The Teachings of Yamarāja: Lament of the Widowed Queens
Yoga Blueprint
This pithy story, which contains a fable within it, illustrates the futility of grieving for a deceased loved one, given that the body is still present, while the soul had never been perceived in the first place. The teachings also stress the importance of accepting one’s karma.
Book VII, Chapter 2
27. People recite this ancient legend (itihāsa); it involves a conversation between Yama and the relatives of a dead person. Please listen to it.
28. There was a renowned king called Suyajña in a kingdom called Uśīnara, who was killed by his enemies in battle. His relatives gathered round his body.
29. His jewel-laden armor was shattered, and his garland and ornaments were in disarray. He was lying covered in blood, his heart pierced by arrows.
30. His hair was scattered, his eyes glazed, and his lip bitten in fury. His lotus face was darkened with dust and his arms and weapons had been severed in the battle.
31. The lord of the Uśīnara kingdom had been reduced to this state by Fate. His queens were distraught upon seeing him. “Our lord has been killed,” they said. Beating their chests forcefully with their fists again and again, they fell at the feet of the king.
32. Crying loudly, the poor queens bathed his lotus feet with their tears, reddened with the kuṅkuma powder from their breasts, their ornaments and hair in disarray. They wailed, invoking people’s pity by their laments.
33. “Aho! O lord, you have been taken away from our sight by cruel Fate. You, who were previously the maintainer of the citizens of Uśīnara, have now been reduced to the source of their lamentation.
34. How will we exist without you, our dear friend and guide, O great king? Tell us the means of following your steps, O hero, to wherever you will go. We are your faithful servants.”
35. The queens, embracing their husband and lamenting in this way, were resisting carrying away the dead body; then the sun finished setting.
36. After hearing such lamentation by the relatives of the dead man, Yama, the god of death, assumed the form of a young [orphan] boy and personally came there. He addressed the queens.
37. Śrī Yama said:
“Aho! Just see the bewilderment of these queens who are mature in age, even though they know the laws of nature. These queens lament uselessly, even though they themselves are bound by the same rules. This dead man has gone back to wherever he came.
38. Aho! We ourselves are most fortunate, because even though we were abandoned by our parents, we are not in anxiety. Even though we are weak, we have not been devoured by wolves and wild animals. That Being who protects us in the womb, will protect us now.
39. Out of His desire, that imperishable Lord creates this universe, and He protects and dissolves it. They say that this is the play of that Lord, O women! He is the Controller in the coming together and dissolution of moving and non-moving beings.
40. In some cases, even if fallen by the roadside, one lives when protected by Fate, in others, even if safely situated at home, one meets destruction when neglected by Fate. An orphan in the jungle survives when protected by Fate, while one secure at home does not live when struck by Fate.
41. Without exception, living bodies appear and then disappear in time in accordance with their respective karma and particular births. Although embedded in prakṛti, the ātman is completely different, and is not actually bound by its guṇas.
42. This body made of material elements is produced by illusion and is different from the puruṣa, just as a person is different from a house made of earth, water, and fire. A person is born, undergoes some changes, and then dies in due course of time.
43. Just as fire manifests in pieces of wood but is different from them; and just as air enters the body but exists distinct from it; and just as the sky, which is omnipresent, is not tainted by anything; so a being, who is the support of all the guṇas is yet transcendent to them.
44. O foolish people! That Suyajña for whom you lament still lies here. But [the consciousness of] the one who was the hearer and the responder was never perceived in the first place.1
45. The primary life air in the body, even though essential, is also not the hearer or responder. It is the ātman who is the possessor of the senses, and it is different from the body and life airs.
46. By its own potency, the omnipresent ātman possesses bodies in higher and lower births characterized by mind, senses, and material elements but yet is different from them.
47. For as long as the ātman is connected with the subtle body, it is bound by karma. As a result, it is subject to error, defects (kleśas), and the influence of māyā.
48. This ego, which perceives and speaks of objects in the guṇas, is illusory. It is like a dream, which is a mental concoction. All things made of the material elements are false.
49. Those who understand the truth do not lament for anything in this world, whether permanent or impermanent. But the nature of those who lament is to say, ‘It is not possible to do anything other than lament.’
50. Once upon a time, some hunter—the harbinger of death to birds—spread out his nets and placed them about in the forest, setting bait here and there.
51. He saw a pair of kuliṅga birds wandering about there. The female one of them was suddenly allured by the hunter.
52. She became trapped, O queens, bound by Fate in the cords of the net. The male kuliṅga bird, seeing her fallen into this calamity, was greatly aggrieved out of affection. Unable to do anything, the poor thing lamented for his poor mate:
53. ‘Aho! Fate is cruel. What will the Supreme Lord do with me, an unfortunate soul, and with my poor wife who is so kind she is lamenting for me?
54. Let Fate take me as it pleases. What is the use of living miserably with only half of myself? There will only be suffering from such a bereaved life.
55. My poor offspring are awaiting me in the nest. How will I maintain the chicks, whose wings have not yet grown, now they have been bereft of their mother?’
56. Propelled by the Time factor, the hunter had hidden nearby. While the kuliṅga bird was lamenting in this way, its throat choked up with tears due to being afflicted by this separation from its beloved, the fowler pierced it with an arrow.
57. In the same way, you queens will not get your husband back even if you lament for hundreds of years; meanwhile you are foolishly not perceiving your own imminent death.”
58. While the young boy was discoursing in this way, all the relatives’ minds were struck with astonishment. They realized that everything is temporary and situated in unreality.
59. After Yama had imparted these instructions, he disappeared from there. Then the relatives of King Suyajña performed the funerary ceremonials.
60. Therefore, free from bodily ignorance in the form of clinging (abhiniveśa2) to notions of self and other—such as “Who am I and who is other?” or “What is mine, here, and what belongs to others?”—you should not lament for your own body or anyone else’s.
The Tale of Child Prahlāda: Viṣṇu Protects His Bhaktas
Yoga Blueprint
The story of Prahlāda is one of the best-known bhakta stories in Hinduism. As with Dhruva, Prahlāda was a child bhakta, in addition to which he was born into a family of asuras (demons). This once again underscores the principle that neither age nor birth nor any other factor disqualifies one from the path of bhakti. In fact, the text selects Prahlāda to formally articulate the nine practices that form the core of vaidhī bhakti discussed in part 1. Significant here is Prahlāda advising his fellow boy students not to fritter away even a moment of human life, but to start thinking about the purpose of life even as children.
We find here another example of the Bhāgavata’s disinterest in the standard goal of yoga—realization of the ātman (VII.6.25), not to mention any sort of more mundane blessings, even if offered by Viṣṇu himself (VII.9.55). But we find in this passage, too, a second reason Prahlāda is disinterested in liberation. We know that one of the Bhāgavata’s repeated subthemes is the promotion of immersing the mind in Īśvara as being far more blissful than awareness being absorbed in its own nature, which is why bhaktas reject the standard goals of yoga. But Prahlāda expresses disinterest in liberation not just because of the greater experience of bliss for oneself, but because it entails abandoning other living entities to suffer in saṁsāra (VII.9.44). In this, he exemplifies an attitude often associated with the Boddhisattva in Buddhism. Of significance, too, is that the passage makes a dismissive comment about those who teach and perform the various activities associated with yoga and the like simply to make a living.
[This narrative is recounted to King Yuddhiṣṭhira by sage Nārada.]
Book VII, Chapter 4
30. Hiraṇyakaśipu had four very wonderful sons. On account of his qualities, Prahlāda was the greatest of these. He was a worshipper of the Supreme.
31. He was devoted to the brāhmaṇas, endowed with good character, committed to Truth, had controlled senses, and acted as the well-wisher and best friend to all beings, as if they were his own self.
32. Toward Āryans (cultured people) he was dutiful, like a servant; toward the needy, he was kind, like a father; toward equals, he was affectionate, like a brother; and toward teachers, he had a respectful attitude. Although he was blessed with learning, wealth, beauty, and good birth, he was without any sense of pride or arrogance.
33. His mind was not disturbed in calamities, and he was free of cravings—both of things he had experienced and of those he had heard about—as he perceived the ephemeral nature of the guṇas that produce them. His senses, life air, body, and intelligence were always controlled and his desires appeased. Although an asura, demon [by birth], he did not possess [the qualities] of the asuras.
34. The great qualities found in Prahlāda are constantly being glorified by poets—they have not been forgotten [by Time] even up to today—just as is the case with the qualities of Bhagavān, Īśvara.
35. Even the sūras, celestials, who are enemies [of Prahlāda’s lineage of asuras], pay homage to him, O king—not to mention others such as your good self.
36. He had innate devotion for Bhagavān Vāsudeva. From his innumerable qualities, this much alone is enough to indicate his greatness.
37. As a child, he was not interested in toys, and acted like a simpleton, on account of his mind being absorbed in God. His mind appeared possessed [as if] by the planet Kṛṣṇa,3 and so he did not perceive the world as it is conventionally perceived.
38. While sitting, wandering about, eating, lying down, drinking, and eating, he was not consciously planning these [activities], as he was in the embrace of Govinda [Kṛṣṇa].
39. Sometimes his mind would become pervaded by anxiety for Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, and he would cry. Sometimes he would laugh from joy at thoughts of Him, and sometimes he would burst into song.
40. Sometimes he would yell at the top of his voice, sometimes he would dance without shame. At other times, his mind fixed on Kṛṣṇa, he identified with Him so much that he imitated His activities.
41. Sometimes he remained silent, his hair standing on end in ecstasy. At such times, experiencing bliss from contact with the Lord, his eyes filled with tears of joy and love and remained fixed and unblinking.
42. Continuously radiating with internal ecstasy attained through service to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu and through the association of devotees who desire nothing for themselves, Prahlāda bestowed peace of mind on those who were miserable due to keeping bad company.
43. Hiraṇyakaśipū inflicted violence on Prahlāda, his own son, who was a great illustrious soul and bhāgavata devotee.
44. Śrī Yuddhiṣṭhīra said:
“O celestial sage! We wish to understand from you, who are true to your vows, how the father inflicted harm on his own son, a pure saddhu (saint).
45. Fathers are affectionate to their own sons, and only reproach them if they are disobedient with the goal of imparting a lesson—never to harm them as if they were an enemy!
46. This should be all the more so for obedient saintly sons like Prahlāda, who respect their teachers as gods, O master. Please dispel this curiosity of mine, O brāhmaṇa: What animosity impelled a father to take the life of a son?”
Book VII, Chapter 5
1. Śrī Nārada replied:
“The great Kāvya (Śukrācārya) was selected by the asuras (demons) as the chief priest (purohita). His two sons, Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, lived near the palace of the daitya (demon)4 king.
2. They instructed various courses of learning to the boy Prahlāda, who was already well behaved. Along with other young asura boys, Prahlāda had been entrusted to them by the king.
3. Whatever was taught by the teacher there, Prahlāda heard and repeated, but in reality he did not accept the teachings in his mind, as they were grounded in the illusion of ‘mine’ and ‘other.’5
4. One day, O son of Pāṇḍu, the king of the asuras seated his son on his lap, and asked: ‘Tell me what you think is good, my son.’
5. Śrī Prahlāda said:
‘The minds of embodied beings are beset with anxieties because of being captured by illusion, O best of the asuras. What I think is good is that they renounce the blind well of the household,6 which causes the downfall of the soul, and go to the forest, where they can take shelter of Hari.’”
6. Śrī Nārada said:
“When he heard the words of his son, which resonated with those of the enemy [the sūras, celestials, who are favorable to Viṣṇu] the daitya laughed: ‘The minds of the boys have been influenced by the views of the enemy.
7. The boy should be kept apart in the house of the guru, so that his intelligence does not become influenced by brāhmaṇas favorable to Viṣṇu from the other side in disguise.’
8. When Prahlāda had been brought back to their home, the daitya’s priests summoned him and flattered him with slippery words. Then they asked in reassuring tones:
9. ‘Prahlāda, dear boy! May you be blessed! Now, speak truthfully, do not tell lies: From where did this misguided idea come to you? It is beyond the normal comprehension of young boys.
10. O joy of your lineage, has this disturbance in your understanding been caused by someone else, or was it just spontaneous? Tell us—we your teachers are eager to hear.’
11. Śrī Prahlāda said:
‘Reverence to that Bhāgavan, by whose māyā the false conception of “mine” and “other” manifests in people. It is seen in those who have deluded intelligence.
12. This beastlike understanding of “that person is different from me, and I am different from him” is destroyed when He is favorably disposed to people. It is a false understanding, a petty attitude that makes distinctions.
13. It is Bhāgavan who has “disturbed my understanding.” He is actually the ātman, which is misperceived because of false understanding of “mine” and “other.” His ways are unfathomable—the reciters of the Vedas and all beings from Brahmā down are bewildered about his ways.
14. Just as iron moves itself when in the vicinity of a magnet, O brāhmaṇa, so in the same way my consciousness is disturbed according to the will of Viṣṇu, the wielder of the cakra discus.’”
15. Śrī Nārada said:
“After speaking these words to the brāhmaṇa, the high-minded Prahlāda fell silent. Then that wretched servant of the king, furious, threatened him:
16. ‘You are bringing disrepute to us. The fourth method, punishment,7 has been prescribed in the sacred texts for a fool who acts like a firebrand in the family lineage. Bring us the rod!
17. This boy is like a thorn tree born in the forest of sandalwood of the daityas. He is the handle of the axe of Viṣṇu who [wishes] to fell us at the roots.’
18. In this way the demon brāhmaṇa intimidated Prahlāda through threats and various other such means. Then he made him learn the philosophy behind the first three goals of life (righteousness, material well-being, and sense gratification).8
19. After this, the teacher ensured that the boy learned the fourfold things to be known [by kings—namely, pacification, bribery, divide and rule, and punishment]. He then brought him forward, washed and decorated by his mother, to the daitya king once again.
20. Prahlāda bent low at his feet, and the asura welcomed the boy with blessings. Embracing him for a long time with his arms, the king felt intense pleasure.
21. Seating upon his lap his son whose face was beaming, he kissed his head, wetting it with his tear drops. Then he spoke as follows to his son.
22. Hiraṇyakaśipu said:
‘O Prahlāda, my son, may you live long. Tell me something about the highest learning from whatever you have studied from your teacher over the course of time up to now.’
23.–24. Prahlāda replied:
‘The nine characteristics of bhakti that people can offer to Viṣṇu are: hearing about Him, singing about Him, remembering Him, serving His feet, worshipping Him, glorifying Him, considering oneself His servant, considering oneself His friend, and surrendering completely to Him. When these are offered to Bhagavān, then I think this to be the highest learning.’
25. Upon hearing these words of his son, Hiraṇyakaśipu’s lip trembled, and he said as follows to the son of his guru:
26. ‘You excuse for a brāhmaṇa. What is this that you have done by deceitfully siding with the enemy? You have disrespected me, and caused this boy to learn nonsense, you fool!
27. There are dishonest persons in the world—untrue friends wearing false garb. Their deception reveals itself in the course of time, just like a disease does in sinful people.’
28. The son of the guru replied:
‘He was not taught this by me, nor was he taught by anyone else. This son of yours, O enemy of Indra, says that this understanding of his is innate. Control your anger, O king, do not lay the blame on us.’”
29. Śrī Nārada said:
“After receiving this reply from the teacher, the asura again spoke to his son: ‘If these ideas did not come from the mouth of your teacher, then whose perverse opinion is it, you wretched boy?’
30. Śrī Prahlāda said:
‘For those who have taken vows of commitment to householder life, an understanding of Kṛṣṇa is not attained either from someone else, nor spontaneously, nor from reciprocal dealings among each other. Such people are chewing again and again that which has already been chewed, and end up entering a hellish condition because of their uncontrolled senses.
31. Those who seek the goal of life externally, their hearts tainted [by desire], do not understand Viṣṇu to be the goal of their real self-interest. They are like blind people being led by the blind; but they are nonetheless still constrained by the formidable ropes of the Lord’s laws.
32. Until such people make the decision to bathe their minds in the dust of the feet of the great selfless devotees, their understanding will never be able to touch the lotus feet of Viṣṇu. These have the quality of eliminating all contamination [from the heart].’
33. No sooner had Prahlāda finished speaking than Hiraṇyakaśipu hurled his son from his lap onto the ground, his mind blinded with fury.
34. Consumed with indignation and fury, his eyes turning red, he cried: ‘Demons! Let this doomed person be executed. Take him away!
35. This offensive boy is [to all intents and purposes] the killer of my brother as he worships Viṣṇu, the killer of his uncle,9 like a servant. He has abandoned his own well-wishers.
36. If, at five years of age, he has rejected the affection of his father, which is so hard to renounce, then what good will this useless fellow be able to do for Viṣṇu?
37. The [offspring of] another person, if he or she acts in one’s interest, can be considered one’s own child—just like medicine. But even one’s own child, if not acting in one’s interest, is like a disease. One should cut off that [diseased] limb for one’s own interest so that the rest [of the body] can live happily after it has been severed.
38. An enemy masquerading as a friend is like an uncontrolled sense for a sage. He should be killed by any means—whether he is eating, lying down, or sitting.’
39.–40. Those demons had fierce teeth, cruel faces, copper beards and hair, and bore tridents in their hands. Commanded by their lord, they attacked Prahlāda in all his vital places with their tridents uttering terrifying roars and yelling: ‘Cut him! Pierce him!’
41. But these were ineffective on Prahlāda, who had his mind fixed on Bhagavān, the Soul of everything, the Supreme imperceptible Brahman.
42. When all the attempts proved futile, the king of the daityas became greatly alarmed, and made further murderous attempts with determination, O Yudhiṣṭhira.
43.–44. When the asura could not kill his innocent son by means of elephants, serpents, sorcery, hurling him [from high places], magic, confinement, administering poison, food deprivation, ice, wind, fire, water, or hurling boulders at him, he became completely distraught. He could not find a means to accomplish this goal.
45. ‘This boy has been verbally abused by me, and I devised various means to murder him; but he freed himself from all those lethal attempts by his own power.
46. Although he is only a boy, this one is very intelligent and will not forget my non-Āryan (uncivilized) behavior, just like Śunaḥśepa.10 He is powerful, and he is living with me, not in some distant place.
47. This boy is invulnerable, and fears nothing. His power is immeasurable. He will certainly be the bearer of my death for being his enemy—or perhaps he will not.’
48. Hiraṇyakaśipu’s downcast face became haggard on account of anxiety. Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, the two sons of Śukra, the guru of the demons, spoke to him in private:
49. ‘The three worlds were conquered by you single-handedly. All the regions of the celestials were thrown into turmoil just by your frown. We do not see anything to worry about from Prahlāda, O master. There are no grounds [to fear] the good or bad qualities of children.
50. Bind this boy with the bonds of Varuṇa,11 and keep him so that he does not flee away in fear until Śukra, the guru of the Bhārgava clan arrives. The intelligence of people matures with age, and through rendering service to Āryans.’
51. ‘Do just that,’ Hiraṇyakaśipu said, accepting the words of his guru’s sons. ‘And make sure that the dharma of kings who are householders is taught to him.’
52. So they taught everything about appropriate behavior, material gain, and sense indulgence (dharma, artha, and kāma) in proper order to Prahlāda, O king. Prahlāda remained humble and obedient.
53. During the instruction of these three topics to him by his teachers, Prahlāda never considered them to be the real truth, as they are prescribed for those who delight in dualities.
54. When the teacher went back to his home to attend to his household duties, Prahlāda was called by the young boys at the school of his same age. They had been waiting for the moment.
55. The wise Prahlāda replied to them with sweet words. Smiling, he spoke to them kindly, knowing their devotion to him.
56. Out of their respect for him, all the boys put aside their toys and play paraphernalia. Their intelligence had not been polluted by the words and actions of those [in ignorance] who delight in dualities.
57. They surrounded Prahlāda, O king, fixing him in their eyes and hearts. That great bhāgavata devotee, although an asura, was a friend to all. He spoke to them kindly.”
Book VII, Chapter 6
1. Śrī Prahlāda said:
“A wise person should practice the dharma of Bhagavān from childhood. A human birth is rare, and even though it is temporary, it can bestow the true goal of life.
2. Therefore, a person born into this world should approach the feet of Viṣṇu: He is one’s Īśvara, the dearest friend, and beloved of all beings.
3. O sons of demons! The sensual pleasures of embodied beings are available everywhere without endeavor. They arise naturally from the connection with the body; and the same is the case with suffering.
4. Any endeavor, which, in the final score, leads to the complete waste of one’s life, should not be pursued. This is not the way to attain one’s [real] well-being—the lotus feet of Mukunda [Kṛṣṇa].
5. Therefore, a wise person who has ended up in saṁsāra should strive for this well-being while the body is still vigorous and strong and has not deteriorated.
6. The life of a person is one hundred years. For a person whose senses are not controlled, half of this is useless, subjected to the darkness of tamas when sleeping at night.
7. For a foolish person, a further twenty years are frittered away in childhood and boyhood engaging in play, and twenty more years are lost when the body is seized by old age and becomes incapable.
8. For one who is deluded [about the true self] and attached to household life, the remaining balance of life is wasted in deep ignorance [of the goal of life] by chasing desires, which are difficult to fulfill.
9. What person is able to free the self when it is attached to the household with uncontrolled senses, bound by the strong bonds of affection?
10. Who, in truth, will renounce his thirst for wealth, which is dearer than life itself? Merchants, servants, and thieves barter their dear life for wealth.
11. How can a man renounce intimate association with his sympathetic, considerate wife and her charming words of council? And his bonds of affection with his friends? And what of his attachment to his toddlers with their broken baby babble?
12. And how can one renounce thinking in one’s mind of sons? And those cherished daughters? And how about brothers, sisters, or helpless parents? And what of homes and all one’s meaningful possessions, family occupations, herds of cattle, and servants?
13. Like a silkworm [bound in its own cocoon], one struggles to perform actions—placing great importance on the pleasures of the tongue and genitals—but one’s desires always remain unsatisfied due to insatiable greed.
14. In delusion, one does not discern that one’s own life span is flying past in the maintenance of one’s family, and in the end one’s goals are brought to ruin. Delighting in one’s family, one does not realize that one is beset on all sides by the threefold sufferings.12
15. One’s mind is always absorbed in matters of wealth. And although knowing the negative repercussions both here and in the next world of stealing the wealth of others, the householder whose senses are uncontrolled and whose lust is never quenched, nonetheless steals.
16. Even a learned person who maintains his own family does not attain his [highest] destination, O dānavas (demons). Due to the mind-set of making distinctions between what is one’s own and what is another’s, he too is subject to tamas just like any deluded person is.
17. No one, anywhere, who is bound to offspring and kept like a pet for the enjoyment of sensual women is ever capable of completely freeing his own self. Such a person is helpless.
18. Therefore, O daityas (demons), one should approach Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme God, keeping at a distance the daityas whose minds are absorbed in sense gratifications. It is He who is the liberation sought for by those who are freed from all attachments.
19. O sons of the asuras (demons), it does not take a great effort to please Acyuta [Kṛṣṇa]. It can be accomplished in so many ways. He is the innermost soul of all beings.
20.–21. There is one Supreme Ātman, Bhagavān, the imperishable Īśvara, who exists in all higher and lower beings from Brahmā to the immovable entities [like plants]. He is in the material elements and in the transformations of the material elements starting with the mahat [the first transformation of prakṛti]. He is the guṇas themselves, He is the guṇas when they are in equilibrium, and He is the guṇas when they are mixed into activity.
22. Through Himself in the form of the inner self as the seer, and also through taking the form of the seen,13 He is both the One who pervades and that which is pervaded. He is describable and nondescribable. He is manifold.
23. Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, has a form, which is pure bliss and consciousness. His power is concealed within Himself through His māyā. He causes creation through māyā’s guṇas.
24. Because of all this, show kindness and friendliness to all living beings. Give up the demoniac mind-set of the asuras so that Viṣṇu might be pleased.
25. When the unlimited original Being is satisfied, what remains unattained? What is the use of the four goals of life, dharma, etc., which accrue of their own accord [due to past karma] through the permutations of His guṇas? What is the use of the liberated state beyond the guṇas, even though it is so desired, to us who are singing about His lotus feet and relishing their blissfulness?
26. What use is the group of three prescriptions outlined in the sacred texts, dharma, artha, and mokṣa; spiritual knowledge; study of the three Vedas; logic; polity and justice; and the various livelihoods? I consider the truth of all of these and of everything in the sacred texts to be the dedication of oneself to the Supreme Person. It is He who is one’s true friend.
27. In actual fact it was Nārāyaṇa, the friend of living beings, who spoke to Nārada this very same knowledge. It is free from error and hard to obtain. This knowledge is meant for those whose bodies are smeared with the dust of the lotus feet of Bhagavān—those who have given up everything and are exclusively devoted to Him.
28. This pure Bhāgavata dharma combines knowledge with experienced realized wisdom. I heard it from Nārada, who always has visions of Lord Viṣṇu.”
29. The sons of the daityas said:
“Prahlāda, you, just like us, do not know any guru other than the two sons of Sukrācārya, the guru of the daitya demons. They are the masters of us boys.
30. Association with a great soul [like Nārada] is difficult to attain for a young boy like you who has always resided in the inner chamber of the palace. [So how could you have been taught by him?] Remove this doubt of ours with some evidence so as to gain our confidence, O gentle Prahlāda.”
Book VII, Chapter 7
1. Śrī Nārada said:
“Questioned in this way by the sons of the daityas, the great asura devotee of Bhagavān replied to them, smiling, as he remembered what I had previously told him.
2. Śrī Prahlāda said:
‘After our father Hiraṇyakaśipu had departed to perform austerity (tapas)14 on Mount Mandara, the celestials undertook a major expedition against the demons.
3. Indra and the celestials were saying: “By good fortune, this sinful person, the scourge of the universe, has been devoured by his own sins, like a snake devoured by large black ants.”
4. After observing the enormous expedition against them, the army commanders of the demons fled in all directions, terrified of the gods. They were being slaughtered.
5. Desperate to stay alive, all of them in their desperate haste turned their backs on wives, sons, wealth, friends, homes, livestock, and possessions.
6. The immortals ransacked the king’s residence, intent on victory. Then Indra seized the king’s queen, my mother.
7. By chance, the sage of the celestials, Nārada, happened there and saw her being carried away, trembling in fear, like a kurarī osprey bird.
8. Nārada said:
“Indra, you are chief of the gods and blessed with good fortune. You should not take this innocent woman, given in marriage to another man. She is a chaste woman: release her, release her!”
9. Śrī Indra replied:
“In her womb lies the semen of the enemy of the gods, who [will become] unconquerable. Let her remain [with us] until she gives birth, then I will release her, once I have accomplished my intention [of killing the child].”
10. Śrī Nārada replied:
“This child is sinless, and he is a great and eminent devotee of Bhagavān. As a powerful devotee of the unlimited Viṣṇu, he will not meet his end by your hand.”
11. Addressed in this way, Indra obeyed the words of the celestial sage and released her. He respectfully circumambulated her out of devotion for the dear devotees of the unlimited Lord Viṣṇu, and returned to the celestial realm.
12. Then the sage brought my mother to his own āśrama hermitage. “Stay here safely, child, until the return of your husband,” he said.
13. “I will do so,” she said, and lived in the safekeeping of the divine sage with no fear from any quarter until the Lord of the demons had fulfilled his fierce austerities (tapas).
14. That chaste pregnant lady served the sage with utmost devotion for the protection of her embryo and for [the boon of being able to] give birth when she herself so desired.
15. The powerful sage was very kindhearted and bestowed upon her both these wishes. He imparted knowledge and the truth of dharma to her and also to me [within her womb].
16. Due to the long time that has elapsed since then … my mother’s memory has not retained those instructions. But, since I was blessed by the sage in this regard, mine has not been lost up till today.
17. If you have faith in my words it may come to pass that you will also gain insight into Truth, just as happened to me, who had faith, and as it can happen to women or children.
18. The six transformations consisting of birth, existence, growth, change, dwindling, and death are visible in the body—just as they are in the fruits of a tree. This is because of Time, a manifestation of Īśvara. But they do not occur in the ātman.
19. The ātman is eternal, undecaying, pure, individual, the knower of prakṛti, the support, changeless, self-conscious, the cause, and the pervader. It is autonomous and uncovered [by māyā].
20. Through [understanding] these twelve characteristics of the ātman, a wise person should renounce unreal notions pertaining to the body such as “I,” and “me.” These are born from ignorance.
21. Just as an expert goldsmith can attain gold from rocks in the fields through various processes, so a knower of the ātman attains the goal of brahman from the body in the field of prakṛti through the processes of yoga.
22. The great teachers have spoken of eight prakṛtis, the three guṇas [underpinning them], and sixteen transformations. But there is one entity [soul] alone, who underpins them all.15
23. The collection of all these together comprise the bodies of living beings. These are of two kinds: moving and non-moving. It is from within the body that the puruṣa is to be sought through eliminating that which is different from it: “It is not this, It is not this.”16
24. Through the process of positive and negative concomitance;17 through discrimination; through a keen mind; and through mature reflection on the processes of birth, maintenance, and destruction, [the ātman is to be sought].
25. The states (vṛttis) of the intelligence (buddhi) are said to be wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep.18 The one who is beyond these—the witness by whom these states are perceived—is the puruṣa.
26. Just as one becomes aware of the air by means of the smells that pervade it [even though the pure air molecules are different from the smells that pervade it], so, in the same way, one should become aware of the presence19 of the ātman by means of the various intelligences covering it [even though the pure ātman is different from the intelligence it pervades]. These various intelligences function in differing ways in accordance with the three guṇas.
27. The bonds of action produced by the guṇas are the gate of saṁsāra. These are without reality and are the root of ignorance, like a dream superimposed on a person [when asleep].
28. Therefore, you should uproot the seeds of karma, which are products of the three guṇas. Yoga is the means to stop the outward flow of the intelligence.
29. Of the thousands of methods [of yoga], the one spoken by Nārada is the one by which love for Īśvara, Bhagavān, quickly arises.
30.–31. [This love is achieved] by serving the guru, by bhakti, by offering all that one attains, by association with sādhu saints and bhakta devotees, by worshipping Īśvara, by faith in the narrations about Him, by the glorification of His deeds and qualities (kīrtana), by meditation on His lotus feet, and by worshipping His deity forms.
32. Hari, Bhagavān, is the Īśvara within all living beings. Thinking in this way, one should wish all beings well in one’s mind, along with their aspirations.
33. In this way, one should perform bhakti to Īśvara, Bhagavān, Vāsudeva, with the group of six—lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and envy—under control. It is in this way that love [for Īśvara] is attained.
34. When one hears of the deeds, incomparable qualities, and heroic feats performed in the bodies Īśvara assumes for his līlā pastimes, then, with head held high, one dances, shouts, and sings in a voice broken up with tears, and with hair bristling in ecstasy.
35. In this state, as if possessed by a spirit, one sometimes laughs, sometimes weeps, sometimes meditates, and sometimes offers respect to people. Breathing heavily, with one’s mind absorbed in the ātman and without any inhibitions, one repeatedly cries out, “Hari,” “Lord of the Universe,” “Nārāyaṇa.”
36. In this state, a person is freed from all bondage. Through meditation, one’s body and mind are in complete accord with the will of Īśvara. The reactions of all seeds of karma are burned through complete dedication to bhakti, and one is then united with Kṛṣṇa (Adhokṣaja).
37. The end of the cycle of saṁsāra occurs for the embodied being whose mind has become purified from connection with Kṛṣṇa (Adhokṣaja). The wise know this as the bliss of brahman-nirvāṇa. Therefore, worship in your heart Īśvara, the Lord of the heart.
38. Is it really such a great effort to worship Hari, O sons of asuras? He is one’s very self, existing in one’s heart as a friend, like space [exists within everything]. What is the use of acquiring the objects of the senses, which are so commonly available to any living being?
39. Wealth, wife, livestock, sons and daughters, homes, land, elephants, treasuries, power, and all objects of desire are fleeting. What joy can these bring to a mortal whose life can be shattered in an instant?
40. The same is true of those celestial worlds, which are attained by the performance of Vedic ritualistic sacrifices: although superior [to this world], they are not perfect, since they are also subject to destruction. Therefore, to attain the ātman, worship Īśvara, the Supreme Being, by means of the bhakti that has been described—no faults have ever been perceived or heard of in Īśvara!
41. For the sake of sense enjoyment in this world, a person, thinking himself knowledgeable, performs actions, but he or she invariably obtains the opposite outcome [suffering].
42. The intention of one engaged in action is to attain happiness and avoid distress in this world—but one always ends up miserable because of desire. One is fully content, on the other hand, when free of desire.
43. Motivated by desire, a person desires objects of desire for this body. But this body actually belongs to others [that is, the elements]. Being perishable, it comes and goes [changing from life to life].
44. How much more, then, things separate from the body such as children, wife, home, and wealth, etc.? And not to mention kingdom, treasury, elephants, ministers, servants, and friends? All of these perpetuate the ego.
45. What is the value to the ātman of these trifling things, along with the perishable body? The ātman is an ocean of eternal relishable bliss. These things are useless, even though they take on the guise of being desirable.
46. Anyone who bears a material body should reflect carefully on the nature of true self-interest in this world given that one is suffering in various conditions since one’s insemination in the womb because of deeds performed in the past, O asuras.
47. Because of lack of insight (viveka), an embodied being engages in activities with the body according to the dictates of the mind, but then must accept future bodies and minds as a consequence of those activities.
48. Therefore, even though wealth, desire, and dharma are dependent on Īśvara, Hari [and thus easily available to His bhaktas], worship Him without desire. He is the [Supreme] desireless Ātman.
49. Hari is Īśvara, the friend of all beings. The bodies of all beings are created by the five great elements, and these are created by Him. He is known as [existing within] the jīva.
50. Whether one is a celestial, a human, a yakṣa, or gandharva, one will become auspicious by worshipping the lotus feet of Mukunda [Kṛṣṇa], just as I have become.
51. O sons of the asuras! Being a brāhmaṇa, or celestial, or sage is not sufficient to please Mukunda; nor is virtuous conduct or great knowledge.
52. Nor is wealth, or austerity, or cleanliness, or vows. Hari is pleased by pure bhakti. Anything else is just show.
53. Therefore, O descendants of Danu, perform bhakti to Bhagavān, Hari, who is the Īśvara of the ātman of all beings, by [considering] everyone to be equal to your own self.
54. It is [in this way] that the daityas, the yakṣas, and rākṣasas (demons), women, villagers, birds, beasts, and sinful beings have attained the liberated state.
55. It is this that has been recorded in the Smṛti sacred texts as the supreme self-interest of a person in this world: exclusive devotion to Govinda [Kṛṣṇa], which consists of seeing Him in all beings and in all things.’”
Book VII, Chapter 8
1. Śrī Nārada said:
“After hearing the teaching delivered by Prahlāda, all the sons of the daitya demons accepted it, because of its faultless nature. But they did not accept what was taught by their other teachers.
2. At this, seeing them absorbed in one-pointed meditation [upon Hari], the son of Śukrācārya became alarmed and immediately informed the king of the situation.
3. His limbs trembling due to being possessed by rage, Hiraṇyakaśipu made up his mind to kill his son. He hurled abusive words at Prahlāda, who did not deserve this.
4. Hiraṇyakaśipu was cruel by nature; hissing like a snake struck by a foot, he cast a sideways glance with his sinful eyes and spoke to his son. Prahlāda was standing meekly in a humble bowed posture with his hands joined in respect.
5. Hiraṇyakaśipu said:
‘Hey, you ill-mannered stupid fool. You are ruining my family name! You have disobeyed my order, you obstinate wretch, and so I will today dispatch you to the abode of Yama, god of death.
6. On what authority have you transgressed my command without fear, you fool? The three worlds along with their deities tremble when I am angry.’
7. Śrī Prahlāda replied:
‘It is He who is the strength of the strong, and not only of my strength, but of yours too and of all others, O king. All these moving and non-moving living entities, whether high or low, are being moved by His control.
8. He is Viṣṇu, Īśvara. He is Time. He is the essence of the senses, strength, the mind, power, and vitality (ojas). It is He indeed who is the Supreme Being who creates, impels, and destroys this universe by means of His own powers. He is the Lord of the three guṇas.
9. You should give up this demoniac mentality of yours: there are no enemies other than the one of a mind that has become uncontrolled by being situated on the wrong path. Fix your mind in equanimity. It is this equanimity that is the greatest act of worship to the unlimited Lord.
10. Some think that they have conquered the ten directions,20 even though, to begin with, they have not even conquered the six plunderers—the mind and five senses. Who can be an enemy to a saintly person who has controlled his mind, who is wise, and who sees all embodied beings equally? ‘The creation of enemies is nothing other than one’s own illusions.’
11. Śrī Hiraṇyakaśipu said:
‘It is obvious that you are eager to die. You speak without any restraint, you foolish fellow: your confused words are clearly words of those who wish to die.
12. The one of whom you spoke—who is [supposed to be] the Īśvara of the universe rather than me—where is he? If he is everywhere, then why is he not to be seen in this pillar here?
13. I will sever your head from your body even as you brag. Let him, this Hari, protect you now, he from whom you have sought shelter.’
14. Furiously and repeatedly berating his son, a great devotee, with these cruel words in this manner, the great demon, who was immensely powerful, sprang up from his splendid throne. Then he grasped his sword and struck the pillar with his fist.
15. At that very moment, a terrifying sound emanated from that pillar, which rent asunder the shell of the universe. Upon hearing that sound, which reached as far as their abodes, Brahmā and the other celestials thought it to be the destruction of their realm, my dear Yudhiṣṭhira.
16. As he was striding forth desiring to brutally murder his son, Hiraṇyakaśipu heard that incredible unprecedented sound, which terrified the leaders of his armies, who are the enemies of the celestials. But he could not locate its source in the inner chambers of the palace.
17. In order to fulfill what His devotee had declared—to establish [the fact of] His pervasion of all living entities—Hari manifested Himself from the pillar in the palace, assuming a most amazing form which was neither beast nor human.
18. As he was looking all around, Hiraṇyakaśipu [beheld] that creature emerging from the pillar: ‘This incredible thing is neither a beast nor a man,’ he exclaimed. ‘Aho! What is this form of a Man-Lion?’
[We can recall from VII.7.2. that Hiraṇyakaśipu had gone off to perform austerities, seeking immortality from Brahmā. Although Brahmā was unable to grant this, being himself mortal, Hiraṇyakaśipu was granted boons that aimed to circumvent death in all conceivable ways. One of these was that he be killed by neither man nor beast, hence Viṣṇu’s appearance as half lion half man to thwart this boon while still honoring Brahmā’s word.]
19. As he was deliberating in this way, the form of Nṛsiṁha, the Man-Lion, appeared before him. It was absolutely terrifying.
20. He had ferocious eyes of burnt gold. His jaws were gaping and he had a dazzling mane of hair. He had gaping fangs, a tongue with a razor sharp tip waving to and fro like a sword, and a fearsome frowning face.
21. His ears were motionless and erect. His nostrils and mouth were open and resembled majestic mountain caves. His gaping jaws were terrifying and his body touched the heavens. His waist was slim, and He had a short muscular neck and broad chest.
22. He was flecked with body hair as white as moon rays, had hundreds of rows of arms from all sides, and was armed with claws. He was unassailable, and caused the demons and enemies of the celestials (daityas and dānavas) to flee on account of his extensive invincible weaponry, some of it particular to Him (the discus) and some common to others.21
23. ‘Hari has extensive māyā powers of illusion: probably this entity has been conjured up by him for my destruction. But what is the use of this type of fanfare?’ Muttering this, that elephant of a demon rushed roaring toward Nṛsiṁha armed with his club.
24. Just as an insignificant moth falls into the fire, so was that demon [consumed] in the effulgence of Nṛsiṁha. There is nothing particularly remarkable about this for Hari: after all, formerly [at the time of creation] He consumed the primordial tamas by means of His own effulgence.22 His own abode is pure sattva.
25. After charging, that great demon furiously struck Nṛsiṁha with his club with great force. Hari, withstanding his blow, seized him along with his club as he attacked, just like Garuḍa the son of Tārkṣa, Viṣṇu’s eagle carrier, seizes a serpent.
26. As he was being toyed with like Garuḍa toys with a snake, that demon slipped out of Nṛsiṁha’s grasp. The immortal celestials, who were hiding in the clouds [witnessing all this], thought this was a bad sign, O Yudhiṣṭhira descendant of Bharata. Although they were rulers over all the realms of the universe, their abodes had been seized [by Hiraṇyakaśipu].
27. Freed from His grasp, the great demon’s tiredness from the fight dissipated. He took up his sword and shield and threw himself once more with force at Hari Nṛsiṁha, thinking Him to be afraid of his prowess.
28. With the speed of a hawk, the demon was brandishing his sword up and down, along with his shield, which was decorated with a hundred moons, leaving no opening. Hari, who was extremely fast, emitted a loud laugh—a rough and resounding sound—and seized the demon, whose eyes were wide open.
29. Hari placed him on His thighs at the doorway, just as a snake captures a mouse. Tormented by His grip, Hiraṇyakaśipu was quivering in every limb. Then, even though Hiraṇyakaśipu’s skin could not be pierced by Indra’s thunderbolt, Nṛsiṁha effortlessly tore him apart with His nails just as Garuḍa pierces a highly venomous serpent.
30. Nṛsiṁha’s eyes were wide open and difficult to look at because of their fury. His face and mane were red and sprinkled with drops of blood, and He was licking the sides of His gaping jaws with His tongue, just like a lion wearing a garland of intestines after killing an elephant.
31. Nṛsiṁha cast aside Hiraṇyakaśipu, whose lotus of a heart had been torn out by the tips of His nails. He then slaughtered all his followers who had raised their weapons, with His claws, weapons, and nails. There were thousands of the demon’s men, but Nṛsiṁha had numerous arms.
32. The water-bearing clouds, disrupted by His mane, became scattered, and the planets had their luster obscured by His glare. The oceans, pounded by His breath, became agitated, and the elephants at the cardinal points23 experienced terror at His roar.
33. The heavens were filled with celestial vehicles scattered about by His mane, and the earth, pressured by His foot, was pulled off its axis. From the force of that Being, mountains sprang up. The sky and the quarters of the heavens could not shine because of His effulgence.”
[The celestials then attempt to appease Lord Nṛsiṁha.]
Book VII, Chapter 9
1. Śrī Nārada said:
“With all this, Nṛsiṁha was extremely difficult to approach because of His furious countenance, and so all the celestials and heavenly beings, with Brahmā and Śiva at the forefront, were unable to come near Him.
2. Even Śrī, the Goddess of Fortune, who had been sent by the celestials, after witnessing that incredibly wondrous form, became fearful and could not approach Him. The form had never been seen or described before.
3. Then Brahmā summoned Prahlāda, who was standing near him: ‘My dear boy, please go and pacify the Lord, who has been enraged by your father.’
4. ‘I will do so,’ said the boy. That great devotee slowly approached, O king, and, with hands folded [in humility], offered obeisance with his body on the ground.24
5. The Lord, seeing that boy fallen at the soles of His feet, was overwhelmed with kindness. He raised Prahlāda up and placed His lotus hand on his head. That hand bestows fearlessness on those whose minds are fearful of the serpent of Time.
6. All Prahlāda’s impurities were cleansed from the touch of that hand, and as a result a vision of his supreme ātman was revealed to him. Ecstatic, he placed the lotus feet of Nṛsiṁha in his heart. His body thrilled with bliss, his eyes filled with tears, and his heart melted.
7. With gathered composure and mind completely fixed on Hari, Prahlāda offered Him praise in a voice choked up with love, his eyes and heart completely dedicated to Him.
8. Śrī Prahlāda said:
‘Just now Brahmā and the other celestial beings—the host of gods, the sages, and the perfected beings—were not able to worship Hari with streams of words rich in poetic qualities—and their nature is pure sattva. How is it possible that He allows Himself to be pacified by me, of savage birth?
9. It seems to me that the practice of yoga, intelligence, strength, influence, power, virility, study of sacred texts, austerity, beauty, lineage, and wealth are unhelpful in the worship of the Supreme Person. It was through bhakti that Bhagavān was satisfied by the king of the elephants.25
10. And it seems to me that a dog-eater whose life, resources, endeavors, words, and thoughts are devoted to Bhagavān is better than a brāhmaṇa endowed with the twelve characteristics of the brāhmaṇa caste,26 who is averse to the lotus feet of Hari with the lotus navel. Such a devoted person purifies his lineage; not so one who thinks himself to be important.
11. The Lord is fully complete in His own attainments; it is certainly not for His own personal self that He accepts worship from ignorant people, but out of compassion. Whatever worship is offered to Bhagavān is ultimately for one’s own benefit, just as beautifying the face is for the benefit of the face reflected back [in the mirror].
12. Because of ignorance I have entered the creation of the guṇas (saṁsāra) into a low birth. Therefore, freed of my anxiety, I will proclaim the greatness of Īśvara to the best of my understanding with my whole being. By such glorification, a person becomes purified.
13. You are the abode of sattva, yet all these celestials headed by Brahmā, who, unlike us [demons], are upholders of Your orders, are frightened, O Lord. Surely the pastimes of Bhagavān in the form of His delightful incarnations are supposed to give happiness, welfare, and prosperity.
14. The demon has now been killed by You, therefore restrain Your anger. Even a saintly person rejoices in the killing of a snake or scorpion. All the worlds have now attained peace of mind and are all waiting [for You to restrain Your wrath]: let the people remember the form of Nṛsiṁha without feeling fearful.
15. I am not afraid of this terrifying form, with its formidable horrible fangs, frowning brows, eyes like the orbs of the sun, tongue, and horrific mouth. Nor of this garland of entrails, nor this bloody mane, ears [erect] like posts, roar which terrifies the elephants from the cardinal points, and nail tips, which tear apart enemies.
16. But I am afraid of the sufferings of the cycle of saṁsāra, which are so horrible to endure. I am bound by my karma and so have been cast among those who devour others [owing to my demon birth]. O wonderful being, You are compassionate to Your offspring: when will You be pleased to summon me to Your lotus feet, the abode of liberation?
17. I am scorched [with suffering] in all kinds of bodies because of the fire of misery encountered in life. This is caused by losing pleasant things and encountering unpleasant things. Even the [so-called] remedy for suffering is yet [more] suffering. I am wandering around this cycle of saṁsāra because of my identification with what I am not [that is, with the mind and body]. O master, please tell me about the yoga of service to You.
18. Nṛsiṁha, You are the Supreme Lord and dear friend! Glorifying the pastimes and stories recited by Brahmā about You, I will be freed from the guṇas and easily cross over all dangers in the company of the great swanlike devotees absorbed in meditation on Your feet.
19. O Nṛsiṁha! In this world, the parents are not the [real] refuge for the child, nor medicine for the afflicted, nor a boat for a person drowning in the ocean. For those embodied beings who are averse to You, whatever remedy is advised for a person suffering in this world has only limited value.
20. Any being, whether higher or lower, who, according to his or her distinct nature, is inspired to create or transform anything into something else, by means of something, through something, from something, because of something, for something, in whatever manner, at any time—all of that is nothing other than a form of Your Lordship.
21. Triggered by the Time factor of the Supreme Being, māyā creates the mind by means of the guṇas. The mind, which is formed in accordance with karma, is very strong. It is inclined toward the ritualistic activity of the Vedas.27 It is also the wheel of saṁsāra, which consists of sixteen spokes [the mind, five organs of cognition and five of action, and the five subtle qualities of the senses, sound, and so forth]. These are created by ignorance.28 Who can overcome the mind, other than by Your grace, O unborn One?
22. You always keep the guṇas under Your personal control by Your own powers. You are Time, the power by which causes and effects are supervised. I have been cast by ignorance into the wheel with sixteen spokes, and am being crushed. Bring me near to You, O Lord; I am a devoted soul.
23. Most people desire such things as the power, opulence, and longevity of lords in all the abodes of the celestial realms, O Lord. But I have seen how these celestials were thrown into disarray by my father’s eyebrows, contracted in scornful laughter. And even he has been dispatched by You.
24. I know the [fleeting nature] of these boons sought by embodied beings, and so I do not desire longevity, beauty, power, or sensual indulgence, even up to those possessed by Brahmā the creator. These are all thrown into disarray by You in the form of all-powerful Time. Rather, please accept me into the ranks of Your personal servants.
25. What are these boons, these pleasures described in the Vedic ritualistic texts?29 They are essentially mirages! What is this body, really? It is the womb of so many diseases. And yet even though people know all this, they do not become discouraged but attempt to satisfy the [unquenchable] fire of lust with little drops of honeylike [sense pleasures], which are anyway so difficult to attain.
26. What is my reality, O Lord, but that of a person with a nature in rajas, born in this family of demons where tamas predominates? And what is the nature of Your compassion [in contrast]? You offered Your mercy by placing Your lotus hand on my head, but did not do so on that of Brahmā, Śiva, or even Śrī, the Goddess of Fortune!
27. This mentality living entities have of “inferior” and “superior” [toward others] does not exist in Your Lordship: You are the intimate friend of the entire world. Rather, Your grace, like the wish-fulfilling tree of the celestials,30 is bestowed based on people’s worship. It manifests in accordance to service rendered, not based on notions of superior or inferior.
28. Indeed, chasing desires and pleasures, people have fallen into the snake pit of birth (sāṁsāra). And, by their association, I too was falling headlong into it. But I was saved, O Lord, by Nārada, the sage of the celestials, who took me under his wing. I am that person [he addressed in the womb]. So how can I ever abandon the service of Your devotees?
29. I think that the killing of my father was enacted to save my life, O Unlimited One, as well as to honor the word of Your sage devotee (Nārada). Intent on wickedness, my father seized his sword and said: “That Īśvara of yours who is supposedly superior to me, let him defend you now as I sever your head.”
30. It is none other than You alone, who are this universe. It is You alone who remain at its beginning, middle, and end. You create this universe—this permutation of the guṇas—through Your own māyā, and then You enter it. You manifest Yourself through those guṇas as the variegation of the universe.
31. You, O Lord, are this universe of cause and effect, and yet Your Lordship is also different from it. This notion of “this is mine” and “that is another’s” is surely meaningless illusion. When something takes its birth, maintenance, manifestation, and cessation from something else, then it is surely nothing other than that other thing, just as a tree is nothing other than its seed, which in turn is the same as the earth and its qualities.
32. You withdraw this universe into Your own Self. Then You lie in the middle of the waters of dissolution,31 free of all desires, experiencing the bliss of Your own Self. Absorbed in rest within Your own Self through the power of yoga, with closed eyes, You are situated in the fourth state of consciousness,32 unassociated with tamas or the guṇas.
33. This universe is His—that is to say, Your33—body, concealed within Yourself. You manifest forth the guṇas of prakṛti through the power of Your quality of Time. At the end of Nārāyaṇa’s samādhi state, as He was lying on the waters on Ananta,34 the great lotus manifested from His navel, like a banyan tree from its seed.
34. The sage Brahmā could not see anything apart from the lotus from which he was born. He determined that You were the seed manifested both inside himself and also outside. But he could not find You, even though he searched for a hundred years while he was immersed in the waters. After all, after the sprout has grown, how can it perceive its seed?!
35. Seated on the lotus, he became amazed at this. Then the self-born Brahmā’s mind became purified by severe austerities performed over a very long time and he perceived that You, O Lord, pervaded his very self, which consists of mind, senses, and gross matter, as the most subtle essence of all, just as the quality of smell pervades the element of earth.35
36. Thereafter he saw the Great Being (mahā-puruṣa) endowed with thousands of faces, feet, heads, hands, thighs, noses, ears, eyes, ornaments, and weapons. This form, composed by māyā, was arranged with its [differing parts] manifesting [in different portions] of the universe.36
37. Your Lordship assumed the form of the horse-headed incarnation,37 and killed the two enemies of the Vedas, known as Madhu and Kaiṭabha,38 who were [manifestations of] rajas and tamas, and then returned the collection of Vedas to Brahmā. [The sages] honor this most beloved form of Yours as pure sattva.
38. In this way, You appear in the universes through Your human, animal, sage, celestial, and fish incarnations. You destroy the enemies of the universe and protect dharma according to what is appropriate for each yuga age.39 In the fourth age of Kali You are concealed, and because of not being visible then, You are known as Triyuga, the Lord of the three yugas (world ages).40 You are that same Person, O Supreme Being.
39. This mind of mine does not take delight in narrations about You, O Lord of Vaikuṇṭha; it is sinful, contaminated, inauspicious, impetuous, and overset by lust. Moreover, it is afflicted by happiness, distress, fear, and desire. With such a mind, how is a wretch like me to contemplate Your nature?
40. My tongue, which is never satiated, drags me in one direction, O infallible Acyuta [Viṣṇu], and my genitals in another. My flesh, stomach, and ears pull me somewhere else, my sense of smell, somewhere else again, and my restless eyes to yet another place, and so it is with the many powers of my various organs. These are all like many co-wives who demolish the husband [with their various demands].
41. Just see the people of this world: because of their karma, they have fallen in the Vaitaraṇī river of saṁsāra,41 and are terrified by repeated birth, death, and anxiety over sustenance. They exhibit friendship to bodies related to their own, and enmity to others. You are on the other side [of the river of saṁsāra]. Please deliver them today from their foolishness.
42. O Bhagavān, Guru of everyone, what effort is it for you in such deliverance? After all, You are the cause of creation, maintenance, and destruction of this universe! Indeed, compassion by the great for the foolish [is fitting], and You are the friend of the lowly. But for us who are the servants of Your beloved devotees, such deliverance is unnecessary [we are already fully satisfied in service].
43. In fact, I am not even disturbed by the Vaitaraṇī river of saṁsāra, because my mind is absorbed in the wonderful nectar gained from chanting about Your prowess, O Supreme Being! [Deliverance] is for the ignorant whose minds are averse to this, and who are bearing the burden of [chasing after] the happiness of māyā.
44. Often, O God, sages, desirous of their own liberation, cultivate silence in a solitary place; they are not concerned with the welfare of others. But I have no desire for liberation for myself alone, abandoning these unfortunate souls. Other than You, I see no other refuge for one wandering [in saṁsāra].
45. The happiness of sex and other such pleasures of those attached to the household is meager; it bears frustration upon frustration, like the scratching of an itch with one’s hands. Lusty people are never satisfied in this world, but simply experience repeated unfillment. A wise person tolerates [the arising of desires], which are simply products of the mind, just like one tolerates an itch.
46. O Supreme Person, the means of liberation—silence, vows, study of sacred texts, austerity, meditation, performing one’s duty, teaching the scriptures, solitude, japa (mantra repetition), and full concentration of the mind—these often become mere means of making a living for those whose senses are not controlled. And those who are haughty cannot even succeed in doing this.
47. The two forms of cause and effect (sat-asat) proclaimed in the Vedas, which are like seed and sprout, are nothing other than You. Those whose minds are fixed, can, through the practice of yoga, perceive You directly here in this world in both these forms, just like fire can be perceived in wood. There is no other way to do so, as You have no material form.
48. You are the elements of air, fire, earth, ether, and water. You are the life airs (prāṇa); the senses, the heart, the mind, and the ego. Everything, whether with qualities or without qualities, is You alone, O Lord. There is nothing other than You that can be expressed by thought or word.
49. Neither these guṇas, nor the deities presiding over the guṇas, nor anything composed of the guṇas such as mahat (intelligence) and all the other evolutes beginning with the mind,42 along with gods and humans who have beginnings and ends, know You. Those with pure intelligence reflect on this, and desist from studying the Vedas, O Viṣṇu.
50. You are the goal of the highest order of ascetics (paramahaṁsa), O most worthy One. Therefore, how can people attain devotion to You without worshipping You through the six processes: performing worship (pūjā) through rites, composing verses, honoring with respect, offering one’s actions, remembering Your lotus feet, and hearing Your narrations?’”
51. Śrī Nārada said:
“Although He is beyond all qualities, when His qualities had been extolled with devotion in this way by His devotee Prahlāda, the Lord became pleased and His anger restrained. He replied to Prahlāda.
52. Śrī Bhagavān said:
‘My dear Prahlāda, may all auspiciousness be upon you. I am pleased with you, O best of the demons. I fulfill all desires of men: choose any boon you wish.
53. O long-lived one, a vision of Me is very difficult to attain for one who has not pleased Me. But having seen Me, a living being never experiences personal hardships anymore.
54. I am the Lord of all blessings. Saintly people with sober minds who seek to fulfill the highest satisfaction, therefore try to please Me with all their hearts.’”
55. Śrī Nārada said:
“Although he was enticed in this way by the highest allurements in the world, because of his exclusive devotion to Bhagavān, that best of the demons Prahlāda did not want anything.”