The Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Book III

0.      At the end of each cosmic cycle, the universe, and hence the elements of prakṛti, dissolve into their finest constituents (which are ultimately the guṇas) and lie latent within the manifestation of Viṣṇu, who resides within each universe (as discussed in the introduction, there are multiple forms of Viṣṇu).

0.      This refers to the type of yoga outlined in the Yoga Sūtras that culminates in nirbīja samādhi, awareness absorbed in its own pure nature. Hence, in the Yoga tradition, Brahmā is considered the first yogī (and reputed author of the original Yoga treatise, the Hiraṇyagarbha Saṃhitā).

0.      Viśvanātha takes this as one hundred human years but does not comment on the discrepancy with II.9.8 above.

0.      Patañjali is considered by tradition to be an incarnation of Śeṣa, also known as Ananta (see commentaries to Yoga Sūtras II.47).

0.      The sense is that generally ornaments and garments enhance a person’s beauty, where here the reverse is true: the beauty of the ornaments is enhanced by the beauty of God.

0.      See earlier citation (II.9.15).

0.      The imagery of this verse seems to be resonating with that of the banyan tree at the beginning of chapter 15 of the Gītā.

0.      This mixed metaphor reads awkwardly in English but is not uncommon in stylistic Sanskrit poetics. The wind is the sounds (teachings) of the Vedic texts.

0.      The three dhātus, dispositions, in Āyurveda are vāta, air; pitta, fire; and kapha, mucus.

0.    This is a reference to the Paramātman, or Antaryāmin, a form of Viṣṇu that pervades the individual ātman.

0.    This seems to be a reference to Vedānta Sūtras (II.1.3), where the author responds to an atheistic opponent (pūrva-pakṣa) that a Being who is complete and in possession of everything does not need to create, as people create to obtain something they do not already have. The response is that God creates out of līlā, a pure act of joyful spontaneity.

0.    The Tale of Ajāmila illustrates such unintentional chanting at the moment of death.

0.    Samādhi is the final limb of Patañjali’s eight limbs of yoga. It culminates in consciousness becoming absorbed in its own pure nature, rather than in the permutations of the mind or sensations of the corporeal body (Yoga Sūtras I.3).

0.    Tapas is part of the second limb of yoga. Of relevance to this narrative is that extreme forms of austerities can result in the attainment of mystic powers (Yoga Sūtras IV.1).

0.    The sense is that Viṣṇu, in his form of Time (see Gītā XI.32), strips everything from everyone at death. The name used for Viṣṇu here, Urukrama, “the one with a vast stride,” is a reference to the Vamana incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, who covered the entire world with one step and the entire universe with another. In this līlā, he stripped King Bali, the regent of the universe, of all his possessions.

0.    The Kāma sūtras are part of a genre of texts that occupy themselves with “dharma, artha (resources), and kāma (pleasure),” special attention being given to the last (verse 1).

0.    This mystic power, siddhi, is called prākāmya, being unobstructed in fulfilling one’s any desire.

0.    This mystic power is referred to in Yoga Sūtras III.19.

0.    The sense here is that although two of the preconditions for yoga are nonattachment and celibacy (Yoga Sūtras I.15, II.30), which then generate the necessary power to exhibit supernormal powers (Yoga Sūtras IV.1), Kardama was not affected by this very sensual situation.

0.    The siddhas are accomplished yogis, who sometimes exhibit mystic powers like flying around the upper realms of the universe.

0.    The Gaṅgā is held to descend from the celestial realm.

0.    Kardama had previously informed Devahūti that he would leave home to take up the life of a wandering ascetic as soon as she conceived a child (III.22.19).

0.    Patañjali states that the mind’s activities can be either detrimental to the goals of yoga or beneficial to it, kliṣṭa akliṣṭa (I.5), or, as the Gītā puts it, the mind is either the friend of the ātman or its enemy (VI.5). The idea is that when the mind becomes attached to Kṛṣṇa or, as in this verse, the bhāgavatas, such attachment leads to perfection. Attachment to sensual indulgences, in contrast, leads to bondage and rebirth. See “Rāga, Bhāva, and Rasa” for relevant discussion.

0.    This is a reference to III.21.32, where Viṣṇu informs Kardama that a portion of Himself (aṁśa) would take birth from Devahūti after she had given birth to nine daughters, in order to teach the truths of Sāṅkhya Yoga.

0.    For the five niyamas, see Yoga Sūtras II.32.

0.    The commentor Śrīdhara states that the knot in the heart is the ahaṅkāra, ego—considering the inanimate mind to be the self.

0.    The prajāpatis are the progenitors of the species in the universe. They are born of the creator, Brahmā.

0.    This name of Viṣṇu comes from His killing of the Madhu demon (Mahābhārata Vana Parva CCVII.16).

0.    There are various types of celestial beings: the gandharvas are winged warrior celestials renowned for their singing, and apsaras are celestial nymphs known for their dancing.

0.    Celestials traverse the realms in divine vehicles.

0.    Marīci is one of the six sages born from Brahmā’s mind.

0.    Brahmā is born from a lotus emanating from Viṣṇu’s navel.

0.    The term aṁśa refers to a type of divine manifestation whereby a portion of God’s presence or power, rather than the full Godhead, incarnates. There are unlimited divine manifestations in Bhāgavata theology, each one manifesting different qualities and potencies.

0.    Lotus eyes are a standard motif in Hindu aesthetics to denote beauty. Lotus feet are likewise standard, especially in reference to beings worthy of worship. In addition, incarnations are recognizable by special markings on the soles of their feet and palms, which include the lotus.

0.    Karma, translated here as “ignorant action,” refers to action performed under ignorance of the true self. Ignorance, avidyā, is the root cause of karma (Yoga Sūtras II.4–5), the primary kleśa or obstacle to enlightenment indicated in Yoga Sūtras II.4–5, namely, action that is performed under the illusion that one is the body and mind by one seeking fulfillment through the body and mind.

0.    This is a reference to another demon destroyed by Viṣṇu. The story is narrated in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, chapter 348, and the Devī Bhāgavata, book 1.

0.    Sāṅkhya, perhaps the oldest philosophical system in ancient India, was the speculative metaphysical matrix in matters of analyzing the ingredients of physical reality. (Yoga emerged as one ingredient from this matrix to provide the practical technique of realizing the ultimate reality of ātman embedded within this physical reality.) The reference to other teachers here points to the fact that there were numerous Sāṅkhya traditions in circulation (the Bhāgavata mentions several).

0.    Brahmā is sometimes referred to as the “Swan.” His vehicle also happens to be a swan.

0.    The universe, in Hindu cosmogony, is schematized as consisting of “three worlds”: the celestial, human, and subterranean planes.

0.    The four Kumāras are enlightened child yogīs whose stories are encountered in book 3, chapter 16.

0.    Nārada is one of the greatest devotees of Viṣṇu and travels around the universe chanting the glories of Viṣṇu on his vīṇā stringed instrument. He surfaces in many episodes of the Bhāgavata, frequently acting as a sort of catalyst to developments in the narrative (see the Tale of Sage Nārada).

0.    There are nine sages, prajāpatis, born of Brahmā, whose progeny populates this universe.

0.    Kardama is demonstrating his humility here, considering himself lowly.

0.    See Gītā VI.45 for a similar statement pointing to the yoga path typically taking many births to reach its full conclusion.

0.    The sense here is that Viṣṇu will appear in whatever form is pleasing to His devotee.

0.    As noted previously, respect is offered to superiors in Indian culture by honoring or touching or placing one’s head on their feet, the idea being that one places the highest part of one’s anatomy on the lowest part of the superior’s. This sense of respect is magnified here, by considering even the stool upon which God’s feet are placed to be worthy of worship.

0.    These are the standard six qualities possessed in absolute fullness by God, Viṣṇu (and in varying lesser degrees by all other beings; see “Definition of Īśvara, Bhagavān, and Brahman”).

0.    The commentator Śrīdhara takes tṛi-vṛta here to refer to the ahaṅkāra, the second evolute from prakṛti, which, under the influences of the three guṇas, manifests respectively the mind, the senses, and the sense objects out of itself.

0.    The soul, or pure consciousness, is enveloped in two external and extraneous bodily coverings: gross and subtle. While the gross physical body is changed at each new birth and returns back to prakṛti (the gross elements), the subtle mental body is retained life after life until the birth in which enlightenment and liberation is attained, after which it too returns to subtle prakṛti.

0.    We are reminded here of Kṛṣṇa indicating that the path of Yoga (buddhi/karma yoga) that he had formerly imparted to the ancients had become lost, and hence he was rearticulating it to Arjuna (Gītā IV.2).