Enclopedia of Rudra Sampradayam

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-------------- VISNUSWAMI --------------

Both Jiva Goswami in his Bhagavata Sandarbha and Krsnadasa Kaviraja in his Caitanya-caritamrta look to Sripad Visnuswami for inspiration to establish the essential difference between God and the individual souls and quote from his Sarvajnasukta, his commentary on Vedanta. Visnuswami is the founder-acarya of the Rudra sampradaya and is the oldest of the four recognized sampradayas. It is even said that Visnuswami was born in the Dravida country after the completion of the sacrifice of Janamejaya around the beginnining of Kali-yuga. Although most scholars are only able to find scanty and conflicting information on Sripada Visnuswami, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gives us a authoritive biographical account of Visnuswami which we accept to be authoritive. There were three Acaryas bearing the name of Visnuswami in the Rudra sampradaya. The first is called Adi Visnuswami who is said to have been born about the third century B.C. in the Pandyan country. Visnuswami's father Devesvara was the royal priest and minister. Devatanu, as he was known before he took the sannyasa name of Visnuswami, was trained by his father in a vigorous theistic eduacation, to fight Buddhism. The Pandyan king exerted all his influence to crush Buddhism in particular and other non-va isnava sects in general. King Pandyovijaya and his minister, Devesvara, went to Puri and recovered the Deities of Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra, which had been turned into the Buddhist Dharma by Buddha and Samgha by the Buddhists. King Padyovijaya and Devesvara removed the deities from the main temple to sundaracala about two miles away by cart. This is said to be the origin of the Rathayatra of Jagannatha. Now the ceremony of conveying the Deities from the temple to the car is named Pahandi or Panduv ijaya. The word Panda is applied to the priests of Jagannatha and is said to be derived from the "Pandya". The Deities were again brought back to the temple after Buddhism had been supressed to some extent. Visnuswami was the first to adopt tridandi sannyasa which he brought into practice among his seven hundred sannyasa disciples. It was he who introduce the Astottara satanami sannyasa (108 designations of sannyasis) including the dasanami which was adopted by sankara in his sect. It was not sankara who originated it as some scholars think. Vyasesvara was the last in the line of Sannyasis, after whom the line became almost extinct, until it was revived by Raja Gopal who also assumed the name of Visnuswami in the beginning of the 9th century. His main follower was Bilvamangala. Raja Gopala Visnuswami revived the old Visnuswami line and began the active propaganda with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. He installed the Varadaraja temple in Kanci, Ranchorlal in Dwaraka and many other Deities in different places of pilgrimage. He converted many of Sankara's prominant disciples after Sankara's death. After the disappearance of the second Visnuswami a great feud took place between his community and that of Saiva sivaswami who regards Rudra as an independant God while the former holds Rudra as Guru and the intimate associate of Visnu. The Saiva opposed it vigorously and people failing to appreciate the subtle point of theism in the Suddhadvaita system of Visnuswami, became inclined to Saivite monism, which soon became embraced by the population in general. The Saivaite community taking advantage of the situation, tried to misappropriate Visnuswamis Sarvajnasukta and modified it to a great extent to suit their system. The third revival came under Andhra Visnuswami in the 13th century whose successors included Laksmana Bhatta, the father of Vallabhacarya. This Visnuswami is said to have been the son of a minister of a Dravidian prince under the Emperor of Delhi. Visnuswami's philosophy is visuddhadvaita. Brahman as Visnu, Narasimha, non-dual and having no second. Brahman has all contradictory qualities. The soul is part of Brahman like spiritual sparks, real, eternal, atomic and dependent. Creation has no motive , it is like a cosmic game and it directly emanates from Brahman. The cause of bondage is ones attachement to karma. The process of release is devotion based on Bhagavata. The goal of life is to attain uninterupted contact with Krsna, Vaikuntha salokya where there is no return.

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"Both Jiva Goswami in his Bhagavata Sandarbha and Krsnadasa Kaviraja in his Caitanya-caritamrta look to Sripad Visnuswami for inspiration to establish the essential difference between God and the individual souls and quote from his Sarvajnasukta, his commentary on Vedanta.

 

 

Visnuswami is the founder-acarya of the Rudra sampradaya, which is the oldest of the four recognized sampradayas. It is even said that Visnuswami was born in the Dravida country after the completion of the sacrifice of Janamejaya, around the beginnining of Kali-yuga.

 

 

Although most scholars are only able to find scanty and conflicting information on Sripada Visnuswami, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gives us a authoritive biographical account of Visnuswami which we accept to be authoritive.

 

 

There were three Acaryas bearing the name of Visnuswami in the Rudra sampradaya. The first is called Adi Visnuswami, who is said to have been born about the third century B.C. in the Pandyan country. Visnuswami's father Devesvara was the royal priest and minister. Devatanu, as he was known before he took the sannyasa name of Visnuswami, was trained by his father in a vigorous theistic eduacation, to fight Buddhism. The Pandyan king exerted all his influence to crush Buddhism in particular and other non-vaisnava sects in general. King Pandyovijaya and his minister, Devesvara, went to Puri and recovered the Deities of Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra, which had been turned into the Buddhist Dharma by Buddha and Samgha by the Buddhists. King Padyovijaya and Devesvara removed the deities from the main temple to sundaracala about two miles away by cart. This is said to be the origin of the Rathayatra of Jagannatha. Now the ceremony of conveying the Deities from the temple to the car is named Pahandi or Panduvijaya. The word Panda is applied to the priests of Jagannatha and is said to be derived from the "Pandya". The Deities were again brought back to the temple after Buddhism had been supressed to some extent.

 

 

Visnuswami was the first to adopt tridandi sannyasa which he brought into practice among his seven hundred sannyasa disciples. It was he who introduce the Astottara satanami sannyasa (108 designations of sannyasis) including the dasanami which was adopted by Sankara in his sect. It was not Sankara who originated it, as some scholars think. Vyasesvara was the last in the line of Sannyasis, after whom the line became almost extinct, until it was revived by Raja Gopal who also assumed the name of Visnuswami in the beginning of the 9th century. His main follower was Bilvamangala.

 

 

Raja Gopala Visnuswami revived the old Visnuswami line and began the active propaganda with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. He installed the Varadaraja temple in Kanci, Ranchorlal in Dwaraka, and many other Deities in different places of pilgrimage. He converted many of Sankara's prominant disciples after Sankara's death.

 

 

After the disappearance of the second Visnuswami a great feud took place between his community and that of Saivasivaswami, who regards Rudra as an independant God while the former holds Rudra as Guru and the intimate associate of Visnu. The Saiva opposed it vigorously and peoplefailing to appreciate the subtle point of theism in the Suddhadvaita system of Visnuswami became inclined to Saivite monism, which soon became embraced by the population in general. The Saivaite community, taking advantage of the situation, tried to misappropriate Visnuswami's Sarvajnasukta and modified it to a great extent to suit their system.

 

 

The third revival came under Andhra Visnuswami in the 13th century, whose successors included Laksmana Bhatta, the father of Vallabhacarya. This Visnuswami is said to have been the son of a minister of a Dravidian prince under the Emperor of Delhi.

 

 

Visnuswami's philosophy is visuddhadvaita. Brahman as Visnu, Narasimha, non-dual and having no second. Brahman has all contradictory qualities. The soul is part of Brahman like spiritual sparks, real, eternal, atomic and dependent. Creation has no motive , it is like a cosmic game and it directly emanates from Brahman. The cause of bondage is one's attachement to karma. The process of release is devotion based on Bhagavata. The goal of life is to attain uninterupted contact with Krsna, Vaikuntha salokya where there is no return."

 

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To stop any speculations on Shiva's supremacy over Vishnu or not, Garuda Purana clearly says that Sukadeva Gosvami, the parrot of Radharani is an aspect of Shiva.

 

Therefore Shiva is not the Supremen Personality of Godhead, but the Supreme Vaishnava, the eternal beloved devotee of Krishna and Radharani, God Father and God-Mother.

 

Garuda Purana 3.18.21

'His expansion is Sukadeva Gosvami, the celebrated narrator of the Srimad Bhagavatam: "Suka, the son of Vyasa, who had been influenced by Vayu, was the incarnation of Rudra. He was born for the spread of knowledge in the world.'

 

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The Suddhadvaita Philosophy Of Sri Vishnuswami

Introduction

The philosophy of Sri Vishnuswamicharya is Suddha-Advaita or pure monism, because he does not admit Maya like Sankara, and believes that the whole world of matter and souls is real and is only a subtle form of God. Those who bring Maya for the explanation of the world are not pure Advaitins, because they admit a second to Brahman. Vishnuswami holds that Brahman can create the world without any connection with such a principle as Maya, but Sankara traces the universe to Brahman through the power of Maya. Hence the philosophy of Vishnuswami is called pure monism or Suddhadvaita. Vishnuswami expounded that system in the Anu-Bhashya, his commentary on the Brahma Sutras. He called it Suddha-Advaita or pure monism as against Sankara’s Kevala Advaita and Ramanuja’s Visishta-Advaita. Vishnuswami was a Telugu Brahmin of South India. He migrated to the north and developed the views of Vishnuswamin who belonged to the thirteenth century. His system of thought is known by the name Brahma-Vada.

Vishnuswami says that the entire universe is real and is subtly Brahman. The individual souls and the world are, in essence, one with Brahman. Jiva, Kala (time) and Prakriti or Maya are eternal existences, but they have no separate existence apart from Brahman.

Vishnuswami was a great Sanskrit scholar. He preached with great zeal the Vaishnava cult and philosophy. He was the founder of the great Vaishnava Mutts.

 

Vishnuswami accepts the authority not only of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Brahma Sutras, but also of the Bhagavata Purana. The scriptures are the final authority for Vishnuswami.

Stress on Worship and Grace

Vishnuswami’s religion is a religion addressed to the worship of Vishnu in the form of Krishna. It is centred round the conception of a personal and beneficent God who is Sat-Chit-Ananda. Lord Krishna is the highest Brahman. His body consists of Sat-Chit-Ananda. He is called Purushottama.

Vishnuswami’s followers worship Krishna. Vishnuswami lays great stress on Pushti (grace) and Bhakti (devotion). Maha-Pushti is the highest grace or Anugraha which helps the aspirants to attain God-realisation.

God-The Only Being

According to Vishnuswami, God is the Absolute or the Purushottama. He is perfect. He is Sat-Chit-Ananda. He is infinite, eternal, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. He has all the auspicious qualities also. The Sruti texts which say that He has no attributes, mean only that He has not the ordinary qualities.

God is real. There is no other reality besides Him. He is the only Being. He is the source for this universe and all souls. He is the first cause and the only cause. God is the material as well as the efficient cause of the universe. He creates the world by the mere force of His Will. Brahman manifests Himself, of His own Will, as the universe and the individual souls, but He does not undergo any change in His essential nature. Things come out of the Akshara (Sat-Chit-Ananda), like sparks from fire. Brahman is the Creator of the world. He is also the world itself.

God is personified as Krishna, when He possesses the qualities of wisdom and action. He appears in various forms to please His devotees.

The World Of Nature And The World Of False Relations

Creation is manifestation of Brahman. The universe is the effect of Brahman. The universe is as eternal and real as Brahman Himself. The inanimate universe is filled with Brahman. The world is not an illusory appearance. It is not different from Brahman in essence.

Jagat is the world of Nature. It is not illusory. It is real. It is God Himself in one form. But, the Samsara or temporal involvement is illusory. This is created by the soul around its ‘I-ness’ and ‘mine-ness’. The separation from God on account of egoism makes the soul forget its original, true, divine nature. Samsara is a product of the soul’s imagination and action which play round its ‘I-ness’ and ‘mine-ness’. On account of its selfishness, it puts itself in wrong relations with other souls and with the objective universe. It creates a web of its own and gets itself entangled in it. This is an illusion, because the web has no reality. This Samsara, the world of false relations created by the soul, is alone Maya. Samsara or Maya rises because the soul, which is not apart from God, tries to set itself up as an independent reality or entity in its own right. The self which is something apart from God is illusory. Its body is illusory and its world also is illusory. All this is Samsara. It is very different from the world of Nature.

Jiva And Brahman

Analogy of the Spark and the Fire

The Jivas are not effects. They are Amsas or parts of God. They issue from Him spontaneously as sparks from fire. Brahman is the whole. The Jiva or the individual soul is part; but, there is no real difference between Brahman and the individual soul, because the individual soul is of identical essence with Brahman.(According to Ramanuja, the parts are really different from the whole.) The soul is one with Brahman. It is as real and eternal as Brahman.

The individual soul is not Brahman screened by the veil of Avidya. It is itself Brahman, with the attribute ‘bliss’ being obscured or suppressed. Ananda or bliss is suppressed or obscured in the individual soul. Ananda and consciousness are suppressed or obscured in matter or the inanimate world. When the soul attains bliss, and the inanimate world attains both consciousness and bliss, the difference between Brahman and these vanishes.

The soul is both a doer and an enjoyer. It is atomic in size, but it pervades the whole body by its quality of intelligence, just as sandalwood pervades even the places where it does not exist by its sweet fragrance and just as a lamp, though confined only to a part of a room, illuminates the whole room.

Classification Of Souls

There are three kinds of souls: (i) The pure (Suddha) Jivas. The divine qualities (Aisvarya) are not obscured in these souls by ignorance. (ii) The worldly Jivas (Samsarin). These souls are caught in the net or clutches of Avidya or ignorance. They experience births and deaths on account of their connection with gross and subtle bodies. (iii) Mukta Jivas or liberated souls. These souls are freed from the bonds of Samsara through Vidya or Knowledge. When the soul attains the final emancipation, it recovers its suppressed qualities and becomes one with God or Brahman. The world appears as Brahman to one who has realised the Truth or Brahman.

There is another classification of souls, viz., Pushti souls, Maryada souls and Pravahika souls. All these are different from one another in their origin, nature and final end. They all issue from God with their differences.

The Pushti souls are the highest, as they issue from the Ananda-Kaya or the bliss-body of God. These souls are the Amsa (parts) of His body. God is the Amsi (the whole). These are the souls of grace. They have the divine seed in them which bears fruit in the end. They ultimately reach the goal through the grace of the Lord. They have communion and fellowship with Lord Krishna. They develop Bhakti through the grace of the Lord. Bhakti is the means and the end in itself.

The Maryada souls are generated from the Vak or the Word of God. They are governed by law, not by grace. They perform their ritualistic duties, at first with selfish interests. Later on, they develop Nishkama-Bhava (unselfish attitude) and do their ritualistic routine without any self-interest. This purifies their mind. They reach the Akshara, which is a kind of vestibule to the abode of God. Afterwards they attain the supreme abode of God.

The Pravahika souls issue from the mind of God. They are the Samsaric Jivas. They are souls neither of grace nor of law. They are in continuous motion (Pravaha).

These three kinds of souls have further sub-divisions and cross-divisions into Pushti-Pushti, Pushti-Maryada, Pushti-Pravahika, Maryada-Maryada, Maryada-Pushti, Maryada-Pravahika, Pravahika-Pravahika, Pravahika-Pushti and Pravahika-Maryada.

Pushti Marga Or The Way Of Grace

The way of life and salvation, preached by Vishnuswami is also called Pushti Marga. The soul of man has become weak and lean on account of sin. It is, therefore, in dire need of the grace of God for its upliftment and emancipation. God’s grace gives Pushti (nourishment) and Poshana (strength); and hence the name Pushti Marga or the Way of Grace.

The individual soul can attain the final emancipation only through the grace of God. Bhakti is the chief means of salvation. Jnana is useful. Maha Pushti or the highest grace removes great obstacles and helps in the attainment of God. The Bhakti generated by special grace is known as Pushti Bhakti.

The Four Kinds of Bhakti

This Pushti-Bhakti is of four kinds: (i) Pravaha Pushti-Bhakti, (ii) Maryada Pushti-Bhakti, (iii) Pushti Pushti-Bhakti and (iv) Suddha Pushti-Bhakti. Pravaha Bhakti is the path of those who while leading the worldly life, perform works which will lead to the attainment of God-realisation. Worldly life is compared to the flow of a river (Pravaha). Maryada Bhakti is the path of those who are rendered fit to attain knowledge which is useful for worship, through the grace of the Lord. They know all about the ways of God. They depend upon their own efforts to obtain knowledge. In Pushti Bhakti, the devotees lead a life of self-restraint. They hear discourses about the Lord. They do Kirtana and sing His Name. They do Japa of Mantra.

Suddha Pushti-Bhakti or the Purest Type of Devotion

In Suddha Pushti-Bhakti, the devotees do Kirtana and sing the Lord’s Name. They praise God. They develop a strong passion for doing these. This kind of devotion is generated by the Lord Himself. The Lord’s grace descends on the devotees. Then they develop a liking for God. This liking grows into Prema Bhakti (taste for God). The devotees acquire knowledge about God. Then they get attachment to God (Asakti). Then they develop a strong passion for attaining God. This is the ripe condition of love and Asakti. It is called Vyasana. This strong passion, or Vyasana, leads to the attainment of the highest bliss, the summum bonum or the end.

When love for Sri Krishna becomes intense, the devotee sees Lord Krishna everywhere. Hence everything becomes an object of love for him. He identifies himself with everything. The Gopis had this experience. They saw Krishna everywhere. They saw themselves also as Krishna. This is Para Bhakti or supreme devotion which becomes akin to the knowledge or Brahman-Jnana of the Vedantins or Jnanins. The inner and outer world is full of Krishna or Purushottama for such devotees. The fruit of this devotion is admission to the eternal sports or Lilas of Sri Krishna.

The supreme goal is not Mukti or emancipation. The highest goal is eternal service of Lord Krishna and participation in His sports in the celestial Vrindavana. Those who have developed Vyasana, or strong passion for God, reject with scorn the four kinds of Mukti. The Maryada-Bhaktas attain Sayujya Mukti, i.e., they become one with Sri Krishna. The Pushti-Bhaktas reject Mukti and take part in the sports or Lilas of Sri Krishna. They choose with intense delight the eternal service of Sri Krishna. The Bhaktas assume the forms of cows, birds, trees and rivers and enjoy the company of Sri Krishna, which bestows infinite joy. These sports are similar to those which Sri Krishna did in Vraja and Vrindavana. Some of the devotees become Gopas and Gopis and join the sports in the celestial Vrindavana.

Different Kinds of Liberated Souls

The liberated souls are of different kinds. Some have freed themselves like Sanaka. Some dwell in the city of God and attain salvation through the grace of the Lord. Some others develop perfect love and become the associates of God.

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The First Step in God Realization

 

1. Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, your question is glorious because it is very beneficial to all kinds of people. The answer to this question is the prime subject matter for hearing, and it is approved by all transcendentalists.

2. Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, leave many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor.

3. The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members.

4. Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction.

5. O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries.

6. The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.

7. O King Pariksit, mainly the topmost transcendentalists, who are above the regulative principles and restrictions, take pleasure in describing the glories of the Lord.

8. At the end of the Dvapara-yuga, I studied this great supplement of Vedic literature named Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is equal to all the Vedas, from my father, Srila Dvaipayana Vyasadeva.

9. O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence, yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who is described by enlightened verses.

10. That very Srimad-Bhagavatam I shall recite before you because you are the most sincere devotee of Lord Krsna. One who gives full attention and respect to hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam achieves unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord, the giver of salvation.

11. O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.

12. What is the value of a prolonged life which is wasted, inexperienced by years in this world? Better a moment of full consciousness, because that gives one a start in searching after his supreme interest.

13. The saintly King Khatvanga, after being informed that the duration of his life would be only a moment more, at once freed himself from all material activities and took shelter of the supreme safety, the Personality of Godhead.

14. Maharaja Pariksit, now your duration of life is limited to seven more days, so during this time you can perform all those rituals which are needed for the best purpose of your next life.

15. At the last stage of one's life, one should be bold enough not to be afraid of death. But one must cut off all attachment to the material body and everything pertaining to it and all desires thereof.

16. One should leave home and practice self-control. In a sacred place he should bathe regularly and sit down in a lonely place duly sanctified.

17. After sitting in the above manner, make the mind remember the three transcendental letters [a-u-m], and by regulating the breathing process, control the mind so as not to forget the transcendental seed.

18. Gradually, as the mind becomes progressively spiritualized, withdraw it from sense activities, and by intelligence the senses will be controlled. The mind too absorbed in material activities can be engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead and become fixed in full transcendental consciousness.

19. Thereafter, you should meditate upon the limbs of Visnu, one after another, without being deviated from the conception of the complete body. Thus the mind becomes free from all sense objects. There should be no other thing to be thought upon. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, is the Ultimate Truth, the mind becomes completely reconciled in Him only.

20. One's mind is always agitated by the passionate mode of material nature and bewildered by the ignorant mode of nature. But one can rectify such conceptions by the relation of Visnu and thus become pacified by cleansing the dirty things created by them.

21. O King, by this system of remembrance and by being fixed in the habit of seeing the all-good personal conception of the Lord, one can very soon attain devotional service to the Lord, under His direct shelter.

22. The fortunate King Pariksit, inquiring further, said: O brahmana, please describe in full detail how and where the mind has to be applied and how the conception can be fixed so that the dirty things in a person's mind can be removed.

23. Sukadeva Gosvami answered: One should control the sitting posture, regulate the breathing process by the yogic pranayama and thus control the mind and senses and with intelligence apply the mind to the gross potencies of the Lord [called the virat-rupa].

24. This gigantic manifestation of the phenomenal material world as a whole is the personal body of the Absolute Truth, wherein the universal resultant past, present and future of material time is experienced.

25. The gigantic universal form of the Personality of Godhead, within the body of the universal shell, which is covered by sevenfold material elements, is the subject for the virat conception.

26. Persons who have realized it have studied that the planets known as Patala constitute the bottoms of the feet of the universal Lord, and the heels and the toes are the Rasatala planets. The ankles are the Mahatala planets, and His shanks constitute the Talatala planets.

27. The knees of the universal form are the planetary system of the name Sutala, and the two thighs are the Vitala and Atala planetary systems. The hips are Mahitala, and outer space is the depression of His navel.

28. The chest of the Original Personality of the gigantic form is the luminary planetary system, His neck is the Mahar planets, His mouth is the Janas planets, and His forehead is the Tapas planetary system. The topmost planetary system, known as Satyaloka, is the head of He who has one thousand heads.

29. His arms are the demigods headed by Indra, the ten directional sides are His ears, and physical sound is His sense of hearing. His nostrils are the two Asvini-kumaras, and material fragrance is His sense of smell. His mouth is the blazing fire.

30. The sphere of outer space constitutes His eyepits, and the eyeball is the sun as the power of seeing. His eyelids are both the day and night, and in the movements of His eyebrows, the Brahma and similar supreme personalities reside. His palate is the director of water, Varuna, and the juice or essence of everything is His tongue.

31. They say that the Vedic hymns are the cerebral passage of the Lord, and His jaws of teeth are Yama, god of death, who punishes the sinners. The art of affection is His set of teeth, and the most alluring illusory material energy is His smile. This great ocean of material creation is but the casting of His glance over us.

32. Modesty is the upper portion of His lips, hankering is His chin, religion is the breast of the Lord, and irreligion is His back. Brahmaji, who generates all living beings in the material world, is His genitals, and the Mitra-varunas are His two testicles. The ocean is His waist, and the hills and mountains are the stacks of His bones.

33. O King, the rivers are the veins of the gigantic body, the trees are the hairs of His body, and the omnipotent air is His breath. The passing ages are His movements, and His activities are the reactions of the three modes of material nature.

34. O best amongst the Kurus, the clouds which carry water are the hairs on His head, the terminations of days or nights are His dress, and the supreme cause of material creation is His intelligence. His mind is the moon, the reservoir of all changes.

35. The principle of matter [mahat-tattva] is the consciousness of the omnipresent Lord, as asserted by the experts, and Rudradeva is His ego. The horse, mule, camel and elephant are His nails, and wild animals and all quadrupeds are situated in the belt zone of the Lord.

36. Varieties of birds are indications of His masterful artistic sense. Manu, the father of mankind, is the emblem of His standard intelligence, and humanity is His residence. The celestial species of human beings, like the Gandharvas, Vidyadharas, Caranas and angels, all represent His musical rhythm, and the demoniac soldiers are representations of His wonderful prowess.

37. The virat-purusa's face is the brahmanas, His arms are the ksatriyas, His thighs are the vaisyas, and the sudras are under the protection of His feet. All the worshipable demigods are also overtaken by Him, and it is the duty of everyone to perform sacrifices with feasible goods to appease the Lord.

38. I have thus explained to you the gross material gigantic conception of the Personality of Godhead. One who seriously desires liberation concentrates his mind on this form of the Lord, because there is nothing more than this in the material world.

39. One should concentrate his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who alone distributes Himself in so many manifestations just as ordinary persons create thousands of manifestations in dreams. One must concentrate the mind on Him, the only all-blissful Absolute Truth. Otherwise one will be misled and will cause his own degradation.

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Questions by the Sages to Srila Sukhdev goswami

1. O my Lord, Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmaji, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri Krsna, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.

2. Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.

3. O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad-Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.

4. Once, in a holy place in the forest of Naimisaranya, great sages headed by the sage Saunaka assembled to perform a great thousand-year sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Lord and His devotees.

5. One day, after finishing their morning duties by burning a sacrificial fire and offering a seat of esteem to Srila Suta Gosvami, the great sages made inquiries, with great respect, about the following matters.

6. The sages said: Respected Suta Gosvami, you are completely free from all vice. You are well versed in all the scriptures famous for religious life, and in the Puranas and the histories as well, for you have gone through them under proper guidance and have also explained them.

7. Being the eldest learned Vedantist, O Suta Gosvami, you are acquainted with the knowledge of Vyasadeva, who is the incarnation of Godhead, and you also know other sages who are fully versed in all kinds of physical and metaphysical knowledge.

8. And because you are submissive, your spiritual masters have endowed you with all the favors bestowed upon a gentle disciple. Therefore you can tell us all that you have scientifically learned from them.

9. Please, therefore, being blessed with many years, explain to us, in an easily understandable way, what you have ascertained to be the absolute and ultimate good for the people in general.

10. O learned one, in this iron age of Kali men have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.

11. There are many varieties of scriptures, and in all of them there are many prescribed duties, which can be learned only after many years of study in their various divisions. Therefore, O sage, please select the essence of all these scriptures and explain it for the good of all living beings, that by such instruction their hearts may be fully satisfied.

12. All blessings upon you, O Suta Gosvami. You know for what purpose the Personality of Godhead appeared in the womb of Devaki as the son of Vasudeva.

13. O Suta Gosvami, we are eager to learn about the Personality of Godhead and His incarnations. Please explain to us those teachings imparted by previous masters [acaryas], for one is uplifted both by speaking them and by hearing them.

14. Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Krsna, which is feared by fear personified.

15. O Suta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use.

16. Who is there, desiring deliverance from the vices of the age of quarrel, who is not willing to hear the virtuous glories of the Lord?

17. His transcendental acts are magnificent and gracious, and great learned sages like Narada sing of them. Please, therefore, speak to us, who are eager to hear about the adventures He performs in His various incarnations.

18. O wise Suta, please narrate to us the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Godhead's multi-incarnations. Such auspicious adventures and pastimes of the Lord, the supreme controller, are performed by His internal powers.

19. We never tire of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, who is glorified by hymns and prayers. Those who have developed a taste for transcendental relationships with Him relish hearing of His pastimes at every moment.

20. Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, along with Balarama, played like a human being, and so masked He performed many superhuman acts.

21. Knowing well that the age of Kali has already begun, we are assembled here in this holy place to hear at great length the transcendental message of Godhead and in this way perform sacrifice.

22. We think that we have met Your Goodness by the will of providence, just so that we may accept you as captain of the ship for those who desire to cross the difficult ocean of Kali, which deteriorates all the good qualities of a human being.

23. Since Sri Krsna, the Absolute Truth, the master of all mystic powers, has departed for His own abode, please tell us to whom the religious principles have now gone for shelter.

[gokulkr]

Krsna Is the Source of All Incarnations

1. Suta said: In the beginning of the creation, the Lord first expanded Himself in the universal form of the purusa incarnation and manifested all the ingredients for the material creation. And thus at first there was the creation of the sixteen principles of material action. This was for the purpose of creating the material universe.

2. A part of the purusa lies down within the water of the universe, from the navel lake of His body sprouts a lotus stem, and from the lotus flower atop this stem, Brahma, the master of all engineers in the universe, becomes manifest.

3. It is believed that all the universal planetary systems are situated on the extensive body of the purusa, but He has nothing to do with the created material ingredients. His body is eternally in spiritual existence par excellence.

4. The devotees, with their perfect eyes, see the transcendental form of the purusa who has thousands of legs, thighs, arms and faces--all extraordinary. In that body there are thousands of heads, ears, eyes and noses. They are decorated with thousands of helmets and glowing earrings and are adorned with garlands.

5. This form [the second manifestation of the purusa] is the source and indestructible seed of multifarious incarnations within the universe. From the particles and portions of this form, different living entities, like demigods, men and others, are created.

6. First of all, in the beginning of creation, there were the four unmarried sons of Brahma [the Kumaras], who, being situated in a vow of celibacy, underwent severe austerities for realization of the Absolute Truth.

7. The supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices accepted the incarnation of a boar [the second incarnation], and for the welfare of the earth He lifted the earth from the nether regions of the universe.

8. In the millennium of the rsis, the Personality of Godhead accepted the third empowered incarnation in the form of Devarsi Narada, who is a great sage among the demigods. He collected expositions of the Vedas which deal with devotional service and which inspire nonfruitive action.

9. In the fourth incarnation, the Lord became Nara and Narayana, the twin sons of the wife of King Dharma. Thus He undertook severe and exemplary penances to control the senses.

10. The fifth incarnation, named Lord Kapila, is foremost among perfected beings. He gave an exposition of the creative elements and metaphysics to Asuri Brahmana, for in course of time this knowledge had been lost.

11. The sixth incarnation of the purusa was the son of the sage Atri. He was born from the womb of Anasuya, who prayed for an incarnation. He spoke on the subject of transcendence to Alarka, Prahlada and others [Yadu, Haihaya, etc.].

12. The seventh incarnation was Yajna, the son of Prajapati Ruci and his wife Akuti. He controlled the period during the change of the Svayambhuva Manu and was assisted by demigods such as His son Yama.

13. The eighth incarnation was King Rsabha, son of King Nabhi and his wife Merudevi. In this incarnation the Lord showed the path of perfection, which is followed by those who have fully controlled their senses and who are honored by all orders of life.

14. O brahmanas, in the ninth incarnation, the Lord, prayed for by sages, accepted the body of a king [Prthu] who cultivated the land to yield various produces, and for that reason the earth was beautiful and attractive.

15. When there was a complete inundation after the period of the Caksusa Manu and the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and protected Vaivasvata Manu, keeping him up on a boat.

16. The eleventh incarnation of the Lord took the form of a tortoise whose shell served as a pivot for the Mandaracala Hill, which was being used as a churning rod by the theists and atheists of the universe.

17. In the twelfth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Dhanvantari, and in the thirteenth He allured the atheists by the charming beauty of a woman and gave nectar to the demigods to drink.

18. In the fourteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Nrsimha and bifurcated the strong body of the atheist Hiranyakasipu with His nails, just as a carpenter pierces cane.

19. In the fifteenth incarnation, the Lord assumed the form of a dwarf-brahmana [Vamana] and visited the arena of sacrifice arranged by Maharaja Bali. Although at heart He was willing to regain the kingdom of the three planetary systems, He simply asked for a donation of three steps of land.

20. In the sixteenth incarnation of the Godhead, the Lord [as Bhrgupati] annihilated the administrative class [ksatriyas] twenty-one times, being angry with them because of their rebellion against the brahmanas [the intelligent class].

21. Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, Sri Vyasadeva appeared in the womb of Satyavati through Parasara Muni, and he divided the one Veda into several branches and subbranches, seeing that the people in general were less intelligent.

22. In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rama. In order to perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist King Ravana, who was on the other side of the sea.

23. In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarama and Lord Krsna in the family of Vrsni [the Yadu dynasty], and by so doing He removed the burden of the world.

24. Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.

25. Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Visnu Yasa. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers.

26. O brahmanas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water.

27. All the rsis, Manus, demigods and descendants of Manu, who are especially powerful, are plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord. This also includes the Prajapatis.

28. All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.

29. Whoever carefully recites the mysterious appearances of the Lord, with devotion in the morning and in the evening, gets relief from all miseries of life.

30. The conception of the virat universal form of the Lord, as appearing in the material world, is imaginary. It is to enable the less intelligent [and neophytes] to adjust to the idea of the Lord's having form. But factually the Lord has no material form.

31. Clouds and dust are carried by the air, but less intelligent persons say that the sky is cloudy and the air is dirty. Similarly, they also implant material bodily conceptions on the spirit self.

32. Beyond this gross conception of form is another, subtle conception of form which is without formal shape and is unseen, unheard and unmanifest. The living being has his form beyond this subtlety, otherwise he could not have repeated births.

33. Whenever a person experiences, by self-realization, that both the gross and subtle bodies have nothing to do with the pure self, at that time he sees himself as well as the Lord.

34. If the illusory energy subsides and the living entity becomes fully enriched with knowledge by the grace of the Lord, then he becomes at once enlightened with self-realization and thus becomes situated in his own glory.

35. Thus learned men describe the births and activities of the unborn and inactive, which is undiscoverable even in the Vedic literatures. He is the Lord of the heart.

36. The Lord, whose activities are always spotless, is the master of the six senses and is fully omnipotent with six opulences. He creates the manifested universes, maintains them and annihilates them without being in the least affected. He is within every living being and is always independent.

37. The foolish with a poor fund of knowledge cannot know the transcendental nature of the forms, names and activities of the Lord, who is playing like an actor in a drama. Nor can they express such things, neither in their speculations nor in their words.

38. Only those who render unreserved, uninterrupted, favorable service unto the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, who carries the wheel of the chariot in His hand, can know the creator of the universe in His full glory, power and transcendence.

39. Only by making such inquiries in this world can one be successful and perfectly cognizant, for such inquiries invoke transcendental ecstatic love unto the Personality of Godhead, who is the proprietor of all the universes, and guarantee cent-percent immunity from the dreadful repetition of birth and death.

40. This Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful and all-perfect.

41. Sri Vyasadeva delivered it to his son, who is the most respected among the self-realized, after extracting the cream of all Vedic literatures and histories of the universe.

42. Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vyasadeva, in his turn delivered the Bhagavatam to the great Emperor Pariksit, who sat surrounded by sages on the bank of the Ganges, awaiting death without taking food or drink.

43. This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.

44. O learned brahmanas, when Sukadeva Gosvami recited Bhagavatam there [in the presence of Emperor Pariksit], I heard him with rapt attention, and thus, by his mercy, I learned the Bhagavatam from that great and powerful sage. Now I shall try to make you hear the very same thing as I learned it from him and as I have realized it.

[gokulkr]

The Appearance of Sri Narada

1. On hearing Suta Gosvami speak thus, Saunaka Muni, who was the elderly, learned leader of all the rsis engaged in that prolonged sacrificial ceremony, congratulated Suta Gosvami by addressing him as follows.

2. Saunaka said: O Suta Gosvami, you are the most fortunate and respected of all those who can speak and recite. Please relate the pious message of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was spoken by the great and powerful sage Sukadeva Gosvami.

3. In what period and at what place was this first begun, and why was this taken up? From where did Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa, the great sage, get the inspiration to compile this literature?

4. His [Vyasadeva's] son was a great devotee, an equibalanced monist, whose mind was always concentrated in monism. He was transcendental to mundane activities, but being unexposed, he appeared like an ignorant person.

5. While Sri Vyasadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Sri Vyasadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage made such distinctions.

6. How was he [srila Sukadeva, the son of Vyasa] recognized by the citizens when he entered the city of Hastinapura [now Delhi], after wandering in the provinces of Kuru and Jangala, appearing like a madman, dumb and retarded?

7. How did it so happen that King Pariksit met this great sage, making it possible for this great transcendental essence of the Vedas [bhagavatam] to be sung to him?

8. He [sukadeva Gosvami] was accustomed to stay at the door of a householder only long enough for a cow to be milked. And he did this just to sanctify the residence.

9. It is said that Maharaja Pariksit is a great first-class devotee of the Lord and that his birth and activities are all wonderful. Please tell us about him.

10. He was a great emperor and possessed all the opulences of his acquired kingdom. He was so exalted that he was increasing the prestige of the Pandu dynasty. Why did he give up everything to sit down on the bank of the Ganges and fast until death?

11. He was such a great emperor that all his enemies would come and bow down at his feet and surrender all their wealth for their own benefit. He was full of youth and strength, and he possessed insuperable kingly opulences. Why did he want to give up everything, including his life?

12. Those who are devoted to the cause of the Personality of Godhead live only for the welfare, development and happiness of others. They do not live for any selfish interest. So even though the Emperor [Pariksit] was free from all attachment to worldly possessions, how could he give up his mortal body, which was shelter for others?

13. We know that you are expert in the meaning of all subjects, except some portions of the Vedas, and thus you can clearly explain the answers to all the questions we have just put to you.

14. Suta Gosvami said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great sage [Vyasadeva] was born to Parasara in the womb of Satyavati, the daughter of Vasu.

15. Once upon a time he [Vyasadeva], as the sun rose, took his morning ablution in the waters of the Sarasvati and sat alone to concentrate.

16. The great sage Vyasadeva saw anomalies in the duties of the millennium. This happens on the earth in different ages, due to unseen forces in the course of time.

17-18. The great sage, who was fully equipped in knowledge, could see, through his transcendental vision, the deterioration of everything material, due to the influence of the age. He could also see that the faithless people in general would be reduced in duration of life and would be impatient due to lack of goodness. Thus he contemplated for the welfare of men in all statuses and orders of life.

19. He saw that the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas were means by which the people's occupations could be purified. And to simplify the process he divided the one Veda into four, in order to expand them among men.

20. The four divisions of the original sources of knowledge [the Vedas] were made separately. But the historical facts and authentic stories mentioned in the Puranas are called the fifth Veda.

21. After the Vedas were divided into four divisions, Paila Rsi became the professor of the Rg Veda, Jaimini the professor of the Sama Veda, and Vaisampayana alone became glorified by the Yajur Veda.

22. The Sumantu Muni Angira, who was very devotedly engaged, was entrusted with the Atharva Veda. And my father, Romaharsana, was entrusted with the Puranas and historical records.

23. All these learned scholars, in their turn, rendered their entrusted Vedas unto their many disciples, grand-disciples and great grand-disciples, and thus the respective branches of the followers of the Vedas came into being.

24. Thus the great sage Vyasadeva, who is very kind to the ignorant masses, edited the Vedas so they might be assimilated by less intellectual men.

25. Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahabharata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born.

26. O twice-born brahmanas, still his mind was not satisfied, although he engaged himself in working for the total welfare of all people.

27. Thus the sage, being dissatisfied at heart, at once began to reflect, because he knew the essence of religion, and he said within himself:

28-29. I have, under strict disciplinary vows, unpretentiously worshiped the Vedas, the spiritual master and the altar of sacrifice. I have also abided by the rulings and have shown the import of disciplic succession through the explanation of the Mahabharata, by which even women, sudras and others [friends of the twice-born] can see the path of religion.

30. I am feeling incomplete, though I myself am fully equipped with everything required by the Vedas.

31. This may be because I did not specifically point out the devotional service of the Lord, which is dear both to perfect beings and to the infallible Lord.

32. As mentioned before, Narada reached the cottage of Krsnadvaipayana Vyasa on the banks of the Sarasvati just as Vyasadeva was regretting his defects.

33. At the auspicious arrival of Sri Narada, Sri Vyasadeva got up respectfully and worshiped him, giving him veneration equal to that given to Brahmaji, the creator.

[gokulkr]

The Son of Drona Punished

1. Rsi Saunaka asked: O Suta, the great and transcendentally powerful Vyasadeva heard everything from Sri Narada Muni. So after Narada's departure, what did Vyasadeva do?

2. Sri Suta said: On the western bank of the River Sarasvati, which is intimately related with the Vedas, there is a cottage for meditation at Samyaprasa which enlivens the transcendental activities of the sages.

3. In that place, Srila Vyasadeva, in his own asrama, which was surrounded by berry trees, sat down to meditate after touching water for purification.

4. Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control.

5. Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.

6. The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyasadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.

7. Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.

8. The great sage Vyasadeva, after compiling the Srimad-Bhagavatam and revising it, taught it to his own son, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, who was already engaged in self-realization.

9. Sri Saunaka asked Suta Gosvami: Sri Sukadeva Gosvami was already on the path of self-realization, and thus he was pleased with his own self. So why did he take the trouble to undergo the study of such a vast literature?

10. All different varieties of atmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.

11. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, son of Srila Vyasadeva, was not only transcendentally powerful. He was also very dear to the devotees of the Lord. Thus he underwent the study of this great narration [srimad-Bhagavatam].

12. Suta Gosvami thus addressed the rsis headed by Saunaka: Now I shall begin the transcendental narration of the Lord Sri Krsna and topics of the birth, activities and deliverance of King Pariksit, the sage amongst kings, as well as topics of the renunciation of the worldly order by the sons of Pandu.

13-14. When the respective warriors of both camps, namely the Kauravas and the Pandavas, were killed on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra and the dead warriors obtained their deserved destinations, and when the son of Dhrtarastra fell down lamenting, his spine broken, being beaten by the club of Bhimasena, the son of Dronacarya [Asvatthama] beheaded the five sleeping sons of Draupadi and delivered them as a prize to his master, foolishly thinking that he would be pleased. Duryodhana, however, disapproved of the heinous act, and he was not pleased in the least.

15. Draupadi, the mother of the five children of the Pandavas, after hearing of the massacre of her sons, began to cry in distress with eyes full of tears. Trying to pacify her in her great loss, Arjuna spoke to her thus:

16. O gentle lady, when I present you with the head of that brahmana, after beheading him with arrows from my Gandiva bow, I shall then wipe the tears from your eyes and pacify you. Then, after burning your sons' bodies, you can take your bath standing on his head.

17. Arjuna, who is guided by the infallible Lord as friend and driver, thus satisfied the dear lady by such statements. Then he dressed in armor and armed himself with furious weapons, and getting into his chariot, he set out to follow Asvatthama, the son of his martial teacher.

18. Asvatthama, the murderer of the princes, seeing from a great distance Arjuna coming at him with great speed, fled in his chariot, panic stricken, just to save his life, as Brahma fled in fear from Siva.

19. When the son of the brahmana [Asvatthama] saw that his horses were tired, he considered that there was no alternative for protection outside of his using the ultimate weapon, the brahmastra [nuclear weapon].

20. Since his life was in danger, he touched water in sanctity and concentrated upon the chanting of the hymns for throwing nuclear weapons, although he did not know how to withdraw such weapons.

21. Thereupon a glaring light spread in all directions. It was so fierce that Arjuna thought his own life in danger, and so he began to address Lord Sri Krsna.

22. Arjuna said: O my Lord Sri Krsna, You are the almighty Personality of Godhead. There is no limit to Your different energies. Therefore only You are competent to instill fearlessness in the hearts of Your devotees. Everyone in the flames of material miseries can find the path of liberation in You only.

23. You are the original Personality of Godhead who expands Himself all over the creations and is transcendental to material energy. You have cast away the effects of the material energy by dint of Your spiritual potency. You are always situated in eternal bliss and transcendental knowledge.

24. And yet, though You are beyond the purview of the material energy, You execute the four principles of liberation characterized by religion and so on for the ultimate good of the conditioned souls.

25. Thus You descend as an incarnation to remove the burden of the world and to benefit Your friends, especially those who are Your exclusive devotees and are rapt in meditation upon You.

26. O Lord of lords, how is it that this dangerous effulgence is spreading all around? Where does it come from? I do not understand it.

27. The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Know from Me that this is the act of the son of Drona. He has thrown the hymns of nuclear energy [brahmastra], and he does not know how to retract the glare. He has helplessly done this, being afraid of imminent death.

28. O Arjuna, only another brahmastra can counteract this weapon. Since you are expert in the military science, subdue this weapon's glare with the power of your own weapon.

29. Sri Suta Gosvami said: Hearing this from the Personality of Godhead, Arjuna touched water for purification, and after circumambulating Lord Sri Krsna, he cast his brahmastra weapon to counteract the other one.

30. When the rays of the two brahmastras combined, a great circle of fire, like the disc of the sun, covered all outer space and the whole firmament of planets.

31. All the population of the three worlds was scorched by the combined heat of the weapons. Everyone was reminded of the samvartaka fire which takes place at the time of annihilation.

32. Thus seeing the disturbance of the general populace and the imminent destruction of the planets, Arjuna at once retracted both brahmastra weapons, as Lord Sri Krsna desired.

33. Arjuna, his eyes blazing in anger like two red balls of copper, dexterously arrested the son of Gautami and bound him with ropes like an animal.

34. After binding Asvatthama, Arjuna wanted to take him to the military camp. The Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, looking on with His lotus eyes, spoke to angry Arjuna.

35. Lord Sri Krsna said: O Arjuna, you should not show mercy by releasing this relative of a brahmana [brahma-bandhu], for he has killed innocent boys in their sleep.

36. A person who knows the principles of religion does not kill an enemy who is careless, intoxicated, insane, asleep, afraid or devoid of his chariot. Nor does he kill a boy, a woman, a foolish creature or a surrendered soul.

37. A cruel and wretched person who maintains his existence at the cost of others' lives deserves to be killed for his own well-being, otherwise he will go down by his own actions.

38. Furthermore, I have personally heard you promise Draupadi that you would bring forth the head of the killer of her sons.

39. This man is an assassin and murderer of your own family members. Not only that, but he has also dissatisfied his master. He is but the burnt remnants of his family. Kill him immediately.

40. Suta Gosvami said: Although Krsna, who was examining Arjuna in religion, encouraged Arjuna to kill the son of Dronacarya, Arjuna, a great soul, did not like the idea of killing him, although Asvatthama was a heinous murderer of Arjuna's family members.

41. After reaching his own camp, Arjuna, along with his dear friend and charioteer [sri Krsna], entrusted the murderer unto his dear wife, who was lamenting for her murdered sons.

42. Sri Suta Gosvami said: Draupadi then saw Asvatthama, who was bound with ropes like an animal and silent for having enacted the most inglorious murder. Due to her female nature, and due to her being naturally good and well-behaved, she showed him due respects as a brahmana.

43. She could not tolerate Asvatthama's being bound by ropes, and being a devoted lady, she said: Release him, for he is a brahmana, our spiritual master.

44. It was by Dronacarya's mercy that you learned the military art of throwing arrows and the confidential art of controlling weapons.

45. He [Dronacarya] is certainly still existing, being represented by his son. His wife Krpi did not undergo a sati with him because she had a son.

46. O most fortunate one who knows the principles of religion, it is not good for you to cause grief to glorious family members who are always respectable and worshipful.

47. My lord, do not make the wife of Dronacarya cry like me. I am aggrieved for the death of my sons. She need not cry constantly like me.

48. If the kingly administrative order, being unrestricted in sense control, offends the brahmana order and enrages them, then the fire of that rage burns up the whole body of the royal family and brings grief upon all.

49. Suta Gosvami said: O brahmanas, King Yudhisthira fully supported the statements of the Queen, which were in accordance with the principles of religion and were justified, glorious, full of mercy and equity, and without duplicity.

50. Nakula and Sahadeva [the younger brothers of the King] and also Satyaki, Arjuna, the Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krsna, son of Devaki, and the ladies and others all unanimously agreed with the King.

51. Bhima, however, disagreed with them and recommended killing this culprit who, in an angry mood, had murdered sleeping children for no purpose and for neither his nor his master's interest.

52. Caturbhuja [the four-armed one], or the Personality of Godhead, after hearing the words of Bhima, Draupadi and others, saw the face of His dear friend Arjuna, and He began to speak as if smiling.

53-54. The Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna said: A friend of a brahmana is not to be killed, but if he is an aggressor he must be killed. All these rulings are in the scriptures, and you should act accordingly. You have to fulfill your promise to your wife, and you must also act to the satisfaction of Bhimasena and Me.

55. Just then Arjuna could understand the motive of the Lord by His equivocal orders, and thus with his sword he severed both hair and jewel from the head of Asvatthama.

56. He [Asvatthama] had already lost his bodily luster due to infanticide, and now, moreover, having lost the jewel from his head, he lost even more strength. Thus he was unbound and driven out of the camp.

57. Cutting the hair from his head, depriving him of his wealth and driving him from his residence are the prescribed punishments for the relative of a brahmana. There is no injunction for killing the body.

58. Thereafter, the sons of Pandu and Draupadi, overwhelmed with grief, performed the proper rituals for the dead bodies of their relatives.

[gokulkr]

The Passing Away of Bhismadeva in the Presence of Lord Krsna

1. Suta Gosvami said: Being afraid for having killed so many subjects on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Maharaja Yudhisthira went to the scene of the massacre. There, Bhismadeva was lying on a bed of arrows, about to pass away.

2. At that time all his brothers followed him on beautiful chariots drawn by first-class horses decorated with gold ornaments. With them were Vyasa and rsis like Dhaumya [the learned priest of the Pandavas] and others.

3. O sage amongst the brahmanas, Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, also followed, seated on a chariot with Arjuna. Thus King Yudhisthira appeared very aristocratic, like Kuvera surrounded by his companions [the Guhyakas].

4. Seeing him [bhisma] lying on the ground, like a demigod fallen from the sky, the Pandava King Yudhisthira, along with his younger brothers and Lord Krsna, bowed down before him.

5. Just to see the chief of the descendants of King Bharata [bhisma], all the great souls in the universe, namely the rsis amongst the demigods, brahmanas and kings, all situated in the quality of goodness, were assembled there.

6-7. All the sages like Parvata Muni, Narada the incarnation of God, Dhaumya, Vyasa the incarnation of God, Brhadasva, Bharadvaja and Parasurama and disciples, Vasistha, Indrapramada, Trita, Grtsamada, Asita, Kaksivan, Gautama, Atri, Kausika and Sudarsana were present.

8. And many others like Sukadeva Gosvami and other purified souls, Kasyapa and Angirasa and others, all accompanied by their respective disciples, arrived there.

9. Bhismadeva, who was the best amongst the eight Vasus, received and welcomed all the great and powerful rsis who were assembled there, for he knew perfectly all the religious principles according to time and place.

10. Lord Sri Krsna is situated in everyone's heart, yet He manifests His transcendental form by His internal potency. This very Lord was sitting before Bhismadeva, and since Bhismadeva knew of His glories, he worshiped Him duly.

11. The sons of Maharaja Pandu were sitting silently nearby, overtaken with affection for their dying grandfather. Seeing this, Bhismadeva congratulated them with feeling. There were tears of ecstasy in his eyes, for he was overwhelmed by love and affection.

12. Bhismadeva said: Oh, what terrible sufferings and what terrible injustices you good souls suffer for being the sons of religion personified. You did not deserve to remain alive under those tribulations, yet you were protected by the brahmanas, God and religion.

13. As far as my daughter-in-law Kunti is concerned, upon the great General Pandu's death, she became a widow with many children, and therefore she suffered greatly. And when you were grown up she suffered a great deal also because of your actions.

14. In my opinion, this is all due to inevitable time, under whose control everyone in every planet is carried, just as the clouds are carried by the wind.

15. O how wonderful is the influence of inevitable time. It is irreversible--otherwise, how can there be reverses in the presence of King Yudhisthira, the son of the demigod controlling religion; Bhima, the great fighter with a club; the great bowman Arjuna with his mighty weapon Gandiva; and above all, the Lord, the direct well-wisher of the Pandavas?

16. O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord [sri Krsna]. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered.

17. O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhisthira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.

18. This Sri Krsna is no other than the inconceivable, original Personality of Godhead. He is the first Narayana, the supreme enjoyer. But He is moving amongst the descendants of King Vrsni just like one of us and He is bewildering us with His self-created energy.

19. O King, Lord Siva, Narada the sage amongst the demigods, and Kapila, the incarnation of Godhead, all know very confidentially about His glories through direct contact.

20. O King, that personality whom, out of ignorance only, you thought to be your maternal cousin, your very dear friend, well-wisher, counselor, messenger, benefactor, etc., is that very Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.

21. Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is present in everyone's heart. He is equally kind to everyone, and He is free from the false ego of differentiation. Therefore whatever He does is free from material inebriety. He is equibalanced.

22. Yet, despite His being equally kind to everyone, He has graciously come before me while I am ending my life, for I am His unflinching servitor.

23. The Personality of Godhead, who appears in the mind of the devotee by attentive devotion and meditation and by chanting of the holy name, releases the devotee from the bondage of fruitive activities at the time of his quitting the material body.

24. May my Lord, who is four-handed and whose beautifully decorated lotus face, with eyes as red as the rising sun, is smiling, kindly await me at that moment when I quit this material body.

25. Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Yudhisthira, after hearing Bhismadeva speak in that appealing tone, asked him, in the presence of all the great rsis, about the essential principles of various religious duties.

26. At Maharaja Yudhisthira's inquiry, Bhismadeva first defined all the classifications of castes and orders of life in terms of the individual's qualifications. Then he systematically, in twofold divisions, described counteraction by detachment and interaction by attachment.

27. He then explained, by divisions, acts of charity, the pragmatic activities of a king and activities for salvation. Then he described the duties of women and devotees, both briefly and extensively.

28. Then he described the occupational duties of different orders and statuses of life, citing instances from history, for he was himself well acquainted with the truth.

29. While Bhismadeva was describing occupational duties, the sun's course ran into the northern hemisphere. This period is desired by mystics who die at their will.

30. Thereupon that man who spoke on different subjects with thousands of meanings and who fought on thousands of battlefields and protected thousands of men, stopped speaking and, being completely freed from all bondage, withdrew his mind from everything else and fixed his wide-open eyes upon the original Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, who stood before him, four-handed, dressed in yellow garments that glittered and shined.

31. By pure meditation, looking at Lord Sri Krsna, he at once was freed from all material inauspiciousness and was relieved of all bodily pains caused by the arrow wounds. Thus all the external activities of his senses at once stopped, and he prayed transcendentally to the controller of all living beings while quitting his material body.

32. Bhismadeva said: Let me now invest my thinking, feeling and willing, which were so long engaged in different subjects and occupational duties, in the all-powerful Lord Sri Krsna. He is always self-satisfied, but sometimes, being the leader of the devotees, He enjoys transcendental pleasure by descending on the material world, although from Him only the material world is created.

33. Sri Krsna is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in His transcendental body, which resembles the bluish color of the tamala tree. His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems [upper, middle and lower]. May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire fruitive results.

34. On the battlefield [where Sri Krsna attended Arjuna out of friendship], the flowing hair of Lord Krsna turned ashen due to the dust raised by the hoofs of the horses. And because of His labor, beads of sweat wetted His face. All these decorations, intensified by the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows, were enjoyed by Him. Let my mind thus go unto Sri Krsna.

35. In obedience to the command of His friend, Lord Sri Krsna entered the arena of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra between the soldiers of Arjuna and Duryodhana, and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His merciful glance. This was done simply by His looking at the enemy. Let my mind be fixed upon that Krsna.

36. When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by delivering transcendental knowledge. May His lotus feet always remain the object of my attraction.

37. Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.

38. May He, Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who awards salvation, be my ultimate destination. On the battlefield He charged me, as if angry because of the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered, and His body was smeared with blood due to the wounds.

39. At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna's chariot by all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra attained their original forms after death.

40. Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Sri Krsna, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhama [the gopis]. The damsels imitated the characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rasa dance].

41. At the Rajasuya-yajna [sacrifice] performed by Maharaja Yudhisthira, there was the greatest assembly of all the elite men of the world, the royal and learned orders, and in that great assembly Lord Sri Krsna was worshiped by one and all as the most exalted Personality of Godhead. This happened during my presence, and I remembered the incident in order to keep my mind upon the Lord.

42. Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Sri Krsna, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone's heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone's heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.

43. Suta Gosvami said: Thus Bhismadeva merged himself in the Supersoul, Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with his mind, speech, sight and actions, and thus he became silent, and his breathing stopped.

44. Knowing that Bhismadeva had merged into the unlimited eternity of the Supreme Absolute, all present there became silent like birds at the end of the day.

45. Thereafter, both men and demigods sounded drums in honor, and the honest royal order commenced demonstrations of honor and respect. And from the sky fell showers of flowers.

46. O descendant of Bhrgu [saunaka], after performing funeral rituals for the dead body of Bhismadeva, Maharaja Yudhisthira was momentarily overtaken with grief.

47. All the great sages then glorified Lord Sri Krsna, who was present there, by confidential Vedic hymns. Then all of them returned to their respective hermitages, bearing always Lord Krsna within their hearts.

48. Thereafter, Maharaja Yudhisthira at once went to his capital, Hastinapura, accompanied by Lord Sri Krsna, and there he consoled his uncle and aunt Gandhari, who was an ascetic.

49. After this, the great religious King, Maharaja Yudhisthira, executed the royal power in the kingdom strictly according to the codes and royal principles approved by his uncle and confirmed by Lord Sri Krsna.

[gokulkr]

Birth of Emperor Pariksit

1. The sage Saunaka said: The womb of Uttara, mother of Maharaja Pariksit, was spoiled by the dreadful and invincible brahmastra weapon released by Asvatthama. But Maharaja Pariksit was saved by the Supreme Lord.

2. How was the great emperor Pariksit, who was a highly intelligent and great devotee, born in that womb? How did his death take place, and what did he achieve after his death?

3. We all respectfully want to hear about him [Maharaja Pariksit] to whom Sukadeva Gosvami imparted transcendental knowledge. Please speak on this matter.

4. Sri Suta Gosvami said: Emperor Yudhisthira administered generously to everyone during his reign. He was exactly like his father. He had no personal ambition and was freed from all sorts of sense gratification because of his continuous service unto the lotus feet of the Lord Sri Krsna.

5. News even reached the celestial planets about Maharaja Yudhisthira's worldly possessions, the sacrifices by which he would attain a better destination, his queen, his stalwart brothers, his extensive land, his sovereignty over the planet earth, and his fame, etc.

6. O brahmanas, the opulence of the King was so enchanting that the denizens of heaven aspired for it. But because he was absorbed in the service of the Lord, nothing could satisfy him except the Lord's service.

7. O son of Bhrgu [saunaka], when the child Pariksit, the great fighter, was in the womb of his mother, Uttara, and was suffering from the burning heat of the brahmastra [thrown by Asvatthama], he could observe the Supreme Lord coming to him.

8. He [the Lord] was only thumb high, but He was all transcendental. He had a very beautiful, blackish, infallible body, and He wore a dress of lightning yellow and a helmet of blazing gold. Thus He was seen by the child.

9. The Lord was enriched with four hands, earrings of molten gold and eyes blood red with fury. As He loitered about, His club constantly encircled Him like a shooting star.

10. The Lord was thus engaged in vanquishing the radiation of the brahmastra, just as the sun evaporates a drop of dew. He was observed by the child, who thought about who He was.

11. While thus being observed by the child, the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of everyone and the protector of the righteous, who stretches in all directions and who is unlimited by time and space, disappeared at once.

12. Thereupon, when all the good signs of the zodiac gradually evolved, the heir apparent of Pandu, who would be exactly like him in prowess, took birth.

13. King Yudhisthira, who was very satisfied with the birth of Maharaja Pariksit, had the purificatory process of birth performed. Learned brahmanas, headed by Dhaumya and Krpa, recited auspicious hymns.

14. Upon the birth of a son, the King, who knew how, where and when charity should be given, gave gold, land, villages, elephants, horses and good food grains to the brahmanas.

15. The learned brahmanas, who were very satisfied with the charities of the King, addressed him as the chief amongst the Purus and informed him that his son was certainly in the line of descent from the Purus.

16. The brahmanas said: This spotless son has been restored by the all-powerful and all-pervasive Lord Visnu, the Personality of Godhead, in order to oblige you. He was saved when he was doomed to be destroyed by an irresistible supernatural weapon.

17. For this reason this child will be well known in the world as one who is protected by the Personality of Godhead. O most fortunate one, there is no doubt that this child will become a first-class devotee and will be qualified with all good qualities.

18. The good King [Yudhisthira] inquired: O great souls, will he become as saintly a king, as pious in his very name and as famous and glorified in his achievements, as others who appeared in this great royal family?

19. The learned brahmanas said: O son of Prtha, this child shall be exactly like King Iksvaku, son of Manu, in maintaining all those who are born. And as for following the brahminical principles, especially in being true to his promise, he shall be exactly like Rama, the Personality of Godhead, the son of Maharaja Dasaratha.

20. This child will be a munificent donor of charity and protector of the surrendered, like the famous King Sibi of the Usinara country. And he will expand the name and fame of his family like Bharata, the son of Maharaja Dusyanta.

21. Amongst great bowmen, this child will be as good as Arjuna. He will be as irresistible as fire and as unsurpassable as the ocean.

22. This child will be as strong as a lion, and as worthy a shelter as the Himalaya Mountains. He will be forbearing like the earth, and as tolerant as his parents.

23. This child will be like his grandfather Yudhisthira or Brahma in equanimity of mind. He will be munificent like the lord of the Kailasa Hill, Siva. And he will be the resort of everyone, like the Supreme Personality of Godhead Narayana, who is even the shelter of the goddess of fortune.

24. This child will be almost as good as Lord Sri Krsna by following in His footsteps. In magnanimity he will become as great as King Rantideva. And in religion he will be like Maharaja Yayati.

25. This child will be like Bali Maharaja in patience, a staunch devotee of Lord Krsna like Prahlada Maharaja, a performer of many Asvamedha [horse] sacrifices and a follower of the old and experienced men.

26. This child will be the father of kings who will be like sages. For world peace and for the sake of religion, he will be the chastiser of the upstarts and the quarrelsome.

27. After hearing about his death, which will be caused by the bite of a snake-bird sent by a son of a brahmana, he will get himself freed from all material attachment and surrender unto the Personality of Godhead, taking shelter of Him.

28. After inquiring about proper self-knowledge from the son of Vyasadeva, who will be a great philosopher, he will renounce all material attachment and achieve a life of fearlessness.

29. Thus those who were expert in astrological knowledge and in performance of the birth ceremony instructed King Yudhisthira about the future history of his child. Then, being sumptuously remunerated, they all returned to their respective homes.

30. So his son would become famous in the world as Pariksit [examiner] because he would come to examine all human beings in his search after that personality whom he saw before his birth. Thus he would come to constantly contemplate Him.

31. As the moon, in its waxing fortnight, develops day after day, so the royal prince [Pariksit] very soon developed luxuriantly under the care and full facilities of his guardian grandfathers.

32. Just at this time, King Yudhisthira was considering performing a horse sacrifice to get freed from sins incurred from fighting with kinsmen. But he became anxious to get some wealth, for there were no surplus funds outside of fines and tax collection.

33. Understanding the hearty wishes of the King, his brothers, as advised by the infallible Lord Krsna, collected sufficient riches from the North [left by King Marutta].

34. By those riches, the King could procure the ingredients for three horse sacrifices. Thus the pious King Yudhisthira, who was very fearful after the Battle of Kuruksetra, pleased Lord Hari, the Personality of Godhead.

35. Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, being invited to the sacrifices by Maharaja Yudhisthira, saw to it that they were performed by qualified [twice-born] brahmanas. After that, for the pleasure of the relatives, the Lord remained a few months.

36. O Saunaka, thereafter the Lord, having bade farewell to King Yudhisthira, Draupadi and other relatives, started for the city of Dvaraka, accompanied by Arjuna and other members of the Yadu dynasty.

[gokulkr]

The Pandavas Retire Timely

1. Suta Gosvami said: Arjuna, the celebrated friend of Lord Krsna, was grief-stricken because of his strong feeling of separation from Krsna, over and above all Maharaja Yudhisthira's speculative inquiries.

2. Due to grief, Arjuna's mouth and lotuslike heart had dried up. Therefore his body lost all luster. Now, remembering the Supreme Lord, he could hardly utter a word in reply.

3. With great difficulty he checked the tears of grief that smeared his eyes. He was very distressed because Lord Krsna was out of his sight, and he increasingly felt affection for Him.

4. Remembering Lord Krsna and His well-wishes, benefactions, intimate familial relations and His chariot driving, Arjuna, overwhelmed and breathing very heavily, began to speak.

5. Arjuna said: O King! The Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari, who treated me exactly like an intimate friend, has left me alone. Thus my astounding power, which astonished even the demigods, is no longer with me.

6. I have just lost Him whose separation for a moment would render all the universes unfavorable and void, like bodies without life.

7. Only by His merciful strength was I able to vanquish all the lusty princes assembled at the palace of King Drupada for the selection of the bridegroom. With my bow and arrow I could pierce the fish target and thereby gain the hand of Draupadi.

8. Because He was near me, it was possible for me to conquer with great dexterity the powerful King of heaven, Indradeva, along with his demigod associates and thus enable the fire-god to devastate the Khandava Forest. And only by His grace was the demon named Maya saved from the blazing Khandava Forest, and thus we could build our assembly house of wonderful architectural workmanship, where all the princes assembled during the performance of Rajasuya-yajna and paid you tributes.

9. Your respectable younger brother, who possesses the strength of ten thousand elephants, killed, by His grace, Jarasandha, whose feet were worshiped by many kings. These kings had been brought for sacrifice in Jarasandha's Mahabhairava-yajna, but they were thus released. Later they paid tribute to Your Majesty.

10. It was He only who loosened the hair of all the wives of the miscreants who dared open the cluster of your Queen's hair, which had been nicely dressed and sanctified for the great Rajasuya sacrificial ceremony. At that time she fell down at the feet of Lord Krsna with tears in her eyes.

11. During our exile, Durvasa Muni, who eats with his ten thousand disciples, intrigued with our enemies to put us in dangerous trouble. At that time He [Lord Krsna], simply by accepting the remnants of food, saved us. By His accepting food thus, the assembly of munis, while bathing in the river, felt sumptuously fed. And all the three worlds were also satisfied.

12. It was by His influence only that in a fight I was able to astonish the personality of god Lord Siva and his wife, the daughter of Mount Himalaya. Thus he [Lord Siva] became pleased with me and awarded me his own weapon. Other demigods also delivered their respective weapons to me, and in addition I was able to reach the heavenly planets in this present body and was allowed a half-elevated seat.

13. When I stayed for some days as a guest in the heavenly planets, all the heavenly demigods, including King Indradeva, took shelter of my arms, which were marked with the Gandiva bow, to kill the demon named Nivatakavaca. O King, descendant of Ajamidha, at the present moment I am bereft of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose influence I was so powerful.

14. The military strength of the Kauravas was like an ocean in which there dwelled many invincible existences, and thus it was insurmountable. But because of His friendship, I, seated on the chariot, was able to cross over it. And only by His grace was I able to regain the cows and also collect by force many helmets of the kings which were bedecked with jewels that were sources of all brilliance.

15. It was He only who withdrew the duration of life from everyone and who, in the battlefield, withdrew the speculative power and strength of enthusiasm from the great military phalanx made by the Kauravas, headed by Bhisma, Karna, Drona, Salya, etc. Their arrangement was expert and more than adequate, but He [Lord Sri Krsna], while going forward, did all this.

16. Great generals like Bhisma, Drona, Karna, Bhurisrava, Susarma, Salya, Jayadratha, and Bahlika all directed their invincible weapons against me. But by His [Lord Krsna's] grace they could not even touch a hair on my head. Similarly, Prahlada Maharaja, the supreme devotee of Lord Nrsimhadeva, was unaffected by the weapons the demons used against him.

17. It was by His mercy only that my enemies neglected to kill me when I descended from my chariot to get water for my thirsty horses. And it was due to my lack of esteem for my Lord that I dared engage Him as my chariot driver, for He is worshiped and offered services by the best men to attain salvation.

18. O King! His jokings and frank talks were pleasing and beautifully decorated with smiles. His addresses unto me as "O son of Prtha, O friend, O son of the Kuru dynasty," and all such heartiness are now remembered by me, and thus I am overwhelmed.

19. Generally both of us used to live together and sleep, sit and loiter together. And at the time of advertising oneself for acts of chivalry, sometimes, if there were any irregularity, I used to reproach Him by saying, "My friend, You are very truthful." Even in those hours when His value was minimized, He, being the Supreme Soul, used to tolerate all those utterings of mine, excusing me exactly as a true friend excuses his true friend, or a father excuses his son.

20. O Emperor, now I am separated from my friend and dearmost well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore my heart appears to be void of everything. In His absence I have been defeated by a number of infidel cowherd men while I was guarding the bodies of all the wives of Krsna.

21. I have the very same Gandiva bow, the same arrows, the same chariot drawn by the same horses, and I use them as the same Arjuna to whom all the kings offered their due respects. But in the absence of Lord Krsna, all of them, at a moment's notice, have become null and void. It is exactly like offering clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money with a magic wand or sowing seeds on barren land.

22-23. O King, since you have asked me about our friends and relatives in the city of Dvaraka, I will inform you that all of them were cursed by the brahmanas, and as a result they all became intoxicated with wine made of putrefied rice and fought among themselves with sticks, not even recognizing one another. Now all but four or five of them are dead and gone.

24. Factually this is all due to the supreme will of the Lord, the Personality of Godhead. Sometimes people kill one another, and at other times they protect one another.

25-26. O King, as in the ocean the bigger and stronger aquatics swallow up the smaller and weaker ones, so also the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to lighten the burden of the earth, has engaged the stronger Yadu to kill the weaker, and the bigger Yadu to kill the smaller.

27. Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead [Govinda] because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space.

28. Suta Gosvami said: Thus being deeply absorbed in thinking of the instructions of the Lord, which were imparted in the great intimacy of friendship, and in thinking of His lotus feet, Arjuna's mind became pacified and free from all material contamination.

29. Arjuna's constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna rapidly increased his devotion, and as a result all the trash in his thoughts subsided.

30. Because of the Lord's pastimes and activities and because of His absence, it appeared that Arjuna forgot the instructions left by the Personality of Godhead. But factually this was not the case, and again he became lord of his senses.

31. Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form.

32. Upon hearing of Lord Krsna's returning to His abode, and upon understanding the end of the Yadu dynasty's earthly manifestation, Maharaja Yudhisthira decided to go back home, back to Godhead.

33. Kunti, after overhearing Arjuna's telling of the end of the Yadu dynasty and disappearance of Lord Krsna, engaged in the devotional service of the transcendental Personality of Godhead with full attention and thus gained release from the course of material existence.

34. The supreme unborn, Lord Sri Krsna, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller.

35. The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones, like the fish incarnation and others.

36. When the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, left this earthly planet in His selfsame form, from that very day Kali, who had already partially appeared, became fully manifest to create inauspicious conditions for those who are endowed with a poor fund of knowledge.

37. Maharaja Yudhisthira was intelligent enough to understand the influence of the age of Kali, characterized by increasing avarice, falsehood, cheating and violence throughout the capital, state, home and among individuals. So he wisely prepared himself to leave home, and he dressed accordingly.

38. Thereafter, in the capital of Hastinapura, he enthroned his grandson, who was trained and equally qualified, as the emperor and master of all land bordered by the seas.

39. Then he posted Vajra, the son of Aniruddha [grandson of Lord Krsna], at Mathura as the King of Surasena. Afterwards Maharaja Yudhisthira performed a Prajapatya sacrifice and placed in himself the fire for quitting household life.

40. Maharaja Yudhisthira at once relinquished all his garments, belt and ornaments of the royal order and became completely disinterested and unattached to everything.

41. Then he amalgamated all the sense organs into the mind, then the mind into life, life into breathing, his total existence into the embodiment of the five elements, and his body into death. Then, as pure self, he became free from the material conception of life.

42. Thus annihilating the gross body of five elements into the three qualitative modes of material nature, he merged them in one nescience and then absorbed that nescience in the self, Brahman, which is inexhaustible in all circumstances.

43. After that, Maharaja Yudhisthira dressed himself in torn clothing, gave up eating all solid foods, voluntarily became dumb and let his hair hang loose. All this combined to make him look like an urchin or madman with no occupation. He did not depend on his brothers for anything. And, just like a deaf man, he heard nothing.

44. He then started towards the north, treading the path accepted by his forefathers and great men, to devote himself completely to the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he lived in that way wherever he went.

45. The younger brothers of Maharaja Yudhisthira observed that the age of Kali had already arrived throughout the world and that the citizens of the kingdom were already affected by irreligious practice. Therefore they decided to follow in the footsteps of their elder brother.

46. They all had performed all the principles of religion and as a result rightly decided that the lotus feet of the Lord Sri Krsna are the supreme goal of all. Therefore they meditated upon His feet without interruption.

47-48. Thus by pure consciousness due to constant devotional remembrance, they attained the spiritual sky, which is ruled over by the Supreme Narayana, Lord Krsna. This is attained only by those who meditate upon the one Supreme Lord without deviation. This abode of the Lord Sri Krsna, known as Goloka Vrndavana, cannot be attained by persons who are absorbed in the material conception of life. But the Pandavas, being completely washed of all material contamination, attained that abode in their very same bodies.

49. Vidura, while on pilgrimage, left his body at Prabhasa. Because he was absorbed in thought of Lord Krsna, he was received by the denizens of Pitrloka planet, where he returned to his original post.

50. Draupadi also saw that her husbands, without caring for her, were leaving home. She knew well about Lord Vasudeva, Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. Both she and Subhadra became absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and attained the same results as their husbands.

51. The subject of the departure of the sons of Pandu for the ultimate goal of life, back to Godhead, is fully auspicious and is perfectly pure. Therefore anyone who hears this narration with devotional faith certainly gains the devotional service of the Lord, the highest perfection of life.

[gokulkr]

Maharaja Pariksit Cursed by a Brahmana Boy

1. Sri Suta Gosvami said: Due to the mercy of the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, who acts wonderfully, Maharaja Pariksit, though struck by the weapon of the son of Drona in his mother's womb, could not be burned.

2. Furthermore, Maharaja Pariksit was always consciously surrendered to the Personality of Godhead, and therefore he was neither afraid nor overwhelmed by fear due to a snake-bird which was to bite him because of the fury of a brahmana boy.

3. Furthermore, after leaving all his associates, the King surrendered himself as a disciple to the son of Vyasa [sukadeva Gosvami], and thus he was able to understand the actual position of the Personality of Godhead.

4. This was so because those who have dedicated their lives to the transcendental topics of the Personality of Godhead, of whom the Vedic hymns sing, and who are constantly engaged in remembering the lotus feet of the Lord, do not run the risk of having misconceptions even at the last moment of their lives.

5. As long as the great, powerful son of Abhimanyu remains the Emperor of the world, there is no chance that the personality of Kali will flourish.

6. The very day and moment the Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, left this earth, the personality of Kali, who promotes all kinds of irreligious activities, came into this world.

7. Maharaja Pariksit was a realist, like the bees who only accept the essence [of a flower]. He knew perfectly well that in this age of Kali, auspicious things produce good effects immediately, whereas inauspicious acts must be actually performed [to render effects]. So he was never envious of the personality of Kali.

8. Maharaja Pariksit considered that less intelligent men might find the personality of Kali to be very powerful, but that those who are self-controlled would have nothing to fear. The King was powerful like a tiger and took care for the foolish, careless persons.

9. O sages, as you did ask me, now I have described almost everything regarding the narrations about Lord Krsna in connection with the history of the pious Maharaja Pariksit.

10. Those who are desirous of achieving complete perfection in life must submissively hear all topics that are connected with the transcendental activities and qualities of the Personality of Godhead, who acts wonderfully.

11. The good sages said: O grave Suta Gosvami! May you live many years and have eternal fame, for you are speaking very nicely about the activities of Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. This is just like nectar for mortal beings like us.

12. We have just begun the performance of this fruitive activity, a sacrificial fire, without certainty of its result due to the many imperfections in our action. Our bodies have become black from the smoke, but we are factually pleased by the nectar of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, Govinda, which you are distributing.

13. The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death.

14. The Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna [Govinda], is the exclusive shelter for all great living beings, and His transcendental attributes cannot even be measured by such masters of mystic powers as Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. Can anyone who is expert in relishing nectar [rasa] ever be fully satiated by hearing topics about Him?

15. O Suta Gosvami, you are a learned and pure devotee of the Lord because the Personality of Godhead is your chief object of service. Therefore please describe to us the pastimes of the Lord, which are above all material conception, for we are anxious to receive such messages.

 

 

 

 

16. O Suta Gosvami, please describe those topics of the Lord by which Maharaja Pariksit, whose intelligence was fixed on liberation, attained the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of Garuda, the king of birds. Those topics were vibrated by the son of Vyasa [srila Sukadeva].

17. Thus please narrate to us the narrations of the Unlimited, for they are purifying and supreme. They were spoken to Maharaja Pariksit, and they are very dear to the pure devotees, being full of bhakti-yoga.

18. Sri Suta Gosvami said: O God, although we are born in a mixed caste, we are still promoted in birthright simply by serving and following the great who are advanced in knowledge. Even by conversing with such great souls, one can without delay cleanse oneself of all disqualifications resulting from lower births.

19. And what to speak of those who are under the direction of the great devotees, chanting the holy name of the Unlimited, who has unlimited potency? The Personality of Godhead, unlimited in potency and transcendental by attributes, is called the ananta [unlimited].

20. It is now ascertained that He [the Personality of Godhead] is unlimited and there is none equal to Him. Consequently no one can speak of Him adequately. Great demigods cannot obtain the favor of the goddess of fortune even by prayers, but this very goddess renders service unto the Lord, although He is unwilling to have such service.

21. Who can be worthy of the name of the Supreme Lord but the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna? Brahmaji collected the water emanating from the nails of His feet in order to award it to Lord Siva as a worshipful welcome. This very water [the Ganges] is purifying the whole universe, including Lord Siva.

22. Self-controlled persons who are attached to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna can all of a sudden give up the world of material attachment, including the gross body and subtle mind, and go away to attain the highest perfection of the renounced order of life, by which nonviolence and renunciation are consequential.

23. O rsis, who are as powerfully pure as the sun, I shall try to describe to you the transcendental pastimes of Visnu as far as my knowledge is concerned. As the birds fly in the sky as far as their capacity allows, so do the learned devotees describe the Lord as far as their realization allows.

24-25. Once upon a time Maharaja Pariksit, while engaged in hunting in the forest with bow and arrows, became extremely fatigued, hungry and thirsty while following the stags. While searching for a reservoir of water, he entered the hermitage of the well-known Samika Rsi and saw the sage sitting silently with closed eyes.

26. The muni's sense organs, breath, mind and intelligence were all restrained from material activities, and he was situated in a trance apart from the three [wakefulness, dream and unconsciousness], having achieved a transcendental position qualitatively equal with the Supreme Absolute.

27. The sage, in meditation, was covered by the skin of a stag, and long, compressed hair was scattered all over him. The King, whose palate was dry from thirst, asked him for water.

28. The King, not received by any formal welcome by means of being offered a seat, place, water and sweet addresses, considered himself neglected, and so thinking he became angry.

29. O brahmanas, the King's anger and envy, directed toward the brahmana sage, were unprecedented, being that circumstances had made him hungry and thirsty.

30. While leaving, the King, being so insulted, picked up a lifeless snake with his bow and angrily placed it on the shoulder of the sage. Then he returned to his palace.

31. Upon returning, he began to contemplate and argue within himself whether the sage had actually been in meditation, with senses concentrated and eyes closed, or whether he had just been feigning trance just to avoid receiving a lower ksatriya.

32. The sage had a son who was very powerful, being a brahmana's son. While he was playing with inexperienced boys, he heard of his father's distress, which was occasioned by the King. Then and there the boy spoke as follows.

33. [The brahmana's son, Srngi, said:] O just look at the sins of the rulers who, like crows and watchdogs at the door, perpetrate sins against their masters, contrary to the principles governing servants.

34. The descendants of the kingly orders are definitely designated as watchdogs, and they must keep themselves at the door. On what grounds can dogs enter the house and claim to dine with the master on the same plate?

35. After the departure of Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead and supreme ruler of everyone, these upstarts have flourished, our protector being gone. Therefore I myself shall take up this matter and punish them. Just witness my power.

36. The son of the rsi, his eyes red-hot with anger, touched the water of the River Kausika while speaking to his playmates and discharged the following thunderbolt of words.

37. The brahmana's son cursed the King thus: On the seventh day from today a snake-bird will bite the most wretched one of that dynasty [Maharaja Pariksit] because of his having broken the laws of etiquette by insulting my father.

38. Thereafter, when the boy returned to the hermitage, he saw a snake on his father's shoulder, and out of his grief he cried very loudly.

39. O brahmanas, the rsi, who was born in the family of Angira Muni, hearing his son crying, gradually opened his eyes and saw the dead snake around his neck.

40. He threw the dead snake aside and asked his son why he was crying, whether anyone had done him harm. On hearing this, the son explained to him what had happened.

41. The father heard from his son that the King had been cursed, although he should never have been condemned, for he was the best amongst all human beings. The rsi did not congratulate his son, but, on the contrary, began to repent, saying: Alas! What a great sinful act was performed by my son. He has awarded heavy punishment for an insignificant offense.

42. O my boy, your intelligence is immature, and therefore you have no knowledge that the king, who is the best amongst human beings, is as good as the Personality of Godhead. He is never to be placed on an equal footing with common men. The citizens of the state live in prosperity, being protected by his unsurpassable prowess.

43. My dear boy, the Lord, who carries the wheel of a chariot, is represented by the monarchical regime, and when this regime is abolished the whole world becomes filled with thieves, who then at once vanquish the unprotected subjects like scattered lambs.

44. Due to the termination of the monarchical regimes and the plundering of the people's wealth by rogues and thieves, there will be great social disruptions. People will be killed and injured, and animals and women will be stolen. And for all these sins we shall be responsible.

45. At that time the people in general will fall systematically from the path of a progressive civilization in respect to the qualitative engagements of the castes and the orders of society and the Vedic injunctions. Thus they will be more attracted to economic development for sense gratification, and as a result there will be an unwanted population on the level of dogs and monkeys.

46. The Emperor Pariksit is a pious king. He is highly celebrated and is a first-class devotee of the Personality of Godhead. He is a saint amongst royalty, and he has performed many horse sacrifices. When such a king is tired and fatigued, being stricken with hunger and thirst, he does not at all deserve to be cursed.

47. Then the rsi prayed to the all-pervading Personality of Godhead to pardon his immature boy, who had no intelligence and who committed the great sin of cursing a person who was completely free from all sins, who was subordinate and who deserved to be protected.

48. The devotees of the Lord are so forbearng that even though they are defamed, cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or even killed, they are never inclined to avenge themselves.

49. The sage thus regretted the sin committed by his own son. He did not take the insult paid by the King very seriously.

50. Generally the transcendentalists, even though engaged by others in the dualities of the material world, are not distressed. Nor do they take pleasure [in worldly things], for they are transcendentally engaged.

[gokulkr]

The Appearance of Sukadeva Gosvami

1. Sri Suta Gosvami said: While returning home, the King [Maharaja Pariksit] felt that the act he had committed against the faultless and powerful brahmana was heinous and uncivilized. Consequently he was distressed.

2. [King Pariksit thought:] Due to my neglecting the injunctions of the Supreme Lord I must certainly expect some difficulty to overcome me in the near future. I now desire without reservation that the calamity come now, for in this way I may be freed of the sinful action and not commit such an offense again.

3. I am uncivilized and sinful due to my neglect of brahminical culture, God consciousness and cow protection. Therefore I wish that my kingdom, strength and riches burn up immediately by the fire of the brahmana's wrath so that in the future I may not be guided by such inauspicious attitudes.

4. While the King was thus repenting, he received news of his imminent death, which would be due to the bite of a snake-bird, occasioned by the curse spoken by the sage's son. The King accepted this as good news, for it would be the cause of his indifference toward worldly things.

5. Maharaja Pariksit sat down firmly on the banks of the Ganges to concentrate his mind in Krsna consciousness, rejecting all other practices of self-realization, because transcendental loving service to Krsna is the greatest achievement, superseding all other methods.

6. The river [Ganges, by which the King sat to fast] carries the most auspicious water, which is mixed with the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord and tulasi leaves. Therefore that water sanctifies the three worlds inside and outside and even sanctifies Lord Siva and other demigods. Consequently everyone who is destined to die must take shelter of this river.

7. Thus the King, the worthy descendant of the Pandavas, decided once and for all and sat on the Ganges' bank to fast until death and give himself up to the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, who alone is able to award liberation. So, freeing himself from all kinds of associations and attachments, he accepted the vows of a sage.

8. At that time all the great minds and thinkers, accompanied by their disciples, and sages who could verily sanctify a place of pilgrimage just by their presence, arrived there on the plea of making a pilgrim's journey.

9-10. From different parts of the universe there arrived great sages like Atri, Cyavana, Saradvan, Aristanemi, Bhrgu, Vasistha, Parasara, Visvamitra, Angira, Parasurama, Utathya, Indrapramada, Idhmavahu, Medhatithi, Devala, Arstisena, Bharadvaja, Gautama, Pippalada, Maitreya, Aurva, Kavasa, Kumbhayoni, Dvaipayana and the great personality Narada.

11. There were also many other saintly demigods, kings and special royal orders called arunadayas [a special rank of rajarsis] from different dynasties of sages. When they all assembled together to meet the Emperor [Pariksit], he received them properly and bowed his head to the ground.

12. After all the rsis and others had seated themselves comfortably, the King, humbly standing before them with folded hands, told them of his decision to fast until death.

13. The fortunate King said: Indeed, we are the most grateful of all the kings who are trained to get favors from the great souls. Generally you [sages] consider royalty as refuse to be rejected and left in a distant place.

14. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of both the transcendental and mundane worlds, has graciously overtaken me in the form of a brahmana's curse. Due to my being too much attached to family life, the Lord, in order to save me, has appeared before me in such a way that only out of fear I will detach myself from the world.

15. O brahmanas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snake-bird--or whatever magical thing the brahmana created--bite me at once. I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Visnu.

16. Again, offering obeisances unto all you brahmanas, I pray that if I should again take my birth in the material world I will have complete attachment to the unlimited Lord Krsna, association with His devotees and friendly relations with all living beings.

17. In perfect self-control, Maharaja Pariksit sat down on a seat of straw, with straw-roots facing the east, placed on the southern bank of the Ganges, and he himself faced the north. Just previously he had given charge of his kingdom over to his son.

18. Thus the King, Maharaja Pariksit, sat to fast until death. All the demigods of the higher planets praised the King's actions and in pleasure continually scattered flowers over the earth and beat celestial drums.

19. All the great sages who were assembled there also praised the decision of Maharaja Pariksit and they expressed their approval by saying, "Very good." Naturally the sages are inclined to do good to common men, for they have all the qualitative powers of the Supreme Lord. Therefore they were very much pleased to see Maharaja Pariksit, a devotee of the Lord, and they spoke as follows.

20. [The sages said:] O chief of all the saintly kings of the Pandu dynasty who are strictly in the line of Lord Sri Krsna! It is not at all astonishing that you give up your throne, which is decorated with the helmets of many kings, to achieve eternal association with the Personality of Godhead.

21. We shall all wait here until the foremost devotee of the Lord, Maharaja Pariksit, returns to the supreme planet, which is completely free from all mundane contamination and all kinds of lamentation.

22. All that was spoken by the great sages was very sweet to hear, full of meaning and appropriately presented as perfectly true. So after hearing them, Maharaja Pariksit, desiring to hear of the activities of Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, congratulated the great sages.

23. The King said: O great sages, you have all very kindly assembled here, having come from all parts of the universe. You are all as good as supreme knowledge personified, who resides in the planet above the three worlds [satyaloka]. Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this you have no interest, either in this life or in the next.

24. O trustworthy brahmanas, I now ask you about my immediate duty. Please, after proper deliberation, tell me of the unalloyed duty of everyone in all circumstances, and specifically of those who are just about to die.

25. At that moment there appeared the powerful son of Vyasadeva, who traveled over the earth disinterested and satisfied with himself. He did not manifest any symptoms of belonging to any social order or status of life. He was surrounded with women and children, and he dressed as if others had neglected him.

26. This son of Vyasadeva was only sixteen years old. His legs, hands, thighs, arms, shoulders, forehead and the other parts of his body were all delicately formed. His eyes were beautifully wide, and his nose and ears were highly raised. He had a very attractive face, and his neck was well formed and beautiful like a conchshell.

27. His collarbone was fleshy, his chest broad and thick, his navel deep and his abdomen beautifully striped. His arms were long, and curly hair was strewn over his beautiful face. He was naked, and the hue of his body reflected that of Lord Krsna.

28. He was blackish and very beautiful due to his youth. Because of the glamor of his body and his attractive smiles, he was pleasing to women. Though he tried to cover his natural glories, the great sages present there were all expert in the art of physiognomy, and so they honored him by rising from their seats.

29. Maharaja Pariksit, who is also known as Visnurata [one who is always protected by Visnu], bowed his head to receive the chief guest, Sukadeva Gosvami. At that time all the ignorant women and boys ceased following Srila Sukadeva. Receiving respect from all, Sukadeva Gosvami took his exalted seat.

30. Sukadeva Gosvami was then surrounded by saintly sages and demigods just as the moon is surrounded by stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. His presence was gorgeous, and he was respected by all.

31. The sage Sri Sukadeva Gosvami sat perfectly pacified, intelligent and ready to answer any question without hesitation. The great devotee, Maharaja Pariksit, approached him, offered his respects by bowing before him, and politely inquired with sweet words and folded hands.

32. The fortunate King Pariksit said: O brahmana, by your mercy only, you have sanctified us, making us like unto places of pilgrimage, all by your presence here as my guest. By your mercy, we, who are but unworthy royalty, become eligible to serve the devotee.

33. Simply by our remembering you, our houses become instantly sanctified. And what to speak of seeing you, touching you, washing your holy feet and offering you a seat in our home?

34. Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of a man are immediately vanquished in your presence, O saint! O great mystic!

35. Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is very dear to the sons of King Pandu, has accepted me as one of those relatives just to please His great cousins and brothers.

36. Otherwise [without being inspired by Lord Krsna] how is it that you have voluntarily appeared here, though you are moving incognito to the common man and are not visible to us who are on the verge of death?

37. You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die.

38. Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.

39. O powerful brahmana, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long enough to milk a cow.

40. Sri Suta Gosvami said: The King thus spoke and questioned the sage, using sweet language. Then the great and powerful personality, the son of Vyasadeva, who knew the principles of religion, began his reply.

[gokulkr]

The Lord in the Heart

1. Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Formerly, prior to the manifestation of the cosmos, Lord Brahma, by meditating on the virat-rupa, regained his lost consciousness by appeasing the Lord. Thus he was able to rebuild the creation as it was before.

2. The way of presentation of the Vedic sounds is so bewildering that it directs the intelligence of the people to meaningless things like the heavenly kingdoms. The conditioned souls hover in dreams of such heavenly illusory pleasures, but actually they do not relish any tangible happiness in such places.

3. For this reason the enlightened person should endeavor only for the minimum necessities of life while in the world of names. He should be intelligently fixed and never endeavor for unwanted things, being competent to perceive practically that all such endeavors are merely hard labor for nothing.

4. When there are ample earthly flats to lie on, what is the necessity of cots and beds? When one can use his own arms, what is the necessity of a pillow? When one can use the palms of his hands, what is the necessity of varieties of utensils? When there is ample covering, or the skins of trees, what is the necessity of clothing?

5. Are there no torn clothes lying on the common road? Do the trees, which exist for maintaining others, no longer give alms in charity? Do the rivers, being dried up, no longer supply water to the thirsty? Are the caves of the mountains now closed, or, above all, does the Almighty Lord not protect the fully surrendered souls? Why then do the learned sages go to flatter those who are intoxicated by hard-earned wealth?

6. Thus being fixed, one must render service unto the Supersoul situated in one's own heart by His omnipotency. Because He is the Almighty Personality of Godhead, eternal and unlimited, He is the ultimate goal of life, and by worshiping Him one can end the cause of the conditioned state of existence.

7. Who else but the gross materialists will neglect such transcendental thought and take to the nonpermanent names only, seeing the mass of people fallen in the river of suffering as the consequence of accruing the result of their own work?

8. Others conceive of the Personality of Godhead residing within the body in the region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands carrying a lotus, a wheel of a chariot, a conchshell and a club respectively.

9. His mouth expresses His happiness. His eyes spread like the petals of a lotus, and His garments, yellowish like the saffron of a kadamba flower, are bedecked with valuable jewels. His ornaments are all made of gold, set with jewels, and He wears a glowing head dress and earrings.

10. His lotus feet are placed over the whorls of the lotuslike hearts of great mystics. On His chest is the Kaustubha jewel, engraved with a beautiful calf, and there are other jewels on His shoulders. His complete torso is garlanded with fresh flowers.

11. He is well decorated with an ornamental wreath about His waist and rings studded with valuable jewels on His fingers. His leglets, His bangles, His oiled hair, curling with a bluish tint, and His beautiful smiling face are all very pleasing.

12. The Lord's magnanimous pastimes and the glowing glancing of His smiling face are all indications of His extensive benedictions. One must therefore concentrate on this transcendental form of the Lord, as long as the mind can be fixed on Him by meditation.

13. The process of meditation should begin from the lotus feet of the Lord and progress to His smiling face. The meditation should be concentrated upon the lotus feet, then the calves, then the thighs, and in this way higher and higher. The more the mind becomes fixed upon the different parts of the limbs, one after another, the more the intelligence becomes purified.

14. Unless the gross materialist develops a sense of loving service unto the Supreme Lord, the seer of both the transcendental and material worlds, he should remember or meditate upon the universal form of the Lord at the end of his prescribed duties.

15. O King, whenever the yogi desires to leave this planet of human beings, he should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, but should comfortably sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, should control the senses by the mind.

16. Thereafter, the yogi should merge his mind, by his unalloyed intelligence, into the living entity, and then merge the living entity into the Superself. And by doing this, the fully satisfied living entity becomes situated in the supreme stage of satisfaction, so that he ceases from all other activities.

17. In that transcendental state of labdhopasanti (full bliss), there is no supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion, nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the material nature.

18. The transcendentalists desire to avoid everything godless, for they know that supreme situation in which everything is related with the Supreme Lord Visnu. Therefore a pure devotee who is in absolute harmony with the Lord does not create perplexities, but worships the lotus feet of the Lord at every moment, taking them into his heart.

19. By the strength of scientific knowledge, one should be well situated in absolute realization and thus be able to extinguish all material desires. One should then give up the material body by blocking the air hole [through which stool is evacuated] with the heel of one's foot and by lifting the life air from one place to another in the six primary places.

20. The meditative devotee should slowly push up the life air from the navel to the heart, from there to the chest and from there to the root of the palate. He should search out the proper places with intelligence.

21. Thereafter the bhakti-yogi should push the life air up between the eyebrows, and then, blocking the seven outlets of the life air, he should maintain his aim for going back home, back to Godhead. If he is completely free from all desires for material enjoyment, he should then reach the cerebral hole and give up his material connections, having gone to the Supreme.

22. However, O King, if a yogi maintains a desire for improved material enjoyments, like transference to the topmost planet, Brahmaloka, or the achievement of the eightfold perfections, travel in outer space with the Vaihayasas, or a situation in one of the millions of planets, then he has to take away with him the materially molded mind and senses.

23. The transcendentalists are concerned with the spiritual body. As such, by the strength of their devotional service, austerities, mystic power and transcendental knowledge, their movements are unrestricted, within and beyond the material worlds. The fruitive workers, or the gross materialists, can never move in such an unrestricted manner.

24. O King, when such a mystic passes over the Milky Way by the illuminating Susumna to reach the highest planet, Brahmaloka, he goes first to Vrisvanara, the planet of the deity of fire, wherein he becomes completely cleansed of all contaminations, and thereafter he still goes higher, to the circle of Sisumara, to relate with Lord Hari, the Personality of Godhead.

25. This Sisumara is the pivot for the turning of the complete universe, and it is called the navel of Visnu [Garbhodakasayi Visnu]. The yogi alone goes beyond this circle of Sisumara and attains the planet [Maharloka] where purified saints like Bhrgu enjoy a duration of life of 4,300,000,0O0 solar years. This planet is worshipable even for the saints who are transcendentally situated.

26. At the time of the final devastation of the complete universe [the end of the duration of Brahma's life], a flame of fire emanates from the mouth of Ananta [from the bottom of the universe]. The yogi sees all the planets of the universe burning to ashes, and thus he leaves for Satyaloka by airplanes used by the great purified souls. The duration of life in Satyaloka is calculated to be 15,480,000,000,000 years.

27. In that planet of Satyaloka, there is neither bereavement, nor old age nor death. There is no pain of any kind, and therefore there are no anxieties, save that sometimes, due to consciousness, there is a feeling of compassion for those unaware of the process of devotional service, who are subjected to unsurpassable miseries in the material world.

28. After reaching Satyaloka, the devotee is specifically able to be incorporated fearlessly by the subtle body in an identity similar to that of the gross body, and one after another he gradually attains stages of existence from earthly to watery, fiery, glowing and airy, until he reaches the ethereal stage.

29. The devotee thus surpasses the subtle objects of different senses like aroma by smelling, the palate by tasting, vision by seeing forms, touch by contacting, the vibrations of the ear by ethereal identification, and the sense organs by material activities.

30. The devotee, thus surpassing the gross and the subtle forms of coverings, enters the plane of egoism. And in that status he merges the material modes of nature [ignorance and passion] in this point of neutralization and thus reaches egoism in goodness. After this, all egoism is merged in the mahat-tattva, and he comes to the point of pure self-realization.

31. Only the purified soul can attain the perfection of associating with the Personality of Godhead in complete bliss and satisfaction in his constitutional state. Whoever is able to renovate such devotional perfection is never again attracted by this material world, and he never returns.

32. Your Majesty Maharaja Pariksit, know that all that I have described in reply to your proper inquiry is just according to the version of the Vedas, and it is eternal truth. This was described personally by Lord Krsna unto Brahma, with whom the Lord was satisfied upon being properly worshiped.

33. For those who are wandering in the material universe, there is no more auspicious means of deliverance than what is aimed at in the direct devotional service of Lord Krsna.

34. The great personality Brahma, with great attention and concentration of the mind, studied the Vedas three times, and after scrutinizingly examining them, he ascertained that attraction for the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna is the highest perfection of religion.

35. The Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krsna is in every living being along with the individual soul. And this fact is perceived and hypothesized in our acts of seeing and taking help from the intelligence.

36. O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.

37. Those who drink through aural reception, fully filled with the nectarean message of Lord Krsna, the beloved of the devotees, purify the polluted aim of life known as material enjoyment and thus go back to Godhead, to the lotus feet of Him [the Personality of Godhead].

[gokulkr]

Pure Devotional Service: The Change in Heart

1. Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, as you have inquired from me as to the duty of the intelligent man who is on the threshold of death, so I have answered you.

2-7. One who desires to be absorbed in the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence should worship the master of the Vedas [Lord Brahma or Brhaspati, the learned priest], one who desires powerful sex should worship the heavenly King, Indra, and one who desires good progeny should worship the great progenitors called the Prajapatis. One who desires good fortune should worship Durgadevi, the superintendent of the material world. One desiring to be very powerful should worship fire, and one who aspires only after money should worship the Vasus. One should worship the Rudra incarnations of Lord Siva if he wants to be a great hero. One who wants a large stock of grains should worship Aditi. One who desires to attain the heavenly planets should worship the sons of Aditi. One who desires a worldly kingdom should worship Visvadeva, and one who wants to be popular with the general mass of population should worship the Sadhya demigod. One who desires a long span of life should worship the demigods known as the Asvini-kumaras, and a person desiring a strongly built body should worship the earth. One who desires stability in his post should worship the horizon and the earth combined. One who desires to be beautiful should worship the beautiful residents of the Gandharva planet, and one who desires a good wife should worship the Apsaras and the Urvasi society girls of the heavenly kingdom. One who desires domination over others should worship Lord Brahma, the head of the universe. One who desires tangible fame should worship the Personality of Godhead, and one who desires a good bank balance should worship the demigod Varuna. If one desires to be a greatly learned man he should worship Lord Siva, and if one desires a good marital relation he should worship the chaste goddess Uma, the wife of Lord Siva.

8. One should worship Lord Visnu or His devotee for spiritual advancement in knowledge, and for protection of heredity and advancement of a dynasty one should worship the various demigods.

9. One who desires domination over a kingdom or an empire should worship the Manus. One who desires victory over an enemy should worship the demons, and one who desires sense gratification should worship the moon. But one who desires nothing of material enjoyment should worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

10. A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.

11. All the different kinds of worshipers of multidemigods can attain the highest perfectional benediction, which is spontaneous attraction unflinchingly fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by the association of the pure devotee of the Lord.

12. Transcendental knowledge in relation with the Supreme Lord Hari is knowledge resulting in the complete suspension of the waves and whirlpools of the material modes. Such knowledge is self-satisfying due to its being free from material attachment, and being transcendental it is approved by authorities. Who could fail to be attracted?

13. Saunaka said: The son of Vyasadeva, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, was a highly learned sage and was able to describe things in a poetic manner. What did Maharaja Pariksit again inquire from him after hearing all that he had said?

14. O learned Suta Gosvami! Please continue to explain such topics to us because we are all eager to hear. Besides that, topics which result in the discussion of the Lord Hari should certainly be discussed in the assembly of devotees.

15. Maharaja Pariksit, the grandson of the Pandavas, was from his very childhood a great devotee of the Lord. Even while playing with dolls, he used to worship Lord Krsna by imitating the worship of the family Deity.

16. Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vyasadeva, was also full in transcendental knowledge and was a great devotee of Lord Krsna, son of Vasudeva. So there must have been discussion of Lord Krsna, who is glorified by great philosophers and in the company of great devotees.

17. Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.

18. Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen?

19. Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Sri Krsna, the deliverer from evils.

20. One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess earholes like the holes of snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog.

21. The upper portion of the body, though crowned with a silk turban, is only a heavy burden if not bowed down before the Personality of Godhead who can award mukti [freedom]. And the hands, though decorated with glittering bangles, are like those of a dead man if not engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead Hari.

22. The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Visnu [His forms, name, quality, etc.] are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places [where the Lord is remembered] are considered to be like tree trunks.

23. The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord's pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasi leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.

24. Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one's chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy takes place, tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end.

25. O Suta Gosvami, your words are pleasing to our minds. Please therefore explain this to us as it was spoken by the great devotee Sukadeva Gosvami, who is very expert in transcendental knowledge, and who spoke to Maharaja Pariksit upon being asked.

[gokulkr]

The Process of Creation

1. Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, the son of Uttara, after hearing the speeches of Sukadeva Gosvami, which were all about the truth of the self, applied his concentration faithfully upon Lord Krsna.

2. Maharaja Pariksit, as a result of his wholehearted attraction for Lord Krsna, was able to give up all deep-rooted affection for his personal body, his wife, his children, his palace, his animals like horses and elephants, his treasury house, his friends and relatives, and his undisputed kingdom.

3-4. O great sages, the great soul Maharaja Pariksit, constantly rapt in thought of Lord Krsna, knowing well of his imminent death, renounced all sorts of fruitive activities, namely acts of religion, economic development and sense gratification, and thus fixed himself firmly in his natural love for Krsna and asked all these questions, exactly as you are asking me.

5. Maharaja Pariksit said: O learned brahmana, you know everything because you are without material contamination. Therefore whatever you have spoken to me appears perfectly right. Your speeches are gradually destroying the darkness of my ignorance, for you are narrating the topics of the Lord.

6. I beg to know from you how the Personality of Godhead, by His personal energies, creates these phenomenal universes as they are, which are inconceivable even to the great demigods.

7. Kindly describe how the Supreme Lord, who is all-powerful, engages His different energies and different expansions in maintaining and again winding up the phenomenal world in the sporting spirit of a player.

8. O learned brahmana, the transcendental activities of the Lord are all wonderful, and they appear inconceivable because even great endeavors by many learned scholars have still proved insufficient for understanding them.

9. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one, whether He alone acts with the modes of material nature, or simultaneously expands in many forms, or expands consecutively to direct the modes of nature.

10. Kindly clear up all these doubtful inquiries, because you are not only vastly learned in the Vedic literatures and self-realized in transcendence, but are also a great devotee of the Lord and are therefore as good as the Personality of Godhead.

11. Suta Gosvami said: When Sukadeva Gosvami was thus requested by the King to describe the creative energy of the Personality of Godhead, he then systematically remembered the master of the senses [sri Krsna], and to reply properly he spoke thus.

12. Sukadeva Gosvami said: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead who, for the creation of the material world, accepts the three modes of nature. He is the complete whole residing within the body of everyone, and His ways are inconceivable.

13. I again offer my respectful obeisances unto the form of complete existence and transcendence, who is the liberator of the pious devotees from all distresses and the destroyer of the further advances in atheistic temperament of the nondevotee-demons. For the transcendentalists who are situated in the topmost spiritual perfection, He grants their specific destinations.

14. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto He who is the associate of the members of the Yadu dynasty and who is always a problem for the nondevotees. He is the supreme enjoyer of both the material and spiritual worlds, yet He enjoys His own abode in the spiritual sky. There is no one equal to Him because His transcendental opulence is immeasurable.

15. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna, about whom glorification, remembrances, audience, prayers, hearing and worship can at once cleanse the effects of all sins of the performer.

16. Let me offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna. The highly intellectual, simply by surrendering unto His lotus feet, are relieved of all attachments to present and future existences and without difficulty progress toward spiritual existence.

17. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna again and again because the great learned sages, the great performers of charity, the great workers of distinction, the great philosophers and mystics, the great chanters of the Vedic hymns and the great followers of Vedic principles cannot achieve any fruitful result without dedication of such great qualities to the service of the Lord.

18. Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

19. He is the Supersoul and the Supreme Lord of all self-realized souls. He is the personification of the Vedas, religious scriptures and austerities. He is worshiped by Lord Brahma and Siva and all those who are transcendental to all pretensions. Being so revered with awe and veneration, may that Supreme Absolute be pleased with me.

20. May Lord Sri Krsna, who is the worshipable Lord of all devotees, the protector and glory of all the kings like Andhaka and Vrsni of the Yadu dynasty, the husband of all goddesses of fortune, the director of all sacrifices and therefore the leader of all living entities, the controller of all intelligence, the proprietor of all planets, spiritual and material, and the supreme incarnation on the earth (the supreme all in all), be merciful upon me.

21. It is the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna who gives liberation. By thinking of His lotus feet at every second, following in the footsteps of authorities, the devotee in trance can see the Absolute Truth. The learned mental speculators, however, think of Him according to their whims. May the Lord be pleased with me.

22. May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent knowledge of Brahma from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge of creation and of His own Self, and who appeared to be generated from the mouth of Brahma, be pleased with me.

23. May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who enlivens the materially created bodies of the elements by lying down within the universe, and who in His purusa incarnation causes the living being to be subjected to the sixteen divisions of material modes which are his generator, be pleased to decorate my statements.

24. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of Vasudeva who compiled the Vedic scriptures. The pure devotees drink up the nectarean transcendental knowledge dropping from the lotuslike mouth of the Lord.

25. My dear King, Brahma, the firstborn, on being questioned by Narada, exactly apprised him on this subject, as it was directly spoken by the Lord to His own son, who was impregnated with Vedic knowledge from his very birth.

[gokulkr]

Purusa-sukta Confirmed

1. Lord Brahma said: The mouth of the virat-purusa [the universal form of the Lord] is the generating center of the voice, and the controlling deity is fire. His skin and six other layers are the generating centers of the Vedic hymns, and His tongue is the productive center of different foodstuffs and delicacies for offering to the demigods, the forefathers and the general mass of people.

2. His two nostrils are the generating centers of our breathing and of all other airs, His smelling powers generate the Asvini-kumara demigods and all kinds of medicinal herbs, and His breathing energies produce different kinds of fragrance.

3. His eyes are the generating centers of all kinds of forms, and they glitter and illuminate. His eyeballs are like the sun and the heavenly planets. His ears hear from all sides and are receptacles for all the Vedas, and His sense of hearing is the generating center of the sky and of all kinds of sound.

4. The air is the moving agent of all the planets, and as such the generating centers for promotion to the deserving planets, the sacrifices, are His bodily surface and are naturally the origin of all auspicious opportunities.

5. The hairs on His body are the cause of all vegetation, particularly of those trees which are required as ingredients for sacrifice. The hairs on His head and face are reservoirs for the clouds, and His nails are the breeding ground of electricity, stones and iron ores.

6. The Lord's arms are the productive fields for the great demigods and other leaders of the living entities who protect the general mass.

7. Thus the forward steps of the Lord are the shelter for the upper, lower and heavenly planets, as well as for all that we need. His lotus feet serve as protection from all kinds of fear.

8. From the Lord's genitals originate water, semen, generatives, rains, and the procreators. His genitals are the cause of a pleasure that counteracts the distress of begetting.

9. O Narada, the evacuating outlet of the universal form of the Lord is the abode of the controlling deity of death, Mitra, and the evacuating hole and the rectum of the Lord is the place of envy, misfortune, death, hell, etc.

10. The back of the Lord is the place for all kinds of frustration and ignorance, as well as for immorality. From His veins flow the great rivers and rivulets, and on His bones are stacked the great mountains.

11. The impersonal feature of the Lord is the abode of great oceans, and His belly is the resting place for the materially annihilated living entities. His heart is the abode of the subtle material bodies of living beings. Thus it is known by the intelligent class of men.

12. Also, the consciousness of that great personality is the abode of religious principles--mine, yours, and those of the four bachelors Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanat-kumara and Sanandana. That consciousness is also the abode of truth and transcendental knowledge.

13-16. Beginning from me [brahma] down to you and Bhava [siva], all the great sages who were born before you, the demigods, the demons, the Nagas, the human beings, the birds, the beasts, as well as the reptiles, etc., and all phenomenal manifestations of the universes, namely the planets, stars, asteroids, luminaries, lightning, thunder, and the inhabitants of the different planetary systems, namely the Gandharvas, Apsaras, Yaksas, Raksas, Bhutaganas, Uragas, Pasus, Pitas, Siddhas, Vidyadharas, Caranas, and all other different varieties of living entities, including the birds, beasts, trees and everything that be, are all covered by the universal form of the Lord at all times, namely past, present and future, although He is transcendental to all of them, eternally existing in a form not exceeding nine inches.

17. The sun illuminates both internally and externally by expanding its radiation; similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His universal form, maintains everything in the creation both internally and externally.

18. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the controller of immortality and fearlessness, and He is transcendental to death and the fruitive actions of the material world. O Narada, O brahmana, it is therefore difficult to measure the glories of the Supreme Person.

19. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is to be known as the supreme reservoir of all material opulences by the one fourth of His energy in which all the living entities exist. Deathlessness, fearlessness and freedom from the anxieties of old age and disease exist in the kingdom of God, which is beyond the three higher planetary systems and beyond the material coverings.

20. The spiritual world, which consists of three fourths of the Lord's energy, is situated beyond this material world, and it is especially meant for those who will never be reborn. Others, who are attached to family life and who do not strictly follow celibacy vows, must live within the three material worlds.

21. By His energies, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead is thus comprehensively the master in the activities of controlling and in devotional service. He is the ultimate master of both nescience and factual knowledge of all situations.

22. From that Personality of Godhead, all the universal globes and the universal form with all material elements, qualities and senses are generated. Yet He is aloof from such material manifestations, like the sun, which is separate from its rays and heat.

23. When I was born from the abdominal lotus flower of the Lord [Maha-Visnu], the great person, I had no ingredients for sacrificial performances except the bodily limbs of the great Personality of Godhead.

24. For performing sacrificial ceremonies, one requires sacrificial ingredients, such as flowers, leaves and straw, along with the sacrificial altar and a suitable time [spring].

25. Other requirements are utensils, grains, clarified butter, honey, gold, earth, water, the Rg Veda, Yajur Veda and Sama Veda and four priests to perform the sacrifice.

26. Other necessities include invoking the different names of the demigods by specific hymns and vows of recompense, in accordance with the particular scripture, for specific purposes and by specific processes.

27. Thus I had to arrange all these necessary ingredients and paraphernalia of sacrifice from the personal bodily parts of the Personality of Godhead. By invocation of the demigods' names, the ultimate goal, Visnu, was gradually attained, and thus compensation and ultimate offering were complete.

28. Thus I created the ingredients and paraphernalia for offering sacrifice out of the parts of the body of the Supreme Lord, the enjoyer of the sacrifice, and I performed the sacrifice to satisfy the Lord.

29. My dear son, thereafter your nine brothers, who are the masters of living creatures, performed the sacrifice with proper rituals to satisfy both the manifested and nonmanifested personalities.

30. Thereafter, the Manus, the fathers of mankind, the great sages, the forefathers, the learned scholars, the Daityas and mankind performed sacrifices meant to please the Supreme Lord.

31. All the material manifestations of the universes are therefore situated in His powerful material energies, which He accepts self-sufficiently, although He is eternally without affinity for the material modes.

32. By His will, I create, Lord Siva destroys, and He Himself, in His eternal form as the Personality of Godhead, maintains everything. He is the powerful controller of these three energies.

33. My dear son, whatever you inquired from me I have thus explained unto you, and you must know for certain that whatever there is (either as cause or as effect, both in the material and spiritual worlds) is dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

34. O Narada, because I have caught hold of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, with great zeal, whatever I say has never proved to have been false. Nor is the progress of my mind ever deterred. Nor are my senses ever degraded by temporary attachment to matter.

35. Although I am known as the great Brahma, perfect in the disciplic succession of Vedic wisdom, and although I have undergone all austerities and am an expert in mystic powers and self-realization, and although I am recognized as such by the great forefathers of the living entities, who offer me respectful obeisances, still I cannot understand Him, the Lord, the very source of my birth.

36. Therefore it is best for me to surrender unto His feet, which alone can deliver one from the miseries of repeated birth and death. Such surrender is all-auspicious and allows one to perceive all happiness. Even the sky cannot estimate the limits of its own expansion. So what can others do when the Lord Himself is unable to estimate His own limits?

37. Since neither Lord Siva nor you nor I could ascertain the limits of spiritual happiness, how can other demigods know it? And because all of us are bewildered by the illusory external energy of the Supreme Lord, we can see only this manifested cosmos according to our individual ability.

38. Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose incarnations and activities are chanted by us for glorification, though He can hardly be fully known as He is.

39. That supreme original Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, expanding His plenary portion as Maha-Visnu, the first incarnation, creates this manifested cosmos, but He is unborn. The creation, however, takes place in Him, and the material substance and manifestations are all Himself. He maintains them for some time and absorbs them into Himself again.

40-41. The Personality of Godhead is pure, being free from all contaminations of material tinges. He is the Absolute Truth and the embodiment of full and perfect knowledge. He is all-pervading, without beginning or end, and without rival. O Narada, O great sage, the great thinkers can know Him when completely freed from all material hankerings and when sheltered under undisturbed conditions of the senses. Otherwise, by untenable arguments, all is distorted, and the Lord disappears from our sight.

42. Karanarnavasayi Visnu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.

43-45. I myself [brahma], Lord Siva, Lord Visnu, great generators of living beings like Daksa and Prajapati, yourselves [Narada and the Kumaras], heavenly demigods like Indra and Candra, the leaders of the Bhurloka planets, the leaders of the earthly planets, the leaders of the lower planets, the leaders of the Gandharva planets, the leaders of the Vidyadhara planets, the leaders of the Caranaloka planets, the leaders of the Yaksas, Raksas and Uragas, the great sages, the great demons, the great atheists and the great spacemen, as well as the dead bodies, evil spirits, satans, jinn, kusmandas, great aquatics, great beasts and great birds, etc.--in other words, anything and everything which is exceptionally possessed of power, opulence, mental and perceptual dexterity, strength, forgiveness, beauty, modesty, opulence, and breeding, whether in form or formless--may appear to be the specific truth and the form of the Lord, but actually they are not so. They are only a fragment of the transcendental potency of the Lord.

46. O Narada, now I shall state, one after another, the transcendental incarnations of the Lord known as lila-avataras. Hearing of their activities counteracts all foul matters accumulated in the ear. These pastimes are pleasing to hear and are to be relished. Therefore they are in my heart

[gokulkr]

Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions

1. Lord Brahma said: When the unlimitedly powerful Lord assumed the form of a boar as a pastime, just to lift the planet earth, which was drowned in the great ocean of the universe called the Garbhodaka, the first demon [Hiranyaksa] appeared, and the Lord pierced him with His tusk.

2. The Prajapati first begot Suyajna, in the womb of his wife Akuti, and then Suyajna begot demigods, headed by Suyama, in the womb of his wife Daksina. Suyajna, as the Indradeva, diminished very great miseries in the three planetary systems [upper, lower and intermediate], and because he so diminished the miseries of the universe, he was later called Hari by the great father of mankind, namely Svayambhuva Manu.

3. The Lord then appeared as the Kapila incarnation, being the son of the prajapati brahmana Kardama and his wife, Devahuti, along with nine other women [sisters]. He spoke to His mother about self-realization, by which, in that very lifetime, she became fully cleansed of the mud of the material modes and thereby achieved liberation, the path of Kapila.

4. The great sage Atri prayed for offspring, and the Lord, being satisfied with him, promised to incarnate as Atri's son, Dattatreya [Datta, the son of Atri]. And by the grace of the lotus feet of the Lord, many Yadus, Haihayas, etc., became so purified that they obtained both material and spiritual blessings.

5. To create different planetary systems I had to undergo austerities and penance, and the Lord, thus being pleased with me, incarnated in four sanas [sanaka, Sanat-kumara, Sanandana and Sanatana]. In the previous creation the spiritual truth was devastated, but the four sanas explained it so nicely that the truth at once became clearly perceived by the sages.

6. To exhibit His personal way of austerity and penance, He appeared in twin forms as Narayana and Nara in the womb of Murti, the wife of Dharma and the daughter of Daksa. Celestial beauties, the companions of Cupid, went to try to break His vows, but they were unsuccessful, for they saw that many beauties like them were emanating from Him, the Personality of Godhead.

7. Great stalwarts like Lord Siva can, by their wrathful glances, overcome lust and vanquish him, yet they cannot be free from the overwhelming effects of their own wrath. Such wrath can never enter into the heart of Him [the Lord], who is above all this. So how can lust take shelter in His mind?

8. Being insulted by sharp words spoken by the co-wife of the king, even in his presence, Prince Dhruva, though only a boy, took to severe penances in the forest. And the Lord, being satisfied by his prayer, awarded him the Dhruva planet, which is worshiped by great sages, both upward and downward.

9. Maharaja Vena went astray from the path of righteousness, and the brahmanas chastised him by the thunderbolt curse. By this King Vena was burnt with his good deeds and opulence and was en route to hell. The Lord, by His causeless mercy, descended as his son, by the name of Prthu, delivered the condemned King Vena from hell, and exploited the earth by drawing all kinds of crops as produce.

10. The Lord appeared as the son of Sudevi, the wife of King Nabhi, and was known as Rsabhadeva. He performed materialistic yoga to equibalance the mind. This stage is also accepted as the highest perfectional situation of liberation, wherein one is situated in one's self and is completely satisfied.

11. The Lord appeared as the Hayagriva incarnation in a sacrifice performed by me [brahma]. He is the personified sacrifices, and the hue of His body is golden. He is the personified Vedas as well, and the Supersoul of all demigods. When He breathed, all the sweet sounds of the Vedic hymns came out of His nostrils.

12. At the end of the millennium, the would-be Vaivasvata Manu, of the name Satyavrata, would see that the Lord in the fish incarnation is the shelter of all kinds of living entities, up to those in the earthly planets. Because of my fear of the vast water at the end of the millennium, the Vedas come out of my [brahma's] mouth, and the Lord enjoys those vast waters and protects the Vedas.

13. The primeval Lord then assumed the tortoise incarnation in order to serve as a resting place [pivot] for the Mandara Mountain, which was acting as a churning rod. The demigods and demons were churning the ocean of milk with the Mandara Mountain in order to extract nectar. The mountain moved back and forth, scratching the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was experiencing an itching sensation.

14. The Personality of Godhead assumed the incarnation of Nrsimhadeva in order to vanquish the great fears of the demigods. He killed the king of the demons [Hiranyakasipu], who challenged the Lord with a club in his hand, by placing the demon on His thighs and piercing him with His nails, rolling His eyebrows in anger and showing His fearful teeth and mouth.

15. The leader of the elephants, whose leg was attacked in a river by a crocodile of superior strength, was much aggrieved. Taking a lotus flower in his trunk, he addressed the Lord, saying, "O original enjoyer, Lord of the universe! O deliverer, as famous as a place of pilgrimage! All are purified simply by hearing Your holy name, which is worthy to be chanted."

16. The Personality of Godhead, after hearing the elephant's plea, felt that the elephant needed His immediate help, for he was in great distress. Thus at once the Lord appeared there on the wings of the king of birds, Garuda, fully equipped with His weapon, the wheel [cakra]. With the wheel He cut to pieces the mouth of the crocodile to save the elephant, and He delivered the elephant by lifting him by his trunk.

17. The Lord, although transcendental to all material modes, still surpassed all the qualities of the sons of Aditi, known as the Adityas. The Lord appeared as the youngest son of Aditi. And because He surpassed all the planets of the universe, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the pretense of asking for a measurement of three footsteps of land, He took away all the lands of Bali Maharaja. He asked simply because without begging, no authority can take one's rightful possession.

18. Bali Maharaja, who put on his head the water washed from the lotus feet of the Lord, did not think of anything besides his promise, in spite of being forbidden by his spiritual master. The king dedicated his own personal body to fulfill the measurement of the Lord's third step. For such a personality, even the kingdom of heaven, which he conquered by his strength, was of no value.

19. O Narada, you were taught about the science of God and His transcendental loving service by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation of Hamsavatara. He was very much pleased with you, due to your intense proportion of devotional service. He also explained unto you, lucidly, the full science of devotional service, which is especially understandable by persons who are souls surrendered unto Lord Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead.

20. As the incarnation of Manu, the Lord became the descendant of the Manu dynasty and ruled over the miscreant kingly order, subduing them by His powerful wheel weapon. Undeterred in all circumstances, His rule was characterized by His glorious fame, which spread over the three lokas, and above them to the planetary system of Satyaloka, the topmost in the universe.

21. The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of the ever-diseased living entities simply by his fame personified, and only because of him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices, and it is he only who inaugurated the medical science or the knowledge of medicine in the universe.

22. When the ruling administrators, who are known as the ksatriyas, turned astray from the path of the Absolute Truth, being desirous to suffer in hell, the Lord, in His incarnation as the sage Parasurama, uprooted those unwanted kings, who appeared as the thorns of the earth. Thus He thrice seven times uprooted the ksatriyas with His keenly sharpened chopper.

23. Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

24. The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like those of Mara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.

25. When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Ravana, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Ravana therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Ramacandra, the Personality of Godhead.

26. When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no faith in God, the Lord, just to diminish the distress of the world, descends with His plenary portion. The Lord comes in His original form, with beautiful black hair. And just to expand His transcendental glories, He acts extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.

27. There is no doubt about Lord Krsna's being the Supreme Lord, otherwise how was it possible for Him to kill a giant demon like Putana when He was just on the lap of His mother, to overturn a cart with His leg when He was only three months old, to uproot a pair of arjuna trees, so high that they touched the sky, when He was only crawling? All these activities are impossible for anyone other than the Lord Himself.

28. Then also when the cowherd boys and their animals drank the poisoned water of the River Yamuna, and after the Lord [in His childhood] revived them by His merciful glance, just to purify the water of the River Yamuna He jumped into it as if playing and chastised the venomous Kaliya snake, which was lurking there, its tongue emitting waves of poison. Who can perform such herculean tasks but the Supreme Lord ?

29. On the very night of the day of the chastisement of the Kaliya snake, when the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi were sleeping carefreely, there was a forest fire ablaze due to dry leaves, and it appeared that all the inhabitants were sure to meet their death. But the Lord, along with Balarama, saved them simply by closing His eyes. Such are the superhuman activities of the Lord.

30. When the cowherd woman [Krsna's foster mother, Yasoda] was trying to tie the hands of her son with ropes, she found the rope to be always insufficient in length, and when she finally gave up, Lord Krsna, by and by, opened His mouth, wherein the mother found all the universes situated. Seeing this, she was doubtful in her mind, but she was convinced in a different manner of the mystic nature of her son.

31. Lord Krsna saved His foster father, Nanda Maharaja, from the fear of the demigod Varuna and released the cowherd boys from the caves of the mountain, for they were placed there by the son of Maya. Also, to the inhabitants of Vrndavana, who were busy working during daytime and sleeping soundly at night because of their hard labor in the day, Lord Krsna awarded promotion to the highest planet in the spiritual sky. All these acts are transcendental and certainly prove without any doubt His Godhood.

32. When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly King, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

33. When the Lord was engaged in His pastimes of the rasa dance in the forest of Vrndavana, enlivening the sexual desires of the wives of the inhabitants of Vrndavana by sweet and melodious songs, a demon of the name Sankhacuda, a rich follower of the treasurer of heaven [Kuvera], kidnapped the damsels, and the Lord severed his head from his trunk.

34-35. All demonic personalities like Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kesi, Arista, Canura, Mustika, Kuvalayapida elephant, Kamsa, Yavana, Narakasura and Paundraka, great marshals like Salva, Dvivida monkey and Balvala, Dantavakra, the seven bulls, Sambara, Viduratha and Rukmi, as also great warriors like Kamboja, Matsya, Kuru, Srnjaya and Kekaya, would all fight vigorously, either with the Lord Hari directly or with Him under His names of Baladeva, Arjuna, Bhima, etc. And the demons, thus being killed, would attain either the impersonal brahmajyoti or His personal abode in the Vaikuntha planets.

36. The Lord Himself in His incarnation as the son of Satyavati [Vyasadeva] will consider his compilation of the Vedic literature to be very difficult for the less intelligent persons with short life, and thus He will divide the tree of Vedic knowledge into different branches, according to the circumstances of the particular age.

37. When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles.

38. Thereafter, at the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the lowborn sudra class or those less than them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser.

39. At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [brahma], and the Prajapatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the creation, there are Lord Visnu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the kings of different planets. But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord Siva and the atheists full of anger, etc. All of them are different representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.

40. Who can describe completely the prowess of Visnu? Even the scientist, who might have counted the particles of the atoms of the universe, cannot do so. Because it is He only who in His form of Trivikrama moved His leg effortlessly beyond the topmost planet, Satyaloka, up to the neutral state of the three modes of material nature. And all were moved.

41. Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Sesa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.

42. But anyone who is specifically favored by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, due to unalloyed surrender unto the service of the Lord, can overcome the insurmountable ocean of illusion and can understand the Lord. But those who are attached to this body, which is meant to be eaten at the end by dogs and jackals, cannot do so.

43-45. O Narada, although the potencies of the Lord are unknowable and immeasurable, still, because we are all surrendered souls, we know how He acts through yogamaya potencies. And, similarly, the potencies of the Lord are also known to the all-powerful Siva, the great king of the atheist family, namely Prahlada Maharaja, Svayambhuva Mahu, his wife Satarupa, his sons and daughters like Priyavrata, Uttanapada, Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti, Pracinabarhi, Rbhu, Anga the father of Vena, Maharaja Dhruva, Iksvaku, Aila, Mucukunda, Maharaja Janaka, Gadhi, Raghu, Ambarisa, Sagara, Gaya, Nahusa, Mahdhata, Alarka, Satadhanve, Anu, Rantideva, Bhisma, Bali, Amurttaraya, Dilipa, Saubhari, Utanka, Sibi, Devala, Pippalada, Sarasvata, Uddhava, Parasara, Bhurisena, Vibhisana, Hanuman, Sukadeva Gosvami, Arjuna, Arstisena, Vidura, Srutadeva, etc.

46. Surrendered souls, even from groups leading sinful lives, such as women, the laborer class, the mountaineers and the Siberians, or even the birds and beasts, can also know about the science of Godhead and become liberated from the clutches of the illusory energy by surrendering unto the pure devotees of the Lord and by following in their footsteps in devotional service.

47. What is realized as the Absolute Brahman is full of unlimited bliss without grief. That is certainly the ultimate phase of the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead. He is eternally void of all disturbances and fearless. He is complete consciousness as opposed to matter. Uncontaminated and without distinctions, He is the principle primeval cause of all causes and effects, in whom there is no sacrifice for fruitive activities and in whom the illusory energy does not stand.

48. In such a transcendental state there is no need of artificial control of the mind, mental speculation or meditation, as performed by the jnanis and yogis. One gives up such processes, as the heavenly King, Indra, forgoes the trouble to dig a well.

49. The Personality of Godhead is the supreme master of everything auspicious because the results of whatever actions are performed by the living being, in either the material or spiritual existence, are awarded by the Lord. As such, He is the ultimate benefactor. Every individual living entity is unborn, and therefore even after the annihilation of the material elementary body, the living entity exists, exactly like the air within the body.

50. My dear son, I have now explained in brief the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is creator of the manifested worlds. Without Him, Hari, the Lord, there are no other causes of the phenomenal and noumenal existences.

51. O Narada, this science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam, was spoken to me in summary by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it was spoken as the accumulation of His diverse potencies. Please expand this science yourself.

52. Please describe the science of Godhead with determination and in a manner by which it will be quite possible for the human being to develop transcendental devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead Hari, the Supersoul of every living being and the summum bonum source of all energies.

53. The Lord's activities in association with His different energies should be described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the Supreme Lord. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord.

[gokulkr]

Questions by King Pariksit

1. King Pariksit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami: How did Narada Muni, whose hearers are as fortunate as those instructed by Lord Brahma, explain the transcendental qualities of the Lord, who is without material qualities, and before whom did he speak?

2. The King said: I wish to know. Narrations concerning the Lord, who possesses wonderful potencies, are certainly auspicious for living beings in all planets.

3. O greatly fortunate Sukadeva Gosvami, please continue narrating Srimad-Bhagavatam so that I can place my mind upon the Supreme Soul, Lord Krsna, and, being completely freed from material qualities, thus relinquish this body.

4. Persons who hear Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly and are always taking the matter very seriously will have the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna manifested in their hearts within a short time.

5. The sound incarnation of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Soul [i.e. Srimad-Bhagavatam], enters into the heart of a self-realized devotee, sits on the lotus flower of his loving relationship, and thus cleanses the dust of material association, such as lust, anger and hankering. Thus it acts like autumnal rains upon pools of muddy water.

6. A pure devotee of the Lord whose heart has once been cleansed by the process of devotional service never relinquishes the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, for they fully satisfy him, as a traveler is satisfied at home after a troubled journey.

7. O learned brahmana, the transcendental spirit soul is different from the material body. Does he acquire the body accidentally or by some cause? Will you kindly explain this, for it is known to you.

8. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whose abdomen the lotus stem sprouted, is possessed of a gigantic body according to His own caliber and measurement, then what is the specific difference between the body of the Lord and those of common living entities?

9. Brahma, who was not born of a material source but of the lotus flower coming out of the navel abdomen of the Lord, is the creator of all those who are materially born. Of course, by the grace of the Lord, Brahma was able to see the form of the Lord.

10. Please also explain the Personality of Godhead, who lies in every heart as the Supersoul, and as the Lord of all energies, but is untouched by His external energy.

11. O learned brahmana, it was formerly explained that all the planets of the universe with their respective governors are situated in the different parts of the gigantic body of the virat-purusa. I have also heard that the different planetary systems are supposed to be in the gigantic body of the virat-purusa. But what is their actual position? Will you please explain that?

12. Also please explain the duration of time between creation and annihilation, and that of other subsidiary creations, as well as the nature of time, indicated by the sound of past, present and future. Also, please explain the duration and measurement of life of the different living beings known as the demigods, the human beings, etc., in different planets of the universe.

13. O purest of the brahmanas, please also explain the cause of the different durations of time, both short and long, as well as the beginning of time, following the course of action.

14. Then again, kindly describe how the proportionate accumulation of the reactions resulting from the different modes of material nature act upon the desiring living being, promoting or degrading him among the different species of life, beginning from the demigods down to the most insignificant creatures.

15. O best of the brahmanas, please also describe how the creation of the globes throughout the universe, the four directions of the heavens, the sky, the planets, the stars, the mountains, the rivers, the seas and the islands, as well as their different kinds of inhabitants, takes place.

16. Also, please describe the inner and outer space of the universe by specific divisions, as well as the character and activities of the great souls, and also the characteristics of the different classifications of the castes and orders of social life.

17. Please explain all the different ages in the duration of the creation, and also the duration of such ages. Also tell me about the different activities of the different incarnations of the Lord in different ages.

18. Please also explain what may generally be the common religious affiliations of human society, as well as their specific occupational duties in religion, the classification of the social orders as well as the administrative royal orders, and the religious principles for one who may be in distress.

19. Kindly explain all about the elementary principles of creation, the number of such elementary principles, their causes, and their development, and also the process of devotional service and the method of mystic powers.

20. What are the opulences of the great mystics, and what is their ultimate realization? How does the perfect mystic become detached from the subtle astral body? What is the basic knowledge of the Vedic literatures, including the branches of history and the supplementary Puranas?

21. Please explain unto me how the living beings are generated, how they are maintained, and how they are annihilated. Tell me also of the advantages and disadvantages of discharging devotional service unto the Lord. What are the Vedic rituals and injunctions of the supplementary Vedic rites, and what are the procedures of religion, economic development and sense satisfaction?

22. Please also explain how, merged in the body of the Lord, living beings are created, and how the infidels appear in the world. Also please explain how the unconditioned living entities exist.

23. The independent Personality of Godhead enjoys His pastimes by His internal potency and at the time of annihilation gives them up to the external potency, and He remains a witness to it all.

24. O great sage, representative of the Lord, kindly satisfy my inquisitiveness in all that I have inquired from you and all that I may not have inquired from you from the very beginning of my questionings. Since I am a soul surrendered unto you, please impart full knowledge in this connection.

25. O great sage, you are as good as Brahma, the original living being. Others follow custom only, as followed by the previous philosophical speculators.

26. O learned brahmana, because of my drinking the nectar of the message of the infallible Personality of Godhead, which is flowing down from the ocean of your speeches, I do not feel any sort of exhaustion due to my fasting.

27. Suta Gosvami said: Thus Sukadeva Gosvami, being invited by Maharaja Pariksit to speak on topics of the Lord Sri Krsna with the devotees, was very much pleased.

28. He began to reply to the inquiries of Maharaja Pariksit by saying that the science of the Personality of Godhead was spoken first by the Lord Himself to Brahma when he was first born. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supplementary Vedic literature, and it is just in pursuance of the Vedas.

29. He also prepared himself to reply to all that King Pariksit had inquired from him. Maharaja Pariksit was the best in the dynasty of the Pandus, and thus he was able to ask the right questions from the right person.

[gokulkr]

Answers by Citing the Lord's Version

1. Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing his own body working.

2. The illusioned living entity appears in so many forms offered by the external energy of the Lord. While enjoying in the modes of material nature, the encaged living entity misconceives, thinking in terms of "I" and "mine."

3. As soon as the living entity becomes situated in his constitutional glory and begins to enjoy the transcendence beyond time and material energy, he at once gives up the two misconceptions of life [i and mine] and thus becomes fully manifested as the pure self.

4. O King, the Personality of Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord Brahma because of his nondeceptive penance in bhakti-yoga, presented His eternal and transcendental form before Brahma. And that is the objective goal for purifying the conditioned soul.

5. Lord Brahma, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he find out the process for such creation.

6. While thus engaged in thinking, in the water, Brahmaji heard twice from nearby two syllables joined together. One of the syllables was taken from the sixteenth and the other from the twenty-first of the sparsa alphabets, and both joined to become the wealth of the renounced order of life.

7. When he heard the sound, he tried to find the speaker, searching on all sides. But when he was unable to find anyone besides himself, he thought it wise to sit down on his lotus seat firmly and give his attention to the execution of penance, as he was instructed.

8. Lord Brahma underwent penances for one thousand years by the calculations of the demigods. He heard this transcendental vibration from the sky, and he accepted it as divine. Thus he controlled his mind and senses, and the penances he executed were a great lesson for the living entities. Thus he is known as the greatest of all ascetics.

9. The Personality of Godhead, being thus very much satisfied with the penance of Lord Brahma, was pleased to manifest His personal abode, Vaikuntha, the supreme planet above all others. This transcendental abode of the Lord is adored by all self-realized persons freed from all kinds of miseries and fear of illusory existence.

10. In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees.

11. The inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets are described as having a glowing sky-bluish complexion. Their eyes resemble lotus flowers, their dress is of yellowish color, and their bodily features very attractive. They are just the age of growing youths, they all have four hands, they are all nicely decorated with pearl necklaces with ornamental medallions, and they all appear to be effulgent.

12. Some of them are effulgent like coral and diamonds in complexion and have garlands on their heads, blooming like lotus flowers, and some wear earrings.

13. The Vaikuntha planets are also surrounded by various airplanes, all glowing and brilliantly situated. These airplanes belong to the great mahatmas or devotees of the Lord. The ladies are as beautiful as lightning because of their celestial complexions, and all these combined together appear just like the sky decorated with both clouds and lightning.

14. The goddess of fortune in her transcendental form is engaged in the loving service of the Lord's lotus feet, and being moved by the black bees, followers of spring, she is not only engaged in variegated pleasure--service to the Lord, along with her constant companions--but is also engaged in singing the glories of the Lord's activities.

15. Lord Brahma saw in the Vaikuntha planets the Personality of Godhead, who is the Lord of the entire devotee community, the Lord of the goddess of fortune, the Lord of all sacrifices, and the Lord of the universe, and who is served by the foremost servitors like Nanda, Sunanda, Prabala and Arhana, His immediate associates.

16. The Personality of Godhead, seen leaning favorably towards His loving servitors, His very sight intoxicating and attractive, appeared to be very much satisfied. He had a smiling face decorated with an enchanting reddish hue. He was dressed in yellow robes and wore earrings and a helmet on his head. He had four hands, and His chest was marked with the lines of the goddess of fortune.

17. The Lord was seated on His throne and was surrounded by different energies like the four, the sixteen, the five, and the six natural opulences, along with other insignificant energies of the temporary character. But He was the factual Supreme Lord, enjoying His own abode.

18. Lord Brahma, thus seeing the Personality of Godhead in His fullness, was overwhelmed with joy within his heart, and thus in full transcendental love and ecstasy, his eyes filled with tears of love. He thus bowed down before the Lord. That is the way of the highest perfection for the living being [paramahamsa].

19. And seeing Brahma present before Him, the Lord accepted him as worthy to create living beings, to be controlled as He desired, and thus being much satisfied with him, the Lord shook hands with Brahma and, slightly smiling, addressed him thus.

20. The beautiful Personality of Godhead addressed Lord Brahma: O Brahma, impregnated with the Vedas, I am very much pleased with your long accumulated penance with the desire for creation. Hardly am I pleased with the pseudo mystics.

21. I wish you good luck. O Brahma, you may ask from Me, the giver of all benediction, all that you may desire. You may know that the ultimate benediction, as the result of all penances, is to see Me by realization.

22. The highest perfectional ingenuity is the personal perception of My abodes, and this has been possible because of your submissive attitude in the performance of severe penance according to My order.

23. O sinless Brahma, you may know from Me that it was I who first ordered you to undergo penance when you were perplexed in your duty. Such penance is My heart and soul, and therefore penance and I are nondifferent.

24. I create this cosmos by such penance, I maintain it by the same energy, and I withdraw it all by the same energy. Therefore the potential power is penance only.

25. Lord Brahma said: O Personality of Godhead, You are situated in every living entity's heart as the supreme director, and therefore You are aware of all endeavors by Your superior intelligence, without any hindrance whatsoever.

26. In spite of that, my Lord, I am praying to You to kindly fulfill my desire. May I please be informed how, in spite of Your transcendental form, You assume the mundane form, although You have no such form at all.

27. And [please inform me] how You, by Your own Self, manifest different energies for annihilation, generation, acceptance and maintenance by combination and permutation.

28. O master of all energies, please tell me philosophically all about them. You play like a spider that covers itself by its own energy, and Your determination is infallible.

29. Please tell me so that I may be taught in the matter by the instruction of the Personality of Godhead and may thus act instrumentally to generate living entities, without being conditioned by such activities.

30. O my Lord, the unborn, You have shaken hands with me just as a friend does with a friend [as if equal in position]. I shall be engaged in the creation of different types of living entities, and I shall be occupied in Your service. I shall have no perturbation, but I pray that all this may not give rise to pride, as if I were the Supreme.

31. The Personality of Godhead said: Knowledge about Me as described in the scriptures is very confidential, and it has to be realized in conjunction with devotional service. The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being explained by Me. You may take it up carefully.

32. All of Me, namely My actual eternal form and My transcendental existence, color, qualities and activities--let all be awakened within you by factual realization, out of My causeless mercy.

33. Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.

34. O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.

35. O Brahma, please know that the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist within everything created, and at the same time I am outside of everything.

36. A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, most certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.

37. O Brahma, just follow this conclusion by fixed concentration of mind, and no pride will disturb you, neither in the partial nor in the final devastation.

38. Sukadeva Gosvami said to Maharaja Pariksit: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, after being seen in His transcendental form, instructing Brahmaji, the leader of the living entities, disappeared.

39. On the disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, who is the object of transcendental enjoyment for the senses of devotees, Brahma, with folded hands, began to re-create the universe, full with living entities, as it was previously.

40. Thus once upon a time the forefather of living entities and the father of religiousness, Lord Brahma, situated himself in acts of regulative principles, desiring self-interest for the welfare of all living entities.

41. Narada, the most dear of the inheritor sons of Brahma, always ready to serve his father, strictly follows the instructions of his father by his mannerly behavior, meekness and sense control.

42. Narada very much pleased his father and desired to know all about the energies of Visnu, the master of all energies, for Narada was the greatest of all sages and greatest of all devotees, O King.

43. The great sage Narada also inquired in detail from his father, Brahma, the great-grandfather of all the universe, after seeing him well satisfied.

44. Thereupon the supplementary Vedic literature, Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was described by the Personality of Godhead and which contains ten characteristics, was told with satisfaction by the father [brahma] to his son Narada.

45. In succession, O King, the great sage Narada instructed Srimad-Bhagavatam unto the unlimitedly powerful Vyasadeva, who meditated in devotional service upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, on the bank of the River Sarasvati.

46. O King, your questions as to how the universe became manifested from the gigantic form of the Personality of Godhead, as well as other questions, I shall answer in detail by explanation of the four verses already mentioned.

[gokulkr]

Bhagavatam Is the Answer to All Questions

1. Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: In the Srimad-Bhagavatam there are ten divisions of statements regarding the following: the creation of the universe, subcreation, planetary systems, protection by the Lord, the creative impetus, the change of Manus, the science of God, returning home, back to Godhead, liberation, and the summum bonum.

2. To isolate the transcendence of the summum bonum, the symptoms of the rest are described sometimes by Vedic inference, sometimes by direct explanation, and sometimes by summary explanations given by the great sages.

3. The elementary creation of sixteen items of matter--namely the five elements [fire, water, land, air and sky], sound, form, taste, smell, touch, and the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin and mind--is known as sarga, whereas subsequent resultant interaction of the modes of material nature is called visarga.

4. The right situation for the living entities is to obey the laws of the Lord and thus be in perfect peace of mind under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Manus and their laws are meant to give right direction in life. The impetus for activity is the desire for fruitive work.

5. The science of God describes the incarnations of the Personality of Godhead and His different activities together with the activities of His great devotees.

6. The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Maha-Visnu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.

7. The supreme one who is celebrated as the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul is the supreme source of the cosmic manifestation as well as its reservoir and winding up. Thus He is the Supreme Fountainhead, the Absolute Truth.

8. The individual person possessing different instruments of senses is called the adhyatmic person, and the individual controlling deity of the senses is called adhidaivic. The embodiment seen on the eyeballs is called the adhibhautic person.

9. All three of the above-mentioned stages of different living entities are interdependent. In the absence of one, another is not understood. But the Supreme Being who sees every one of them as the shelter of the shelter is independent of all, and therefore He is the supreme shelter.

10. After separating the different universes, the gigantic universal form of the Lord [Maha-Visnu], which came out of the causal ocean, the place of appearance for the first purusa-avatara, entered into each of the separate universes, desiring to lie on the created transcendental water [Garbhodaka].

11. That Supreme Person is not impersonal and therefore is distinctively a nara, or person. Therefore the transcendental water created from the Supreme Nara is known as nara. And because He lies down on that water, He is known as Narayana.

12. One should definitely know that all material ingredients, activities, time and modes, and the living entities who are meant to enjoy them all, exist by His mercy only, and as soon as He does not care for them, everything becomes nonexistent.

13. The Lord, while lying on His bed of mystic slumber, generated the seminal symbol, golden in hue, through external energy out of His desire to manifest varieties of living entities from Himself alone.

14. Just hear from me how the potency of His Lordship divides one into three, called the controlling entities, the controlled entities and the material bodies, in the manner mentioned above.

15. From the sky situated within the transcendental body of the manifesting Maha-Visnu, sense energy, mental force and bodily strength are all generated, as well as the sum total of the fountainhead of the total living force.

16. As the followers of a king follow their lord, similarly when the total energy is in motion, all other living entities move, and when the total energy stops endeavoring, all other living entities stop sensual activities.

17. The living force, being agitated by the virat-purusa, generated hunger and thirst, and when He desired to drink and eat, the mouth opened.

18. From the mouth the palate became manifested, and thereupon the tongue was also generated. After this all the different tastes came into existence so that the tongue can relish them.

19. When the Supreme desired to speak, speeches were vibrated from the mouth. Then the controlling deity Fire was generated from the mouth. But when He was lying in the water, all these functions remained suspended.

20. Thereafter, when the supreme purusa desired to smell odors, the nostrils and respiration were generated, the nasal instrument and odors came into existence, and the controlling deity of air, carrying smell, also became manifested.

21. Thus when everything existed in darkness, the Lord desired to see Himself and all that was created. Then the eyes, the illuminating god Sun, the power of vision and the object of sight all became manifested.

22. By development of the desire of the great sages to know, the ears, the power of hearing, the controlling deity of hearing, and the objects of hearing became manifested. The great sages desired to hear about the Self.

23. When there was a desire to perceive the physical characteristics of matter, such as softness, hardness, warmth, cold, lightness and heaviness, the background of sensation, the skin, the skin pores, the hairs on the body and their controlling deities (the trees) were generated. Within and outside the skin is a covering of air through which sense perception became prominent.

24. Thereafter when the Supreme Person desired to perform varieties of work, the two hands and their controlling strength, and Indra, the demigod in heaven, became manifested, as also the acts dependent on both the hands and the demigod.

25. Thereupon, because of His desiring to control movement, His legs became manifested, and from the legs the controlling deity named Visnu was generated. By His personal supervision of this act, all varieties of human being are busily engaged in dutiful occupational sacrifice.

26. Thereupon, for sexual pleasure, begetting offspring and tasting heavenly nectar, the Lord developed the genitals, and thus there is the genital organ and its controlling deity, the Prajapati. The object of sexual pleasure and the controlling deity are under the control of the genitals of the Lord.

27. Thereafter, when He desired to evacuate the refuse of eatables, the evacuating hole, anus, and the sensory organ thereof developed along with the controlling deity Mitra. The sensory organ and the evacuating substance are both under the shelter of the controlling deity.

28. Thereafter, when He desired to move from one body to another, the navel and the air of departure and death were combinedly created. The navel is the shelter for both, namely death and the separating force.

29. When there was a desire to have food and drink, the abdomen and the intestines and also the arteries became manifested. The rivers and seas are the source of their sustenance and metabolism.

30. When there was a desire to think about the activities of His own energy, then the heart (the seat of the mind), the mind, the moon, determination and all desire became manifested.

31. The seven elements of the body, namely the thin layer on the skin, the skin itself, the flesh, blood, fat, marrow and bone, are all made of earth, water and fire, whereas the life breath is produced by the sky, water and air.

32. The sense organs are attached to the modes of material nature, and the modes of material nature are products of the false ego. The mind is subjected to all kinds of material experiences (happiness and distress), and the intelligence is the feature of the mind's deliberation.

33. Thus by all this, the external feature of the Personality of Godhead is covered by gross forms such as those of planets, which were explained to you by me.

34. Therefore beyond this [gross manifestation] is a transcendental manifestation finer than the finest form. It has no beginning, no intermediate stage and no end; therefore it is beyond the limits of expression or mental speculation and is distinct from the material conception.

35. Neither of the above forms of the Lord, as just described unto you from the material angle of vision, is accepted by the pure devotees of the Lord who know Him well.

36. He, the Personality of Godhead, manifests Himself in a transcendental form, being the subject of His transcendental name, quality, pastimes, entourage and transcendental variegatedness. Although He is unaffected by all such activities, He appears to be so engaged.

37-40. O King, know from me that all living entities are created by the Supreme Lord according to their past deeds. This includes Brahma and his sons like Daksa, the periodical heads like Vaivasvata Manu, the demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuna, the great sages like Bhrgu, Vyasa and Vasistha, the inhabitants of Pitrloka and Siddhaloka, the Caranas, Gandharvas, Vidyadharas, Asuras, Yaksas, Kinnaras and angels, the serpentines, the monkey-shaped Kimpurusas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Matrloka, the demons, Pisacas, ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, the good and evil stars, the goblins, the animals in the forest, the birds, the household animals, the reptiles, the mountains, the moving and standing living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from perspiration and from seeds, and all others, whether they be in the water, land or sky, in happiness, in distress or in mixed happiness and distress. All of them, according to their past deeds, are created by the Supreme Lord.

41. According to the different modes of material nature--the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of darkness--there are different living creatures, who are known as demigods, human beings and hellish living entities. O King, even a particular mode of nature, being mixed with the other two, is divided into three, and thus each kind of living creature is influenced by the other modes and acquires its habits also.

42. He, the Personality of Godhead, as the maintainer of all in the universe, appears in different incarnations after establishing the creation, and thus He reclaims all kinds of conditioned souls amongst the humans, the nonhumans and the demigods.

43. Thereafter, at the end of the millennium, the Lord Himself in the form of Rudra, the destroyer, will annihilate the complete creation as the wind displaces the clouds.

44. The great transcendentalists thus describe the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the pure devotees deserve to see more glorious things in transcendence, beyond these features.

45. There is no direct engineering by the Lord for the creation and destruction of the material world. What is described in the Vedas about His direct interference is simply to counteract the idea that material nature is the creator.

46. This process of creation and annihilation described in summary herein is the regulative principle during the duration of Brahma's one day. It is also the regulative principle in the creation of mahat, in which the material nature is dispersed.

47. O King, I shall in due course explain the measurement of time in its gross and subtle features with the specific symptoms of each, but for the present let me explain unto you the Padma-kalpa.

48. Saunaka Rsi, after hearing all about the creation, inquired from Suta Gosvami about Vidura, for Suta Gosvami had previously informed him how Vidura left home, leaving aside all his relatives, who were very difficult to leave.

49-50. Saunaka Rsi said: Let us know, please, what topics were discussed between Vidura and Maitreya, who talked on transcendental subjects, and what was inquired by Vidura and replied by Maitreya. Also please let us know the reason for Vidura's giving up the connection of his family members, and why he again came home. Please also let us know the activities of Vidura while he was in the places of pilgrimage.

51. Sri Suta Gosvami explained: I shall now explain to you the very subjects explained by the great sage in answer to King Pariksit's inquiries. Please hear them attentively.

[gokulkr]

 

10. 36

 

hladinya samvidaslistham sac-cidnananda isvaram

sva-vidya-samvrto jivam samklesani-karakam

 

The nature of the Supreme Lord is sat-citnananda: He is the ultimate embodiment of eternity, knowledge and bliss, and is richly endowed with the hladini and samvit saktis. But the jivas, the souls of this world are covered by ignorance, which is the cause of their suffering the threefold miseries.

(Bhagavat -Sandarbha, Sarvajna-sukta-vakya

commentary of Sridhara Swami on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.5-6)

 

Text 5:

 

Yaya sammohitho jeev aathmanann rigunaathmakamm

Paroyapi manutheyanarthe thathkruthang chaabipathathe

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.5)

 

The living entities conditioned to the modes of nature take in spite of the transcendental the unwanted for granted and undergo the reactions thereof.

 

Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.

 

Text 6:

 

Yasyang why shruyamanaayaan krishne paramapurushe

Bakthiruthpadathe pungsaha sokhamohabayaapaha

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.6)

 

By means of devotional service in yoga one can find in transcendence the mitigation of the unwanted. For the masses unaware of this Vyâsadeva compiled the vedic literatures relating to this truth.

 

The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyâsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.

 

 

10. 37

 

vastuno'mso jivam vastunam saktirmaya ca vastunam karyam jagac-ca tat sarvam vastveva

 

The Supreme Lord alone is the Substance of all reality; a particle of his substance is the jiva; the energy of that substance is maya and the effect of that substance is this material world. Therefore everything having emanated from that supreme substance, all things may be said to be "nondifferent" from it. In this way the conclusion of nonduality may be applied to the Absolute Substance.

(Bhavartha-dipika 1.1.1)

 

 

A liberated soul attains a spiritually perfect body in the service of Krsna

 

10. 38

 

mukta api lilaya vigraham krtva bhagavantam bhajante

 

The liberated souls have divine forms with which they worship the Supreme Lord by taking part in his transcendental pastimes. (Sridhara Swami's sarvajna- bhasya commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.21)

 

Text 21 :

 

Dhuravamagaathma-tattva-nigmaay tavaakth-thanooshu

Charitha-mahaamrthuaabthi-parivartha-parikshamanaah:

Na parilakpranthi kechithu apavargamu apikshar they

Charan-saroj-hansa-kula-chadang-vishushrada-gruhaa:

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.21)

 

 

My Lord, some fortunate souls have gotten relief from the fatigue of material life by diving into the vast nectar ocean of Your pastimes, which You enact when You manifest Your personal forms to propagate the unfathomable science of the self. These rare souls, indifferent even to liberation, renounce the happiness of home and family because of their association with devotees who are like flocks of swans enjoying at the lotus of Your feet.

 

 

 

The opinion of suddhadvaita-vada on the distinct position of the eternally liberated souls.

 

10. 39

 

Parsada-tanu-nama-karmarabdam nityatvam suddhatvams ca

 

The eternal associates of the Lord are free from the cycle of karma. They are eternally pure, transcendental, and free from all material qualities. They never suffer birth and death within this material world.

(Bhavartha-Dipika 1.6.21)

 

 

One who equates the individual soul with the Supreme Lord is an infidel, an atheist.

 

10. 40

 

aparimita dhruvas-tanu-bhrto yadi sarvagata-

starhina sasyateti niyamo dhruva netaratha

ajani ca yan mayam tada vimucya niyastr-bhavet

sama-manujanatam yadamatam mata-dusthataya

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.30)

 

O Lord, although the living entities who have accepted material bodies are spiritual and unlimited in number, if they were all-pervading there would be no question of their being under your control. If they are accepted, however, as particles of the eternally existing spiritual entity - as part of You, who are the Supreme Spirit Whole - we must conclude that they are always under Your control. If the living entities are simply satisfied with being identified with You as spiritual particles, then they will be happy being controllers of so many things. The conclusion that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are one and the same is a faulty conclusion. It is not a fact.

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.30)

 

 

10. 41

 

yei mudha kahe - "jivaisvara" haya sama

sei ta' "pasandi" haya, dande tare yama

 

A foolish person who says that the Supreme Lord and the individual soul or jiva are the same is an infidel, an offender, and an atheist; after death he is punished by the Lord of death, Yamaraja.

(Caitanya-Caritamrta Madhya 18.115)

[gokulkr]

 

The history of Greater Saurashtra and the Saurashtrians in South India

 

More than 225 thousand Saurashtrians in South India have been preserving the old linguistic and cultural heritage of Saurashtra (now merged with Gujarat). This is a remarkable phenomenon of the cultural history of the Greater Saurashtra. Our literary and cultural institutions, our men of learning and our political and social leaders have not taken sufficient cognizance of this phenomenon so far; this is a significant illustration of our usual negligence of our historical and cultural traditions. The mere fact that more than 225 thousand Saurashtrians are staying in various parts of South India from good old days is not generally known to the people of Saurashtra.

 

The history of Greater Saurashtra:

 

The people of Saurashtra and Gujarat are adventurous, brave, adept in trade and commerce, and therefore they have established many commercial colonies in foreign countries, from ancient times. Men of adventure like Amulakh (1 bookmark), a Brahmin of Bulsar, established such Gujarati colonies in Africa, and the caravans of Gujaratis were moving in the Negro countries long before the white nationals of Europe made their entry in the dark continent of Africa. The Saurashtrians and Gujaratis, had settled not only in Africa, but also in Mauratius, Ceylon (2 bookmark), Burma, Indonesia (Java), Sumatra, Indo China, Cambodia, Malayasia and Philipines, and even today there is some population of the Saurashtrians and Gujaratis in these countries. The Saurashtrians and Gujaratis are also spread over various parts of the Indian homeland, taking prominent part in the commercial field, which is more suitable to their nature. It is quite natural that the origin of many words of trade, commerce, business and measurements found in various Indian languages can be traced to Gujarati language.

 

Bookmark 1:

This has been a patent theme of some of the historical or Semi-historical novels (such as ‘Dariyalal’) of Shri.Gunvantray Acharya, a prolific storywriter of Gujarat. Of course, there is more of fiction than historical fact in Acharya’s novels, but the basic fact of Gujarati, Kutchhi and Saurashtrian adventurers settling in the innermost areas of Africa remains true.

 

Bookmark 2:

“From the tradition preserved in ‘Mahavamsa’, it is known that it was due to Prince Vijaya of ‘Lata’ that the name ‘Sinhala-Dvipa’ was given to Ceylon, the language of the island was known as the Sinhalese language and the impact of the Aryan culture was made on the people of this island. The foreigners have often referred to Gujarat by the name of ‘Lata’. Prince Vijay was the son of Sinhabāhu and Sinhabāhu was ruling in Sinhapur (Modern ‘Shihor’, situated near Bhavnagar in Saurashtra). Vijay was forced to go in exile because of his unlawful activities. Therefore Vijay accompanied by some of his adventurous followers went to the South by sea-route. After staying for some time at ‘Surpāraka’ (modern ‘Sopara’, situated in the Thana district of the Bombay State), he went to Ceylon and he must have reached there about 483 B.C., some time before the attainment of Nirvana (beatitude) by Gautam Buddha”. (“the Cambridge History of India”: Vol.I,P.605). There is an old proverb in Gujarati: “Lankāni lādi ane Ghoghāno var”, meaning “the bride of Lanka and the bridegroom of Ghogha”. Lanka is obviously Ceylon and Ghogha is a minor port in the vicinity of Bhavnagar in Gujarat. The history of prince Vijay of Shihor marrying the princess of Ceylon is probably referred to in this proverb. Prince Vijay might have gone to Ceylon from Shihor via Ghogha. It is possible that the seashore was not very far from Shihor. A direct communication between Shihor and Ghogha might have been there. There is a mosque built by the Muslim Sailors of Ghogha on Chamaradi hills near Shihor and the Muslim sailors are coming there even these days to offer their prayers on some auspicious days every year. This fact supports the probability of this direct communication. The research scholars of Ceylon also believe that Prince Vijay belonged to Gujarat. (Ref. The essay by Shri.A.L.Busham in the Ceylon Historical Journal Vol.I, P.6163-71). Another belief also prevails that Prince Vijay belonged to Bengal. :

 

Unique characteristics of the Saurashtrians in South India:

 

This history of the Greater Saurashtra and Greater Gujarat is very glorious and interesting. In this history of the Greater Saurashtra, it is remarkable that the Saurashtrians who have settled in South India are distinguished clearly, in some important aspects, from the other Saurashtrians who have migrated to other places inside or outside India. There are some unique characteristics, which draw our special attention.

 

Firstly, the Saurashtrians who have migrated to other places have not gone there collectively in larger groups at a time; while the Saurashtrians in South India have migrated there in larger collective groups at a time in a planned manner.

 

Secondly, these Saurashtrians in South India had gone there, equipped with the art of weaving silken cloth. The whole community or tribe has got remarkable skill in this single profession, and yet their mode of living as well as their family-names are obviously Brahminical. They are introducing themselves even to day as Saurashtri Brahmins. The other Saurashtrians who have migrated to other places have not taken with them a collective industry or art and the groups of Brahminical mode of living have not gone elsewhere in a collective manner.

 

Thirdly, the Saurashtrians who have migrated to other provinces or foreign countries have been in some sort of direct contact with the original homeland. For example, the Saurashtrians who had migrated to Africa have always returned (at least some of them and at least for some time) to the homeland sooner or later. In the case when these Saurashtrians have lost the link with the homeland, they have not been able to preserve the linguistic and cultural heritage of the homeland. On the contrary the Saurashtrians in South India have lost all the direct contact with their homeland, to such an extent that for some time, they did not know exactly where the homeland Saurashtra was geographically situated ; but even then they have been proud of being Saurashtrians and with a sense of pride they have preserved the old language and culture of Saurashtra. They knew only a few years ago where the homeland Saurashtra was exactly situated. Even now some of them have a notion that South Gujarat is a part of Saurashtra (3 bookmark). Even though they had lost the correct geographical location of the homeland Saurashtra, they had not forgotten or lost the language and culture of Saurashtra. They have persevered strongly to preserve the linguistic and cultural tradition of Saurashtra as it existed eight hundred years ago when they migrated from Saurashtra. No other Saurashtra migrants have preserved the tradition to this extent inspite of their being cut off completely from the homeland. They forgot the exact geography of the homeland, but the pride of the homeland was a life-force with them; the original language and culture were never obliterated.

 

Bookmark 3:

“A History of the Saurashtras in Southern India “ P.1:

 

New light on the form of the old language of Saurashtra :

 

If we study the linguistic, literary and cultural tradition of the Saurashtrians in South India, we find, to a certain extent, very obviously, the Marathi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu influence, external as well as internal, in its formation. If we can isolate this influence, it is probable that a study of the residual material will throw a new light on the language, literature and culture of Saurashtra as it existed eight hundred years ago. The English colonists who have migrated to Iceland and other islands (4 bookmark) have preserved in a pure form some special characteristics of the old English language such as old pronunciations and typical form of the old English language. This has supplied some important material for tracing the evolution of the English language. Similarly the study of the Southern Saurashtri language can supply some important material pertaining to the old language of Saurashtra and Gujarat. The Parsis (5 Bookmark) who have migrated from Persia to Gujarat have adopted the Gujarati language almost as the mother tongue, and they have not continued the usage of their original language even in their intra group communication. But the Southern Saurashtrians have preserved very strongly their original linguistic traditions. Their pride of being Saurashtrians and their insistence on being called Saurashtrians are very strong. They had lost the geographical idea of their original homeland Saurashtra, and one Saurashtrian had once said “the Gujarati language itself has evolved from the Saurashtri language”. One Saurashtri Pandit had once said: “What right have you got for publishing a newspaper by the name of ‘Saurashtra’? That is our name.” This has been said because of the want of the proper geographical and historical knowledge, but it shows how much pride they take in being called Saurashtrians.

 

Bookmark 4:

Similarly the English dialect spoken by the Apelisian hill tribes is more akin to the eighteenth century English than the modern English; the French spoken in Canada is more akin to the French of the Seventeenth century than the French of the modern Paris. The Yiddish is nearer to the fifteenth century German than to the modern German; similarly the Portuguese of Brazil is nearer to the old Portuguese than to the modern Portuguese of Lisbon.

(Ref. ‘The story of Language’ by Mario Pei., Page 50.)

 

Bookmark 5:

A fanciful idea had once taken the possession of an editor of a Tamil daily. He thought that there is a remarkable verbal similarity between the word “Saurashtra” and the word “Jarthusra” (Zoroaster), the founder of the Zoroaster religion of the Parsis; and therefore there must be some relation between the two. This fanciful idea can be supported with the observation that the worship of the Sun is common to both; but this is just a fanciful idea and not much consideration should be given to it.

 

 

The areas populated by the Southern Saurashtrians:

The population of the Saurashtrians in South India is calculated at more than 2 lacs and 25 thousand (6 Bookmark). Amongst them, their maximum population, more than one third, amounting to 75,000 or so, is seen in the city of Madurai. Moreover they are residing in other 47 places in South India. The list (7 Bookmark) of these 47 places is as follows: Dindigul, Nilkottai, Vatsalkundu, Melamangalam, Periyakulam, Palani, Paramkudi, Yamaneshvaram, Palumkottah, Virnan Allur, Vellumkudi, Padukudi, Kottarsutti, Timachi, Uraiyur, Tanjore, Ayyam Pettai, Amma Pettai, Ammai Appun, Arantongi, Pudukottai, Tirunappur, Genpur, Parampur, Kumbhakonam, Tuvarankurichi, Tarapuram, Tuibhuvanam, Namakkal, Parmatti, Rasipuram, Shenvapet, Salem, Valajapet, Anari, Banglore, Ambur, Vellore, Kanjivaram, Bhuvangir, Pasikakaudai, Sovali, Madras, Ramnad, Ariyalur, Pondicherry and Kurnjipidi. Their population as registered in the 1931 census was one lac and four thousand (8 bookmark), and it included their population of 50,000 in Madurai (9 bookmark), 20,000 in Tanjore, and 15,000 in Trichinapalli. They have been registered in the census as the Saurashtra Brahmins. They had raised their protest against their registration as the ‘Patnulkāran’ (a weaver community) and consequently they have been registered as the Saurashtra Brahmins (10 bookmark). It is possible that some of them might have been registered as belonging to the Patulkāran community of weavers, and this might have been confused with the other communities; due to this mixed registration their population as the Saurashtrians might have been noted in a lesser proportion than its actual existence (11 bookmark).

 

Bookmark 6:

Memorandum and answers to the Backward Class Commission questionnaire (1953); P.1.

Bookmark 7:

This list has been given by Shri.Viprabandhu K.V.Padmanabh Iyer, the Editor of the Saurashtra Periodical “Saurashtra Mitran”.

Bookmark 8:

‘Census of India’; 1931 (Vol. XIV-Madras. Part II Table;15, P.294-5).

Bookmark 9:

79,972 in Madurai District according to the Census of 1961. (1,55,392 Saurashtrians staying in the Madras state, according to the Census of 1961)..

.

/images/graemlins/smile.gif Om Namah Shivaya

/images/graemlins/smile.gif Om Namo Venkatesaya

[gokulkr]

History preserved in the Gotra-recital

 

 

The conventional “Baulas”

 

The southern Saurashtrians have preserved their history in the form of an invariable recital of the Gotra at the time of the ceremonies of the betrothal (‘Ghettiwido’) and marriage (‘Horā’). Various stages of their migrations from Saurashtra to Madurai are noted therein. This Gotra-recital is termed as ‘Baulās’, ‘Bāulās’ or ‘Bukulvās’. It is similar to the word ‘Bolās’ (voice, word) as it is used in the rural areas of Saurashtra. It may mean ‘Word’, ‘Promise’ or ‘Verbal commitment’. This ‘Baulās’ is recited at the time of the betrothal as well as the marriage ceremony.

 

The convention of Baulās among the Saurashtrians is unique. At the time of the betrothal and also on a day prior to the marriage, the relatives of the bridegroom have to go to the residence of the bride and they have to put formally the proposal of marriage for consideration. The relatives of the bride will ask, “Who are you? Where do you come from?” In reply, the relatives of the bridegroom will say, “We belong to Sorath (Saurashtra). Thereafter we stayed at Devagiri. Therefrom we came to Vijaynagar. From Vijaynagar we have come over to Madurai”. Thereafter similar questions will be asked by the relatives of the bridegroom to the relatives of the bride and similar replies will be given. In this way the history of the Saurashtrians has been recorded in the Gotra-recital of the marriage ceremony. It is clearly seen from the Baulās that they had resided in Sorath (Saurashtra), Devagiri, Vijaynagar and Madurai respectively (1bookmark).

 

 

Bookmark 1:

This customary account of the ‘Baulās’ has been given almost in a similar form by Thurston, Nanjundaiya and Anantkrishna Ayyar, Randle, Ratnamanirao and other writers. A Marathi document prepared by Mr.M.D.Cockburne, a collector of Salem in 1822 also gives a similar note on the ‘Baulās’. (Thurston: “Castes and Tribes of Southern India” P.161.).

 

Original homeland of Saurashtrians:

 

Their very name shows that the Saurashtrians of South India have migrated from Saurashtra. Their ‘Baulās’ also shows it clearly. Therefore there is no doubt about Saurashtra being their original homeland. Their insistence and love for the names such as Saurashtra Desha, Saurashtri language and Saurashtri Brahmins are also remarkable. The name ‘Saurashtra’ was forgotten during the last century in their original homeland of Saurashtra. After independence the original name ‘Saurashtra’ was readopted and again with the merger of the Saurashtra area with Gujarat State, the name Saurashtra has lost its usage. In the interim period the name ‘Kathiawar’ was in usage. The name ‘Saurashtra’ was forgotten in Saurashtra for a century or so; but the Southern Saurashtrians have not forgotten the original nomenclature. Their historical association with Somanath is also not forgotten. The silver Kalasha (Rounded Pinnacle put at the top of the temple) sent by these Saurashtrians at the time of the renovation of the Somnath temple is a symbol of their historical association.

 

Saurashtra has its history beginning from very ancient times. The history of Saurashtra is very rich and it is distinguished by heroic deeds of its people. The importance of this land of Saurashtra can be traced from the pre-historic times. Plenty of historical material proving its antiquity is scattered over in Saurashtra. The name ‘Saurashtra’ is older then ‘Gujarat’. The name ‘Gujarat’ is not found before the eleventh century, whereas the references to ‘Saurashtra’ are found in very old Puranas. Before centuries, Pānini, the Sanskrit grammarian, has referred to Saurashtra and its characteristic nasal pronunciation. (2 bookmark).

 

Bookmark 2:

(Scanned image)

 

The glorious history of Saurashtra, beginning from very ancient times, from one Mohan to another Mohan, from Krishna (Mohan) to Mohandas Gandhi (Mohan) has acquired very prominent place in the history of India. A Sanskrit poet has said:

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These Saurashtrians who migrated before eight hundred years from this Panchratna land of Sourashtra have enriched the ancient heritage of Saurashtra, and they have enhanced the glory of Saurashtra in South India. Staying among the people of South India, they were ethnologically very different from them. They have contributed towards the development of the Southern India. The industrial and commercial progress of the city of Madurai amply proves the abilities of the energetic Saurashtrians (3 bookmark).

 

The cultural contact between Saurashtra and South India has never been very intimate. Some six to seven Dravidian words, like a traveler losing his way, have come over as loan-words in the language of Saurashtra and Gujarat. The numerical words ‘Vakata’, ‘lena’, ‘Moor’ etc. used in the game of ‘Gillidandā’, meaning one, two, three etc., are Dravidian (Kannada) in origin. The word ‘Elāyachi’ in Gujarati has been derived from the Dravidian ‘Yālakki’ (4 bookmark). It is probable that the Sanskrit word ‘Ela’ might have evolved from the Dravidian word ‘yālakki’. The word ‘oda’ is Dravidian. The Oda tribe which has migrated to Saurashtra and Gujarat from or via South India might have brought these and such other words from the Dravidian language. The historical incident pertaining to the Oda lady Jasamā had occurred in the lifetime of king Jaysinha Sidhharaj. Therefore it can be inferred that the migration of the ‘oda’ tribe to Gujarat might have taken place during or prior to the Solanki (Chaulukyan) period of the history of Gujarat. The ‘oda’ is referred to as ‘wodda’ in the Dravidian language. Their main occupations are digging lakes and wells, carrying water, repairing roads and building earthen houses. According to some historians, these Oda people belong originally to Odra meaning Orissa. In the oda (Wodda) tribe of Mysore, there are found such feminine names such as Yalamma, Yashammā (5 bookmark) which resemble the name Jasama very closely. But excepting this, there is not much evidence showing mutual contact of a very intimate nature.

 

 

Bookmark 3:

K.R.R.Shastri: “The Madura Saurashtra Community”; Chap.15

Bookmark 4:

N.B.Divetia: “Gujarati Language and Literature”; Vol.I. lecture I; pages 59-62. Some other verbal resemblances have been shown by Dr.Bhogilal Sandesara (Ref.Dr.B.G.Sandesara; “Shabda ane artha”: pages 151-153). The Dravidian influence and also the usage of the words like ‘Oda’ in Gujarat and Saurashtra may be the result of Gujarati-Kannada contact in the times of Rashtrakutas, Kadambas and Chalukyas, through the Digambars and the Marathi-speaking people.

Bookmark 5:

“The Mysore Tribes and Castes” - Vol.4, Page 659.

 

 

The ‘Baulās’ of Saurashtrians refers to Soratha as being their original homeland. At present the Southern part of Saurashtra is known as Soratha. But it is probable that the whole region of Saurashtra might have been known as Soratha. Saurashtra may be explained as the Su-rāshtra (‘a good nation’); but it is more probable that ‘Saurashtra’ might be a Sanskritisation of ‘Soratha’. The Bombay Gazetteer has put forth a suggestion that ‘Su-rashtra’ is a land of the ‘Su’ (6 bookmark). The name ‘Su-rashtra’ is found in the inscription of a cave near Nasik (7 bookmark).

 

The names of Saurashtra and Maharashtra have some resemblance. Dr.Bhandarkar believes that the word ‘Mahārāshtra’ has been derived from ‘Mahārāth’ or ‘Maharattha’ (8 bookmark). Similarly ‘Soratha’ may be explained as ‘Su-Rattha’ meaning land of good Rattha people or ‘Land of ‘Sura’ and ‘Rattha’ people. There should have been tribes such as Rattha or Lattha’. A sturdy and strong fellow is said to be ‘like a lattha’ or just a ‘lattha’ in Saurashtra. There might have been two off-shoots of the Ratha tribe. One ‘Suratha’ offshoot might have inhabited Saurashtra and the other ‘Maharattha’ offshoot might have inhabited Maharashtra. The names of these regions might have been given to them by the tribes inhabiting the region. The name ‘Saurashtra’ is meaningful, but taking into consideration the general process of naming the country after the names of the people inhabiting it, some scholars believe that ‘Surattha’ and ‘Maharattha’ are original names and ‘Saurasthtra’ and ‘Maharashtra’ are their Sansrized forms. The word ‘Suratha’ (Soratha) occurring in the ‘Baulāsa’ of the Saurashtrians is particularly notable. Some are inclined to connect this word ‘Suratha’ to ‘Surat’ (City in south Gujarat), as there is some verbal resemblance, but this obviously a mistaken notion. Mahābhārat (9 bookmark), Rāmāyana (10 bookmark), Mārkandeya Purāna (11 bookmark), Kurma Purāna (12 bookmark) Visnupurāna (13 bookmark), Kautilya (14 bookmark) and Panini (15 bookmark) refer to Saurashtra. Amongst the foreigners the first reference to Saurashtra has been made in 50 B.C. by Strabbo who has referred to it as ‘Serostus’. A reference to ‘Soratha’ occurs in Bauddha Jātakas. The word ‘Sauvir’ has occurred in Bhāgavat, and some annotators have explained it as Saurashtra; but it seems to be a different region. The original name ‘Saurashtra’, is referred to by Panini; therefore other inferences may be considered spurious. The Greek evidence of the usage of ‘Saurashtra’ also supports it.

 

Bookmark 6:

“Bombay Gazetteer”; I, Page 6.

Bookmark 7:

“Epigraphica Indica” - 8, Page 60.

Bookmark 8:

Durgashanker Shastri; “Aitihasik Sanshodhan”, Page 283.

 

Bookmark 8:

Durgashanker Shastri; “Aitihasik Sanshodhan”, Page 283.

 

Bookmark 9:

“Mahābhārat”; 3,88,19 and 23.

 

Bookmark 10:

“Vālmiki Rāmayana”; Kishkindhā Kānda; A.42.

 

Bookmark 11:

Pargiter, “Mārkandeya”: 370

 

Bookmark 12:

“kUrma”; 1,47,42

 

Bookmark 13:

“Vishnu”4,24,68

 

Bookmark 14:

Ramashastri: “Kautilya Arthashastra”, P.378

 

Bookmark 15:

“Vasant”;31;309

 

What led to the migration?

 

When and why for the Saurashtrians migrated from Saurashtra is a question. According to the traditional belief, the Saurashtrians went to Devagiri (Maharashtra) for the preservation of their Brahmin religion and culture, when Mohmed of Gazni invaded Somnath in 1024 A.D. There is no reason to disbelieve this traditional notion. Looking to the history of Saurashtra, two Muslim invasions have been prominent. One such invasion was led by Mohmed of Gazni who attacked Somnath (16 bookmark) in 1024A.D.. Another invasion was led by Allauddin Khilji who invaded Gujarat and Sorath in 1300 A.D. (17 bookmark). At the time of the invasion led by Mohmed, (18 bookmark) many people had fled from Prabhāspatan to Stambhatirtha (Cambay) and Bhrigutiratha (Broach) by Sea-route.

 

It is probable that these migrants might have stayed on their way in the Lāta region for some period. In Surat the industry of Silken cloth weaving is very old (as the Patolā industry is very old in Pātan.), and this is a special craft of these Saurashtrians. Therefore this relation can be presumed. They might have stayed at Bombay, Broach or Surat for some period, before they collectively migrated to devagiri. Some Pattavāyakas (Weavers of Silken cloth; compare, ‘Patavā’) from the Lāta region round about Surat had gone to Malava; this is referred to in an inscription at Mandsor. Therefore, it is probable that some groups of Saurashtrians might have stayed in the vicinity of Surat.

 

Shri Ratnamanirao believes that the Saurashtrians had not migrated from Saurashtra at the time of the invasion of Somnath by Gazni in 1024 A.D; according to him, they left this region when Allauddin invaded Gujarat and Saurashtra at the end of the thirteenth century. The invasion by Gazni was just like a whirlwind, but the invasion by Allauddin was on a larger scale, and political anarchy resulted in Saurashtra after the invasion by Allauddin. The invasion by Allauddin had led to the greatest period of migration in the history of migrations in Gujarat and Saurashtra, therefore Shri Ratnamanirao believes that these Saurashtrians went to and settled at Devagiri, after leaving Saurashtra about 1300 A.D. at the time of the invasion by Allauddin (19 bookmark).

 

 

 

Bookmark 16:

Ratnamanirao: “Somnath”L Chap.5. Munshi: “Somnath the Shrine

Eternal”: Chap, 10. Page 32.

 

Bookmark 17:

Munshi: “The Glory that was Gurjar Desha“: Vol. III, Page 223.

 

Bookmark 18:

K.M.Munshi has narrated the event in his historical novel ‘Jay Somnath.’.

 

Bookmark 19:

Ratnamanirao: “Dravida Deshanā Gujaārtio ane Saurashtri Brāhmano” (Prajābandhu Golden jubilee Number; Page 150); discussion in Readers’ Views in the issue of ‘Prajabandhu’ dated 29-1-1954.

 

But the traditional belief is that the Saurashtrians had migrated at the time of the invasion by Gazni, and there is no sufficient reason to disbelieve this traditional notion. It cannot be said that the invasion of Somnāth by Gazni was not of a very serious nature or that it was very superficial. The battle of Somnāth is considered as one of the fiercest battles in the history of Saurashtra. There is a legend that the weight of the sacred threads (janoi) found from the dead bodies of the valiant Hindu fighters on the seashore after the fall of Somnath amounted to one and a half mound. (20 bookmark). This battle was very fierce and devastating for the Brahmin religion and Brahmins; and it is probable that the Saurashtrians had left Saurashtra at the time of this invasion and they might have migrated to Devagiri (Maharashtra) via Lāta (South Gujarat).

 

There is no reference found in the history of Saurashtra as to when these Saurashtrians left Saurashtra. Likewise, the reference to the invasion on Somnath is not found in the writings of the contemporary Hindu writers. It is quite certain that the invasion by Gazni was very devastating for the Brahmins. The Saurashtrians who migrated at that time should have migrated from Prabhāspātan (Somnath) by Sea-route. The Saurashtrians had taken with them the industry of weaving silken cloth. In the original homeland of Saurashtra this industry has not remained very progressive thereafter. There are certain proofs of this industry being prevalent in old Saurashtra. ‘Chundadi’ (Saur.Junnadi) and ‘Bāndhani’ (Sau. ‘Bhandini’) used in the sense of the silken cloth designed for the female wear, are originally the words of Saurashtra. These words have been prevalent in other parts of the country thereafter because of this art being a speciality of the craft of the Saurashtrians. Prabhāskhanda prescribes the donation of yellow cloth. Kātyāyān Smriti notes that the Brahmins of Saurashtra were experts in the weaving of cloth (21 bookmark). Deval Smriti also supports this fact (22 bookmark). There are certain words of the Saurashtri language that are prevalent even to-day in the rural areas of Saurashtra (eg.the word ‘Velu’ in the sense of ‘sand’ ). Again the weaving of silken cloth has some vital connection with Saurashtra and Gujarat. The weavers of Silken cloth residing in South India or elsewhere speak in a dialect akin to the language of Saurashtra and Gujarat. At least, that much is certain that whatever technical terms about the tools and instruments etc. necessary in the craft of weaving are in usage belong originally to the language of Saurashtra and Gujarat (23 bookmark). This much evidence is sufficient to prove the intimate connection between the Southern Saurashtrians and Saurashtra and Gujarat. The exact location in Saurashtra where these Saurashtrians formerly resided is to be considered. The industry of weaving ‘Bāndhani’ is even to day found in Jamnagar and Jetpur in Saurashtra and this ‘Bāndhani’ is a speciality of these Saurashtrians. This might lead us to believe that their original place in Saurashtra was Jamnagar or Hālār. But Sorath (South Saurashtra) rather than Hālār or Jamnagar seems to be their original place. Their ‘Baulās’ clearly refers to Sorath being their homeland.

 

At present there are Girnara Brahmins in Sorath; their reference is found in the Prabhāskhanda; it is probable that the Saurashtrians are somehow related to these Girnārā Brahmins. It is significant that Prabhāskhanda refers to the region in Sorath where these Girnara Brahmins are residing as ‘Vastrāpath.’ (24 bookmark). There are 64 Gotras of Girnara Brahmins (25 bookmark); similarly 64 Gotras are found in Saurashtri Brahmins (26 bookmark). Taking into consideration all these things, it seems probable that there might have been some intimate connection of these Saurashtrians with the Girnārā Brahmins of Sorath. (27 bookmark).

 

Bookmark 20:

Shri.Harkant Shukla has noted this legend in a historical article published in an issue of the ‘Saurashtra’ (1958). Such legends are also current for many other battles. This is a traditional way for emphasizing the fierceness of the battle.

 

Bookmark 21:

(Scanned Image)

.

 

Bookmark 22:

“Devala Dharmashastra”, Page 9.

 

Bookmark 23:

“The Imperial Gazetteer of India”: Vol.3, Page 209.

 

Bookmark 24:

“Prabhās Khanda”; “Vastrāpāthkshetra Māhātmya”

 

Bookmark 25:

“Prabhās Khanda”; “Girnārāyana Brāhmanopatti.”

 

Bookmark 26:

“Gotra Kānda” (64 Gotras of the Saurashtrians); 1951.

 

Bookmark 27:

Shri.J.M.Venkatram Shastri has put forth this idea in his Tamil work “Shriman Saurashtra Charitra Sangrahm” (Page 21).

 

 

Migration to Devagiri:

 

The Saurashtrians might have migrated to Devagiri during the eleventh century, or, according to the opinion of Shri Ratnamanirao, they might have stayed at Devagiri about 1300 A.D.. There is some other evidence that is likely to support the belief put forward by Shri Ratnamanirao. The Yadavas of Devagiri (28 bookmark) had given protection to Karana, king of Gujarat, and his daughter Devaladevi; similarly, the Yadavas might have given refuge to this community of silk-cloth weavers from Saurashtra. The Saurashtrians might have gone to Devagiri in the eleventh century or in the end of the thirteenth century, but it is quite certain that they had stayed for a longer period at Devagiri (Modern Daulatābad) in the Mahārāshtra region. It is probable that the Yadava kings gave refuge to them because of their special craft of silk-cloth weaving. The kingdom of Devagiri was very prosperous in the twelfth century. The Marathi words are found in abundance in the Saurashtri language. The female dress of the Saurashtrians (particularly the ‘Kutcho’ style of the dress of married Saurashtri women) shows the Marathi influence. As in Marathi, the words ‘Navro’ and ‘Navri’ used in Saurashtri, mean ‘bridegroom’ and ‘bride’ respectively. Similar Marathi influence is seen to a considerable extent on the Saurashtri language and social customs. There from it is presumed that they might have stayed at Devagiri for one or two centuries. One or two Marathi scholars have shown their belief that these Saurashtrians, after coming over to Maharashtra left their Saurashtri language completely, adopted the Marathi language fully and they went to Vijayanagar, taking with them this Marathi language, which was wrongly known by them as Saurashtri language (29 bookmark). This belief has been propounded also by two Marathi scholars, Shri Karve and Shri Chinchalkar (30 bookmark). It is certain that the Saurashtrians had their stay in the Marathi region at least for a century or so. The army of Shankar, the son of Yadav king Ramchandra of Devagiri, was defeated in the battle against the army of Allauddin about 1300 A.D.. In the treaty that was signed thereafter it was laid down that pearls, silver and 4,000 thāns of silken cloth etc. were to be given to Allauddin by the ruler of Devagiri (31 bookmark). From this it may be inferred that there should have been a well-established industry of silk-cloth weaving at Devagiri. The weaving community residing at present in and around Devagiri speak a dialect akin to the Saurashtri language. The Saurashtrians might have further migrated from Devagiri to Vijayanagar because of the Muslim invasion. This might have occurred in the fourteenth century. The Saurashtrians were usually giving silken clothes to a considerable extent to the temple of Goddess Laksmi of Devagiri, on the Dipāvali day every year. But on one Dipāvali-day they could not give the prescribed quota of silken clothes. Therefore the Goddess Laksmi was enraged, and the Saurashtrians were cursed by the Goddess. Consequently they had to leave Davagiri. This legend has been prevalent among the Saurashtrians (32 bookmark). According to another legend, (33 bookmark), Saurashtrians are the sons of a Muni called Tantuvardhan. Tantuvardhan (34 bookmark) was a Manasa-putra (Child of the mind, a mental creation) of Brahmā, and he had married Kusumakelikā, the daughter of the Sun on the day of the Ratha-saptami. Kusmakelikā brought with her from heaven the seed of ‘Karpas’ (cotton). This seed was sown on the earth, and there from the sowing of and the weaving of cotton commenced forthwith. (This legend might have originated from the relation existing between the Sun and the requisite temperature required for the growth of cotton). According to this legend, the Saurashtrians are the children of Tantuvardhan and Kusumkelikā. Putting aside the legend of the curse of the Goddess, Laksmi, it may be presumed that the invasion of the Muslims was made on Devagiri, as it was formerly made on Somanath; therefore during fourteenth century the Saurashtrians left Devagiri and migrated to Vijaynagar. The weaving of silken cloth requires a specific type of climate and inhabitation. The royal patronage bestows certain facilities. These two considerations might have been responsible for the migration; yet the main factor leading to migration seems to have been the invasion by the Muslims. Whenever the Muslims had invaded, the Saurashtrians have migrated. They seem to have wandered from place to place for protecting their Brahmin religion and for living a peaceful life. But as the ill luck would have it, wherever they have gone, the Muslims have invaded their place of residence invariably within a century or two and their caravans have again marched on. At last they have established at Madurai. Saurashtra, Devagiri, Vijaynagar-from these places they had to migrate because of the Muslim invasions. They fall of the Hindu kingdom of Vijaynagar was due to the attack by Muslims; therefore they had to go to Madurai. Again in Madurai, within a certain period when the Muslim population increased to a considerable extent, they were harassed by the Muslims. They organized themselves against this harassment and at last they were able to live peacefully at Madurai.

 

 

Bookmark 28:

“Tarikh-e-Firishtā” (ed.Briggs) Page 365.

 

Bookmark 29:

A Saurashtri Barrister has quoted this opinion orally. Kakasaheb Kalelkar had shown some interest in the Saurashtri language and culture before some years and had sought some relevant information from his friends residing at Madurai. Kakasaheb has presented similar view in an article published in the July issue (Page 209) of “Gujarat Sanshodhan Mandal Traimasik” (1954).

 

Bookmark 30:

“Madurechi Saurāshtri”, an article in the Dipotsavi issue of the Marathi Journal ‘Prasād’ (samvat 2009) by Shri.Karve and the view presented by Shri.Chinchalkar in the following issue of the Journal. (I am indebted to Prof.D.N.Pandit of M.P.Shah Arts and Science College, Surendranagar for making these references available to me.)

 

Bookmark 31:

Dr.Bhandarkar: “Dakshinano pUrva Samayano itihAsa” (translation), (Page 178).

 

Bookmark 32:

M.A.Stuart: “Manual of the north Arcot District”

 

Bookmark 33:

K.R.R.Shastri: “The Madura Saurashtra Community;” Chap.2

 

Bookmark 34:

“Brahmakhanda Purāna”: Purvokti: Khanda-1.

 

Stay at Vijaynagar:

 

After Devagiri, the Saurashtrians seem to have stayed at Vijaynagar from the fourteenth century to the later half of the sixteenth century. In 1311 A.D. they left Devagiri and went to Vijaynagar and there from - in the memory of that exodus - they seem to have decided to establish a new era called Saurashtra Vijay Samvat; or it may be probable that they might have adopted, as Saurashtra Samvat or Saurashtra Vijaya Samvat, the Vijayabda or Vijaynagar era beginning from 1312 A.D. Vijaynagar was a very prosperous kingdom about 1346 A.D (35 bookmark). It was a sure and safe place for the followers of the Hindu religion. There was less danger of the Muslim invasion. As the silken clothes were very popular in the royal harems, the kings were giving impetus to the industry of silken-cloth weaving. Therefore obtaining the royal patronage at Vijaynagar, the Saurashtrians who migrated from Devagiri stabilized at Vijaynagar. On their way they might have stayed in some Kannad - speaking areas. They stayed at Vijaynagar for about two centuries. Therefore the impact of the Telugu language on the Saurashtri language is very deep. Some Saurashtrian men of learning have written their works in Telugu. Again the Telugu script has been well utilized for writing the Saurashtri speech. Telugu influence is found in their festivals and social customs also. The fall of Vijaynagar occurred in 1565 A.D. Thereafter the Saurashtrians seem to have gone to Madurai. They seem to have stayed in the Telugu speaking area of Vijaynagar during the period from 1346 A.D. to 1565 A.D. From the glimpses of the glory of Vijaynagar, it is found that there was the industry of cotton and silken cloth weaving in a developed state at Vijaynagar (36 bookmark).

 

Bookmark 35:

R.Sewell: “A forgotten Empire”, P.384.

 

Bookmark 36:

R.Sewell: “A forgotten Empire”; K.M.Pannikar: “A survey of Indian History,” Page 173.

 

Bookmark 37:

“The Mysore Census Report”; 1891; “The Mysore Tribes,” P.474.

 

Bookmark 38:

J.H.Nelson; “Madura Manual”, Page 87.

 

 

Stabilisation at Madurai:

 

The fall of Vijaynagar occurred in 1565 A.D. There from very large groups of Saurashtrians stabilized at Madurai. They stayed in other places in South India also. It is said that Hyder Ali took some Saurashtri families to Mysore. (37 bookmark). The Saurashtrians are staying in 46 places in South India. But their greatest group (75,000 persons) is staying in Madurai and they have settled there about 1565. The Nāyak kings of Madurai were feudatories of the kings of Vijaynagar. Therefore the Nayak kings of Madurai have given refuge to the Saurashtrians after the fall of Vijaynagar. The illustrious king of Madurai, Tirumal Nayak (38 bookmark) (1623-1659) had given refuge to the Saurashtrians. Tirumal Nayak had enriched the famous Minākshi temple of Madurai. His royal palace is even to day considered a unique specimen of ancient architecture. He had built the famous lake of Madurai called Vandiyur Teppakulam. The Saurashtrians have resided in Madurai and the area beginning from the southern gate of the Meenākshi temple and ending at the royal palace of king Tirumal Nāyak. Their residence near the royal palace shows royal patronage and favour. Some of their customs have been influenced by the customs prevalent in the royal families. E.g., There was a custom of arranging dramatic shows for entertainment at the time of the marriage ceremony in the royal families of Vijaynagar and Madurai. The Saurashtrians have adopted this custom from them. Their residence in Madurai is in the southern direction. Wherever they have stayed, they have preferred the southern direction. It is their favorite direction. It must be their religious belief; or it must have been preferred because the Muslim invaders were least likely to come from that direction. They stay in Madurai has been in the area in the southern direction. In Vijaynagar, Devagiri and Prabhas, they always stayed in the southern parts of the city. In the unknown land of Madurai, they could stabilize themselves, because of the royal patronage, their speciality of silk craft, industrious nature and harmless mode of living.

 

During their stay at Madurai, the Tamil Brahmins have always taken objections to the Saurashtrians being called Brahmins. In the seventeenth century, when there was the rule of Queen Mangammā (1689-1705) in Madurai, such an incident had taken place. The complete picture of the incident can be obtained from the letter of authority (Shāsanpatra or Abhayapradān) given by her to Saurashtrians in Shālivahan year 1627. The Authority letter is as follows (39 bookmark):

 

Bookmark 39:

The original letter of Authority (shAsanpatra) is written on palm leaves, and it is rendered in Telugu language. At present it is in the possession of the Saurashtrians of Trichi. It was shown formerly to the census officer of the government. Here the abbreviated account is given on the basis of the Tamil translation (of the original) preserved by the Saurashtra Sabha of Madurai.

 

In Madurai, in the Avani month of the Parthiva year, when Saurashtri Brahmins were returning to the city from the river-side, after performing their sacred thread rite according to the Brahmin religion code, Shri Jyotishi Venkatrengiya Guru, a fort officer of Madurai, caught hold of some 18 Saurashtri Brahmins and sent them for punishment to Trichi before the Queen Mangammā. The officer said that these people were not Brahmins, and yet they were performing the religious rites of Brahmins; therefore they should be punished properly. Due to this complaint, Queen Mangammā called for Pāpanna Somayāji and other prominent citizens and convened a conference of nine Acharyas (or religious heads). The conference of these nine Acharyas met at the temple of Raghunandan Swami. They heard both the sides-the accused as well as the defendant. The evidence from the Shāstras, Smritis and Purānas was considered. Thereafter it was decided that they were Brahmins originally belonging to the Saurashtra region and they were having the occupation of weaving and sale of cotton cloth. There was a possibility of change in the occupation of Brahmins in accordance with the change of situation, times and places. Relying on this decision of the conference of these Acharyas, the Queen Mangammā gave this letter of Authority (Jaypatrikā or Shāsanpatrikā) to the Saurashtri Brahmins and the right of performing religious rites of the Brahmins was upheld and sanctioned by her. This order of the Government is written by Dinācharya Venkatpeti, it bears the impression of the royal seal of the Queen Mangammā, and 26 Acharyas, men of learning and officers are the signatories of the order.

 

After coming over to Madurai, their Saurashtri language has been influenced considerably by the Tamil language. Some Saurashtri works have been written in Tamil script. The climate of Madurai proved very suitable for the weaving and the colour printing of silk-cloth. The water of the river Vaigai of Madurai has been particularly suitable for cloth printing work. Madurai is well known for its grand temple of Meenākshi and for its religious festivals continuously going on throughout the year. The silken cloth of Madurai was exported even up to the Roman kingdom. The Roman beauties (40 bookmark) gave fancy prices for the diamonds and silken cloth of south India. Some ancient Roman coins (41 bookmark) have been found from the riverbed of the Vaigai at Madurai. It proves the ancient relation of a commercial nature between Madurai (South India) and the Roman Empire.

 

Thus from 1024 A.D. to this day, there have been the migrations of the Saurashtrians, in the following order: Saurashtra, Devagiri, Vijaynagar and Madurai.

 

Bookmark 40:

K.V.Subrahmanyam; “Historical Sketches of ancient Deccan”: Page-84.

 

Bookmark 41:

An address in honour of Shri.Krishnakumarsinhji, King of Bhavnagar (The then governor of Madras), presented by the Saurashtrians of Madurai in 1949.

 

A different version of a “Baulas”:

 

The account of the migrations as given above is in conformity with the conventional version of the ‘Baulas’ that is preserved up to this day. So far the ‘Baulās’ has been given in an abridged form. The work “Saurashtri Brahman Charitram” (1914) enlists the gotras of the Saurashtri Brahmins and it also renders an original version of the “Baulās”, which is different from the conventional version. So far the reference to this different version has not been made elsewhere.

 

The “Baulas” prescribes the Gotra-recital in this way:

 

(Scanned image)

(Our Gotra is Mautkalya Gotra; our village is Garuda. Our vān is pammvān. Our Rishis are Angiras, Bhaumyās and Mautkalya. Our constellation is Asvhini. Our conveyance is the horse. Our tree is Mushindi. Our bird is Rajali, Our Veda is Yajurvdea, Our community is Brahmin. Our caste is Saurashtra Smarta Madhva caste. The names of our forefathers are [here the names of three generations are spoken].)

 

Before this Gotra-recital, a brief resume of the migrations of the Saurashtrians is given as “Baulās” or “Boulās” or “Bakulvās”; this “Baulāsa”, in accordance with the version given by “Saurashtra Brahman Charitram” is as follows (42 bookmark):

.

 

Bookmark 42:

“Saurashtra Brahman Charitram”, Page 15.

 

(Scanned image)

 

(Welcome, relatives, please take your seats. Please take sandalwood, flowers, betel leaves, betel nuts, roll of betel leaves. Please recite your Baulās. We are reciting our Baulās. Please pay attention. Our first place was Devagiri meaning thereby Saurashtra Desha. Thereafter we came to Somapuri. After staying at Somapuri we came to Nāgardesha. From Nāgardesha we came to Vijaynagar. After staying at Vijaynagar we came, via Setu to Madurai and such other places, and now we have settled here.”)

According to this version of the Baulās, the order of migrations has been as follows: Devagiri (which is situated in Saurashtra), Somapuri, Nāgardesha, Vijaynagar, Setu (Rameshvar) and Madurai. The reference of Devagiri being situated in Saurashtra may be due to a mistaken notion of geography; or Devagiri might not mean Daulatabad (Maharashtra), but it might be referring to Girinagar (Junagadh) in Sorath. There is a possibility of some geographical error on the part of the author of “Brahman Charitram” (Geography does not seem to be their strong point). Does Nagardesh refer to South Gujarat area round about Surat or Lāta? In ancient times, Lata was called Nāgardesh (43 bookmark). The real order of migrations should have been: Somapuri (Somnath, Saurashtra), Nāgardesh (Lāta; Surat), Devagiri (Daulatabad), Vijaynagar and Madurai. Some of the place names given in the Gotrakānd are as follows; Garudam, Jambugam, Jitram, Dharmapuri, Aroham, Chitrashala, Meghavarna, Godipuram, Bellur, Gurushala, Hemagiri, Vrishabham, Pummeru, Vitalam, Gurjar, Kashi (Kāshi), Shringaram, Vaitaniya, Rishabha, Bhandaram, Laksham, Jagannath, Ghanapattan, Hundapuram, Sheshadi, Arjunam, Kokilam, Gitadri, Chandra Shalavanam, Uttaradivanam, Indragovanam, Katpovanam etc.

 

Bookmark 43:

Munshi: “Gujarat and its Literature”

 

 

The Inscription at Mandsor:

 

Sometimes the inscription at Mandsor (44 Bookmark) is referred to as regards the history of the Saurashtrians. Mandsor is a village situated in the western part of Malwa and its ancient name is Dashapur. The inscription is of the year 437-8 A.D. Its author is Vatsabhatti. His poetic faculty is considered to be of an average category by Dr.Buhler. Vatsabhatti is more of a scholar than a poet. For composition of this inscription, the community of Pattavāyas (weavers) might have given him a handsome gift. He has praised this community considerably. The summary of the inscription at Mandsor is as follows:

 

“When a woman has reached her youth, she is beautiful, she has a garland of flowers around her neck, she holds flowers and betel leaves in her hands, but she will not go to meet her lover unless she has worn a silken saree on her self (45 bookmark). The Pattavāyakas (the weavers), makers of these silken cloth have come to Dashapur from Lāta and they have covered and beautified this land (Malwa) with the silken clothes, which are of various colours, full of happy soft touch and captivating our eyes. These pattavāyakas thought that like the ear flower worn by the Apsarās (damsels of heaven) fallen on earth, the wealth of the people is unsteady, fickle and may vanish at any time. Whatever wealth is amassed, it is sooner or later to be perished. Thinking this, Pattavāyakas have made a very wise decision. When Bandhuvarmā, the son of Governor Vishvavarmā, was the Governor at Dashapura in the reign of Kumargupta, this association of the pattavāyakas has donated its valuable wealth earned by it for constructing a grand, incomparable, sky-high temple of the Sun. This temple was donated on the thirteenth day of the Shukla (bright) fortnight of the Sahasya month in the Malav Samvat year 493. But after the reign of several kings for a certain period, when the temple became old, the noble pattavāyakas, in order to enhance the glory of their community, renovated this temple completely, on the second day of the Shukla (bright) fortnight of the Sahasya month in the year 529. May God bless them, the composer of this inscription, the sculptor of this inscription, the reader and the hearer of the inscription!”

 

 

Bookmark 44:

Fleet: “Gupta Inscriptions”: No.18; “Selected Inscriptions.” (Vol.I., Dr.Sircar), Pages 288-297.

 

Bookmark 45:

The lighter silken cloth fluttering in air is an attractive sight of beauty; even to-day, “chhedlo ude pavanamān” (a poem by Shri.Umashanker Joshi) and “Merā Lal dupattā malmalkā havāmen udatā jāye” (a cinema song) are depicting this beautiful sight.

 

Some scholars believe (46 bookmark) that the Saurashtrians of the Southern India are related to the Pattavāykas (the weavers of the silken cloth), who are mentioned in this inscription. Some scholars believe that originally these Pattavāyakas were of the same origin, but one group of them went to Malwā, while the other group went to the south. The Pattavāyakas that are referred to in the Mandsor inscription had migrated from Lāta to Malvā. Surat in Lāta was the center of silk-cloth weaving; therefore from this inscription it may be presumed that a community adept in the silk cloth industry was staying in Mālvā in the fifth century A.D. As some Pattavāyakas from Lāta went to Mālvā in the fifth century, similarly some other Pattavāyakas from Lāta went to south India, at a later date. Some scholars are not inclined to see any connection between the Southern Saurashtrians and the Pattavāyakas that are referred to in the Mandsor inscription. One of the reasons for maintaining this belief is that the inscription does not refer specifically to the Saurashtrians. Secondly, the Saurashtri language does not seem to be the language of the fifth century. Thirdly, the word “Patwā” may be derived from the word “Pattavāyak”, but it cannot be connected with the Tamil word “Patnulkāran”. Against this, there are certain factors, which lead us to infer some connection between the Saurashtrians of south India and the Pattavāyakas of Mandsor. Both the communities are adept in the art of silk-cloth weaving. As the Pattavāyakas of Mandsor have built a temple of the Sun, they seem to be Sun-worshippers. Some Saurashtri men of learning derive the word “Saurashtra” from “Saurarashtra” (“Saur” means ‘Surya’ or the sun (47 bookmark)) (This etymology also seems to be a mere fancy.) and therefore believe that Saurashtrians are sun-worshippers.

 

Bookmark 46:

Dr.H.N.Randle: “The Saurashtrians of South India”; Page 24.

 

Bookmark 47:

If the word “Saurāshtra” is derived from “Saurarāshtra” the relation with the Sun and Sun-worship is indicated therefrom.

 

The Saurashtrians divide their society in four classes. A leading class of these is the ‘Saulin’ class. The word ‘Saulin’ may be derived from the word ‘saul’ or ‘saur’ (meaning the ‘sun’). Thus the sun worship may be common to both. The community at Mandsor has been named ‘Pattavāyaka’, while that of the southern Saurashtrians is called ‘Patnulkāran’ (a Tamil word). Both the words mean the weavers of the silk cloth. Both of them are migrants. One community went from Lāta to Mālvā and the other migrated from Saurashtra to Madurai, Via Devagiri and Vijaynagar. Considering all these factors it cannot be established categorically that the Pattavāyakas of Mandsor are the Saurashtrians. But it is possible that both of them came from Saurashtra via Lāta at different times and originally they might be of the same stock. Those who went to the north adopted the Aryan language and culture, which were akin to their own; but those who went to the south, because of their pride for the homeland of Saurashtra, and in order to maintain their specific individuality which was quite different from the Dravid language and culture, did not allow their own language and culture being vanished. It is possible that both the communities are originated from the same stock. One allowed its Saurashtri language being lost in an Aryan land; another preserved their Saurashtri language and culture in the Dravid land. The inscription of Mandsor is of the 5th century and the Saurashtrians seen to have gone to Devagiri from Saurashtra in 11th century. Therefore, it cannot be said that some Saurashtrians went to Malwa from Devagiri. The well-known historian Shri Ratnamanirao believes that the Pattavāyakas of Mandasor have no relation to the Saurashtrians of south India. Yet the resemblance between the two is remarkable.

 

In this way, we can give an account of the migrations of the Saurashtrians, on the basis of the Baulās recital at the marriage ceremony, the Mandsor inscription, the Smritis (48 bookmark) and other relevant material.

 

Bookmark 48:

“Kātyayana Dharmashāshtra”, Chap.11.

“Deval Dharmashāshtra”, Chap. 9.

 

/images/graemlins/smile.gif Om Namah Shivaya

/images/graemlins/smile.gif Om Namo Venkatesaya