Vaishnava Lakshana from Vishnu Purana

[Guest guest]

Dear Prapannas here is another vignette that I wish to share with you from

the Vishnu Purana

 

Vaishnava lakshana (Vishnu Purana 3:7: 19 ­ 34)

Conversation between Lord Yama and his servants

 

Having heard these injunctions of Yama, the messenger addressed the lord of

righteousness, and said: "Tell me, master, how am I to distinguish the

devotees of Hari, who is the protector of all beings?"

 

Yama replied ‹ "You are to consider the person to be a devotee of Vishnu,

one who never deviates from the duties prescribed to his station in life;

who looks with equanimity upon friend or enemy ; who takes nothing (that is

not given), nor injures any being. Know that person of unblemished mind to

be a devotee of Vishnu. The one whose mind is pure and undefiled by the dirt

of the Kali age; and which has been freed from delusion, focussing his

thoughts on Janardana ‹ know that person to be a devout devotee of Hari.

Know that excellent one to be a Vaishnava, who, finding gold in secret,

considers it to be as valuable as straw, and who regards another's property

as the same [ie treats it with the same care and respect as his own]. That

superior person who thinks only of the Lord is a true Vaishnava. Pure is

he as a mountain of clear crystal; for how can Vishnu abide in the hearts

that are filled with malice and envy, and other afflictive emotions

(doshas)? The glowing heat of fire cannot abide in a cluster of the cooling

rays of the moon. One who lives pure in thought, free from envy, tranquil,

leading a pure life, who treats all beings with loving kindness, speaking

kind and beneficial words, humble and sincere, Vasudeva is ever present in

his heart.

 

As the young Sal tree by its beauty declares the excellence of the juices

which it has imbibed from the earth, so when the eternal has taken residence

in the heart of any one, that person appears agreeable in this transient

world. Depart far, my servant, quickly from those whose sins have been

destroyed by the practice of Yamas* and Niyamas** whose minds are daily

immersed in Achyuta, and who are free from pride, uncharitableness, and

malice. Sin cannot remain in the heart in which the divine Hari, who is

without beginning or end, abides, armed with a sword, a conch and a mace;

for it cannot co-exist with that which destroys it, as darkness cannot

continue in the world when the sun is shining. The Eternal One does not

take up residence in the heart of that person who covets another's wealth,

who injures living creatures, who speaks harshness and untruth, who is proud

of his iniquity, and whose mind is evil. Janardana occupies not the mind who

envies another's prosperity, who defames the virtuous, who never sacrifices

nor bestows gifts upon the pious, who is blinded by the darkness of

ignorance. That vile wretch is not a Vaishnava who through avarice is

unkind to his nearest friends and relations, to his wife, children, parents,

and dependants. The animal-like man whose thoughts are evil, who is addicted

to unrighteous acts, who constantly seeks the association of the wicked, and

who daily engages in the perpetration of sin, is not a Vaishnava.

 

Run far away from those, in whose hearts Ananta is enshrined; from those

whose sanctified intellect conceives the Supreme Being and ruler ‹ Vasudeva

‹ to be one with the devotees, and with all this world. Avoid those holy

persons who are constantly invoking the lotus-eyed Vasudeva, Vishnu, the

supporter of the earth, the immortal wielder of the conch and the discus,

the refuge of the world. Don¹t even come into the sight of one in whose

heart the imperishable Supreme Self resides, for he is defended from my

power by the discus of Vishnu: he is intended for another realm."

 

 

*Yama ‹ absence of violence or cruelty to other beings (Ahimsa), honesty

(Asteya), truth (Satya), living a holy life (Brahmacharya), and non

acceptance of gifts (Aparigraha).

** Niyama ‹ purity (Saucha), contentment (Santosha), self-discipline

(Tapas), study of the Scriptures (Svadhyaya), and surrender to God

(Isvara-pranidhana).

 

daso'smi Sri Ram