances in his spiritual development. How then can a centre of divine wisdom like the Veda – an authority to which men of such unregenerate nature wandering in the path of sin and unhappiness look with reverence and which they approach for guidance – confirm them in their sensuality and selfishness?
26. There are some men of perverted intelligence who do not understand this feature of the Veda, but take its flowery descriptions of the fruits of yajnas literally. But real knowers of the Veda like Vyasa do not do so.
27. Desire-ridden, greedy and pitiable, the former mistake the possibility of future acquisition of heavenly felicities for the fruit of sat-chit-ananda. Befooled by their exaggerated faith in the scope of fire-sacrifices, they at last go by the path of smoke, without knowing anything about the nature of their own self.
28. With ritualism as their main instrument and sense-enjoyment as their sole objective, they are like men blinded by darkness produced by mist which prevents them from seeing even the nearest object. For, thanks to ritualism and sensuality, they do not know Me, the source of this whole universe, though I am present in their very heart.
29-30. If people are fond of meat-eating, let it be confined to occasions of sacrifice. Let it be a mere permission and not a commandment. This view of Mine is indirectly expressed in passages dealing with the killing of animals at sacrifices. Without understanding this, these people, sensuous and cruel by nature, delight in organizing bloody sacrifices for inferior deities, manes and elementals, utilizing those occasions for obtaining satisfaction of their cruel instincts and their hunger for meat.
31. Just as an avaricious merchant wastes his wealth in speculation, they waste their resources in expectation of enjoyment in realms and regions, dreamlike in their substantiality, but immensely delightful for the ears to hear about.
32. Themselves dominated by sattva, rajas and tamas, the gunas of Prakrti, they adore Indra and other Devas of a similar nature, but not Me who am beyond these three gunas.
33-34. These conceited and sensuous-enjoyment seeking people listen to such dictums as ‘a votary can sacrifice here to the deities, and after death he will go to their heavens and have enjoyment. At the end of heavenly felicities, he will be born again on earth in a high family and become a great house-holder, performing sacrifices once again.’ Carried away by such dictums, they will abhor even any reference to Me, the Supreme Being.
35. The Veda, consisting of the three sections dealing with karma (rituals), upasana (meditation) and jnana (knowledge-cum-devotion), has the Brahman-Atman as its fulcrum and purport. The Veda is couched in language that is indirect, and cast in riddles. I favour this indirect way of expression.
36. The sabda-Brahman (the sound phenomenon - AUM) with its three subtle stages of manifestation known as Para, Pasyanti and Madhyama, expressed in and through the prana and the mind, besides the articulate form Vaikhari expressed through the organ of sound, is difficult to be understood in itself fully; it is infinite, deep and unfathomable like the ocean. For, of these four stages of its manifestation, only the Vaikhari is articulate sound; the others are inaudible and inarticulate.
37. Proceeding from Me, the Infinite Brahman, changeless and limitless in power, the sabda-Brahman is heard by the enlightened as subtle resonance (nada) pervading all living beings, like the slender filament within a lotus-stalk.
38-40. Just as the spider brings out its web from within itself through the mouth, the Supreme Being, the embodiment of Veda and the seat of bliss, manifesting as Hiranyagarbha, brings out of IT the stuff of subtle sound called nada. Through the instrumentality of the mind, the subtle sound fashions the body of consonants, vowels, aspirates, etc from the Pranava (AUM), the articulate body of sounds called the Veda which is decoded (couched) in wonderful language and in several metres, each successive one having four letters more than the previous one. The Veda is infinite in its scope and profundity. IT brings out and withdraws the Veda, which has a vast and varied vocabulary and employs numerous metres.
41. Some of these metres are the Gayatri with twenty four letters, followed by other metres, each with four more letters than the previous one. These are Ushnik, Anushtup, Brihati, Pankti, Trishtup, Jagati, Aticchandas, Atyashti, Atijagati and Virat.
42. No one but I know, in truth, what injunctions the Veda lays down in the Karmakanda, what it lays down in the Upasanakanda, and what prima facie views it states to deny them afterwards in the Jnanakanda.
43. In the Karmakanda, what I enjoin as injunctions am Me in the form of yajna. In the Upasanakanda, it is Me that I describe in the form of various deities. And in the Jnanakanda, what is first accepted prima facie and then negated is also Me. The Veda asserts this universe tentatively as an expression of My power, Maya. When, through the world of manifestation, the Jiva is taken to merge (dissolve) in Me, the Veda denies the manifestation and completes its task. This is the function of the Veda.
XVIII
Uddhava said:
1. Oh Lord! How many categories are recognized by sages? There seems to be different views about it. I heard Thee saying that they are twenty eight divided into nine, eleven, five and three.
2. Some say they are twenty six; and others, twenty five. Still others speak of them variously as seven, nine, six and four; and some others as eleven.
3. There are some which hold that they are seventeen, sixteen and thirteen. It behoves Thee to tell me why and on what basis sages have expressed such diverse views about the primordial categories.
Sri Bhagawan said:
4. The different views of the philosophers on the question are all acceptable. All the categories are implicit in every one of them included in these different views, either in their casual or effect conditions. Moreover, for those who philosophize accepting the reality of My Maya, there is no difficulty to explain anything or reconcile any contradiction.
5. The reason for the people contending ‘What you say is not right; what I say is right’ lies in the three gunas of which people’s nature is constituted. The different mental constitutions of individuals arising from the gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas make views contrary to a person’s nature incomprehensible to that person.
6. It is from the modifications of sattva, rajas and tamas constituting the nature of men that the differences which cause controversies arise. So it is seen that when pacification of the mind and control of the senses are effected, controversies naturally disappear.
7. As the categories are involved mutually in their conditions as cause and effect, philosophers can enumerate them differently according to their points of view.
8. Whether it is as cause or as effect, it is seen that in each category all other categories are implicit, as is the case with mud and all objects made of it. The three gunas, the common cause of them all, are present in all the categories which, in turn, are involved in the gunas.
9. Whatever the philosophers say about the sequence of these categories and the difference in their numbers, we gladly accept as they are all equally reasonable from the different points of view.
10. Philosophers who accept a fundamental difference between Iswara and Jiva contend that, as the Atman in the Jiva is under the spell of Avidya (Ignorance) from eternity, the Atman can never free Itself from ignorance without the help of another centre of intelligence which is ever free from ignorance. That centre of intelligence is Iswara, and He is different from the Jiva.
11. As against this, some others contend that there is not even the slightest difference between the Jiva and Iswara. As for the Jiva being helped with jnana, jnana is a property of the sattva-guna of Prakrti, and it is, therefore, latent in Prakrti.
12. Prakrti is the state of equilibrium of the gunas - sattva, rajas and tamas. These gunas, therefore, belong to Prakrti and not to the Atman. They are the cause of preservation, creation and dissolution respectively.
13. Accordingly, sattva is identified with intelligence and knowledge, rajas with works, and tamas with inertia and ignorance. Time is the Lord’s power aspect causing agitation in the gunas of Prakrti, and what is called swabhava (Nature) is Mahatattva (the all-inclusive category).
14. I have given out the categories as nine – Purusa, Prakrti, Mahatattva, ahamkara and the five tanmatras.
15. The tattvas I have revealed are eleven. They are the five organs of knowledge like seeing, hearing, etc, the five organs of action, and the mind that supports both.
16. The enumeration of tattvas as five refers to the five gross elements that are the objects of hearing, touch, taste, smell and sight. The five forms of action such as motion, speech, evacuation, regeneration and physical labour are not tattvas or categories, but functions of the organs of action.
17. At the beginning of creation, Prakrti of which the causal state and the manifested state are its constituents becomes activated by its gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas, and evolves into the multitudinous universe. But the Purusa, the Supreme Spirit, immutable, is the witness-consciousness of Prakrti in the form of the manifested universe.
18. The evolutes of Prakrti like Mahatattva rendered potent by the consciousness of Purusa and sustained by Prakrti combine together to manifest the Brahmanda or the Cosmic-Shell.
19. There are some who reckon the categories as seven taking into account the five tanmatras (subtle elements), the Jiva – the individual self and the Atman that is the support of both. From these seven categories are evolved senses, vitality and the like.
20. There is another view that there are only six categories comprising the five gross elements and the Paramatman. According to this view, the Paramatman creates the universe with the five elements that evolve out of Him and then enters into it as the Jiva. In this view, the Jiva is part of the Paramatman.
21. There is a school which holds the categories to be four being fire, water, earth and the Atman, the first three evolving out of the fourth.
22. There is another view that the categories are seventeen consisting of the five gross elements, the five subtle elements (tanmatras), the five senses, the manas (mind) and the atman.
23. Those who hold that the categories are only sixteen accept the above enumeration except that the atman is taken as the mind itself. Some others consider the categories only thirteen consisting of the five elements, the five senses, the mind, the Jiva and the Paramatman.
24. In the view of the categories being eleven are enumerated the five senses, the five elements and the Atman. In this view, the Atman includes the mind and Iswara, too. In the view that holds them to be nine, the root Prakrti, its seven evolutes and the Atman are taken into account.
25. In this way, sages have expressed various views about the number of categories. The purpose of such enumeration is not so much the identification of the categories exactly as to distinguish the Purusa from the categories. Each view has its own justification and reasonableness. Whatever wise men say is always meaningful.
Uddhava said:
26. Oh Krishna! Though Prakrti and Purusa are different in their attributes, it is difficult to distinguish them as they are always perceived together. The Atman is seen in a body and the body with the Atman.
27. Oh all-knowing One! It behoves Thee to remove this serious doubt of mine by Thy persuasive dialectic.
28. Both the knowledge and ignorance of the Jiva spring from Thy power, Thy Atman-Maya whose functioning is known only to Thee and to none else.
Sri Bhagawan said:
29. Oh noble one! No doubt, Purusa and Prakrti are absolutely separate. This body which is ever in change is the result of the permutation and combination of the gunas.
30. With the help of the three gunas, my Maya generates differences in objects and the ways of their apprehension. All the ever-changing conditions of effects can be brought under the three heads – the Adhyatmika, the Adhidaivika and the Adhibhautika. They relate to the Self, the divinities and the creatures in that order.
31. Take eye-sight as an example. The organ eye is adhyatma; the forms and colours visible are adhibhuta; and the aspect of the deity in the eye is the adhidaiva. Without the power of the deity in the eye, the physical eye cannot see. So, these aspects of eye-sight, namely, organ, object and deity go together, though separate. The same triune division holds good in respect of all the senses like hearing, touch, taste, smell, etc.
32. The cause of all the delusive experience of divisiveness is ahamkara (ego-sense) which, in the three aspects of sattva, rajas and tamas, is evolved from Mahatattva, itself an evolute of Pradhana (Prakrti), by the action of Time which is the principal factor causing the agitation of the gunas and the evolution of the categories.
33. The Atman is the self-conscious effulgence which reveals Itself and all objects. Still there is a great dispute as to what really exists and what does not. But all this is relevant only on the acceptance of the reality of differences. One accepts the reality of differences, though unreal, when one has turned away from Me, even as one in the state of dreaming accepts the reality of the objects of the dream while dreaming, though one realizes the falsity of the dream objects in the state of one’s waking consciousness.
Uddhava said:
34-35. Oh Lord! Tell me how the forces of their own karma carry the souls, who turn away from Thee, to bodies that are at a higher or lower stage of evolution, and how these souls abandon their bodies on death. Oh Govinda! This is a subject which philosophers, who have not controlled their mind and senses, cannot understand or teach, being under the delusive influence of Maya. There are few learned men who can speak authoritatively on this subject.
Sri Bhagawan said:
36. The linga-sarira (subtle-body) comprising the mind, the five indriyas and the tendencies (samskaras) derived from karma transmigrates from one body to another. The atman, though different form the linga-sarira, also seems to follow it because of the connectivity between them resulting from avidya (ignorance).
37. The mind of the dying man, swayed by his own actions and their impressions, thinks intensely on experiences he had in life, on what he had seen, heard, and passed through. Consequently he feels, at the time of death, that he is entering a new realm that has manifested by his intense thought, and leaves the old body. On rebirth, with the coming of the consciousness of the new body, there is complete oblivion of the old body and its history in the world.
38. On account of the intensity of attraction felt for the new body for whatever reason, the memory of the old one is completely effaced. Death means this complete forgetfulness of the old body and its affairs by the Jiva.
39. Oh generous one! The acceptance of a new body by the Jiva and its complete identification with it is called birth. How this happens is found in the examples of dreams and reveries.
40. As man does in these states, the Jiva becomes completely oblivious of the old body and gets identified with the new one. The identification is so absolute that the Jiva forgets its pre-existence and comes to believe that it has come into being with the new body alone.
41. By the creative power of the mind, which is the sole support of all faculties like the senses, the threefold divisive experience arises in the atman. This experience consists of the sense of ‘within’ oneself, of the sense of ‘without’ oneself, and of the objects experienced in the ‘without’. This bears analogy to the dream-experience in which the self sees many non-existent objects as the non-self outside of oneself, on account of the creative power of the mind.
42. Oh dear one! Caught up in the imperceptible movement of Time, the bodies of beings constantly come into existence and perish. Ignorant people do not perceive this subtle process.
43. The flames of fire, the flow of water, the fruits of trees, etc are ever subject to change. In the same way, Time subjects the bodies of all to the process of change by way of aging.
44. Though the flame is ever in change, men may say it is the same flame. The flow of water in a river is continuous; yet men may speak of it as the same water. In these cases, resemblance is mistaken for identity. Similarly, ignorant men think and speak of the man of today as the same as of yesterday, though he has long ceased to be.
45. Even in the case of an ignorant man, he (the spirit within -atman) is not really born as the result of the tendencies arising from karma, nor does he die as he (the atman) is immortal by nature. It is just like fire arising by the rubbing together of wooden pieces. Fire is latent ever in the fire-sticks. The rubbing or the separation of its adjuncts, the two pieces of fire-sticks, only helps or hinders its manifestation.
46. Conception, fetus, birth, infancy, childhood, youth, middle-age, old-age and death are the nine stages of the growth and decline of the gross body, and not of the spirit.
47. All these states, high and low, the products of the imaginative faculty, are of the body. But by identification with the body, the Jiva takes them upon itself. Just a few men overcome this identification, by the grace of the Lord.
48. Seeing the death of the father’s body and the birth of the son’s, one can easily infer that one’s own case is similar. The atman which is the knower of the birth and death of the body and which is the one without a second cannot itself be the subject of these processes. The seer can never be the seen.
49. Just as a man who observes the growth of a plant from its seed and its decay is different from the plant, so also is the atman, knower of the body and its transformations.
50. The ignorant man, incapable of distinguishing the atman from the body which is an evolute of Prakrti, identifies himself with the body and gets entangled in the objects of the senses, and consequently in the cycle of birth and death.
51. By the force of tendencies generated by karma, the ignorant Jiva get the bodies of rishis and Devas if the sattva is the binding element, of asuras and men if rajas is the dominant element, and of evil spirits and brute creation if tamas happens to predominate.
52. Just as persons who witness dance or listen to music, dance or sing within their minds in tune with the artistes through identification, so the Jiva, though by nature actionless, is drawn by the intellect (buddhi) to behave like itself by identification.
53. In water that is in ripples, trees reflected in it are seen to bend and be moving. Similarly, to the whirling eyes, all panoramas seem to be whirling.
54. Oh Uddhava! Just as the pleasures experienced in dream and a reverie are only a ‘seeming’, so are such experiences of the Jiva in samsara.
55. Just as for a sleeping person the obsession of dream experiences, which are the products of his continuous brooding, will continue so long as the sleep lasts, so also until one is awakened into Truth, the experience of samsara will continue.
56. Therefore, O Uddhava, never run after treacherous sense enjoyment with abandon. Know that it is the want of awareness of the Atman that is the cause of this delusion of the mind.
57-58. An aspirant for the spiritual summum bonum might be subjected by evil men to abuse, insult, ridicule and calumny, might be beaten, imprisoned, deprived of livelihood, spat upon, urinated upon, persecuted for his faith, or might fall into any dangerous situation. In all such conditions he should, without getting shaken from his high spiritual elevation, remain calm with the Self as the support, looking upon all these experiences as brought about by one’s karma.
Uddhava said:
59-60. Oh, the best among the learned! Deign to tell me how man can attain to this state of mind. Except for those who are the followers of the Bhagavata-dharma and who have attained to tranquility by having their home at Thy feet, it is impossible to get this attitude of mind in the face of suffering and persecution. However learned and wise a man might be, he cannot overcome nature which invariably prompts him to react against persecution and insult.
XVIII
Sri Suka said:
1. Requested in this way by His great devotee and servant Uddhava, the Lord who was born as the chief of the Yadus, and whose powers and achievements provide the best material for the human ears to hear, spoke to His servant as follows, expressing His approval of the question.
Sri Bhagawan said:
2. Oh disciple of Brihaspati! There is hardly anyone in this world who can control his mind that has been agitated by the evil words of wicked men.
3. The sharp arrows struck at vital parts of the body do not mortify a man to the same extent as the arrows of filthy abuse which evil men release at him.
4. Oh Uddhava! Enlightened men have a traditional legend of great holiness, in connection with this subject. I shall narrate it to you. Listen to it attentively.
5. Listen to this recital of a mendicant who was insulted and ill-treated by some evil men, and who put up with it, taking it all to be the result of his karma.
6. In the kingdom of Avanti, there lived a very rich brahmana engaged in agriculture and trade as the sources of his livelihood. He was ill-tempered, extremely greedy and very miserly.
7. He never welcomed even verbally his relatives or guests. In his house, empty of inhabitants, there was no proper provision to meet even his needs.
8. His sons and relatives felt oppressed because of his perversity and miserliness. Even his wife, daughters and servants were so depressed that they did not strive to please him.
9. His five ‘co-sharers’ (the agencies adored through Pancha-mahayajna, namely, Devas, rishis, manes, bhutas and men) were displeased with him, as he never cared to share his wealth with them, but only guarded it securely like a goblin (bhuta). As a consequence, he lost the prospects of his future evolution in the life hereafter as well as his welfare and enjoyment in this life itself.
10. For, the anger of the deities of Pancha-mahayajna deprived him even of that merit which had enabled him to accumulate wealth. As a consequence, his entire wealth was lost in spite of all the hard work he had put in for its acquisition and retention.
11. His relatives appropriated some of it; thieves relieved him of some; and fire, accident, bad seasons, and the exaction of the kings completed the process of his impoverishment.
12. Thus deprived of the means to perform his religious duties and meet his worldly needs, and deserted also by his relatives, he was filled with worrying thoughts.
13. As he was being mentally burnt by the sorrow arising from total impoverishment and was shedding bitter tears about his condition over and over again, there arose in him, by the Lord’s grace, a powerful fit of renunciation for all worldly values.
14. He began to think, ‘Vain has been all my hard work for the acquisition of wealth which I failed to use for religious work or worldly enjoyment.
15. The wealth of misers never turns out to be a means of happiness. Its rewards are worry here and hell hereafter.
16. Just as leucoderma mars the beauty of even a perfect form, even a little of miserliness compromises the clean reputation and the otherwise praiseworthy character of man.
17. Great effort is required to earn, augment and protect wealth. Even if it is acquired, in expending and enjoying it, great fear and worry are likely, while its loss will depress man and bring him to the brink of madness.
18-19. Wise men say that theft, slaughter, falsehood, hypocrisy, greed, anger, egotism, pride, partiality, rancour, suspicion, jealousy, sexuality, gambling, drunkenness are the fifteen vices produced in men by wealth. So, let those who aspire for liberation abandon it from afar, as artha, wealth, is really anartha, the cause of all evil.
20. Brothers, wives, parents and such close relatives so dear to one another, and living together as if they were one in body, become bitter enemies for the sake of a few coins.
21. Dispute over a trifle is sufficient to inflame them with anger and make them fight among themselves forgetting all loving relationship, and ever intent on mutual destruction.
22. Birth among the most abominable species is the dismal reward for those who, having obtained a human birth and that as a brahmana – a circumstance which is the highest aspiration even of Devas, cast it off like a trifle without striving for the attainment of spiritual freedom, which is the highest end of living beings.
23. A person does not deserve to be called human if he fails to make proper use of this embodiment as man, the gateway to heaven and liberation, but runs after wealth, which is the source of every kind of misery during the short span of life given to him.
24. Surely downfall awaits a man who accumulates wealth like a treasure-guarding yaksha without distributing it among deities, rishis, Pitris, elementals, relatives, associates and others who have claims to it.
25. Oblivious of all the higher values of life because of vain greed for wealth, my strength, my life and my wealth have all gone to sheer waste. Wise men utilize wealth as means to salvation. But what can I, an old and decrepit man, now do?
26. How is it then those even wise men, who know all these evil consequences of the pursuit of wealth, struggle for it without end in spite of all difficulties? Surely it is because that the whole world is under the spell of delusion cast by the Maya of the Lord of infinite potency.
27. For man who is already in the mouth of the serpent of death, of what significance are wealth and those who help him getting it? Of what use are enjoyment, too, and those who provide him with it?
28. Surely the worshipful Lord Hari, the embodiment of all divinities, has been pleased with me and brought me to this state of mind. He has provided me, out of His grace, with this boat of renunciation with which I can cross the ocean of samsara.
29. Whatever length of life-span is still left for me, I shall dedicate it to the earnest pursuit of the higher values of life, finding my joy exclusively in the Atman, and subjecting my body to rigorous discipline for this purpose.
30. In this effort, may I have the blessing of all the divinities who are the rulers of the three worlds? By the Lord’s grace, the king Khatvanga attained to Brahmaloka in a trice. Why not I, too?’
Sri Bhagawan said:
31. Resolving like this in mind, that brahmana at Avanti abandoned all the knotty desires of his heart, became tranquil and took to the life of a mendicant.
32. With his mind, senses and pranas controlled, he wandered from one place to another all over the country, entering towns and villages only for alms, completely unattached, and in no way demonstrating his past greatness.
33. Oh good friend! Evil men persecuted and insulted him in many ways, seeing him old, decrepit, untended and ill-clad.
34. Some pulled at his staff; some his water-pot and begging bowl; some at his seat; some at his beads; and some at his rags and bark-cloth.
35-36. Some gave back to him his personal effects, only to take them away again. Some wretches among them passed urine in the mendicant’s food collected by holy alms, while he was taking it on the river bank. Some others spat on his face. They tried their best to break his vow of silence; and when they failed, they thrashed him to make him speak.
37. Some tried to frighten him shouting that he was a thief, while others proceeded to bind him with cords.
38. Still others insulted him declaring him a hypocrite, who, having lost all his belongings and being deserted by his friends, had assumed this mendicant’s role only to deceive people.
39. Some said, ‘Possessed of great strength of mind and endurance that will do credit to a mountain, this man remains silent like a crane with determination, and achieves his purpose. It is most remarkable indeed!’
40. While some made fun of him as stated above, others passed dirty wind at him, and still others bound, imprisoned and treated him like a pet animal or bird.
41. Whatever sufferings came to him in this manner from external, supernatural or mental sources, he put up with them all with the thought that he was bound to suffer them all, as part of his prarabdha.
42. Though evil men thus tried their best to shake him from his swadharma by persecution, he remained steadfast in his sattva-guna and his swadharma.
The mendicant brooded:
43. ‘These men are not the cause of my enjoyment or suffering; nor are any divinity, the self, any star, karma, Time. According to wise men, the mind alone is the sole cause for turning the wheel of samsara.
44. The powerful mind generates the modes and movement of all the senses. Senses give rise to actions of the nature of sattva, rajas or tamas. Out of actions, according to their nature, arise embodied celestials, men and creatures.
45. Though perceived as associated with the active mind, the atman, charged with self-consciousness, never acts but is the witness to the modes of the mind and the activity of the senses. But the Jiva identifies itself with that mind whose activity projects the samsara on the atman. Through this imaginative identification, the Jiva appears to be subject to the pleasures and pains resulting from the activity of the mind.
46. Charity, disinterested discharge of one’s duties, tranquility of mind and the senses, study of scriptures, various rites and vows stated in the scriptures have the objective of controlling the mind. Transcendence of the mind is samadhi, being established in total peace. It is the highest yoga.
47. If a man’s mind has already attained tranquility and is established in the Supreme Being, of what further use are charity and other spiritual disciplines for him? Equally, of what use are charity and other spiritual disciplines for him if his mind continues to run after sensuous pleasures, or is immersed in torpor and lethargy?
48. All the senses are subject to the mind, but the mind is not subject to any. This formidable entity called mind is more powerful than any other centre of power. He, who has been able to conquer it, is the true master of all the senses.
49. One’s own mind is one’s invincible enemy which works with unimaginable speed, and pierces all the vital parts. Without conquering or making an effort to conquer it, a fool enters into vain quarrels with others looking upon them as friends, foes or indifferent.
50. Subject to the delusion of considering his body, a product of his mental construction, as himself, a person with a clouded mind looks upon him and others as entirely different beings, and thus entangles himself in the darkness of the endless samsara.
51. For the sake of argument, if it is accepted that it is others that make one happy or miserable, how does this affect the atman which is metaphysical - a spirit and not the body? What is done by others to the body cannot affect the atman. If it is said that the pain and pleasure caused by others, even if it be to the body, are even felt by the atman, where is the scope for being pleased or annoyed with others as the atman in everybody including the enemies is the same?
52. If it is said that the agent inflicting suffering and the subject undergoing suffering are the deities presiding over the corresponding limbs, even then it is of no consequence to the immutable atman. It is like one limb of one body striking at the limb of another body raising the question ‘who is to be angry and at whom?’ For, the deities in the limbs of both the persons are one and the same.
53. If it be the contention that the atman, in the course of its self-caused evolutionary process, brings on itself happiness and suffering, then at whom can one be angry, as that suffering is natural being self-caused? If it is said that it is caused by another, it may be that there is no ‘another’, the atman being the sole existence. The ‘another’ is only an appearance and not a reality. As there is no cause outside the atman, there can be neither joy nor sorrow brought about by another.
54. If the planets are the cause of happiness and misery that attach only to the body, of what consequence is it to the atman that is eternal and immutable?
55. Some say that karma is the cause of happiness and misery of one. But as the atman, by nature, is without action, how can karma affect one? Besides, karma may affect only something that is inert and yet conscious. The atman (spirit) is always conscious and the body (matter) is always inert. So, there can be nothing that it is both conscious and inert at the same time. Such a postulation is self-contradictory. In such an event, there can be nothing like karma, too, much less enjoyment and suffering arising from it.
56. If the cause of enjoyment and suffering is said to be Time, how can it affect the atman? For, the atman is Time itself. Fire does not burn up its flames that are only its part. Nor does coldness destroy or melt its products like pieces of ice. The atman is beyond the pairs of opposites such as enjoyment and suffering. Who then will one be angry at?
57. It is the ego-sense, the experiencer of the cycle of birth and death that is attracted to the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain, virtue and vice, etc. The atman, the I-consciousness, is the spirit within and beyond the pairs of opposites. It is only such person that has not awakened to this truth that is subject to the fear of others.
58. Adopting the discipline leading to total absorption in the Supreme Self following the sages of the past, and taking to the service of the feet of the worshipful Mukunda, I shall soon get across the limitless expanse of the darkness of ignorance’.
Sri Bhagawan said:
59. Thus did the mendicant proclaim on losing all his wealth, and thereby attaining total dispassion and freedom from all worldly cares. Though insulted and persecuted by evil men, he roamed about the land without budging from his swadharma.
60. This samsara, giving rise to happiness and misery, and the distinction of friend, foe and the indifferent, is a delusion of the mind; it is entirely a product of ignorance.
61. Oh Uddhava! Therefore, equipped with a mind entirely dedicated to Me, put in your best effort to rein in and transcend it. This is the sum and substance of all yoga.
62. Whoever listens, with faith and devotion, to this song (brooding) of the mendicant relating to being established in the consciousness of the Brahman, or makes others listen to and brood over it, will no longer be overcome by the contradictions of life.
XIX
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. I shall next expound to you the Sankhya-yoga taught by wise men of ancient times like Kapila. On knowing that, a seeker will abandon the delusion of difference.
2. This world of multiplicity with its basic differences of the seer and the seen, the subject and the object, etc is one with Pure Consciousness. In pralaya, at the early stage of the creative cycle, and in the consciousness of men of spiritual enlightenment, the unitary Consciousness alone abides.
3. That Pure Consciousness, unmodified and beyond the comprehension of thought and speech, becomes two as the seer and the seen, the subject and the object, as the consequence of the operation of My mysterious power Maya, whose ways baffle thought and description.
4. Of these two, one is Prakrti, the object, with its manifest and un-manifest states; and the other is Purusa, the Consciousness or the subject.
5. Out of Prakrti agitated by Me, because of the urge of the karma tendencies of the Jiva submerged in Prakrti, came its three gunas or aspects of sattva, rajas and tamas.
6. Out of the three gunas arose the Sutratman, the Pervading Self and from That the Mahatattva. But the Mahatattva is one with the Sutratman and both can be considered identical. From the transformation of Mahatattva has evolved the ego-sense (ahamkara), which causes delusion.
7. Ahamkara (ego-sense), which is a complex of consciousness and unconsciousness, has three aspects dominated by sattva, rajas and tamas respectively. From ahamkara have arisen the tanmatras (subtle elements), the indriyas (senses), manas (mind) and the deities presiding over the senses.
8. The bhutas or gross elements have evolved from the tamas aspect of ego-sense, passing through their causal condition as subtle elements or tanmatras. From the rajas aspect of ego-sense have arisen the ten deities presiding over the indriyas, and also the mind.
9. All these categories, on being activated by Me, combined into the all-inclusive Cosmic Shell, which became the noble abode of My all-pervading Self.
10. In that Cosmic Shell, I manifested as Narayana, and out of My navel came the World-lotus within which the self-born Brahma, the creator, arose.
11. Endowed with rajas, and blessed by Me, Brahma, who is the embodiment of the universe, created, by the power he got through austerity, all the worlds included in Bhur-loka, Bhuvar-loka and Swar-loka, and the presiding deities of the worlds.
12. The Swar-loka (heaven) is the abode of the Devas; the Bhuvar-loka (space) is the habitation of the spirits (bhutas); Bhur-loka (earth) belongs to the humans; the worlds superior to these three are for the siddhas (highly evolved souls).
13. Brahma created separate habitations for asuras and nagas regions like Atala, Vitala and others at levels inferior to the earth. The reason for this arrangement is that the attainment of the worlds of Swar, Bhuvar and Bhur is the fruit of actions based on the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas.
14. By yoga, austerity and sannyasa, the Jiva attain to higher regions than the three lokas, these being Mahar-loka, Jana-loka, Tapo-loka and Satya-loka. By the practice of bhakti, one reaches My abode (Vaikuntha).
15. All the beings in the worlds up to the Bhrahma-loka, bound by their karma, are moved by Me as Time, to regions high and low, submerging and re-emerging in the current of the gunas of Prakrti.
16. All objects, big or small, bulky or thin, are permeated by their cause, the Purusa and the Prakrti, from whom they have sprung.
17. The substance which was at the beginning and is present in the same way after the intervening series of changes have ended must have been there in the middle also. Therefore, that substance alone is real, and not the changing conditions which have only an empirical value for the time being, just like ornaments and pot with reference to their particular causal substances.
18. The reality is the causal substance which forms the stuff or material of the effects following, and which continues to be the same at the beginning and at the end of the series of changes producing effects. Thus the effects have no substantiality apart from the causal substance which is the ultimate reality.
19. Prakrti is the substance or the material cause of this universe. The Purusa is the adhara – the inner Controller and Master – of Prakrti. Time is the factor that manifests the effect – the universe out of its causal condition. All these three are Me, the Supreme Brahman.
20. As long as the creative will of the Lord operates sustaining this continuous flow of material energy as a succession of causes and effects, that flow persists, providing scope for the Jiva to enjoy or suffer on account of their karma.
21. When the creative will subsides and the Pralaya or the process of dissolution sets in, this Cosmic shell in which innumerable universes arise and decay is invaded and overcast by Me as Time, bringing about the dissolution of all things into their elemental condition.
22-25. The body dissolves into food; food into seed; seed into earth, earth into smell; smell into water; water into taste; taste into fire; fire into form; form into air; air into touch; touch into sky; sky into sound; the senses into their presiding deities; the deities into the mind which is a product of sattva and the controller of all; sound or sabda into the tamas aspect of ahamkara (ego-sense); and ahamkara, which infatuates all, into the Mahatattva.
26. That superior category Mahatattva dissolves into its cause, the three gunas of Prakrti; and these into Prakrti, which is the state of equilibrium of its constituents, the gunas. Prakrti dissolves in Time which is now without any movement; Prakrti and Time become one.
27. Time dissolves in the Creative Spirit, which is My power of Maya, and that Power in Me the Eternal and Unborn Being. I, the Pure Spirit, forming the basic substance on which creation manifests and the residuary substratum in which it dissolves, remain, without the limitation of any adjunct.
28. How does there occur the delusion of difference or multiplicity in the mind of one who constantly thinks over this process? It will take to wings as darkness before the sun. Even if it comes occasionally, how can it take any firm root in the heart?
29. This philosophy of the Sankhya, which can cut all knotty doubts, has been thus taught by Me, the Knower of everything, gross and subtle, in the form of a discourse on creation and dissolution, on how categories evolve and dissolve.
XX
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. Oh noble one! Learn how the nature of man is affected by the three gunas of Prakrti when they are in their pristine state, without interaction among themselves.
2. The signs of sattva are control of mind and senses, forbearance, discrimination, austerity, truthfulness, compassion, memory, contentment, self-sacrifice, desireless-ness, faith, revulsion from evil, charity and absorption in the Self.
3. The signs of rajas are desire, activity, pride, greed, haughtiness, longing for one’s selfish ends, sense of difference between man and things, sensuality, enthusiasm arising from excitement, craving for name and fame, indulgence in ridicule of others, demonstrativeness and aggressiveness.
4. The signs of tamas are anger, greed, perfidy, cruelty, beggarliness, hypocrisy, languor, quarrelsomeness, depression, delusion, despondency, wretchedness, lassitude, vain expectation, fear and lack of initiative, and vigour at work.
5. The above is a description of the modes of mind in succession, generated by the gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas individually. Now listen about the qualities produced by their combination and interaction.
6. Oh Uddhava! In the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, the gunas of Prakrti function, in combination, simultaneously. All the activities of the mind, tanmatras, senses and pranas are the result of the combined functioning of the three gunas.
7. When man is firm and resolute in his pursuit of artha, kama and dharma, then is generated in him earnestness, attachment and desire to possess and enjoy. This is the result of the combination of the gunas.
8. Even adherence to dharma can arise from a combination of the gunas in the case of a house-holder. His resolve to do action prompted by desire is rajas. His resolve to perform swadharma is sattva. His resolve to stay idle and do no work is tamas.
9. If one is in a state of tranquility and possesses qualities allied to it, it may be inferred that he is predominantly constituted of sattva. If he is dominated by craving for acquisition, it may be inferred that he is predominantly constituted of rajas. If his chief characteristic is anger, it may be inferred that he is predominantly constituted of tamas.
10. Know one, whether it be man or woman, to be possessed of sattva, if he or she is found to adore Me with devotion, by the performance of all works that one ought to do, eschewing all self-centred desires.
11. Whenever anyone is found adoring Me with the performance of his duties, entertaining many desires to be fulfilled thereby, know him to be possessed of rajas. Whenever anyone does so for the destruction of his enemies, know him to be possessed of tamas.
12. Sattva, rajas and tamas, which manifest in the mind, affect the Jiva, but not Me, the Lord of all. And even among the Jiva, they affect only those who are attached to the body and material objects, and not those un-attached.
13. When sattva, brilliant, pure and peaceful, dominates over the other two gunas, then man is happy, established in morality and knowledge.
14. When rajas, characterized by attachment, sense of difference, and consciousness of one’s power, dominates over sattva and tamas, then man becomes subject to suffering, following as he does the path of desire-prompted actions seeking wealth and fame.
15. When tamas, characterized by lack of discriminative power, lethargy and inertia, dominates over rajas and sattva, then man becomes subject to pessimism, delusion, sloth, cruelty and indulgence in vain expectations.
16. When the mind is serene and the senses are at rest, when the body is free from affliction and disease and the heart from attachment, then know that there is dominance of sattva, the quality through which I manifest.
17. When there is a plethora of activity and man becomes a confirmed extrovert, when his mind and senses cease to have any rest, and when he becomes subject to physical ailments and mental excitement and confusion, then know that rajas is dominant.
18. When the drooping mind, unable to sustain consciousness, dissolves into sleep, when thought ceases to function owing to dominance of inertia and pessimism, then know that tamas is prevalent.
19. At the ascent of sattva, the introspective power of the senses represented by the Devas increases; at that of rajas, the active tendencies represented by the asuras dominate; and at that of tamas, the delusive mood represented by the rakshasas (demons) prevails.
20. The waking state is from sattva; the dream state, from rajas; and the state of sleep, from tamas. The turiya (fourth) state is the Spirit which prevails in all the three states, and transcends the gunas.
21. Those that follow the vaidika rites and way of life will, with the predominance of sattva, go to heavenly regions and become celestials. With the predominance of tamas, one degenerates to the level of plants. With the predominance of rajas, one is re-born man who is at a middle stage of evolution, between the above two.
22. Those, who die when sattva is dominant, go to the heavenly region; those, when rajas is dominant, become men; and those, when tamas dominates, go to infernal regions. But those who are beyond any of these gunas of Prakrti attain to Me.
23. Swadharma (performance of legitimate and ordained duties), performed as offering unto Me or without any desires, is influenced by sattva. Actions done with desire for the fruits of the works are influenced by rajas; and those involving cruelty and other expressions of brute-nature are influenced by tamas.
24. The knowledge of the atman as unconnected with the body is an expression of sattva. The acceptance of it as tenanting a body is an expression of rajas. The acceptance of the atman as the body itself, characteristic of children and ignorant people, is the effect of tamas. The consciousness that grasps Me is beyond the three gunas.
25. Dwelling in the solitude of a forest is sattva; in a village, rajas; and in a gambling den, tamas. The holy places associated with Me are beyond the realm of the three gunas.
26. The man devoid of attachment to works is under the influence of sattva; the one blinded by attachment is under the influence of rajas; and the one in delusion is under the influence of tamas. But the devotee self-surrendered to Me is beyond all the three gunas.
27. Faith in the spiritual verity is born of sattva; faith in action, of rajas; and faith in the evil and the unrighteous, of tamas. But faith in service to Me is beyond the gunas of Prakrti.
28. The food which is pure, healthy and obtained easily is characterized by sattva; the food that is delightful at the time of eating is characterized by rajas; and the food that is impure and unhealthy is characterized by tamas. But the food offered to Me is free from the influence of the gunas.
29. The happiness born of spiritual contemplation is of sattva; that born of the sense contacts is of rajas; and that which springs from delusion owing to practices like drinking, and from the pitiable state of dependence on others is of tamas. But the happiness born of devotion to Me is beyond the gunas.
30. Substance, place, results, time, knowledge, action, agent, faith, the three states of waking, dream and sleep, forms like those of Devas, man etc, and abidance in realms like heaven are based in the three gunas.
31. In short, Oh the best of men! Whatever there are seen, heard and thought of, being based on Prakrti and Purusa, are constituted of the three gunas.
32-34. The Jiva goes round and round the trans-migratory cycle according to the gunas it is associated with, and the karma springing from them. He who overcomes the influence of these gunas manifesting in the mind, becomes established securely in Me through devotion, and becomes fit for My state. So let all persons of intelligence that have got this human body, which is a means for spiritual enlightenment, abandon attachment to objects of material life, and adore Me and Me alone. Let a man of discrimination adore Me, and let him master his senses and practise non-attachment, being extremely vigilant in his spiritual striving.
35. The sage should cultivate sattva by taking in only pure food, and accepting pure and holy sense-impressions. By means of sattva, he should overcome rajas and tamas. By making the mind free of desire, tranquil and one with the Divine, he should overcome sattva, too, thus allowing the mind to dissolve in its substratum.
36. The Jiva, on abandoning its causal body, is free from the gunas of Prakrti and attains to Me. The Jiva, on its liberation from the ego-sense and the subtle impressions of the mind, becomes filled with Me, the Brahman and seeks no more satisfaction within or without.
XXI
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. Having obtained the human body suited for realizing Me, at being established in My Self, one attains to Me – the Supreme Self, the consummation of Bliss, who dwells within as the Inner Pervader.
2. One, who has been firmly established in the knowledge of the Atman and thereby liberated from the ego-sense in regard to the body and the mind, may still live among the products of the gunas so long as the body is alive. But as he is aware of the products being false presentations born of Maya, he is no longer bound by them in spite of his being in their midst.
3. One should never associate with people whose ideal in life is mere satisfaction of hunger and sex. One who keeps company of such persons is consigned to the dense darkness of ignorance, just as a blind man led by another blind man is.
4. The famous emperor Pururavas, on recovery from the terribly distracting state of mind into which he had fallen because of separation from Urvasi, became possessed of an intense spirit of dispassion and expressed his feelings poetically.
5. With Urvasi deserting him, the emperor ran after her, naked, like a mad man, moaning in desperation, appealing to her not to run away.
6. With his passion for her un-satiated and his whole mind still absorbed in her, he was not aware of the long time he had spent in her company and of the years ahead in his life.
Pururavas said:
7. ‘Lo! How surprising is the intensity of the sexual passion that swayed me all along. I spent a considerable spell of my life – days and nights in the embrace of Urvasi, unconscious of the period so spent.
8. With her robbing me of my heart, I never knew in her company when the sun had risen or set. Nor was I aware of the countless years that had passed this way.
9. Look at the enormity of my delusion and ignorance! I am a jewel in the community of the ruling princess, nay an emperor. In spite of it, I have just been reduced to a mere pet animal of a woman.
10. Wailing and naked, like a mad man, I followed the track of the woman who had discarded me like a blade of grass, me with all the power, and insignia of an emperor.
11. What happened to my imperial power and majesty, when I pursued this deserting woman like a jackass following its female companion and receiving its kicks?
12. Of what use are learning, austerity, abandonment, Vedic study, solitude and silence, if one’s heart is carried away by a woman?
13. Fie on me priding on my being emperor, and on my learning, but without any understanding of my own good - a veritable ass or bull subordinated completely by female species!
14. The long years I had spent enjoying the honey of Urvasi’s lips did not satiate my sexual urge. On the other hand, it had the same effect as the offering of ghee to the sacrificial fire.
15. Who could release my mind captivated by this courtesan except the supreme worshipful Lord Mahavishnu, the One who transcends all sense-perception, and yet draws and holds the minds (souls) of even sages who are immersed in the bliss of the Self?
16. Though Urvasi gave me sound advice, the absolute slave of the senses that I am, it has all been ineffective in dispelling the powerful infatuation that has seized my mind.
17. In fact, she has done me no harm. My woes are entirely due to my own uncontrolled sense-impressions. If a man gets frightened by mistaking a rope for a snake, the rope is not at all to blame.
18. What is this body, a mass of foul-smelling substances, extremely impure and dirty? Where are beauty and other attractive qualities one has been associating with the body? Certainly they are not in the body that is foul and filthy in everyway. The beauty and other qualities are only a superimposition on the body by the ignorant mind.
19. It is impossible to determine as to who have claim to this body. Does it belong to parents as it has arisen from them? Does it belong to wife as she claims to have enjoyment and protection from it? Does it belong to one’s employer because of its subordination to him? Does it belong to dogs and vultures, as it provides food to them on its death, if it is left as such without cremation or burial? Does it belong to one’s friends, as they expect many forms of help from it?
20. For the body of a woman, the dirtiest of all world-stuff, bound to be reduced into worthless substances like ashes or food for worms, man develops intense attachment and goes about exclaiming ‘how beautiful is this woman?, how charming is her smile?’
21. What difference is there between worms and ourselves (men) both of whom seek delight in a body constituted of skin, flesh, blood, fat, marrow, bone, etc and full of filthy fasces and urine?
22. Though contemplation can reveal the hollowness and stupidity of physical attraction, the reflective seeker should not keep the company of women or of others enslaved by women. For, the mind gets agitated when the senses and their objects come into mutual juxtaposition.
23. Mind cannot have attraction for objects that have never been seen or heard of. The mind of a man who never allows his senses to dally with their objects becomes gradually controlled and tranquil.
24. So, one should not have physical contact with women or men who are ‘women’s men’. For, even men of discrimination should not put too much trust in their capacity to withstand the onslaught of senses in relation of their objects. Men of ignorance can never do it.’
Sri Bhagawan said:
25. Expressing such thoughts, Pururavas, worthy of respect among men and celestials, left the realm of Urvasi. He realized Me, the Supreme Spirit, as indwelling him, shed all delusion through enlightenment, and attained supreme peace.
26. So a man of wisdom should abandon contact with men of sensuous dispositions and seek the company of holy ones. By their guidance, holy men help to efface the sensuous tendencies of the mind.
27. The holy ones are those who depend on none except Me, who always think of Me, who are tranquil, even-minded, without ego, beyond the pairs of opposites, and who do not accept gifts or accumulate riches.
28. Oh noble-minded Uddhava! Holy men always speak of My excellences and achievements with a very beneficial effect on all. Their company eradicates sinful tendencies in the minds of people.
29. Those, who respectfully listen to the discourses of holy men, glorify Me in songs and recitals, feel enlightened with them and become devoted to Me developing firm faith in Me and delight in My contemplation.
30. Oh pious friend! What more is there to be attained by one who has developed loving devotion to Me – the Brahman, the repository of infinite auspicious qualities, the abounding field of infinite bliss and consciousness?
31. Just as one who approaches fire gets rid of cold, darkness and fear, so does the company of holy men help one to overcome the chillness of ritualism, the darkness of ignorance and the fear of samsara.
32. Holy men with the knowledge of the Brahman and established in pure tranquility are the sole support of men struggling in the ocean of samsara, just as a strong boat is for people ship-wrecked on the sea.
33. Just as food is the source of life to living beings, just as I am the support to the distressed, just as one’s dharma is one’s wealth after death, so for those overpowered by life in samsara, the holy man is the only centre of relief.
34. The saints give you the spiritual eyes to realize the Lord in His glory and in His immanence. As the sun, high up in the sky, enables one perceive the externals only, the saints, the real patron-deities and relatives, enable one recognize the Atman and even Me.
35. Now Pururavas gave up his infatuation for Urvasi completely. He lost all hankering after, and attachment to worldly objects, and wandered about in the land, with his heart steeped in the bliss of the Atman.
XXII
Uddhava said:
1. Oh Lord, Thou the leader of the clan of Yadus! Deign to expound to me the way of ritualistic communion which the devotees follow.
2. Many a worshipful sage like Narada, Vedavyasa and Brihaspati, the son of Angiras and the teacher of the Devas, praise this way of communion as supremely good for man.
3. Instruction on this path of ritualistic communion, first revealed by Thee, was imparted by Brahma to Bhrigu and his other offspring on the one hand, and by Sri Parameswara to Parvati on the other.
4. The path is open to all varnas and ashramas. For women and sudras, this path is the most beneficial for spiritual progress.
5. Oh lotus-eyed One! Oh Lord of the universe! Deign to expound this path to Me, Thy loving servant and devotee, for destruction of my bondage to karma.
Sri Bhagawan said:
6. The way of worship to Me through rites and rituals is without end in extent and scope. I shall, therefore, give you a brief description of its parts in the order of their succession.
7. Worship of Me based on rituals is of three forms, first based on Vedic mantras, second based on tantrik texts and the third based on a mix of these two. One can worship Me following any of these paths.
8. Listen, how members of the three varnas after attaining the status of dwija, on performance of upanayana, adore Me with faith and devotion.
9. A devotee is, with all sincerity, to worship Me, the Supreme Deity with various offerings in an image, in a symbolic diagram drawn on the floor, in the sun, in water, in a holy man or in one’s own heart.
10. After cleaning teeth, he is to take bath for the sake of cleanliness of his body. While bathing, he is to chant mantras from the Veda and / or the Tantra, while rubbing the body with mud or other cleaning agent.
11. He is to perform the essential rites like the sandhya as ordained in the Veda, even while he engages himself in adoration of Me through ardent devotional communion which will free him from the bondage to karma.
12. My images of worship are of eight kinds, namely, those made of stone, wood, metals, sand and precious stones, symbolic diagrams drawn on the floor, of pictures and those mentally conceived.
13. Images which are the veritable tabernacles of the Lord are of two kinds – the movable and the immovable. Oh Uddhava! There is no need to invoking Divine presence (avahana) or vacating the presence (udvasana) in the case of immovable images. In them the Divine presence is permanent.
14. Even in some movable images like salagrama, there is no need for the two rites of invoking or vacating the Divine presence. But those rites are necessary in the case of the idols made of sand. In respect of movable images made otherwise, the rites are optional. Except for the images made of diagrams on the floor or the pictures, ceremonial bath is to be performed. For the images made of diagrams and the pictures, cleaning is sufficient.
15. If a person’s worship is prompted by desires, then he should worship Me with choicest offerings. But a devotee without any desires can adore Me with any ingredients he may gather. In the case of worship in mind, all offerings are necessarily mental.
16. Oh Uddhava! In worship on fixed images alone, ceremonial bath and decoration are the most important. In worship on consecrated enclosures on the floor, the most important thing is to locate the various divinities at their proper places with appropriate mantras. When the worship is done in fire, offering of oblations in plenty of ghee is the most important feature.
17-18. When the worship is done in the sun, it should take the form of a prayer and praise; when it is in water, it should take the form of tarpana or libations with water. But what is the most important is sraddha (sincere faith) of the devotee. When an offering is made by a devotee with faith, be it only water, I accept it with great delight. Not to speak then of My delight when I am worshipped by a devotee with flowers, incense, sandal paste and food offering! But offerings, however rich, do not please Me if they are not backed by devotion.
19. After having collected and got ready all the ingredients of worship, even before his purificatory bath, the worshipper should make a seat of darbha-grass and sit turning eastward or northward. If it is fixed image, he should sit facing it.
20. After doing nyasa (ceremonial location) on oneself and the image, the latter must be cleansed with hands. The purna-kumbha (vessel filled fully with water) and another with water for prokshana (sprinkling) should be kept ready, consecrated with flowers, sandal paste, etc.
21. From the vessel meant for prokshana, water must be taken and sprinkled on the spot of worship, the ingredients of worship and oneself. From the purna-kumbha, water is to be drawn and filled in three vessels for padya and other rites. Flowers, sandal paste and other ingredients are to be put in the three vessels for purifying water therein.
22. One, who worships according to the instructions of the guru, should consecrate the water kept in the vessels for padya, arghya, and achamana with the mantras ‘hridayaya namah’, ‘sirshne swaha’, ‘sikhaya vashat’ respectively, and all the vessels with Gayatri mantra.
23. In the heart-lotus of the body, which has been dried by prana, burnt by the fire in muladhara, and soaked in the flow of nectar from the lunar sphere in the forehead, there is the very subtle sound of AUM followed by bindu and nada, crowned by My supreme form of extreme subtlety as Narayana, on which men of great spiritual attainments meditate.
24. When one’s body has, through meditation, been irradiated by the presence of Narayana, then that presence be worshipped mentally in the heart. Becoming one with Him through communion, His presence should be transferred to the image, and the image worshipped with all appropriate rituals.
25-26. Let a seat be made with divine majesties like dharma, enlightenment, non-attachment, etc and with the nine powers such as Vimala, Utkarshini and others. On that the worshipper is to conceive a lotus of eight petals luminous with other parts like pericarp and filaments, and with the sun, moon and fire placed one above the other within. In that way, I should be worshipped with the chanting of appropriate Vedic and tantrik mantras, and with offerings of arghya, padya, achamana, etc. Prayers should be made for one’s material welfare and spiritual emancipation.
27. The weapons, ornaments, attendants and associates of the Lord be also worshipped. The weapons such as sudarsana, panchajanya, mace kaumodaki, sword nandaka, bow sarnga, plough, pestle, and the decorations such as the neck-jewel kaustubha, floral wreath and srivasta be worshipped.
28. The attendants Nanda, Sunanda, Prachanda, Chanda, Mahabala, Bala, Kumuda and Kumudaksha conceived as stationed in the eight quarters as also Garuda in front be meditated upon and worshipped.
29. Durga, Ganapati, Vyasa and Vishvaksena be stationed in their proper places in the four corners; the gurus are to be placed on the left and the Devas in the east, etc. They shall all be facing the Deity and be worshipped with arghya and all other items.
30. If the devotee has the means, he may use, for ceremonial bath of the image, water that has been consecrated by mantras and made fragrant with sandal, usira, camphor, saffron and aloes.
31. He shall adore Me with devotion by uttering the holy mantras like suvarna, gharma and parivedana, by chanting holy formulae, by reciting purusa-sukta, by chanting samans, etc.
32. The devotee is to decorate Me, with great devotion, with wearing-cloth, wrapping-cloth, ornaments, garlands, sandal-paste, unguents, etc.
33. He is, with great faith, to offer Me water for padya, arghya and achamana, and make offerings of sandal-paste, flowers, rice-grains, light, incense and food.
34. If he is of sufficient means, he may offer savoury food items like payasa (sweet rice-pudding), sweet-cake, snacks, wheat boiled in milk, curd, etc.
35. On festive days, or if he is of sufficient means, everyday, the devotee may elaborate the adoration with oil-bath, offering of tooth-brush, mirror, etc, panchamruta-bath, feast, music, dance, etc.
36. In the sacrificial pit, made according to the scriptural injunctions, with zones, fire-pocket and altar, fire must be lighted and the burning twigs gathered together to form a single flame.
37. Darbha grass is to be laid around the pit with ceremonial water sprinkled thereon. The anvadhana rite is then to follow. All the sacrificial ingredients are to be placed to the north of the fire. After doing prokshana, the worshipper shall meditate on Me as manifesting in the fire as follows.
38-39. Brilliant like molten-gold, possessed of four arms, holding the conch, discus, mace and lotus, tranquil, wearing a yellow cloth of the colour of the pistil of the lotus, decorated with brilliant ornaments like diadem, bracelets, girdle and superb armlets, having the tattoo known as the srivatsa on the chest, wearing the splendourous jewel kaustabha in the neck, and having a thick floral wreath surrounding the chest and the abdomen.
40-41. Thus meditating on Me, the wise devotee is to worship Me. He is then to consign twigs soaked in ghee to the sacrificial fire, and perform the aghara rite followed by the ajyabhaga rite strictly following the scriptural injunctions. Then he is to make ghee-soaked oblations, chanting the mula-mantra and the purusa-sukta. The sixteen riks of the mula-mantra and the purusa-sukta shall be chanted with an oblation following each rik. The worshipper shall offer oblations to dharma chanting relevant mantras. Finally he shall propitiate the Fire-deity with the svishtakrita offering.
42. Afterwards, flower offerings together with prostrations are to be made to Me manifesting in the middle of the sacrificial fire. On eight sides, sacrifice (food) is to be offered to My attendants and associates. Then the worshipper shall again be seated and meditate on Me, the Infinite Brahman as Narayana and make japa of the mula-mantra.
43. At the places of worship and of the homa, the worshipper is to meditate on the Deity as having completed His meal; then he is to offer Him water for washing followed by the presentation of fragrant betel-leaves, etc for purification of the mouth. This rite is to be followed by worshipping the Deity again with flowers. The remnants of the food offered are to be given to Vishvaksena.
44. Thereafter, for a short while at least, the devotee is to spend time in blissful relaxation, singing My exploits, acting some of them, dancing in ecstasy and also narrating accounts of My deeds to other devotees.
45. Then he is to sing loudly hymns composed by ancient seers, as also compositions of great men of later days in the local spoken tongue, and fall like a stick in prostration crying out ‘Oh Lord! Be gracious unto me!’
46. Placing his head on My feet and holding them with both his hands, he shall pray, ‘Deign to give shelter to this servant seeking refuge at Thy feet, out of fear of this ocean of samsara infested by the crocodile of death’.
47. The devotee is then to contemplate that he is receiving flowers, sandal-paste, etc as holy prasad from Me, and reverentially place them on his head. Next, if the Divine Presence is sought to be withdrawn, he shall, through contemplation, take the prasad back into the Presence within.
48. I, the Essence of All, am present in every object and the worshipper himself. So, worship of Me can be done through any object or image that stimulates faith in the worshipper at any time. Faith is the most important factor in the efficacy of worship.
49. A devotee who worships Me thus, through this ritual of adoration that combines the vaidika and the tantrik modes in itself, will attain, through My Grace, all that is good here and hereafter.
50-51. The devotee is to construct temples, consistent with his resources, and have My holy images consecrated therein. He shall arrange to raise flower gardens and make endowment of arable lands, houses, villages, etc, the revenue from which is to be utilized for proper and ceremonial worship either daily or on special occasions. In this way, the devotee is to seek to attain to My Being.
52. By the consecration of My image in a temple, one can become an emperor; by building a temple, one can become the Lord of the three worlds; by worshipping in a temple, one can attain Brahma-loka; and by doing all these three, one can attain to My Being.
53. One attains Me through devotion without any desire. And one who worships Me, in the way described, attains that state of desireless-ness in which true devotion flourishes.
54. Whoever appropriates for himself such wealth as has been given by devotees for the service of the Lord and holy men becomes a worm subsisting on excreta for countless years.
55. Those who help, prompt or encourage others to commit such acts of unholy misappropriation will meet similar fate. The more is the involvement of the accomplice, the more are the consequences accruing to him.
XXIII
Sri Bhagawan said:
1. Seeing the whole world as sprung from the union of Prakrti and Purusa, a person should see the world as a unified whole and, as a consequence, cease from praising or criticizing anyone for his nature or actions.
2. The man, who takes to praising men’s actions and character or to criticizing them, quickly swerves away from his goal of unitary consciousness because of his mind getting excited over impure and changing values.
3. When the senses, which are the products of taijas-ahamkara, are overcome by drowsiness, the individual is in the false world of dream. When the mind is dissolved in deep sleep, he falls into total unconsciousness, resembling death itself. The man who sees multiplicity is very much in multiple states of awareness as to his spiritual identity.
4. In the realm of duality, the classification of things as good and bad has no significance. For, all that is spoken by words, experienced by the senses and thought by the mind belong to the realm of falsity.
5. Though a reflection, an echo or a ‘snake in a rope’ has no active resistance, still it generates experiences felt as pleasant or unpleasant. Even so, the body and the entities allied to it generate fears until illumination destroys the identification of the atman with these experiences.
6. All this world is nothing but the Atman. That Omnipotent Supreme Being is the creator and the created, the savior and the saved. That Eternal Being is what destroys and what is destroyed.
7. Therefore, great seers have not accepted any existent entity other than the uninvolved and unaffected Atman as Reality. It is He, the Supreme Cause that shines as the many. What is accepted as the universe in its three-fold aspect of adhyatmika, adhidaivika and adhibhautika is a false appearance on the Atman. This world constituted of the three gunas is the creation of Maya, Its power.
8. One, who has intellectually understood and spiritually realized the truth that I revealed to you, will neither praise nor insult anyone, but go about the world like the sun which is utterly unconcerned with all that is high or low.
9. Understanding through observation, reasoning, scriptures and one’s own realization that everything having a beginning and an end is false, one should cultivate absolute detachment.
Uddhava said:
10. Oh Lord! Involvement in trans-migratory cycle cannot occur to the body because it is inert and an object of perception. Nor can it happen to the atman which is pure self-awareness and the subject revealing everything. Samsara, therefore, cannot occur to either of these two. But we find that samsara is experienced.
11. The atman is un-decaying, free from passion, unaffected by merits and demerits, untouched by ignorance and free from the limitations of space and time. As for the body, it is an inert substance in itself, like a log of wood. It being so, whose is the involvement in samsara?
Sri Bhagawan said:
12. As long as the atman interacts with the intellect (buddhi), the sense-organs and the body, samsara, though unreal, is experienced as a result of delusion.
13. In the case of a man who thinks of various objects in waking consciousness, the impressions left in his mind by that consciousness and its objects make him see many phantoms in dream. Similarly, the body and other objects are perceived real as a result of the delusion arising from their super-imposition on the atman. Samsara persists so long as this delusion continues.
14. A man who has awakened from a dream is free from the delusion of enjoyment and / or suffering he was having in the dream state, though he retains a memory of it in his waking-state.
15. Sorrow, joy, fear, anger, greed, delusion and all forms of desire, as also experiences like birth and death pertain to the ego-sense and not to the atman. When one is in deep-sleep, there is no ego-sense and then all such experiences disappear.
16. It is the Jiva that is involved in the trans-migratory cycle, not mere ego-sense. The trans-migrating self or the Jiva is none but the atman which identifies itself as the ‘I’ with reference to the complex of the body, senses, mind and prana by way of super-imposition. It is the subtle body (linga-sarira). Residing within this complex, in identification with it, the Jiva is mistaken as an expression of the modification of matter and within the realm of Time.
17. The sage wanders about, cutting asunder the knot of ego-sense with the sword of knowledge rendered sharp by the service of the Lord and the guru.
18. Knowledge means discriminative understanding. The means for developing it are the scripture, tapas, tradition, reasoning and experience. It consists in the understanding that the Supreme Spirit alone had been before universe came into being, is what exists in the middle and will continue to be when the universe including Time dissolves itself into IT.
19. The gold of which several ornaments are made is the same at the beginning and at the end of the series of its changes as objects. In spite of all its transformation, the same gold is there when the objects made of it are seen as existing. In the same way, I am the One that appears as the multitudinous and changing universe.
20. Oh dear Uddhava! The Pure Consciousness permeates and illumines the mind in its three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. IT illumines also the three gunas of Prakrti forming the cause of these states as also the universe with its triple division of cause, effect and agency. The Pure Consciousness exists in the fourth (turiya) state beyond the three states of human consciousness. As IT is concomitant with the world of objects as also existent in its transcendence, the Pure Consciousness alone is the ultimate Reality.
21. An entity that did not exist before its origin and ceases to be after it no longer exists cannot be there in the middle. If it is seen to exist, it is said to exist only in name. Whatever is the substance with which a thing is made and held in manifestation that alone can be the causal and manifesting substance. This is My firm and settled view.
22. This multitudinous world which is a projection of rajas was non-existent before it came into being, and is yet experienced as existing. It is so because the Brahman alone, self-existent and self-luminous, shines as all these effects – the world.
23. One is to withdraw from objects of the lustful senses and be established in the Atman. One is to cut asunder all doubts about the Supreme Being with the help of the scriptures and sound dialectic that dispel the view that the body is the Self.
24. The body is not the Self as it is constituted of physical matter as pots are made of clay. In the same way, the senses, the vital energy, the intellect, the ego-sense, etc cannot be the atman as they are not spiritual, but non-physical. The five gross elements, the five tanmatras, Prakrti, etc cannot be the atman, for they are not spiritual.
25. For one who has known My Being fully and is established in IT, of what consequences, good or bad, are the controlled or the wandering moods of the senses? Does the gathering or dispersal of clouds make any difference to the sun?
26. Just as air, fire, water and earth do not dry, burn, wet or contaminate the space, just as the recurring climatic changes like summer, winter, etc do not make any impression on it, so the un-decaying Self which transcends the ego-sense is not affected by sattva, rajas and tamas, the gunas of Prakrti causing involvement to the Jiva in samsara.
27. Though this is, in fact, the truth, the aspirant should not slacken his efforts at self-control. Until, by whole hearted devotion to Me, the aspirant has totally cleansed his mind of its addiction to sense-enjoyment, he should, with extreme vigilance, prevent his mind from cultivating attachment to objects of the senses created by Maya.
28. Just as an inadequately treated disease lurks behind and troubles a patient from time to time, so also an immature yogi, whose sensuous and active tendencies lie suppressed and hidden, is constantly harassed by these tendencies subsisting in his subconscious mind.
29. But such yogis, whose fall is caused by such agencies as friends and relatives, return to the path of yoga in their next life on account of the powerful impressions of their past life. They will no more be addicted to worldliness.
30. An ignorant Jiva, prompted by some desire or other, will be performing karma till the fall of its body, carrying further the impressions of such actions. But a man of enlightenment, though living in the body, is free from all desires as he is established in the Self. Being thus free from ego-centred desires, his actions do not affect him.
31. An enlightened man who is ever established in the Self does not even know that he has a body, much less that he is doing anything, even when he is seen performing all natural functions like resting, sitting, walking, lying, eating and evacuating.
32. Even though such person perceives the objects of the senses, he is convinced of their falsity, just like the experiences of a dream on awakening.
33. Oh Uddhava! In the state of ignorance, the body wrought out of the gunas of Prakrti and karma, which are the products of ignorance, is super-imposed on the atman. It is, therefore, experienced in inseparable identity with it. It is this ignorance, and its product, the body that are sublimed by jnana. The atman, on the other hand, is always the same. It is not newly realized in liberation, nor is it lost in bondage.
34. Just as the sun, when it rises, only removes the obstacle to vision from the eye, and does not create anything new to be seen, so the perfect spiritual intuition relating to Me only removes the ignorance from the aspirant’s understanding. Thereupon the Atman shines as it always has been shining. Nothing new comes into being.
35. The Atman is the self-luminous Consciousness, un-originated and unfathomable. IT is the Self-Consciousness all-pervading, without the polarity of ‘subject and object’. IT is the Absolute One without a second, intuited beyond word and thought.
36. When the Atman is the sole Existence, it is a delusion of the mind to see anything different from IT. For, apart from IT, the Atman realized as the Self, there is no other support for duality or multiplicity of the world of objects.
37. It is only the purva-mimamsakas that consider this world of multiplicity, constituted of the five gross elements and distinguished by name and form, as real and hold that the passages in the Vedanta revealing the nature of Reality are only eulogies of the agents, celestials and other factors entering into the sacrificial cult of the Veda. Such a contention is without basis.
38. Yogis who are yet to attain the goal of realization may suffer from physical ailments. The following is the instruction for counter-acting such a state.
39. By concentration (dharana) on sun and moon, the fevers owing to cold and heat respectively can be counteracted. Ailments owing to vata (wind-related) can be overcome by asanas (yogic postures) combined with concentration. Other ailments arising from sins, planetary influence and serpents can be overcome by austerity, mantras and (herbal) medicines.
40. Emotions like lust and anger can be overcome by the continuous practice of the disciplines of hearing, praising and remembering Me. Pride, hypocrisy and other bad traits of character can be overcome by the service of great men.
41. There are some yogis who, through ways stated above and otherwise, seek to make the body strong and young, and then utilize it for acquisition of psychic powers (siddhis).
42. Wise men shall not approve of such course. For, the body being perishable like the fruit of a tree, any attempt to preserve it for all time is futile.
43. A person following the path of yoga may have health and strength of body. But the intelligent devotee holding Me as the highest end for attainment shall not divert his attention from spiritual discipline to physical well-being and attainment of siddhis.
44. But, if the aspirant treading the path of yoga, entirely dependent on Me, is completely desire-less, he will meet with no obstacles, being full of bliss of the Self.
XXIV
Uddhava said:
1. Oh Lord! The path of communion through knowledge that you have described is extremely difficult for one who has not yet conquered one’s senses. Oh Achyuta! Expound to me, in an easily understandable manner, a way of communion which is practicable for an ordinary person.
2. Oh lotus-eyed One! Generally the yogis, who try to obtain mastery over their mind, exhaust themselves in that effort in vain. Having failed in their effort they get frustrated.
3. Therefore, men of true discrimination, instead of going for these difficult ways, seek shelter at Thy nectar-showering feet and are at ease. Oh Lord of All! Those others who, out of pride in their own capacity, take the paths of karma and yoga, are deluded by Thy Maya.
4. Oh Achyuta! Oh Thou, the well-wisher of all! Such is Thy glory that even all the world-lords like Brahma are always making their obeisance to Thee touching Thy feet with their crowns. In spite of this abounding glory, Thou didst condescend to seek the friendship of mere animals in Thy incarnation as Rama and of cattle and lowly men in the present incarnation as Krishna. What wonder is there then in Thy giving Thy own self to Thy devotees, Thy servants who have none but Thee as refuge?
5. Who that is conscious of the invaluable blessings received from Thee will not yearn to serve Thee, the soul of all, the most lovable of all, the bestower of the prayers of all? Who will, in preference to Thy service, seek heaven and other boons, even if bestowed by Thee, as they lead to mere sensuous enjoyment and consequent forgetfulness of Thee? There is nothing that Thy servants cannot get; but a true servant of Thine cares for nothing but the service of Thy feet.
6. Even enlightened beings like Brahma are not able to repay even to a small extent Thy gracious blessing in spite of serving Thee joyfully for two paraardhas as Thy agent in creation. That blessing consists in Thy manifesting as the inner-pervader within and as the guru without, effacing all evil tendencies of the Jiva and thereby revealing one’s real nature as the Atman.
Sri Suka said:
7. Being thus questioned with intense love by Uddhava, the Supreme Lord, who has manifested Himself as the Trimurti by assuming the three powers of His, and who plays with the world as His toy, replied with a loving and attractive smile lighting His face.
Sri Bhagawan said:
8. I shall now speak to you about the glorious dharma propounded by Me, by observing which, with faith and devotion, man can overcome samsara which is difficult to be conquered by other means.
9. Always remembering Me, having one’s mind, both conscious and sub-conscious, resigned to Me, and having full conviction in, and acceptance of, My Bhagavata dharma, an aspirant should do all actions deliberately as offerings unto Me.
10. He should make pilgrimage to places that have gained sanctity by the stay of My great devotees. He should also try to follow the examples set by My great devotees among different species of beings like Devas, asuras and men.
11. He should, individually or in association with others, observe days especially sacred to Me with grand celebrations attended with music, dance, processions, and display of royal insignia like the ceremonial umbrella.
12. The pure-minded devotee should recognize Me, Lord of All, as the Spirit pervading, within and without, every object including him, like the space pervading everything unobstructed by any barriers.
13-14. Oh Uddhava of mighty intelligence! Know him to be a man of true illumination (pandit) who, with the help of the insight born of knowledge, could have evenness of outlook, and perceive and honour all beings as My manifestations, be they holy men or out-castes, persecutors or adorers of holy men, the sun or a spark of fire, a tranquil person or a ferocious and cruel man.
15. In those who constantly seek to find My Presence in all human beings, there will no longer be any competition with equals, jealousy towards superiors, contempt for inferiors, and too much self-consciousness with regard to oneself.
16. Overlooking the ridicule of friends and relatives, casting aside the sense of high or low on mere physical considerations, and throwing away all shyness and shame based on such ideas, one should fall down in prostration like a stick before all beings – even dogs, outcastes, cattle, asses, etc, seeing all of them as manifestation of the Supreme Being.
17. Until the consciousness that all these beings are My manifestation has been established in the mind, one should seek to commune with Me through external worship, and My presence in all through thought, word and action.
18. By virtue of perceiving the presence of the Atman everywhere, a devotee gains that knowledge by which he perceives everything as the Brahman. He becomes free of all doubts, and he can abandon all karma.
19. Of all means of spiritual disciplines, the best, according to Me, is to realize My presence in everything through the functioning of the three instruments – mind, speech and action.
20. Oh Uddhava! When the dharma propounded by Me (Bhagavata-dharma), in which all actions are done in dedication to Me without an eye on the fruits of action, is accepted and practised, there is no wastage what-so-ever in one’s efforts from the beginning. For, unlike in rites done with desires for fruits, which would end in total failure if done improperly, here in this path whatever is done helps one’s spiritual evolution in this birth or in what follows, and one can continue from where one has left. Its basis is spiritual and not material, and so its effects are imperishable. This is as I, the Supreme One, have ordained.
21. Oh noble one! Even ordinary vain worldly actions like running away and crying owing to fear and sorrow, if done in dedication to Me, will have spiritual potency. There is no need then to speak about the high spiritual efficacy of Bhagavata-dharma consciously practised.
22. The attainment of Me, the True and the Immortal, with the help of even this insignificant mortal body, is the real wisdom of the wise and the skill of the skillful.
23. I have now expounded to you the essence of the doctrine of the Brahman propounded in the Veda (Upanisads), both in summary and in detail. Even the Devas cannot have the benefit of such an exposition.
24. These teachings on spiritual wisdom have been clearly expounded to you again and again in the light of valid reasoning. Hearing this, all doubts will have been cleared and liberation attained.
25. Even a person who reflects on the questions put by you and the answers I have given will attain to that imperishable Brahman whose truth is revealed by the Veda.
26. To that pious person who fully expounds this teaching on the Brahman among My devotees, I gift My own Self out of love for him.
27. He, who every day reads loudly this holy and sanctifying discourse, will be revealing Me to all with he lamp of knowledge. Thereby he sanctifies himself as well as others.
28. A man, who hears it every day diligently in an attitude of supreme devotion to Me, will be free of bondage to karma.
29. Oh Uddhava, my dear friend! Have you fully grasped the Supreme Truth I have explained to you? Is your mind free of grief and delusion?
30. You should not reveal this to a hypocrite having no real faith, to an atheist who accepts neither God nor His revelation, to a crafty man, to one who does not like to hear it, or to one without any trace of devotion.
31. You can impart it to persons who are devoted to holy men and to Me, who are of high moral standard, and who are pure in life. If they have devotion, it can be imparted even to persons of inferior birth.
32. After studying this discourse, there is nothing more for a spiritual aspirant to enquire about and understand, just as, after one takes nectar, there is nothing better to drink.
33. For a highly evolved devotee like you, I am verily the four ultimate values of life, namely dharma obtained through karma; wealth and prosperity obtained through trade, industry and state-craft; siddhis and enjoyment obtained through yoga; and liberation obtained through enlightenment.
34. When a man abandons dependence on all self-centred actions and resigns himself to Me, he then becomes very dear to Me. Established in the sense that he is the Immortal Spirit, he becomes one with the Universal Being, the Brahman.
Sri Suka said:
35. Being thus instructed by the Lord in the path of spiritual communion ending in enlightenment, Uddhava stood there dumb for a while, his voice choked by the surging waves of love and his eyes overflowing with tears.
36. With great effort, he controlled his mind that had been overpowered by Divine Love to the point of speechlessness. Conscious of the great blessing that the Lord had bestowed on him, with palms joined in salutation, and his head touching the lotus feet of Krishna, the Lord of the clan of Yadus.
Uddhava said:
37. Oh Thou, more ancient than Brahma himself! Thy very proximity has liquidated the ignorance-born darkness of delusion in me, a refugee at Thy feet. Where is cold, darkness and fear for a man who sits near a burning fire!
38. Still Thou hast taken the trouble to transmit the light of knowledge to Thy servant through this elaborate exposition. Which grateful man will desert the service of so loving a master and seek any other shelter?
39. That strong bond of love embracing the clans of Vrishnis, Dasarhas, Andhakas, Sattvatas established by Thy Yogamaya for the progress of Thy creative activities has now been cut asunder by Thee with the sword of self-knowledge.
40. Salutations to Thee, Oh master Yogi who confers the fruits of their striving on yogis! Bless me, Thy refugee, so that I may have constant and unwavering attachment to Thy sacred feet!
Sri Bhagawan said:
41-44. Oh Uddhava! I direct you to go to the celebrated place of pilgrimage known as Badaryashrama, specially sanctified by My Presence. There is the river Alak-nanda whose sight itself is purifying. By achamana in that river which carries the sanctified water flowing from My feet, you will be rid of all sins. Wearing tree-bark as clothing, subsisting on roots and fruits, and free from all desires for enjoyment, live without caring for extremes of climate and ready to put up patiently with any situation that you might face. Self-controlled, tranquil, good-natured, undistracted and endowed with knowledge and experience, think deeply in solitude over what I have taught you. With speech and thought absorbed in Me, and living according to the dharma I have taught, you will pass out of all material realms and attain to My transcendent state.
Sri Suka said:
45. Instructed thus by Sri Hari, whose remembrance is the antidote for samsara, Uddhava circumambulated the Lord, and placed his head at the feet of Lord. Though his mind had transcended the three gunas, the thought of going away to Badari leaving his Lord melted his heart, and the agony of his love expressed itself in torrential tears that washed the Lord’s holy feet.
46. With a mind stricken by the thought of separation from his most beloved Lord, he felt extremely distressed and found it impossible to take leave of Him and start for Badari. Then placing on his head the Lord’s sandals presented to him, and prostrating before him again and again, he left the place somehow.
47. Realizing the Lord as lodged in his heart, the great devotee left for Visala (Badaryashrama). Staying there, he practised what the Lord, the universal friend of all, had instructed, and attained to the state of Hari.
48. Thus the Lord Krishna, whose feet are worshipped by the great yogis, collected this cream of knowledge from the ocean of Bliss, the extensive devotional tradition, for the instruction of His devotee Uddhava. He, who imbibes it with pure and powerful faith in its potency, will save himself as also any one who associates with him.
49. In order to rid devotees of the fear of death and old age, the great Being Krishna, from whom the Veda originated, herein gathered, from the extensive garden of Vedic thought, this concentrated honey of knowledge for realization of the Supreme. As He collected the nectar (amrita) from the ocean of milk for distribution among the Devas, so has He placed this teaching before all devotees for all time to come, for their benefit. I salute that Supreme Person Krishna, the greatest of all beings.
