The Tale of Prince Dhruva:1 The Five-Year-Old Yogī Prodigy
Yoga Blueprint
Prince Dhruva’s story illustrates a number of important devotional themes. First, as the Gītā informs us (IX.30–32), there are no gender, caste, class, background, or age disqualifications in the ability to attain success in bhakti: Dhruva was a mere five-year-old child. But he exhibited an unstoppable determination and undeviating focus, which are requisites for success in yoga. Where Dhruva’s tale departs from many of the other stories in the Bhāgavata is that his initial motive in his yogic practice was purely materialistic—the “mixed bhakti” discussed in “Bhakti Mixed with Attachment to Dharma and Jñāna.” However, because he was fortunate enough to fix his mind on Viṣṇu in his quest for realizing his ambition, Dhruva’s mind was purified of all desires, and he nonetheless attained a divine vision by the grace of Viṣṇu. That Īśvara can award liberation on the yogī who selects Him as a devotional object of meditation is a theme stressed ubiquitously in all devotional traditions,2 irrespective, in some cases, of one’s initial motivations for undertaking such meditation.
Dhruva’s story also touches on a number of other important themes in yoga: the need for a guru to oversee one’s yogic practice is illustrated by the appearance of the famous sage Nārada in the story (see “Satsaṅga and the Guru”). Nārada imparts the mantra to the child and provides him with further instructions on the specifics of practice. Sacred sound as mantra has been foundational to Hinduism from its earliest Vedic origins to the present day. In the devotional traditions, God manifests in the form of sound, that is, the names of Viṣṇu are nondifferent from Viṣṇu in person. Fixing the mind on the mantra, then, not only provides a support upon which the mind can rest in meditative states, but affords the mind an opportunity to bathe in the actual and immediate presence of God in sonic form. As was the case with Dhruva, the mind thereby becomes purified of all impurities.
Another means by which divinity can manifest in the physical world, prakṛti, is through a deity made of some form of matter—usually stone or metal. This is perhaps the most dominant and ubiquitously visible expression of Hinduism, which, for most Hindus, involves some sort of relationship with a temple and its deities. As discussed in “Arcana (Worship),” this is not considered a limitation of God’s omnipresence—on the contrary, denying God the ability to manifest in such forms would be a limitation of God’s omnipotency (nor is God depleted or minimized thereby, as He personally can manifest in unlimited forms and still maintain a separate presence). Nārada instructs Dhruva to make such a form and worship it according to time and place. The Dhruva story thus exemplifies five distinct experiences of the divine presence: initially in the form of his guru, then through the mantra and the deity, and finally through direct perception, first as an internal vision, then as an external one. Dhruva’s story thus illustrates various forms of divine epiphany.
Other than this, the Dhruva story illustrates the practice of saṁyama (Yoga Sūtras III.4ff.). By concentrating with the utmost intensity upon an object the mind becomes one with that object and manifests the qualities of that object—a mystic power touched upon in the anubhūti chapter of the Yoga Sūtras (see III.23, 24). Since Dhruva had fixed his mind on Viṣṇu, who can be seen as having the universe as His body, he became as if one with the universe. Therefore, Dhruva’s bodily state of breath restraint was felt by all creatures in the universe owing to this merging of micro and macro realities by intense mental absorption. As the Yoga Sūtras makes clear, however, mystic powers are considered attainments only by those still unenlightened as to the true nature of the self owing to the influence of ignorance. Dhruva’s embarrassment at his foolish initial motives are poignant instructions for those approaching yoga with material goals in mind.
Book IV, Chapter 8
8. Sunīti and Suruci were the two wives of King Uttānapāda. Suruci was dearer to her husband than his other wife, Sunīti, who was the mother of Dhruva.
9. Once, the king lifted Uttama, the son of Suruci, onto his lap, caressing him. But he did not welcome Dhruva, who also wished to climb up.
10. As Dhruva, the son of her co-wife, was trying to do this, the arrogant Suruci enviously said as follows in the hearing of the king:
11. “Dear child, you should not try to climb up on the lap of your father, because, although you are the son of the king, you were not conceived by me in my womb.
12. You are only a child, but nonetheless you should now know that unfortunately you were born from the womb of another woman, not from me. Therefore, you cannot fulfill your wish.
13. If you desire the throne of the king, worship God, the Supreme Being, and attain my womb [in your next life] by His grace.”
14. Maitreya said:
“Dhruva’s father looked on without saying a word. Pierced by the harsh words of his stepmother, Dhruva went weeping to his own mother, breathing with anger, like a snake struck by a stick.
15. Sunīti lifted the boy onto her lap. His upper and lower lips were trembling, and he was short of breath. After hearing [what had happened] at length from the mouths of the other residents of the palace, she became agitated at what had been said by her co-wife.
16. Losing her composure, the woman, her face beautiful as a lotus, lamented with the burning fire of grief, like twine in a fire. Thinking of the words spoken by her co-wife, his mother spoke, her words choked up with tears.
17. Breathing heavily, the woman, who was unable to see the means of overcoming this intrigue, said: ‘Do not wish harm on others, O son. A person who inflicts harm on others himself experiences the same.
18. Suruci spoke the truth: I am an unfortunate woman and you were born in my womb, and reared on my breast. The king, Lord of the earth, is ashamed to keep me, or even think of me as his wife.
19. Accept without hostility whatever your stepmother told you, my son, since it is the truth. If you wish to take a seat like Uttama [on your father’s throne], then you should worship the lotus feet of the lotus-eyed Lord [Viṣṇu].
20. It is Viṣṇu who controls the guṇas for the purpose of maintaining the universe. Indeed, Brahmā himself, the unborn one, worshipped His feet. As a result of this, Brahmā assumed the supreme post [in the universe] which is honored by the yogīs who have controlled their mind through breath restraints.
21. Likewise, the most honorable Manu, your own grandfather, worshipped Viṣṇu with concentrated mind through abundant sacrifices and charity. He consequently gained worldly and celestial happiness, followed by liberation, which is difficult to attain by other means.
22. Take shelter of Viṣṇu, child: He is affectionate to His devotees. His lotus feet are the path [of liberation] sought for by those desiring liberation. Firm in the performance of your personal duty (dharma), fix that Supreme Person in your mind and devote yourself to Him exclusively.
23. I cannot find anyone else to remove your frustration other than Lord Viṣṇu with the lotus-petal eyes. Other people seek the Goddess of Fortune, who holds a lotus in her hand, but She herself seeks Him.’”
24. Maitreya said:
“These words spoken by his mother were intended for his welfare. After hearing them, Dhruva controlled his mind with the mind,3 and set out from his father’s city.
25. The sage Nārada overheard all this, and understood Dhruva’s intentions. Astonished, he touched Dhruva on the head with his hand, which can remove all sins, and spoke:
26. ‘Aho! Just see the potency of the warrior caste (kṣatriyas)—they cannot bear a slight on their pride! Even though this one is a mere child, he has taken the unjust words of his stepmother to heart.’
27. Nārada said:
‘My son: I still cannot fathom how notions of honor and dishonor can exist in a young boy like you who is attached to playful games and such things.
28. Even if the distinction [between honor and dishonor] has already made its presence felt in your life, there is no cause for anyone to be frustrated, other than because of ignorance. People have different lots in life according to their personal karma.
29. Therefore an intelligent person should be satisfied with just whatever has been bestowed by Providence, O child. One should understand this as the way to reach Īśvara.
30. You now wish to gain His favor by following the yoga instructed by your mother. In my opinion, God is definitely not solicited easily by people.
31. Even sages do not find the path that leads to Him, despite searching for many births free from attachments through intense yoga practices and states of samādhi.
32. Therefore you had better give up this useless endeavor of yours. You can attempt it later, when a better occasion presents itself.
33. An embodied being, who is self-content in whatever situation of happiness and distress has been ordained by destiny, attains the state beyond darkness (tamas).
34. If one is overwhelmed with happiness for someone with higher qualities and sympathy toward one with lower qualities, and seeks friendship with one with equal qualities, one is never overcome by difficulties.’4
35. Dhruva replied:
‘This equilibrium of mind5 that you have taught out of compassion for people who are afflicted by happiness and distress, good sir, is difficult to realize for the likes of me.
36. I am an uncouth soul and have inherited a fierce warrior nature. Therefore [your instruction] does not take root in my heart, which was pierced by the arrows of Suruci’s harsh words.
37. I desire to attain a domain that is the highest in the three worlds, one that has not been ruled over even by our grandfathers, nor by anyone else.6 Please instruct me about the right path to achieve this goal, O brāhmaṇa!
38. Indeed, you, sir, are the son of Lord Brahmā, highest of the celestial beings. Like the sun, you travel about for the welfare of the universe, plucking your vīṇā instrument.’”7
39. Maitreya said:
“When he heard this response, the honorable sage Nārada was impressed. He replied to the boy kindly, with words of truth.
40. Nārada said:
‘The path of Lord Vāsudeva [Kṛṣṇa] taught by your mother will lead you to the ultimate goal. Worship Vāsudeva with your soul dedicated to Him.
41. For one who desires the best for oneself—namely, righteous duty, prosperity, fulfillment of desire, and liberation [the four goals of life]8—there is only one source for these: service to the feet of Hari [Kṛṣṇa].
42. I wish you good fortune in this, my son. Go to Madhu forest, a holy place on the banks of the Yamunā river. The presence of Hari is always in that place.
43. After bathing there constantly in the auspicious waters of the Kālindī (Yamunā) river, and performing the rites appropriate for you [given your age], dedicate your time there on a suitable seat, āsana [for practicing yoga].
44. First, cast off, gradually, the impurities of the mind, senses, and life airs (prāṇa) by means of the three forms of breath control (prāṇāyāma),9 then you should meditate on Viṣṇu, the [Supreme] guru with a fixed mind.10
45. He is always mercifully inclined, and His eyes and face are always benevolent. His nose and eyebrows are gorgeous, and His cheeks are delightful. He far surpasses the celestials in beauty.
46. He is youthful and His limbs are attractive. His eyes and lower lip are reddish in color. He is the refuge of His devotees, and the worthy shelter for all humanity. He is an ocean of mercy.
47. He is a personal Being. His color is dark blue, He wears a garland of forest flowers, and He is characterized by the śrīvatsa tuft of hair.11 He has four arms, each one distinct [in holding] a conch, discus, club, and lotus, respectively.
48. He wears earrings and an ornate headdress, and is endowed with armlets and bracelets. His neck is adorned with the kaustubha gem, and He wears a yellow silk garment.
49. Girded with a belt of bells, and wearing shining golden anklets, He is the most beautiful sight of everything that is worth beholding. He is peaceful, and enlivening to the eyes and the mind.
50. One should worship His feet, resplendent with the brilliance of His ruby-like toenails. He is situated in the ātman. His seat is the pericarp of the lotus in the heart.12
51. He is the ultimate bestower of boons. With concentrated mind, one should constantly contemplate Him smiling and casting affectionate glances.
52. When the mind is meditating on the auspicious form of the Lord in this way, it is quickly immersed in supreme bliss and never ceases to be so.
53. Now hear the highest and most intimate sacred sound recitation, japa.13 A person reciting this aloud for seven nights will be able to see the mystic beings who travel through the air,14 O prince:
54. “Oṁ namo bhagavate Vāsudevāya.” [Reciting] this mantra, one who is wise and understands how to adjust to context, should make a physical form (deity) of the Lord and worship it with various paraphernalia according to time and place.15
55. One should worship the Lord with pure water, garlands of forest flowers, roots, and fruits, etc., freshly cut sprouts and stems, and with the tulasī plant, which is dear to the Lord.16
56. Alternatively, the sage, who is peaceful, whose mind is fixed and speech controlled, and who subsists by frugally eating the produce of the forest, can worship a physical form of the Lord made from earth or water, etc.17
57. By means of His inconceivable personal powers, the Lord (Uttama-śloka18) will perform deeds in the form of the pure activities of His incarnations. One should contemplate those deeds.
58. These acts of worship to God were practiced by the ancients to the best of their abilities. One should concentrate on the Lord by [chanting] the mantra in the heart. The Lord manifests in the form of the mantra.
59.–60. The Lord increases the loving feelings [of his devotees]. Being worshipped in this way by devotional acts of worship through body, mind, and words by people worshipping free from guile, He bestows welfare such as dharma, etc.,19 to the living entities, according to their desires.
61. Detached from the pleasures of the senses by means of practicing bhakti yoga with great seriousness and with mind always absorbed in the Lord, one should worship in this way in order to attain liberation.’
62. Addressed in this way, the prince offered obeisances to Nārada and circumambulated him.20 Then he entered the holy Madhu forest, which is imprinted by the footprints of Hari.
63. As Dhruva was entering the forest to perform penance, Nārada entered the king’s inner palace. He was welcomed with due respect by the king, and after he was comfortably seated the sage addressed him.
64. Nārada said:
‘O king, why are you pining with a withered face? Is there something lacking in your pursuit of righteousness, gratification, and material well-being?’21
65. The king replied:
‘O wise Nārada, my son, a boy of five years, along with his mother, has been banished by me. I am a cruel soul who is under the control of a woman, O great sage.
66. O brāhmaṇa, he is without a guardian: may the wolves not have devoured the boy, his lotus face faded, while he was resting, or sleeping.
67. Oh, woe is me! You should consider me to be a cruel-hearted person. I did not welcome Dhruva, who was desiring to climb up onto my lap out of love. I am the lowest of rascals.’
68. Nārada said:
‘Don’t worry, don’t worry! Your son is protected by the gods, O Lord of men. You are unaware of his power: his fame will spread all over the world.
69. He will perform an exceedingly difficult deed even for kings to perform, O master. He will return after a short period of time, O king, and spread your fame far and wide.’”
70. Maitreya said:
“After hearing these words spoken by the celestial sage, the king, Lord of the Earth, ceased paying any attention to the fortunes of the kingdom, and immersed his mind solely in thoughts of his son.
71. Meanwhile, in the forest, Dhruva took a bath, and fasted that night attentively. Then he worshipped the Supreme Being devotedly, according to the instructions of the sage.
72. He passed one month worshipping Hari while eating only wood apple and jujube fruits after every three nights and then only as much as was needed to sustain himself.
73. Then, for the second month, as he worshipped the Lord, the boy took for his food withered leaves and grass once every six days.
74. The boy spent the third month with his mind fixed in unbroken concentration (samādhi), on the Lord, who is praised in the best of verses, while consuming water only every nine days.
75. He underwent the fourth month meditating on the Lord with his breath under control while subsisting only on air inhaled once every twelve days.
76. When the fifth month arrived, the son of the king stood on one foot as immobile as a pillar while meditating on Brahman, with his breath controlled.
77. He withdrew his mind, which is the support of the senses and sense objects, from all objects, and, meditating on the form of Bhagavān in his heart, gave up awareness of anything else.
78. Because Dhruva was concentrating on Īśvara, the primeval Lord, Brahman, who is the support of the entire material manifestation, the three worlds began to tremble.
79. When the boy prince stood on one leg, the earth, being pressed by his toe, inclined on one side, just as a boat, mounted by a tusker elephant, lurches to the left and right at each of its steps.
80. By dint of his undeviating concentration on the Soul of the Universe, Dhruva blocked the pathways of air in the universe as he was meditating.22 At this, the [denizens of the] other realms, along with their rulers, feeling greatly afflicted on account of their own breathing being blocked, approached Hari for help.
81. The celestials said:
‘O Lord, we do not understand the cause of this suppression of air, which is affecting the condition of all beings, moving and non-moving. Therefore please free us from this distress. We have approached You for shelter, since You can bestow shelter.’
82. The Lord, Śrī Bhagavān, said:
‘Do not fear! I will restrain the boy from his extreme austerities. Return to your abodes. The son of king Uttānapāda has absorbed himself in Me. It is because of this that your breath has been choked!’”
Book IV, Chapter 9
1. Maitreya said:
“Their fear dispelled by these words, the gods offered their respects to Lord Viṣṇu (Urukrama23) and set out to their abodes throughout the three worlds. Then, Viṣṇu (the thousand-headed One24) also went to Madhuvan (the sweet forest) on Garuḍa, His eagle carrier,25 with the desire of seeing His servant Dhruva.
2. Viṣṇu, on account of the intensity of Dhruva’s mature yoga practice, appeared in the lotus of Dhruva’s heart, effulgent as lightning. Dhruva beheld Him. Then Viṣṇu suddenly disappeared. [Opening his eyes] Dhruva saw Him standing outside in the same position.
3. Seeing that vision, Dhruva was thrown into confusion. He prostrated his body on the ground like a stick26 and offered obeisance. Beholding Lord Viṣṇu, the boy was as if drinking Him with his eyes, kissing Him with his mouth, and embracing Him with his arms.
4. Hari is situated in Dhruva’s heart—as well as in everything—and understood that Dhruva, who was standing with hands folded in supplication, was intensely desiring to speak, but did not know how to do so. Out of compassion, He touched the boy on the cheek with his conch shell, made of Brahman.27
5. At this, Dhruva understood the will of the Supreme Being, whose glories are widespread. Absorbed in devotional feelings, he slowly offered to the Lord in praise the divine words that had been bestowed upon him with which to do so. Dhruva’s [future] abode, the polestar, would remain permanent28 [see IV.9.19–20 below].
6. Dhruva said:
‘You, the possessor of all power, have entered within me and, with Your own power, have animated these words of mine from their state of dormancy, as well as my other [faculties]—hands, feet, ears, skin, etc.—and my life airs, too. Obeisance to You, Bhagavān, the Supreme Being.
7. O Bhagavān, You are the one Supreme Person. Through Your personal powers, You create all the primordial material ingredients of this world, which consists of the vast guṇas and is known as māyā.29 You then enter the ever-changing guṇas and illuminate them, like fire lighting up an assortment of wood.
8. Lord Brahmā was completely surrendered to You, O Lord, and so perceived the universe by means of the wisdom bestowed by You, like a person awakening from sleep.30 Your lotus feet were the refuge for Brahmā when he was seeking liberation—what learned person would forget them? You are the friend of the downtrodden.
9. You are a wish-fulfilling tree.31 You bestow birth, death, and liberation. Certainly those who desire the gratification of this body, which is like a corpse, and worship You for other things [apart from liberation] are people whose intelligence has been stolen by Your illusory power (māyā). Such sense pleasure is available even for people in hell.
10. The pleasure [experienced] by embodied beings from meditating on Your lotus feet or from hearing about Your deeds from Your devotees does not exist in Brahman, even though that is also a part of Your own majesty, O Lord.32 What to speak, then, [of the lesser pleasure experienced by the residents of the celestial realms], who fall from their celestial air-vehicles,33 when struck by the sword of Death.
11. Let me always have the association of those great pure-hearted devotees, who are constantly immersed in devotion to You, O unlimited One. With this, I will become intoxicated with drinking the nectar of the narrations about You, and easily cross over the ocean of material existence, brimming with grave dangers.34
12. O Lord with the lotus navel! Your devotees’ hearts are enamored by the fragrance of Your lotus feet. Those who associate with them forget about this mortal life, sons, friends, households, wealth, and wives.’”
[…]
18. Maitreya said:
“Upon being glorified in this way by the intelligent and noble-hearted Dhruva, the Lord, who is affectionate to His devotees, greeted him kindly, and spoke as follows.
19. The Lord said:
‘I know the resolve in your heart, O prince. Your have upheld your vow, so I will grant you that boon [which you desired], even though it is one that is hard to attain.
20. My dear boy, one place that has never been ruled over by anyone else is the polestar, an effulgent unmoving realm. The circuit of the luminaries, stars, constellations, and planets revolves around it.
[…]
25. After this life, you will go to My abode [Vaikuṇṭha35]. It is beyond [the realms] of the sages, and worshipped by all the realms.’”
26. Maitreya said:
“Thus, the Lord, who had been worshipped in this way, bestowed His personal abode on Dhruva. Then Bhagavān, whose banner bears the emblem of Garuḍa,36 returned to His abode while the boy was watching.
27. Dhruva returned to the city. Although he had fulfilled his wish and attained the fulfillment of his resolve by serving the feet of Viṣṇu, the boy was not very happy in mind.”
28. Vidūra spoke:
“How is it that Dhruva considered his own personal goal to be unfulfilled? He understands the goals of human life.37 In just one life, he obtained the supreme abode, which is achieved by worshipping the feet of Hari, the possessor of māyā!”
29. Maitreya said:
“Dhruva’s heart was pierced by the arrows of his co-mother’s words. Because of harboring them in his mind, he did not desire liberation from the Lord of liberation. It is because of this that he became distressed.
30. Dhruva said:
‘Even the celibate Sanandana and his brothers38 did not attain the Lord’s abode in one birth through their samādhi, whereas I attained the shelter of His feet in six months. But my mind was fixed on some other goal, and so I squandered the opportunity.
31. Aho! Just see my materialism. I am so unfortunate: after attaining the lotus feet of the One who can dispel saṁsāra, I asked for something that was temporary instead.
[…]
33. I perceived reality through the lens of differences,39 and so, after submitting to the influence of illusion (daivī-māyā),40 I behaved like someone asleep. Even though there are no differences [in reality], I was tormented in my heart by the scourge of enmity toward my brother.
34. I requested Him for something useless—like requesting medicine for someone already dead. The Soul of the Universe is very hard to please, yet, after having managed to please Him with austerities, I then went and requested Him for saṁsāra41—He who can dispel saṁsāra. I am so foolish.
35. Alas! Like a fool who, because of little merit,42 requests some meager chaffed rice from someone who is a sovereign, I, because of illusion, requested for my pride [to be upheld] from the Lord who was offering me His own personal abode.’”
36. Maitreya said:
“People like yourself, dear Vidūra, who relish the dust of Mukunda’s [Kṛṣṇa’s] lotus feet, aspire to His servitude with no desire for personal benefit. They feel satisfied in their minds with whatever comes along providentially.
37. After hearing that his son was returning, as if coming back from the dead, the king could not believe it: ‘I am so wretched. How has this good fortune come for me?’
38. But, believing the words of Nārada, the celestial sage, the king was overwhelmed with a surge of joy. In an ecstatic mood, he bestowed a very valuable necklace as a gift to the bearer of the news.
39.–40. Eager to see his son, he mounted his chariot decorated with gold and drawn by trusty steeds, and hastily set out from the city to the sound of conches, drums, flutes, and the chanting of Vedic mantras. He was surrounded by brāhmaṇas, family elders, ministers, and friends.
41. His two queens, Sunīti and Suruci, adorned with golden ornaments, mounted a palanquin along with Uttama, and also set forth.
42. In the vicinity of the small forest, the king hastily got down from his chariot when he saw his son arriving. He quickly approached Dhruva, immersed in loving feelings.
43. The king, whose mind had long been full of regret and who was breathing heavily, embraced his son with his two arms. Dhruva’s bonds of sin had been entirely destroyed by the touch of the lotus feet of the Lord of the Universe.
44. Then, the king, his heart’s burning desire fulfilled, smelled his son’s head repeatedly,43 and bathed him with the cold tears from his eyes.
45. Dhruva, the most righteous of people, was lovingly welcomed and honored with blessings. He offered obeisance to his father’s feet, and then bowed his head to his two mothers.
46. Suruci picked up the boy who was prostrated at her feet, embraced him, and, with a voice stammering with tears, said: ‘May you live long.’
47. Just as water spontaneously [gravitates] to a lower place, all living beings offer respect to one who has pleased the Lord by means of one’s qualities, friendly behavior, and such.
48. Uttama and Dhruva, both trembling with love for one another, shed torrents of tears continuously, their hairs ecstatically standing on end from the contact of each other’s bodies.
49. Dhruva’s mother, Sunīti, embraced her son, who was dearer to her than even her life airs. Full of joy from the touch of his body, she gave up her grief.
50. O hero Vidūra: the breasts of the mother of the hero were moistened by auspicious tears flowing from her eyes, and milk flowed from them continuously.
51. The people praised that queen: ‘Your son had been lost for such a long time. But by good fortune he was regained and has removed your anguish. In the future, he will be the protector of the entire earth.’”
Book IV, Chapter 11
Preamble
Dhruva’s father eventually retires to the forest at the end of his life to contemplate the ātman, installing Dhruva on the throne. One day, Dhruva’s brother, Uttama, is killed by a celestial yakṣa while hunting in the forest. Enraged, Dhruva sets out to the land of the yakṣas and challenges them to battle. A furious battle ensues, during which Dhruva slaughters countless yakṣas. His grandfather Svāyambhuva Manu, seeing this massacre, and feeling compassion for the yakṣas (also known as guhyakas), appears before his grandson.
6. After seeing innocent guhyakas (yakṣas) being slaughtered by the powerful Dhruva on his amazing chariot, his grandfather Manu approached Dhruva, the son of Uttānapāda, out of compassion, accompanied by sages.
7. Manu said:
“Enough, my child, of this fury. It is sinful and the pathway to tamas. Blinded by this, you have abused these innocent, pious people.
8. Such a deed is not befitting our lineage, my dear child, and is forbidden by the righteous. You have undertaken a slaughter of these celestials who have done nothing.
9. Consider, my child: you loved your brother, but, outraged by his murder, many yakṣas have been killed by you, simply by dint of their kinship with just one who commited the crime.
10. To butcher living beings like beasts due to thinking the body to be the self is not the way of the saintly (sādhus) who are devoted to Kṛṣṇa.
11. You worshipped Hari, the abode of all beings, by means of understanding that He is the ātman within all beings; as a result of this you won that supreme abode of Viṣṇu, which is so difficult to attain.
12. You are that same person who did that then. You are beloved by Hari, and you are also highly esteemed by people. How, then, by performing such a censurable act as this now, are you exemplifying the behavior of the saintly?
13. Bhagavān, the ātman of everything, is pleased by tolerance, compassion, friendship, and equanimity for all creatures.
14. When Bhagavān is pleased, a person is freed from the guṇas of prakṛti, and, liberated, attains brahma-nirvāṇa.
15. Men and women are produced from the five great elements, and from the sexual union between them, further men and women are produced in this world.
16. It is from the agitation of the guṇas of the māyā of the Supreme Ātman, O king, that the creation, maintenance, and withdrawal of the universe comes about.
17. The Supreme Puruṣa, who is transcendent to these guṇas, is merely the efficient cause of this universe of manifest and unmanifest things. It is because of Him that the universe is set in motion, like iron [filings are set in motion by a magnet].
18. That Bhagavān projects his power by means of the activities of the guṇas through the power of Time. Therefore He creates, but yet is not the doer, and destroys, but is not the destroyer. The deeds of the Supreme Being are difficult to fathom, indeed.
19. Although He Himself is without end in the form of Time, He causes death, and although He is changeless and without beginning, He initiates everything. He causes the birth of progeny through others who were themselves progeny, and causes death to those who inflict death on others.
20. There are no friends or enemies of the Supreme, for He pervades all creatures equally in the form of death. The host of beings are subject to His ways, as He moves things along, just like particles of dust in the wind.
21. It is that Supreme Lord who apportions the growth and decline in life span of all living beings who are suffering [in saṁsāra]. But He Himself is self-sufficient and transcendent to both.
22. Some call Him karma, O king, others Nature. Some call Him Time, and still others the desire (kāma) of men.
23. Who can know the design of He who manifests through his various powers (śaktis) but who is inconceivable and immeasurable, my child? He is the source of one’s very own being!
24. These yakṣas, the followers of Kuvera, the treasurer of the celestials, were not the killers of your brother. Destiny is the cause of the creation and demise of beings, my dear son!
25. It is He who creates, and He who maintains and destroys this universe, yet He Himself is not propelled by the guṇas and karma, as He is devoid of all ego.
26. He is the ātman of all beings, the controller of all beings, and the source of all beings. Employing His power of māyā, He creates, maintains, and destroys all beings.
27. My dear Dhruva! Take refuge in Him with your whole being. He is Destiny. He is death and immortality. He is the refuge of the universe. The secondary creators of the world44 bear offerings to Him, just like bulls who are controlled by a rope through the nose.
28. You, at five years of age, were pierced to the heart by the words of your co-mother, your father’s other wife. So you left your own mother, went to the forest, worshipped the transcendent Viṣṇu through austerities, and gained a place at the very top of the universe.
29. O child, seek Him within your heart, freed from anger. He is situated there, beyond the guṇas, infallible and unique. He is the Supreme Ātman, the seer of the ātman. It is within Him that this world appears to be independent and unreal.
30. Therefore, offer your supreme bhakti to Him, the Supreme, the inner ātman, the infinite Bhagavān. He is pure bliss and the possessor of all powers. Then you will gradually pierce through the bonds of ignorance, which have manifested in the form of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
31. O king, may you be blessed! Anger obstructs your ultimate welfare: restrain your anger by means of immersing yourself completely in the sacred teachings, which act just like medicine in counteracting disease.
32. People are terrified by a person overwhelmed with anger. A wise person desiring to attain a state of fearlessness for himself, does not allow himself to fall under the control of anger.
33. You have committed an offense against Kuvera, the brother of Śiva, because, in a state of fury, you have slaughtered innocent yakṣas [his followers] thinking they were the murderers of your brother.
34. Pacify Kuvera immediately, O son, by offering him obeisance, respect, and sweet words, lest the wrath of the great souls consume our family dynasty.
35. After admonishing his grandson Dhruva in this manner, Svāyambhuva Manu received respect from him and then departed to his own city, accompanied by the sages.”
Book IV, Chapter 12
1. Maitreya said:
“Upon understanding that Dhruva’s anger had subsided and that he had desisted from the slaughter, Kuvera, the lord of wealth, went to that place, praised by the celestial cāraṇas, yakṣas, and kinnaras. He addressed Dhruva, who was standing there with hands folded in respect.
2. ‘Bho! Bho! O faultless warrior prince! You have satisfied me! You have renounced anger on the instruction of your grandfather. It is so hard to relinquish.
3. It is not you who killed the yakṣas, nor was it they who killed your brother. It is Time which is actually the controller of the coming and going of all beings.
4. Like a dreaming person, the false notions of “I” and “you” are meaningless; they arise from contemplating the unreal due to a person’s ignorance. It is because of this that there is bondage and misfortune.
5.–6. Therefore go on your way, Dhruva. May there be good fortune for you. For liberation from saṁsāra, worship Bhagavān, Viṣṇu, for He is the destroyer of saṁsāra. Do this while contemplating the ātman within all beings, as it is He who manifests as the ātman within all beings. His feet are worthy of worship. He is connected with his powers—those of māyā and of the ātman—yet He is separate from them.
7. Dear Dhruva! We have heard that you are inseparable from the feet of Viṣṇu, from whose navel the lotus is born. Choose any wish, O king, anything that enters your mind. Be happy and don’t hesitate: you deserve a boon, O son of Uttānapāda.’
8. Urged on by Kuvera, the king of kings, to pick a boon, the high-minded Dhruva, a great bhāgavata, chose unwavering remembrance of Hari. It is by this that one easily crosses over tamas, which is so difficult to surpass.
9. With a satisfied heart, Kuvera awarded him this boon. Then as Dhruva was watching, he disappeared, and returned to his own city.
10. After this, with sacrificial rites and lavish wealth, Dhruva performed yajña, ceremonial rites, for Viṣṇu, who is the bestower of the fruits of ritual. The ritual involved wealth, sacrificial acts, and the celestials.
11. Engaging in intense bhakti to the infallible Kṛṣṇa, the ātman of everything who is yet separate from everything, Dhruva perceived Him, the Lord, situated in the ātman of all beings.45
12. The citizens considered Dhruva to be like their father: he was endowed with good character, devoted to the brāhmaṇas, compassionate to the less fortunate, and the protector of the codes of dharma.
13. He ruled the earth globe for thirty-six thousand years, destroying his pious karma through experiencing its fruition, and his impious karma through austerity.
14. After ruling the kingdom in this way for many years in a manner conducive to the first three goals of life,46 the great-souled Dhruva, his senses completely controlled, transferred the royal throne to his son in turn.
15. He considered this universe to be a mental construct produced in dream through ignorance (avidyā) caused by māyā, like the city of the celestial gandharvas.47
16. After realizing that his body, wives, offspring, and friends; his power, abundant treasury, harem, and beautiful pleasure groves; and the entire earth bound like a girdle with oceans, were all temporal and subject to Time, Dhruva set out for the holy place Badarikāśrama.48
17. He bathed in the pure waters of that place, his senses under control. He set up a sitting place (āsana), and with his breath restrained and his senses controlled by the mind, fixed his mind on that image of Bhagavān made of the gross elements (the Virāṭ49). Then, after meditating on this without interruption, he relinquished that form and entered into the state of samādhi, beyond thoughts.50
18. Carried away by his bhakti to Bhagavān, Hari, he was continually overwhelmed with tear drops of ecstasy (ānanda) flowing ceaselessly. His body was covered with hairs that stood on end due to bliss, and his heart melted. Freed from the subtle body, he lost awareness of his body.
19. Then Dhruva saw a superb celestial vehicle descending from the heavens, appearing like the full moon illuminating the ten directions.
20. He saw two magnificent celestials standing on that. They had four arms, were blackish in complexion, and their eyes were reddish like the lotus. They were holding clubs, beautifully dressed, and adorned with attractive earrings, armlets, necklaces, and helmets.
21. Upon realizing that they were two servants of Viṣṇu, Dhruva stood up. Out of astonishment, he had forgotten the proper etiquette of welcome; so he offered respects to the two associates of Viṣṇu by reciting the names of Hari, the enemy of Madhu, with hands folded in respect.
22. Sunanda and Nanda, the esteemed servants of the lotus-naveled Viṣṇu, approached Dhruva. His mind was absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, his hands were folded in respect, and his neck was bent in humility. They addressed him.
23. Sunanda and Nanda said:
‘Bho, Bho, O king, may you be blessed! Listen carefully to what we have to say. When you were five years old, you thoroughly satisfied the Lord with your austerities.
24. We two are the associates of the Lord, who is the wielder of the śārṅga bow and the Creator of the entire universe. We have been sent here to bring you to Bhagavān’s abode.
25. Come! You have earned that abode of Viṣṇu, which is so hard to attain. The celestials cannot attain it; they can only glimpse at it from afar. The moon, sun, stars, constellations, planets, and all celestial bodies circumambulate it on the right.51
26. This realm has never been attained by any of your forefathers, dear Dhruva. Come now to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu, which is glorified by all the universes.
27. You have earned the right to ascend this divine vehicle. It has been sent by the supreme Lord, who is praised in the best of verses.’”
28. Maitreya said:
“After hearing the nectarlike words of those eminent servants from Vaikuṇṭha, Dhruva, beloved of Viṣṇu, took a purifying bath, performed his daily auspicious duties, offered his respects to the two sages, and returned their blessings.
29. After circumambulating that splendid vehicle, Dhruva worshipped it, offered respects to the two Vaikuṇṭha associates again, and assumed a golden form. He then desired to mount up on that carrier.
30. Then Dhruva, the son of Uttānapāda, saw that Death had approached. He put his foot on the head of Death,52 and climbed onto that marvelous aerial structure.
31. At this, the prominent gandharvas resounded their mṛdaṅga, paṇava, and other such drums, sang, and showered down kusuma flowers like rain.
32. As he was about to ascend up beyond the celestial realms, Dhruva remembered his mother, Sunīti, and thought: ‘I will give up going to Viṣṇu’s realm, even though it is so hard to attain, and go to my poor mother instead.’
33. Having understood his resolve, those two eminent divine beings showed Dhruva that the queen was already proceeding ahead of them in another vehicle.
34. Here and there along the path of ascent, Dhruva saw the planets one by one. As he was proceeding along, he was bestrewed with divine flowers from the celestials in their vehicles as they glorified him.
35. Traversing beyond the three worlds and even the realm of the sages53 on that celestial vehicle, Dhruva then reached the realm of Viṣṇu beyond all that. He had attained an eternal destination.
36. It was effulgent through its own all-pervading luster—it is on account of that effulgence that these three worlds here shine. Those who are not compassionate to other living entities do not attain that place—only those who constantly perform auspicious deeds attain there.
37. Those dear to Kṛṣṇa, the infallible Lord, are peaceful, equanimous, pure, and affectionate to all beings. Even those who are friends with them easily go to the abode of Viṣṇu.
38. In this way, Dhruva, son of Uttānapāda, who was fully devoted to Kṛṣṇa, became like the crest jewel of the three worlds.
39. The circle of constellations are placed around this realm [the polestar] and revolve around it with great power ceaselessly, like a herd of bulls circle a central post.
40. After seeing the greatness of Dhruva, the eminent sage Nārada sang verses about him at the sacrifice of the Pracetās, while plucking his vīṇā.
41. Nārada sang:
‘Despite knowing the means to do so, the followers of the Vedas are not capable of approaching the destination attained by Dhruva, the son of the chaste Sunīti, through the power of his austerities—what to speak then of kings attaining this?
42. At the age of five years, he departed to the forest with a heart tormented by the piercing words of his father’s co-wife. Following my instructions, he conquered the unconquerable Lord, won over by the qualities of His bhakta.
43. When Dhruva was five or six years old, he pleased the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, and attained His realm. A kṣatriya warrior in this world might at best desire to ascend to that realm even after many years, but it was attained by Dhruva in a few days.’”
The Tale of King Pṛthu: The Ideal Monarch
Yoga Blueprint
The teachings in this section continue in the vein of normative Yoga philosophy. What is noteworthy in this passage is the preeminent regard and respect that is offered to those sages who teach and exemplify such teachings.
Book IV, Chapter 22
1. Maitreya said:
“While the citizens were extolling King Pṛthu of great fame, the four boy sages (Kumāras), who were as effulgent as the sun, approached that place.
2. The king, along with his entourage, saw those perfected masters (siddhas) descending from the sky. They were recognizable by their effulgence, and were purifying the worlds of sin.
3. Pṛthu, son of Venu, along with his entourage and followers, jumped up, trying to regain his breath that had been lost from seeing those sages. They appeared just like the jīva, lord of the senses, [captivated by] the sense objects made from the guṇas.
4. Feeling overwhelmed by their august presence, the king arranged for them to be worshipped once they had accepted seats and other items used for welcoming guests. With head bowed he was humble and courteous.
5. He sprinkled his hair knot with the water that had washed their feet. By this, he was behaving in the manner of those who are cultured, to demonstrate respect.
6. The king, who was endowed with faith and sense control, was delighted. He addressed the Kumāras, elder brothers of Śiva,54 who had taken their seats on golden thrones, appearing like the sacred fires in their respective sacrificial hearths.
7. ‘Aho! What auspicious act must I have performed, O you who embody auspiciousness, as a result of which I have obtained your darśana (a sight of you). You are difficult to see even by the yogīs.
8. What is there that is difficult to attain for anyone when the sages, and Śiva and Viṣṇu, along with their followers, are pleased with that person?
9. The world cannot perceive those sages who wander about, just as the material elements, the causes of this world, cannot perceive the ātman that exists in all, and that is the seer of all.
10. Even if they are poor, those saintly householders are blessed whose houses contain water, grass mats, accommodation, servants, and masters that can be offered to saints.
11. But those houses are just like trees which are the abodes of serpents if, despite being replete with all goods, they do not contain water to wash the feet of the Vaiṣṇavas.
12. Welcome, O you best of the twice-born. Desiring liberation, you have been observing vows faithfully. Although you are boys, your minds are fixed and you have attained success.
13. How can there be any auspiciousness in store for us, O masters, who think that the purpose of life is the objects of the senses? Due to our own deeds, we have fallen into this world, which is a reservoir of vice.
14. There is no need to ask after the welfare of your lordships. You enjoy the bliss of the ātman, and thoughts of good fortune or misfortune do not arise in you.
15. You are the well-wishers of those in distress, therefore, with faith in you, I ask you: How can salvation be attained in this world of saṁsāra?
16. The unborn Bhagavān is the revealer of the ātman, and, in fact, He is the ātman of those who know the ātman. It is certain that He wanders around this world in the form of perfected beings such as yourselves so as to bestow compassion to His devotees.’”
17. Maitreya said:
“After hearing from Pṛthu such praises—gracious, fitting, insightful, and measured—the Kumāras were pleased. Smiling, they replied.
18. Sanat-Kumāra said:
‘You have inquired perfectly, O great king, with the welfare of all living beings at heart, even though you know the answers. Such wisdom is befitting the saintly.
19. The association of the saintly is truly beneficial to both parties [speaker and hearer]: the discourses and queries of such association enhance the satisfaction of everyone.
20. O king, it seems that you have an unshakable attraction for reciting the qualities of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Madhu. Such attraction is hard to attain. It clears away the impurities covering the mind in the form of lust.
21. This much is certain, according to the scriptures that have undertaken a thorough inquiry of the matter: the source of welfare for people is detachment from whatever is different from the ātman, and firm attraction toward the ātman and brahman, which is beyond the guṇas.
22. [Affection for Hari, who is Brahman, transcendent to the guṇas, easily develops] by means of faith, by observance of the Bhagavata dharma, by inquiry into Truth, by determined application of the yoga of transcendence, by unceasing worship of the Lord of Yoga (yogeśvara), and by pure-hearted discussion about the Lord.
23. By distaste for the company of those who delight in the senses and material possessions and by disinterest in their opinions, by delighting in solitude absorbed in the contentment of the ātman except when drinking the nectar of the qualities of Hari.
24. By nonviolence (ahiṁsā), by the conduct of the great saints, by remembering the nectar of the great deeds of Mukunda [Kṛṣṇa], by following moral and ethical precepts (yamas and niyamas), by renouncing lust (kāma), by not criticizing, by being free of ambition, and by tolerating the dualites.
25. By continually discussing with devotion the names and qualities dedicated to Hari, which are ornaments for the ears, by disinterest in that which is other than the ātman, and in the causes and effects of the material world, by all these, affection for Hari, who is Brahman, transcendent to the guṇas, easily develops.
26. When unflinching faith has developed in brahman, then a person, under the guidance of a guru (ācārya), speedily burns up the layers surrounding the ātman (kośas), making them impotent, like the eruption of fire burns its source. These kośas, constituting five aspects,55 lie in the heart.
27. When the stock of karma (āśaya) has been burned, and one has been freed from all its qualities, one no longer sees either the internal or external coverings that previously separated the ātman from the Paramātman, the Supreme—just as, when a dream comes to an end, a person no longer sees the objects within it.
28. It is because the covering in the form of this stock exists, that a person can see nothing other than him or herself, the objects of the senses, and that which is beyond both [the ego]. Otherwise this would not occur.
29. This is like the fact that it is only when a cause is present—such as water or other reflecting things like mirrors—that a person can see the difference between him or herself and the reflection. Otherwise this would not occur.
30. The mind is drawn by objects that attract the senses. When a person is contemplating these objects, the mind diverts the discrimination of the intelligence, just like a dam diverts the water of a pond.
31. When thought (citta) is distracted in this way, memory [of the ātman] is lost. In the destruction of memory, knowledge is lost. The sages consider this to be the concealment of the ātman by the mind.56
32. There is no greater loss to a person’s self-interest in this world, than the loss of one’s own ātman; it is for the ātman that other things are held dear.57
33. Contemplating wealth and the objects of the senses causes the destruction of a person’s own self-interest. From the loss of knowledge and realization that occurs because of this, one enters the immovable species of life [plants and the like].
34. One desiring to cross over the depths of tamas should not become attached to anything which completely obstructs dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa (the four goals of life: righteousness, prosperity, sense indulgence, and liberation).
35. Among these, mokṣa, liberation, is deemed as the greatest, because the other three goals of life are always subject to the fear of loss.
36. There are higher and lower states of existence for living beings brought about by the agitation of the guṇas. But there is no security for any of them, since their hopes are dashed by the Lord [in the form of Time].
37. Therefore you should understand Bhagavān, O king. He always shines forth, manifesting everywhere in all hearts and illuminating from within the souls of all moving and non-moving entities,58 who are covered by mind, intelligence, life airs, senses, and bodies.
38. I surrender to Him. His nature is eternally liberated, transcendent, and pure. Prakṛti with all its karmas is removed by Him. This universe manifests within Him as māyā in the form of cause and effect. This māyā illusion is dispelled by discrimination (viveka), just as the perception of a snake in what is really a garland is dispelled by discrimination.
39. Worship Vāsudeva; He is your refuge. The saints unravel the knots of accumulated karma (karmāśaya) through their bhakti to His lustrous feet, which are like lotus petals. Those whose minds are separated from Him, in contrast, are not able to control the senses, which flow forth like rivers, even though they struggle to do so.
40. The ocean of saṁsāra is filled with the crocodiles of the six senses. Great difficulty awaits those in this world who seek to cross over it by their own struggles without using the boat of Īśvara. Therefore, you should make a vessel of the adorable lotus feet of Bhagavān, Hari, and cross over this peril in the form of this insurmountable ocean.’”
41. Maitreya said:
“In this manner, the path of the ātman was revealed to the king by one of the Kumāras, the son of Brahmā, who had insight into the ātman. After honoring him, the king replied to him.
42. The king said:
‘The compassionate Hari previously granted grace on me, and now, O great brāhmaṇa, you have arrived to bestow it upon me.
43. You have accomplished this expertly, O lord; you have been most compassionate. What is there that I can offer you? Everything I own belongs to the great saints, including my very self.
44. My life airs, consorts, offspring, furnished residences, kingdom, power, land, and treasury are hereby all presented to you.
45. One who has realized the Truths of the Vedas and sacred texts deserves control over the army, kingdom, legal jurisdiction, and lordship over all realms.
46. The brāhmaṇa eats his own food, wears his own clothing, and gives away his own property. The kṣatriyas and other castes consume foodstuffs by the grace of the brāhmaṇas.59
47. This path of Bhagavān pertaining to the knowledge of the ātman has been thoroughly presented by them, the knowers of the Veda. They are supremely benevolent and are always content merely with their own deeds. So with what, exactly, can one repay them, other than with a nominal drink of water?’”
48. Maitreya continued:
“Those lords of the yoga of the ātman were thus honored by the emperor. Then, praising the character of such a king, they disappeared into the sky, before the very eyes of all the people.
49. King Pṛthu, son of Venu, eminent among great souls, became committed to these teachings about the Supreme Ātman. Absorbed in the ātman, he considered that all his desires had been fulfilled.
50. He performed his duties as an offering to Brahman, in accordance with the appropriate time, place, capabilities, protocols, and resources.
51. Fully devoted, he dedicated the fruits of his work to Brahman freed from all attachments.60 He considered himself to be a witness to action, the ātman transcendent to prakṛti.61
52.–53. Just as the sun [is detached from affairs in the world, despite shining upon it], the king did not become attached to the objects of the senses despite living in his home endowed with regality and royal opulence. His mind was free of ego, and he fully performed his duties in this manner while performing the yoga of the ātman.”
Book IV, Chapter 23
1.–3. Maitreya continued:
“Pṛthu, son of Venu, was self-controlled. He was the upholder of the citizens, and by his efforts his kingdom had prospered in all areas. He had provided livelihoods for all moving and non-moving entities and had upheld the law of dharma for all creatures. He had fulfilled the instruction of Īśvara, as it was for this reason that he had taken birth. One day, after seeing that his body had succumbed to old age, he transferred the earth to his sons, and set out alone with his wife for the forest to perform austerities (tapas). The citizens were disconsolate and the very earth seemed to weep from separation.
4. There, firm in his vow, he immersed himself in severe austerity (tapas) recommended by the Vaikhānasa texts for the vānaprastha phase of life62—just as he had previously done when conquering the world.
5. His food consisted of bulbs, roots, and fruits and sometimes dried leaves. Sometimes, for several weeks, he consumed water, and thereafter subsisted only on air.
6. His bed was the bare ground. In the summer, the hero performed the austerity of the ‘five fires,’63 and in the rainy season, the sage tolerated the rains. In the winter he immersed himself up to the neck in water.
7. He was tolerant, with senses restrained and words controlled. He restrained his semen, and controlled his breath. Desiring to propitiate Kṛṣṇa, he performed the highest type of austerity.
8. His accumulation of karma and impurities was destroyed by the gradual pursuit of perfection. The six senses were restrained by the practice of prāṇāyāma, breath control, and his bonds of saṁsāra were cut.
9. Whatever the great Sanat-kumāra had taught him about that highest yoga of the supreme self, that bull among men worshipped the Supreme Person accordingly.
10. Undeviating bhakti to Bhagavān, who is Brahman, was performed by that saint. He constantly endeavored with faith in upholding the bhāgavata-dharma.
11. In this way, his mind became completely pure by devotional activities for Bhagavān. By filling it with remembrance of Kṛṣṇa, knowledge endowed with renunciation arose in his mind. With the penetrating insight from this, he severed the covering (kośa) of his ātman, which is the abode of doubt.64
12. Having realized the nature of his ātman, he severed the illusion of being the mind and body and subsequently became freed from all desires. He next even renounced that state, and then severed the realization obtained through this insight in turn.65 Until an ascetic yogī ceases to be distracted by the processes [and mystic powers] of yoga, attraction for the stories of Kṛṣṇa, the younger brother of Balarāma, will not manifest.
13. In this manner, that best of heroes joined his mind with his innermost ātman, became absorbed in Brahman and, when the due time came, relinquished his own material body.
14. He blocked his anus with his heels, slowly drawing the life airs up through the navel, then the stomach, then fixing it in the heart, then farther up into the throat, then farther up still to between the eyebrows.66
15. Raising the air up farther, he settled it in the head, free from all desires. Then he united the air with the totality of air, the body with the earth, and the fire of the body with fire.
16. He merged the cavities of the body with air, and the bodily fluids with water. He returned earth into water, that water into fire, that into air, and that into ether, returning everything to its original source.67
17. He merged the mind into the senses, and the senses into the tanmātra subtle qualities from which they had originally emerged. He withdrew all these, along with the gross elements, etc., into the great cosmic mahat (undifferentiated state of prakṛti).68
18. He then placed that reservoir of all the guṇas into the jīva conditioned by māyā. Then Pṛthu, a being still covered by māyā due to being situated in a body composed of material coverings, finally gave the body up entirely through the force of knowledge and renunciation, and remained situated in his own true nature (svarūpa). He was now liberated.
19. The great queen Arci, who was delicate and beautiful and whose feet were not suitable for touching the rough ground, followed her husband to the forest.
20. Although she was severely emaciated by austerities, she did not experience any discomfort because she was true to her vows of dharma for her husband, desiring only to serve him. Maintaining her body like a forest sage [with forest fruits and produce], she experienced complete satisfaction in her mind by touching the hand of her beloved husband.
21. When she saw the body of that compassionate lord of both the world and of herself completely deprived of all consciousness and signs of life, that pious lady wept a little, then placed it on a funeral pyre at the top of a hill.
22. After she had performed the prescribed rites, she bathed in the waters of a river, and offered water oblations to her husband of magnanimous deeds. Then she offered obeisance to the celestials, circumambulated the pyre, and entered the flames, meditating on the feet of her husband.
23. Seeing that chaste lady following her husband, Pṛthu, the best of heroes, the wives of the celestials in their thousands, along with their husbands, showered blessings upon her.
24. Releasing showers of flowers on that hilltop, they extolled her among themselves while celestial drums resounded.
25. The celestial ladies said:
‘Aho! This spouse is most blessed! She served her husband, the lord of all the kings of the earth, with her whole being, just as Lakṣmī, the Goddess of Fortune, serves her husband, Viṣṇu, the Lord of sacrifice.
26. Just see—following her husband, Pṛthu, son of Venu, she has proceeded beyond us [in the celestial realms] and is going up on high [to Vaikuṇṭha] by dint of her astonishing deeds.
27. What else is there to attain in this world for those mortals who, despite having a flickering life span, have attained the transcendent realm of Bhagavān?
28. Anyone in this world who, after obtaining with great difficulty a human form, which can bestow liberation, becomes entangled in sense objects instead, is cheated and has become an enemy of his ātman.’
29. While the celestial damsels were praising her in this way, the chaste wife went to the realm her husband had attained. Pṛthu, who had taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa, was the most eminent of the knowers of ātman.
30. Such was the glory of that Pṛthu, the best of the bhāgavata devotees. His story has now been recounted to you. It is the best of stories.
31. Anyone who reads this extremely auspicious story with great faith, or who recites it or hears it, attains to the realm of Pṛthu (Vaikuṇṭha).
32. By reading it, a brāhmaṇa becomes endowed with the potency of brahman, a monarch becomes lord of the earth, a vaiśya (merchant) becomes master of wealth, and a śūdra (laborer) the best of saints.69
33. After hearing it three times attentively, one who has no progeny, whether man or woman, becomes endowed with excellent offspring, and a pauper becomes conspicuously wealthy.
34. A person with no claim to fame becomes famous, and a fool becomes a paṇḍita. This story becomes the vehicle of bringing good fortune to people and warding off inauspiciousness.
35. It bestows wealth, fame, longevity, access to the celestial realms, and removes the impurities of the age of Kali. It provides the perfections of dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa70 to those desiring these. One should hear it with faith, as it is the supreme cause of these four goals of human life.
36. A king inclined toward conquest who sets forth on a campaign after hearing this narrative will find other kings presenting tribute to him before he arrives, just as they did to Pṛthu.
37. One should hear, recite, and read the story of Pṛthu, son of Venu, freed from all other attachments, while engaging in pure bhakti to Bhagavān.
38. O Vidura! Thus has been narrated this story revealing the glories of the great souls (mahat). One who follows it attains the destination of Pṛthu, beyond death.
39. Hearing this story of Pṛthu every day with respect, and reciting it, a person becomes freed from all attachments and attains complete love for the feet of Bhagavān, which are the boat for traversing the ocean of saṁsāra.”
The Allegory of King Purañjana: The Illusion of Sensual Pleasures
Yoga Blueprint
The teachings in this section point to the foolishness and dangers of immersing oneself in romantic reveries and sensual indulgences from the point of view of the ultimate purpose of the human form of life, realizing the ātman. The allegory illustrates the ephemeral nature of material pleasures, which are inevitably vanquished by old age and death. The final section includes some particularly profound insights into the nature of the mind (IV.29.60–85).
[All the items from verse 10 below until chapter 28 have allegorical significance. Their interpretation is given in chapter 28 verse 55ff., so they will make limited sense until then. Nonetheless, the reader is encouraged to peruse chapters 22–25 patiently; while the allegory is somewhat lengthy, it imparts powerful yogic teachings.]
Book IV, Chapter 25
3. Prācīnabarhiṣat’s mind was absorbed in ritualistic activities.71 Once, sage Nārada, who is compassionate and realized in the truth of the ātman, went to him to enlighten him:
4. “O king! What real benefit for yourself do you seek from ritual activities? Real benefit is the removal of suffering and the attaining of happiness, but these goals are not achieved from the performance of ritual acts.”
5. The king replied:
“O saintly one! My mind has become addicted to ritual activity—I do not know anything else. Please reveal to me the pure knowledge by which I can become free from such ritual activity.
6. The householder life has superficial things as its dharma—the mind pursues wealth, wife, and offspring as its goals. A fool who is wandering on the path of saṁsāra does not consider anything to be higher.”
7. Nārada said:
“Bho! Bho! O king! Just look at the hosts of creatures mercilessly slaughtered by you in the thousands as sacrificial animals for the offering—you who are [supposed to be] the protector of creatures!
8. Remembering your butchery, they are all awaiting you [in the next life]: after you have died, they will furiously pierce you with their horns, hard as iron.
9. Now I will relate to you this ancient tale (itihāsa). As I narrate, try to gain insight from the story of Purañjana!
10. There was once a king of great renown by name of Purañjana, O king. He had a friend called the Unknown One (Avijñāta), whose activities were unknown.
11. The king wandered over the earth seeking a residence. When he could not find a suitable place, he became somewhat despondent.
12. Desiring pleasure, he did not consider any of the cities that existed on the earth suitable for fulfilling this or that desire of his.
13. Once, on the southern plateaus of the Himālaya mountains, Purañjana saw a city with nine gates, distinctive with good features.
14. It was filled everywhere with ramparts, parks, watchtowers, moats, windows, and with houses whose roofs were made of gold, silver, and iron.
15. The floors of its mansions were inlaid with sapphires, crystals, cat’s-eyes, pearls, and rubies; it was like the celestial city of Bhogavatī72 in beauty.
16. It was endowed with assembly houses, crossroads, highways, playing grounds, resting places, markets, monuments, flags, banners, and coral balconies.
17. In a grove outside the city there were celestial trees and creepers, and a lake with swarms of humming bees, and chirping birds.
18. The city was made beautiful with lotuses, their fresh leaves and stems swaying in a breeze fragrant with the scent of varieties of flowers, and bearing the spray of cool waterfalls.
19. A traveler to that place would think he or she was being called by the cooing of cuckoos. And the place was free of dangers, as the herds of various wild animals had taken the vows of sages [that is, nonviolence].
20. The king happened there by chance, and saw an extremely beautiful maiden approaching. She was accompanied by ten attendants, each of whom was the husband of one hundred wives.
21. She could change her form at will, and was guarded by a five-hooded serpent as bodyguard. Just on the cusp of maturity, the maiden was searching for a male.
22. The maiden had a shapely nose, perfect teeth, comely cheeks, and an exceptionally beautiful face. In her ears, which were symmetrically aligned, she wore attractive earrings.
23. She was dark in complexion, and had wrapped a reddish-colored piece of cloth around her well-formed hips. Walking along with her feet making tingling sounds from their anklets, she seemed like a goddess.
24. Her two breasts, equally rounded and with no space between them, revealed her youthfulness, and she was covering them with the end of her garment out of shyness. She swayed like an elephant in the way she walked.73
25. The hero was smitten by the arrows of her tender glances and the dancing of her enticing eyebrows. She looked very beautiful with her bashful smiles. Purañjana gently spoke to her:
26. ‘Who are you, with eyes like lotus petals? What is your family lineage? From where have you come, O chaste lady? What do you seek to accomplish here on the outskirts of this city? Please tell me, O shy one!
27. Who are these attendants, with that formidable warrior as their eleventh member? And these beautiful damsels? Who is this serpent that goes before you, O you with beautiful eyebrows?
28. Are you the Goddess Hrī? Or Bhavānī (Parvatī)? Or the Goddess of speech (Sarasvatī)? Or, like a sage in solitude in the forest, are you by chance seeking a husband? If so, he must have fulfilled all his wishes by desiring your lotus feet. [If you are the Goddess of Fortune,] where is the lotus that has fallen from your fingers?74
29. You must be someone other than those Goddesses, O you with beautiful thighs, because you touch the ground [with your feet].75 You should adorn this city together with me—just like the Goddess Śrī with Viṣṇu, the Lord of Sacrifice, in the divine realm [of Vaikuṇṭha]. I am an outstanding hero who has performed many great feats!
30. Therefore, bestow your favor upon me, O beautiful one—my senses have been shattered by your sidelong glances! The mind-born god Cupid, struck by your dancing eyebrows and bashful smiles of love,76 is harassing me.
31. O you with beautiful eyebrows, your face, encircled by locks of dangling blue curls, has beautiful sparkling eyes and utters sweet words. Please raise it and show it to me, do not turn away out of bashfulness, O you with a bright smile!’
32. ‘O hero!’ The woman, enchanted by the hero Purañjana—who was begging like one who is not a hero77—greeted him smilingly:
33. ‘We do not properly know who begot me or these others, O bull among men, nor do we know our family lineage or our name.
34. I do not know by whom this city was constructed, O hero, but it is my refuge. I know only that I am here now and nothing more than that.
35. O respectful sir! These men and women are my male and female friends. This snake remains awake guarding the city when I am sleeping.
36. By chance you have come along and you seek worldly pleasure. May good fortune be yours. I along with my friends will provide these for you, O subduer of enemies.
37. Reside in this city of nine gates for one hundred years, O Lord, enjoying the sensual pleasures that I shall provide.
38. Indeed, whom else should I please other than you? Someone who is not learned? Someone untutored in erotic pleasures? Someone who is not interested in the next life? Or someone like an animal who does not care for the morrow?
39. It is in the here and now that righteous conduct (dharma), economic well-being (artha), sense indulgence (kāma), the joy of children, liberation, and fame are attained as well as the pure celestial realms free of sorrow, which even the knowers of the self (kevalin) do not know.
40. The sages say that in this world, the householder stage of life (gṛhāśrama), is the only foundation for the well-being of the forefathers, gods, sages, humans, and all beings including oneself.
41. O hero! What woman like me would not accept an available husband who is famous, generous, handsome, and loving like you?
42. O mighty-armed one! Which woman’s mind in this world would not cling to your arms, which are like the coils of a serpent? You roam about in order to remove the anguish of the unfortunate with your smiling glances full of compassion.’”
43. Nārada said:
“Thus, the couple entered into a mutual agreement right there and then. Then they entered into the city, O king, and enjoyed for a hundred years.
44. In the hot season, eulogized sweetly by singers while frolicking here and there, the king entered a lake surrounded by women.
45. There were seven upper gates of the city, and two lower, made for the purpose of transporting different objects for whomever was the master of the city.
46. Five of the gates were to the east, or front, one to the south, and another one to the north. I will describe to you the names of the two gates to the west, O king!
47. The two gates to the front, Khadyotā (the left eye) and Āvirmukhī (the right eye), were built in one location. Through these, the king used to go to a country called Vibhrājita (the one made bright), with his friend Dyumān (the shining one).
48. Nalinī and Nālinī (the nostrils) were also built in one location to the front. Through these, the king used to go to the place called Saurabham (fragrance) with his friend Avadhūta (the discarded).
49. The gate called Mukhya (principle) was to the east and the king of the city used to go through that to the two countries Āpaṇa (speech) and Bahūdana (collection of eatables). He was accompanied by Rasajñā (the tongue) and Vipaṇa (the organ of speech).
50. Purañjana went through the southern gate of the city called Pitṛhū (invoking the ancestors), to the country of the southern Pañcālas (the path to the forefathers). He was accompanied by Śrutadhara (the organ of hearing), O king.
51. Purañjana went through the northern gate of the city called Devahū (invoking the gods) accompanied by Śrutadhara, to the country of the northern Pañcālas (the path to the gods).
52. The name of the western gate was Āsurī (penis). Purañjana went through that to the country called Grāmaka (common pleasure), accompanied by Durmadena (drunkard).
53. The name of [the other] western gate was Nirṛti (death). Purañjana went through that to the country called Vaiśasa (destruction), accompanied by Lubdhaka (greedy person).
54. From the citizens, two were blind: Nirvāk (foot) and Peśaskṛit (hand). With these, the lord, the owner of the senses, goes about and performs work.
55. When he went to the inner quarters of the palace accompanied by Viṣūcīna (going in all directions), Purañjana experienced illusion, peace, and joy derived from his wife and offspring.
56. The foolish king, his mind overcome with passion and attached to enjoying the fruits of his actions, was cheated in this way. Whatever the queen wished for, he obliged.
57. When sometimes she drank liquor, he drank, and became intoxicated. When sometimes she ate, he ate; when at other times she took her meal, he took his meal.
58. When sometimes she sang, he sang; when sometimes she cried, he cried; when at other times she laughed, he laughed; when sometimes she gossiped, he gossiped.
59. When sometimes she ran, he ran; when sometimes she stood up, he stood up; when sometimes she lay down, he lay down; and when at other times she sat up, he sat up.
60. When sometimes she listened to something, he listened to it; when sometimes she looked at something, he looked at it; when sometimes she smelled something, he smelled it; and when at other times she touched something, he touched it.
61. When sometimes his wife was grieving for something, he grieved, like a bereaved soul. And when at times she rejoiced, he rejoiced; while when at other times she was delighted, he became delighted.
62. In this way, he was ensnared by the queen and cheated out of all [the qualities] of his own personality and nature. The ignorant fellow, even when unwilling, obliged her out of weakness, like a pet animal.”
Book IV, Chapter 26
1. Śrī Nārada said:
“The king, who was a great archer, mounted a chariot, drawn by five fleet horses. It had two pole shafts, two wheels, three banners, and five tethers.
2. It had one rein, one charioteer, one chariot seat, two poles, five carriage boxes, seven chariot bumpers, and could perform five types of movements.
3. After mounting the golden vehicle, armed with a quiver of inexhaustible arrows and accompanied by his eleventh general, the king set out for a forest that had five plateaus.
4. Taking up his bow and arrows, the arrogant man roamed about there in the chase. Delighting in the sport of hunting, he left behind his wife, who did not deserve such treatment.
5. Succumbing to a demoniac mentality, his mind became cruel and without compassion, and he slaughtered the wild animals in the forests with his sharpened arrows.
6. It is prescribed in the sacred texts that if a king is greedy, he may hunt animals for sacrifice in sacred places at specified times, O king, but only as many as is necessary for this specific purpose.
7. A learned person who performs actions that have been prescribed by the sacred texts is not tainted by that action, O Lord of kings: on the contrary, knowledge is attained from such actions.
8. But otherwise, an egotistical person who performs actions is bound [by the reactions]. Falling under the control of the flow of the guṇas, such a person’s wisdom is destroyed and he strays into darkness.
9. Carnage was unleashed on the poor animals in that forest, and their limbs were pierced by arrows with all sorts of feathers. It was an unbearable sight for anyone who was kindhearted.
10. After killing hares, boars, buffalo, gavaya ox, antelopes, porcupines, as well as other animals that were appropriate for sacrifice, the king became exhausted.
11. So, afflicted by hunger and thirst, he desisted and returned to his residence. There, he took bath, ate appropriate foodstuffs, and then lay down to rest until his fatigue passed.
12. Then the king made himself presentable with fragrance, oils, garlands, etc. After this, with all the limbs of his body nicely adorned, he set his mind on his queen.
13. Satisfied, happy, and full of himself, the king’s mind was attracted by Cupid. But he could not find his beautiful wife, the lady of the house.
14. Anxious, he inquired from the ladies in the inner quarters, O King Prācīnabarhis: ‘Is all well with you, ladies, and with your mistress, too, as before?
15. The opulence of a house does not shine if the mother or the dutiful wife is not present—just like a chariot without its parts. What sensible person would remain in such a place, like a wretch?
16. Where is my charming wife? Illuminating my every step with wisdom, she always lifts me up when I am sunk in an ocean of worries!’
17. The ladies replied:
‘O Lord of men! We do know what is going on in your beloved’s mind. Look: she is lying over there on the bare floor, O subduer of the enemies.’”
18. Nārada said:
“Purañjana’s intelligence was agitated due to attachment to his wife. When he saw his queen lying unkempt on the floor, he fell into a state of great distress.
19. Although he was consoling her with sweet words with a burning heart, the king did not receive any indication from his beloved that she was angry at him out of love.
20. The hero, who was expert in conciliation, gradually consoled her. He touched her two feet, seated her on his lap, and caressed her. Then he spoke to her.
21. Purañjana said:
‘Even if they have committed an offense, servants are unfortunate if their masters do not inflict corrective punishment on them on the grounds that the servants are part of the master’s entourage, O beautiful one.
22. Punishment meted out on servants by the master is the greatest mercy; only an immature intolerant person does not recognize this to be an act of benevolence toward that person.
23. Please show us your face cast down out of bashfulness and the weight of love, O wise lady. Beaming with smiling glances, and decorated with blue locks of hair like bees, it has beautiful teeth, eyebrows, and nose and utters sweet words. I am yours.
24. I will inflict punishment on whoever has committed an offense against you—unless he be a brāhmaṇa or a servant of Viṣṇu.78 You are the wife of a hero: I will see to it that that person is not joyful or free from fear anywhere in the three worlds or beyond.
25. I have never seen your face without tilaka (sacred clay marking), or dirty, joyless, furious out of anger, colorless, or bereft of passion. Nor have I ever seen your two perfectly formed breasts heaving in sorrow, and your red bimba fruit–colored lips bereft of their kuṅkuma powder color.
26. I am your best friend, but I committed an offense: addicted to the vice of hunting, I went off to the chase on a whim. What woman, eager [for love], would not accept a lover who has come under her control, his manly pride shattered by the force of Cupid’s flowery arrows? So please forgive me.’”
Book IV, Chapter 27
1. Nārada said:
“Having brought Purañjana under her complete control by her wiles in this manner, Queen Purañjanī enjoyed her husband, and gave him enjoyment, O great king.
2. The king was delighted when his queen approached him with a bright face, contented, bathed, and auspiciously adorned, O king.
3. Pressed to the bosom of his wife, his neck embraced and his mind stolen away by intimate exchanges, the king was unaware of the speedy passage of insurmountable Time: he was captured by that enchanting woman day and night.
4. Overcome by tamas and bound by passion, the noble-minded king lay on a priceless bed with his queen’s arms as his pillow. He thought of her as the highest thing in his life, and did not think of his own higher goal.
5. While he was enjoying with his wife in this way, his mind tainted by lust, the king’s youth passed by as if it were half an instant, O Lord of kings.
6. Purañjana begot eleven hundred sons in Queen Purañjanī, but half his life was consumed in doing so, O sovereign!
7. He also begot one hundred and ten daughters, O protector of men. Named the Paurañjanīs, and endowed with good qualities, character, and magnanimity, they enhanced the reputation of their mother and father.
8. The king of Pañcāla brokered marriages for his sons, who expanded the family lineage, as well as for his daughters, with suitable young heroes.
9. One hundred sons were begotten to each and every one of his sons, and, through them, the Paurañjana lineage prospered across Pañcāla.
10. Purañjana became attached to sense objects through a growing attachment to his offspring, his inheritors, and his dependents, treasury, and household.
11. Just like you, full of various desires, the king underwent consecration and then offered sacrifices to the gods, forefathers, and lords of beings. These sacrifices were horrific due to the massacre of animals they involved.
12. Then Time, which is not dear to those who hold women dear, approached the king, whose mind was attached to his family, and forgetful of his actual [spiritual] obligations.
13. There was a gandharva king called Chaṇḍavega (having impetuous speed). That powerful king had three hundred and sixty gandharva warriors.
14. He had a similar number of gandharva females, black and white, who were their consorts. They surrounded the city, which had been engineered so as to fulfill all desires, and plundered it.
15. When those followers of Chaṇḍavega began to besiege the city of Purañjana, the serpent Prajāgara (one who stays awake) resisted them.
16. He was the powerful superintendent of Purañjana’s fort, and battled single-handedly for one hundred years with the seven hundred and twenty gandharvas.
17. But this ally was alone in his fight with many. When he began to weaken, Purañjana and his relatives fell into great anxiety, and so did the citizens of the city.
18. But, imbibing liquor and under the control of women, and seizing tribute from his citizens, the king refused to entertain fear in that Pañcāla stronghold.
19. Meanwhile, O King Prācīnabarhiṣat, there was a certain daughter of Time who desired a husband. She wandered around the three worlds, but no one welcomed her.
20. Because of her personal bad luck, she was known in the world as Durbhagā (the unlucky one). Previously, accepted by the sage-king descendant of Puru, she had bestowed a boon upon him.”79
Book IV, Chapter 28
1. The king of the yavanas was named Bhaya (fear). His soldiers also roamed about the earth along with the daughter of Time, accompanied by the king’s brother, Prajvāra (fever).
2. One day, they violently attacked the city of Purañjana, which was replete with material pleasures. It was still guarded by the serpent protector, but he had by now become old.
3. The daughter of Time invaded that city of Purañjana by force. A person overwhelmed by her immediately finds himself bereft of vitality.
4. While it was being ravaged by the daughter of Time, the yavana soldiers entered through the gates with great force and poured through all parts of the city from all directions.
5. While she was harassing the city, the proud Purañjana, attached to his family and afflicted with the false sense of “my-ness,”80 experienced all sorts of intense sufferings.
6. The unfortunate fellow’s mind was attached to sense pleasures, and his higher discrimination had been destroyed. Assailed by the daughter of Time, he became bereft of beauty and all his riches were seized by force by the gandharva and yavana soldiers.
7. Purañjana saw that his city had been destroyed, and that his sons, grandsons, followers, and ministers had lost their respect and had become antagonistic. Moreover, he saw that his wife had lost her affection for him.
8. Purañjana saw the Pañcāla kingdom invaded by enemies. Finding himself in the grasp of the daughter of Time, and overwhelmed by immeasurable anxiety, he could not find a solution to the situation.
9. Caressing his wife and sons, the wretched fellow still craved for sense pleasures, even though these had become useless to him because of the daughter of Time. His interest in the destination of his ātman had long been lost.
10. The king began to abandon the city, even though he did not wish to do so. It had been overrun by the gandharvas and yavanas and devastated by the daughter of Time.
11. Then Prajvāra (fever), the elder brother of Bhaya (fear), arrived there. Desiring to please his brother, he burned down the entire city.
12. As the city was burning, the head of the household with his wife, followers, and goods, along with the citizens, were all tormented.
13. The house of Prajāgara, the city’s protector, had been seized by the yavanas, and he himself had been consumed by Prajvāra (fever). When the city was overwhelmed by the daughter of Time, he was sorely tormented.
14. Unable to defend the city and under great stress, the serpent Prajāgara trembled intensely, desiring to abandon it, like a snake the hollow of a tree on fire.
15. Seized by the gandharvas and assailed by the inimical yavanas, the king’s limbs became weak, and he cried out.
16.–17. The unfortunate fellow was a householder whose mind was fixed on domestic affairs. He had embraced the notion of “I” and “mine” toward his daughters, sons, grandchildren, daughters-in-law, attendants, and whatever remained of his property in the form of palace, treasury, and possessions. When the time for separation from his wife arrived, he thought:
18. “When I have departed to the other world, how will the mistress of the house survive, deprived of her lord and lamenting for her sons?
19. Unless I had eaten, she would not take her meal; if I had not bathed, she would not bathe before me; if I was displeased, she became very alarmed; and if I was abusive, she remained silent.
20. She enlightened me when I was in ignorance, and she was immersed in sorrow when I had to travel abroad. Even though she has heroes as sons, [without me] she will not wish [to continue] this path of the householder.
21. How will my poor sons and helpless daughters survive when I am gone? It will be like being on an ocean without a boat [for them].”
22. As the king was lamenting with his pitiful intelligence in this way, even though he should have known better, the one known as Bhaya (fear) made up his mind to seize him, and drew near.
23. As he was being dragged away by the yavanas like an animal to his fate, the king’s followers ran after him, greatly aggrieved and lamenting.
24. At this, the serpent, who had already been seized, abandoned the city and followed him. The city was then destroyed and returned to the elements.
25. As he was being dragged away by the powerful yavanas, the king was overcome by tamas and could not even remember who had previously been his friends and well-wishers in the past.
26. Those sacrificial beasts that had formerly been slaughtered by him without mercy, now sliced him with their axes in anger, remembering the carnage he had inflicted upon them.
27. Immersed in boundless tamas, the king’s memory became erased. He then experienced suffering for unlimited years as a result of being corrupted by his attachment to women.
28. Due to his attachment to his wife in his mind [at the moment of death], in his next life Purañjana became a beautiful maiden in the palace of Rājasiṃha of the Vidarbha kingdom.81
29. The Pāṇḍya king Malayadhvaja, conqueror of many cities, after defeating other kings in battle, took this maiden [called Vaidarbhī] as wife as a tribute to his heroism.
30. He begot in her a dark-eyed daughter, and seven younger brothers who became kings of the southern lands.
[…]
33. The sage-king Malayadhvaja divided the land among his sons, and then, desiring to worship Kṛṣṇa, went to the Kulācala mountains.
34. The ravishing-eyed daughter of the Vidarbha king’s name was Vaidarbhī. Renouncing palaces, sons, and pleasures, she followed the Pāṇḍya king, just as moonlight follows the moon.
35.–36. The rivers named Candravasā, Tāmraparṇī, and Vaṭodakā flow in that place. Cleansing himself on both levels (physical and mental) with the sacred waters of those rivers, Malayadhvaja performed austerities (tapas). He subsisted on bulbs, fruit kernels, roots, fruits, leaves, grass, and water. This gradually emaciated his body.
37. Seeing everything with equal vision, the king transcended dualities—summer and winter, wind and rain, hunger and thirst, friend and foe, happiness and distress, etc.
38. His passions burned by the cultivation of knowledge and austerity, he controlled his senses, breath and mind by following the yogic restraints and observances (yamas and niyamas). He then united his ātman to Brahman.
39. He remained stationary in the same spot like a pillar for one hundred celestial years,82 focusing his attachment on Bhagavān Vāsudeva and nothing else.
40. Just like the witness of the emotions of a dream, he perceived that the ātman within pervaded but yet was distinct from the body and mind: so he desisted from [identifying with] these.
41.–42. Through the pure lamp of knowledge radiating in all directions, the king could perceive the ātman in Brahman and Brahman in the ātman. This knowledge is imparted by Hari as guru in the form of instructions spoken directly by Bhagavān.83 Then, after giving up even this ultimate perception, he desisted [from all mental activities].
43. Meanwhile, Vaidarbhī gave up all pleasures and lovingly served her husband, Malayadhvaja, the knower of the ultimate dharma.84 She considered her husband to be her Lord.
44. Her hair became matted, she wore rags and was emaciated from fasting. In the company of her husband, she had become like a flame that becomes extinguished when the fuel is extinguished.
45. Not realizing that her beloved had given up [embodied existence], she attended to him as before. He had been sitting completely motionless on his seat (āsana).
46. When she did not feel any warmth in his feet as she was massaging them, Vaidarbhī became terrified, like a deer that has strayed from the herd.
47. Lamenting that she was now forsaken and without any protection, she soaked her breasts with tears of despair and wailed loudly in the forest:
48. “Get up, get up, O sage-king! You are supposed to protect this earth, with its ocean girdle, which is now fearful of robbers and wayward warriors.”
49. Lamenting in this way, the young girl, who had followed her husband into the forest, fell at the feet of her husband, crying and shedding tears.
50. Grieving, she assembled a funeral pyre made of wood and burned the body of her husband on it. She had made up her mind to follow him in death by entering it.
51. Then, O master, some friend of hers from before—a brāhmaṇa and knower of the ātman—[arrived there]. He comforted her with sweet words as she was weeping, and spoke to her.
52. The brāhmaṇa said:
“Who are you? Of whose lineage? And who is that lying there for whom you mourn? Don’t you know me as your friend with whom you previously used to roam about?
53. O friend! Perhaps you remember your friend called Avijñāta, the unknown one [of IV.25.10]? Attached to worldly pleasure, you abandoned me and left seeking some other destination.
54. We were swans [pure ātman], you and I, O noble lady, and our place of refuge was the Mānasa lake. There passed a period of one thousand years when we were without home.
55. You were that swan. You abandoned me, O friend, and set out for the earth, your mind set on worldly pleasures. There you saw a place built by some woman.
56. It had five pleasure groves, nine gates, one protector, three surrounding walls, six families, five marketplaces, five materials, and was governed by a woman.
57. The pleasure groves [in the analogy] are the objects of the senses, and the nine gates are the [orifices of the body for the functioning of the] life airs (prāṇa), O master. The surrounding walls are fire, water, and food; and the families are the collection of the six senses.
58. The marketplaces are the connotative organs (kriyāśakti),85 and the five materials are the imperishable elements (the mahābhūtas of earth, water, fire, air, and ether). The governor is the intelligence.86 Once a person enters that place, he is no longer aware [of the real self].
59. Influenced by an attractive woman, you enjoyed in that place, and gave up your memory [as to your real self]. Because of that association, you have attained this miserable state, O master.
60. You are not the daughter of Vidarbha, and this hero is not your real well-wisher. Nor were you the husband of Purañjanī [in your past life] by whom you were trapped in the city of nine gates.
61. It is by māyā illusion that you think that man [in your past life, Purañjana] is this chaste woman [that you are now, Vaidarbhī]. You are neither. We are swans [the ātman].87 Please [try to] perceive our real nature.
62. I am you—you are no one else. And see too how you are me. The wise do not see even the slightest difference between us at all.88
63. Just as a person beholds the one self as having become two in the reflection of a mirror or an eye, such is the difference between us.”89
64. In this way, the swan was enlightened by the other swan of the Mānasa lake and regained his memory, which had been lost because of deviating from his original true nature.
65. O Prācīnabarhiṣat! This spiritual teaching has been taught to you in an allegorical manner because Bhagavān, the Lord of the Universe, likes to remain beyond the senses.
Book IV, Chapter 29
1. Prācīnabarhiṣat said:
“O Lord! We do not understand your words clearly. The sage-poets understand them, but not us, who are bewildered by ritualism (karma).”
2. Nārada said:
“[In the allegory] one should understand Purañjana to be the puruṣa (ātman). He builds for himself the city (i.e., a body), which has one, or two, or three or four feet, many feet, or no feet at all.90
3. The person referred to as Avijñāta, ‘the unknown one,’ is Īśvara, the friend of that puruṣa. He cannot be known by people through mundane names, qualities, or actions.
4. Desiring to enjoy the guṇas of prakṛti in their entirety, the puruṣa decided that from all the forms, the one with two hands and feet and nine gates was undoubtedly the best.
5. One should interpret the woman as being the intelligence (buddhi), which creates the notion of ‘I’ and ‘my.’ Using the intelligence, a person enjoys the guṇas in this body through the eye, etc.
6. The male companions are the group of senses that produce knowledge and action (the jñānendriyas and karmendriyas),91 and the female companions are their activities. The serpent is prāṇa, which has five functions.92
7. Know that the greatly powerful one (the eleventh attendant) is the mind. He is the leader of both sets of senses. The Pañcālas are the five sense objects, in the midst of which is the city of nine gates.
8. The pairs of gates are the two eyes, the two nostrils, the two ears, the mouth, the genitals, and the anus. [Prāṇa] goes out through these to the sense object connected with each respective gate.
9. The two eyes, two nostrils, and mouth are the five gates placed in the front (the east). The right ear is the southern gate, and the left ear is the northern gate.
10. The two lower gates, the penis and anus, have been spoken of as the western gates. The two eyes, Khadyotā and Āvirmukhī, have been built in one location. Through these, the master of the eyes (the puruṣa) experiences Vibhrājita, which is form and color.
11. Nalinī and Nālinī are the two nostrils, and smell has been called Saurabha. The sense of smell is Avadhūta; Mukhya is the mouth; Vipaṇa, speech; and Rasavid (Rasajñā), taste.
12. In the allegory, Āpaṇa is [speech associated with] everyday affairs and Bahūdana the varieties of foodstuffs. Pitṛhū is known as the right ear and Devahū the left ear.
13. The lands of the Pañcālas are the [two types of] scriptures, one of which teaches the path of material activity and the other the path of renunciation. With the help of Śrutadhara, the ears, one can proceed to the realm of the forefathers, or the realm of the gods [depending on the scriptures one listens to and follows].93
14. [In the allegory,] Āsurī is the penis and [Grāmaka] the attachment of common folk to sex. Durmada is said to be the sexual act, and the rectum has been called Nirṛti.
15. Vaiśasa is hell. Lubdhaka is the anus. Now hear from me about the two blind ones: they are the hands and feet. By utilizing them, a person can go about and perform actions.
16. The inner quarters are the heart, and the mind is that which was called Viṣūci (Viṣūcīna). According to the mind’s states, one experiences illusion, peace, and joy in the heart.
17. Due to being instigated by the guṇas, the mind is transformed [during sleep], or transforms itself [when awake], into various states. The ātman, although a witness [and never subject to transformation], identifies with those same states caused by the guṇas.
18. The chariot is the body and the horses are the senses. Although motionless, its movement is the passage of the year. The wheels are the two types of karma (good and bad), and the banners are the three guṇas. The tethers are the five life airs (prāṇas).
19. The rein is the mind, and the charioteer is the intelligence.94 The chariot seat is the heart. The five carriage boxes are the five objects of the senses, and the seven chariot bumpers are the seven bodily constituents (dhātus: lymph, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, semen).
20. The five types of external movements are the five organs of actions. With these, one runs after mirages. The army consists of the eleven senses (the five knowledge acquiring senses, the five organs of action and the mind) and one takes pleasure from five kinds of slaughter. Caṇḍavega is the year, by whom Time is demarcated.
21. His gandharva warriors are the days, and the gandharva females, the nights. They steal away one’s life span by their three hundred and sixty steps.
22. Kālakanyā, whom people do not welcome, is old age in person. The king of the yavanas is Death. He adopted Kālakanyā as his sister for the purpose of destruction.
23. His roaming yavana soldiers are mental anxieties and illnesses. Prajvāra is fever. It is of two kinds: quick and intense (hot and cold), which are the blight of living beings.
24. In this way, the embodied puruṣa, enveloped in tamas in the body, is made to suffer for a hundred years through many types of suffering: from the environment, from other living entities, and from one’s own mind and body.95
25. Although it is without qualities, the puruṣa thinks that the qualities of the mind, senses, and life airs are within itself. Therefore it lies [within the body] full of desire, and performs actions thinking, ‘I am this’ and ‘that is mine.’96
26. Although it is [capable] of seeing its own true nature, when the puruṣa neglects Bhagavān, the supreme guru, it becomes addicted to the guṇas of prakṛti.
27. Thinking itself to be a product of the guṇas, the puruṣa then acts helplessly, and is consequently reborn [in a particular kind of body] according to whether its actions were white (sattva), black (tamas), or red (rajas).97
28. Sometimes, as a result of performing white actions, he is born into the celestial realms full of light. At other times, [owing to the performance of red actions], he experiences struggles born of activity, which result in unhappiness; and at other times again [owing to the performance of black action], he experiences immense grief.
29. His intelligence is covered [as to his real nature], in accordance with his mind and the qualities of his actions, and so he sometimes attains the state of a celestial, sometimes of a human, and sometimes of an animal, either as a male, a female or, sometimes, as neither.
30.–31. Just like a wretched dog wanders around tormented by hunger and obtains either [a beating with] a stick or cooked rice [to eat] in accordance with its destiny, so, in the same, way, the embodied soul (jīva), its mind full of desire, traveling on paths that are either high (righteous) or low (nonrighteous), attains either agreeable or disagreeable results in high, middle, or low destinations in accordance with destiny.
32. There is no remedy for the jīva being subject to one of the sufferings. These are caused by either its own mind and body, or other living entities, or the environment. And even if there were a remedy, the remedy itself would soon be counteracted [by some other suffering].
33. Any counteraction is of the nature of a person carrying a heavy burden on his head, who then places it on his shoulder [thereby merely shifting the pain from one place to another].
34. O sinless king! Mere action cannot completely counteract another action, just as a dream cannot counteract a dream—both are permeated by ignorance.
35. Even though its reality does not actually exist, saṁsāra does not just cease—just as [the unreal experience] of a person roaming about in dream through the medium of the subtle body does not cease [until awakening].
36. Saṁsāra is the continued cycle of ignorance of a living being who in reality is ātman. The remedy is supreme bhakti to the guru.
37. When yoga is directed exclusively to Vāsudeva, Bhagavān, then renunciation and knowledge awaken.
38. Then bhakti will manifest for a faithful person absorbed in the narratives (kathā) of Acyuta, and always hearing and contemplating them, O sage-king.
39. Bhakti is found wherever there are bhāgavata devotees, O king. The bhāgavatas are saints who eagerly hear and recite the narratives and qualities of Bhagavān with pure hearts and minds.
40. In that association, rivers of the nectar of Viṣṇu’s narrations recited by the great souls flow everywhere. Those who imbibe these with inundated ears without getting satiated are never affected by illusion, sorrow, fear, or hunger, O king.
41. But the world of embodied beings (jīvas), constantly harassed by those sufferings, is not attracted to the ocean of nectar of Hari’s narrations.
42.–44. Even up to this very day, Śiva, Lord of the mountain, who is Bhagavān himself; Manu; Brahmā; Dakṣa and other progenitors; the lifelong Kumāra celibates headed by Sanaka; Marīci; Atri; Aṅgirā; Pulastya; Kratu; Bhṛgu; Vasiṣṭha; and other such [great sages and divine] beings including I myself cannot see the all-seeing supreme Īśvara, even though we see [many otherwise inaccessible things] through our tapas, wisdom, and samādhi states and we are masters of sacred speech and expounders of the Veda.
45. Those who follow the profound and extensive Vedic sacred texts worship the limited celestial gods in accordance with the prescriptions outlined in the sacred hymns. But such people do not know the Supreme.
46. When Bhagavān, who is cherished in the heart of a person, favors that person, then he or she is able to detach the mind, both from the ritualism of the Vedas and from the world.
47. Therefore, O Prācīnabarhiṣat, do not look upon ritualistic actions as being real, even though they have the semblance of reality. They make contact with the ear [as enticing Vedic prescriptions], but do not make contact with the actual Truth.
48. Those whose intelligence is clouded proclaim that the Vedas are all about ritualistic acts.98 They do not understand the Veda. They do not know that personal realm of Lord Kṛṣṇa (Janārdana).
49. You have covered this entire earth globe with the sacred darbha grass facing east [as per the Vedic prescriptions] and have become proud and arrogant, slaughtering many animals. You do not know the higher type of action. That which is for the satisfaction of Hari is [true] action, and the mind fixed on Him is [true] knowledge.
50. Hari is the soul of all embodied beings. He is the Īśvara of prakṛti. Taking refuge of His feet is the [true] benefit for people in this world.
51. It is He who is the soul, the most beloved One. By taking refuge in Him, one does not experience even the slightest fear. The one who knows this is the learned one. Such a learned one is Hari in the form of the guru.”
52. Nārada said:
“So, Your question has been dealt with, O best of men. Now please listen to me while I tell you a confidential truth.
53. Consider a deer, its ears enchanted by the sounds of a swarm of bees, excited after mating, and wandering about in a secluded spot full of flowers. But, while grazing on some insignificant [grass], it remains ignorant of the bloodthirsty wolves ahead of it, and the arrow of the hunter that has been discharged at it from behind.
54. O king, you should see your own self as that deer! The secluded spot is the refuge of women, whose nature is like the flowers. After copulating, your mind is absorbed in them. You seek a tiny bit of happiness—the fruit of ritualistic acts performed out of greed—but this happiness is most insignificant like the [fleeting] fragrance and nectar in flowers. Your ears are completely seduced by the very gratifying words of people—especially women—which are like the sounds reverberated by the swarms of bees. Yet you do not reflect on the small components of time, which bring an end to the days and nights, consuming your life like the pack of wolves. The hunter following you unnoticed from behind as you enjoy in your residences is Death, who finally pierces your heart with an arrow.
55. You are that deer. After considering your own behavior to be like that of the deer, control the [outward] flow of your sense of hearing by your mind, and your mind internally by your heart. Renounce schemes for illicit liaisons that take place in the abodes of women, and please Kṛṣṇa instead. He is the refuge of the swanlike devotees. Gradually desist [from materialistic hankerings].”
56. The king said:
“O brāhmaṇa! I have heard and taken to heart all that your honor has spoken. My own preceptors did not know all this, as, otherwise, had they known, why did they not disclose it?
57. You have cleared a major doubt of mine in this matter that was created by them. Even the sages are bewildered when it comes to that which lies beyond the realm of the senses.
58. In this world, a person relinquishes the body with which he or she engages in action, but experiences the consequences of those actions in another body in the next life.
59. This doctrine of the knowers of the Vedas [about karma] is accepted everywhere: a prescribed act that is performed is invisible; its [consequence] cannot be seen.”
60. Nārada replied:
“The person by whom an act is performed through the subtle body of the mind is the very same one who experiences its [consequence] in the next world. One is not separated from the consequences [because of death].99
61. This is just like when a man leaves his living body when sleeping [in dream], and enjoys through a similar or different [dream] body the [seeds of] action that had previously been deposited in the mind [when awake].100
62. A person who mentally says, ‘I am such and such, and that person is this and that, and these [children] are mine,’101 receives whatever karma is produced [from his actions]. It is as a result of this that there is rebirth.
63. Just as someone’s state of mind can be inferred by both the activities and aspirations of that person, so in the same way, the actions performed in a previous life can be inferred from a person’s present states of mind (citta-vṛtti).
64. Something that has never been anywhere experienced, heard, or seen in one birth might yet appear in the mind if an impression of that thing is imprinted on the mind [from a previous birth].102
65. Therefore, O king, you should be aware that an unfamiliar mental image occurring to a person in one body corresponds to [the past-life imprint of that experience recorded] in the subtle body, for the mind is not able to conjure up an object that has never been experienced.
66. The mind reveals the past births of a person, as well as what will come to be and what will not come to be in the future. Blessings upon you!
67. Sometimes, something that has never been seen or heard in this life is experienced in the mind. Whatever this thing might be, it can be inferred that it is based on [something that has been experienced in a different] place, time, and situation.103
68. All objects of perception enter the mind sequentially, in groups, and then depart. Everyone is born with a mind [which has been retained with its impressions over countless births].
69. When the mind is exclusively established in sattva, absorbed in the presence of Bhagavān, then this universe is revealed by that presence. It then shines forth in full manifestation, just like [the sun is revealed] by an eclipse of the moon.
70. This conglomeration of guṇas, sense objects, senses, mind, and intelligence [that is, embodied existence] remains in force perpetually, for as long as this notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is not given up by a person.
71. This awareness of ‘I’ is not manifest in deep sleep, swoon, intense pain, in the state of death and fever, nor in the interruption of the movement of breath (prāṇāyāma).
72. The subtle body does not manifest as fully in the embryo or in childhood, as it does in youth, because it is then only partially manifest, just as the moon does not manifest as fully when it is a new moon.
73. Although objects do not actually exist, saṁsāra does not cease for one contemplating sense objects, just as is the case with objects in dreams [for one still dreaming], even though they are unreal.
74. In fact, the subtle body consists of five parts (the five prāṇas),104 three coverings (the guṇas), and sixteen expansions (the ten cognitive and conative organs and the mind). When this subtle body is connected with consciousness, it is called jīva.
75. It is through the subtle body that the puruṣa receives and relinquishes bodies, and it is through the subtle body that he experiences joy, grief, fear, suffering, and happiness.
76.–77. It is the mind that is the cause of saṁsāra, O best of men! Just as a caterpillar does not leave [its footing on one leaf] and proceed on [until it has a secure footing on another leaf],105 so a person does not relinquish self-identification with the previous body, even while in the actual process of dying, until the karmas [associated with the previous body] have completely finished and he or she attains another body.
78. For as long as one remains contemplating [the objects of the senses] and pursuing them through the senses, one accumulates karma. And as long as there is karma, one remains enmeshed in ignorance and the actions of the non-self (the mind and body).
79. Thus, in order to counteract all this, worship Hari with all your being, realizing this universe to be identical with Him, and that its creation, maintenance, and destruction are all due to Him.”
80. Maitreya said:
“The noble Nārada, best of the Bhāgavata devotees, revealed the destination of the swanlike devotees to this king. He then returned to Siddha-loka, the realm of the perfected yogīs.
81. The sage-king Prācīnabarhī instructed his sons in the protection of the citizens, and then departed for Kapila āśrama to perform austerities (tapas).
82. There, freed from all attachments, worshipping the lotus feet of Govinda with concentrated mind and devotion (bhakti), the hero attained the state of liberation which bestows the same form as the Lord (sarūpya).106
83. O Vidura, One who hears or causes others to hear this spiritual allegory of the celestial sage Nārada is freed from the subtle body.
84. It was delivered from the mouth of the celestial sage, and cleanses the mind, purifying the worlds with the glories of Mukunda. Anyone who hears it narrated attains the supreme destination. Freed from all bondage, that person no longer wanders about in saṁsāra.
85. I studied this wonderful spiritual allegory. Through it the question about a person’s householder life has clearly been dealt with.”