rule



 

Canto 2

Guru Puja

 




Chapter 10: The Bhāgavatam is the Answer to all Questions

King
              Parīkchit questions Sukadeva Gosvāmi

 (1) S'rī S'uka said: 'In this [book, the S'rīmad Bhāgavatam] the following [ten] subjects are discussed: primary creation [sarga], how the interactions of life and the lifeless came about [visarga], the planetary order [sthāna], the maintenance of belief [poshana], the impetus for action [ūtaya], the administrative eras [manvantaras], stories about the Lord's appearances [īs'a-anukathā], renouncing a material life [nirodha], liberation in devotional service [mukti] and the shelter [the refuge of Krishna, ās'raya]. (2) Great souls, sages, reasoning from Vedic texts and their purport, state that the purpose of the first nine characteristics of this book is to offer a clear notion of the tenth subject. (3) The [sixteen elements of the five] gross elements, the [five] sense objects and the senses themselves including the mind, constitute the manifestation that is called the creation of the creator [sarga], and that what resulted from their interaction with the three modes of nature [the gunas] is what is called the secondary creation [visarga]. (4) The stability of the worlds [sthāna] is the victory of the Lord of Vaikunthha and His mercy is the maintenance of belief [poshana]. The reign of the Manus [during the manvantaras] settles the perfection of the dutifulness that constitutes the impetus for action with the karmic propensities [ūtaya]. (5) The different stories about the Lord [īs'a-anukathā] describe the activities of the avatāras of the Personality of Godhead and the persons who are His followers. (6) Returning to God [nirodha] pertains to the resigning of souls to the Original Person and His energies, while liberation [mukti] is concerned with forsaking other ways [of living] with finding stability in one's original nature of service. (7) He who is both the source from which the creation manifests and the one to whom everything returns, is for that reason called the refuge, the resting place [the ās'raya] of the Supreme Spirit, of God or the Supersoul.

(8) Hear from me now about the way the one Lord divided His personal potency in three aspects: 1) nature in the form of controlling deities [adhidaivika], 2) individual souls as the ones who are controlled [adhyātmika] and 3) their material bodies [adhibhautika]. (9) Since one of these three cannot be conceived without the other two, it must be concluded that the one knowing all of them must be Him, the Original Soul who constitutes the support of His own union. (10) When that Supreme Person [expanding in spacetime] separated the universes, He, having appeared from Himself, looking for a place to rest, [thereby] created the causal waters of the purest transcendence. King Parīkchit questions Sukadeva Gosvāmi(11) Residing in these waters of His own creation for a thousand celestial years He became known by the name of Nārāyana ['to follow the path of Nāra'] because these waters [nārā] emanated from the Supreme Person [from Nara]. (12) The material elements, karma, time and  the conditioned living entities all exist by His mercy and cease to exist on [His] neglect. (13) Where the Godhead lay in His mystical slumber He was all alone. Thus wishing to multiply Himself He by means of His māyā divided His golden seminal principle in three. (14) Let me now dilate about the threefold in which the Lord divided His potency in that of His nature, adhidaiva, the individual soul, adhyātma and the conditioned living beings, adhibhūta.

(15) From the ether within the body of the Original Person moving His limbs, the vital power, the structural power and the physical power generated, after which the life breath [the prāna] found its existence as the principle ruling each and all. (16) Like the followers of a king, all active entities follow the life force of prāna and when the life force is no longer active all the activity of the entities ceases. (17) The life force that was generated [from the ether] made the Almighty One hungry and thirsty, and to quench that thirst and satisfy that hunger, first of all the mouth was opened. (18) From the mouth the palate was generated whereupon the tongue manifested and the various tastes to be relished by it. (19) With the need to speak with the mouth, from the Supreme One the capacity to vibrate sounds originated, but in the water that for a very long time remained suspended. (20) Desiring to smell odors the nose with its sense of smell developed together with the nostrils to rapidly inhale the air that carries the smell. (21) Being by Himself in the darkness He desired to observe Himself and the rest of creation. For the sake of His vision the sun then separated that gave the eyes the power of sight. (22) Also the ears manifested when the Supreme being desired to hear the sound vibrations from all directions, and from that desire to understand the seers found their existence. (23) From His desire to experience the hardness, softness, lightness, weight, heat and cold of all matter, the sense of touch was distributed over the skin along with its bodily hair, the plants and trees. That sense of touch of the skin rose from the objects that were perceived within and without.
 
(24) From His desire for different types of work the two hands manifested, but to give strength to the manipulation that depends on them [viz. on the gods who are His hands], Indra, the king of the gods, found his existence as the manifestation of both. (25) Desiring movement the legs manifested, that are ruled by the Lord of Sacrifice [Vishnu] Himself. It is He who motivates the different human beings according to the duties of their labor perspective [karma]. (26) Desiring to taste the nectar of sexual enjoyment the genitals of the male and female organ appeared and the lustfulness found its  existence that is the shelter cherished by the both of them [controlled by the Prajāpati]. (27) Desiring to evacuate used substances the opening of the anus evolved with the excrements, including the control over the two called Mitra, the controller of the excretion. (28) With the wish to move from one body to another body, the navel manifested itself, the place of staying closely united both after arresting one's breath and after death [with a new body in the womb]. (29) In want of food and drink the abdomen with the intestines and arteries originated as also [in the greater body of mother earth] the rivers and seas that are their source of sustenance and metabolism. (30) With the repeated contemplation on His own energy the heart [as the seat of thought] manifested after which the mind, Candra the controller [the moon] as also determination and desire found their existence. (31) The seven elements of the nails, skin, flesh, blood, fat, marrow and bone are predominantly of earth, water and fire whereas the life breath is a product of ether, water and air [see also kos'a].

(32) The senses of the material ego are attached to the modes of matter. The modes influence the mind and all the feelings belonging to it because of which for the individual the intelligence and the realized knowledge assume their form. (33) The Supreme Lord's gross form, as I explained to you, is among all of this that what is known by the eight elements [of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego] of the planets and everything else, that together constitute an unlimitedly expanded, external covering. (34) The Supreme that is finer than the finest, that is the featureless unmanifested reality, thus is without a beginning, an intermediate stage or an end, is eternal and is transcendental to the mind with its words.  (35) No scholar aware of these two [material and transcendental] forms of the Supreme Lord as I described to you, will therefore ever take the external manifestation for granted. (36) He who transcendentally in fact does nothing [who is of akarma], manifests Himself [also] with names, words and what is denoted by those words, as the Supreme Lord in visible forms of the Absolute Truth by which He engages in His pastimes. (37-40) Oh King, know that all the happiness and distress and their mixture is there as a result of actions in the past [of karma]. This is the experience of all the members of the family of Brahmā, the Manus, the godly souls, the wise, the inhabitants of Pitriloka [the forefathers] and Siddhaloka [the perfected souls]; the Cāranas [the venerable souls], Gandharvas [the singers of heaven], Vidyādharas [the scientists], Asuras [the unenlightened ones or the demons], Yakshas [treasure-keepers or evil spirits], Kinnaras [of superpowers] and angels; the snake-like, the monkey-shaped Kimpurushas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Mātriloka [of the place of the mother], the demons and Pis'ācas [yellow flesh-eating demons]. This includes the ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, devils taking possession of people and the birds, the forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the reptiles, those of the mountains, the moving and immobile living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from heat [micro-organisms] and from seeds, and all others, whether they are of the water, of land or the sky.

(41) Depending the modes of goodness, passion and slowness there are as such the three [life conditions] of the godly souls, the human beings and those who have to suffer. There are also positions, oh King, that result from a mix of each of these three with the rest of them. Depending the relationship of one such quality with the other two a certain particular nature develops. (42) After having created the universes, evidently the Supreme Lord, the maintainer of the universe, for the purpose of maintaining the dharma [and redeeming the living beings] assumes the forms of gods, human beings and lower creatures [in line with His three potencies]. (43) In the form of Rudra [S'iva, the destroyer] He, just like the wind dispersing the clouds in the sky, will completely annihilate anything He created in the fire of the end of time. (44) The Supreme Lord is by the great transcendentalists described with these features, but enlightened souls deserve not just these qualities and witness His glory in the beyond [nirguna]. (45) Never is in the matter of creation and so on the Supreme in the beyond described as the engineering agency, for that notion [of having a Supreme position] is there to counterbalance that what is manifested by the material energy. (46) This [primary engineering process or evolution] of Brahmā, was discussed to illustrate the rule of one day of the creator [a kalpa consisting of 1000 mahāyugas of 4.32 million human years each, in a 100 year life of Brahmā called a mahākalpa] while its varieties, its transformations [the vikalpas or periods of change], concern the secondary creation of organic life forms. (47) I will tell you more  about the characteristics and measures of time that constitute a day of Brahmā later, but let me first inform you about this period [also called the Pādma Kalpa or Varāha Kalpa].' "

(48) S'aunaka said: "Oh Sūta, you in your goodness spoke about Vidura, who as one of the best devotees, went to the places of pilgrimage on this earth and left behind the relatives who are so difficult to give up. (49-50) Oh gentle one, please tell us here about the conversation Vidura had with Maitreya [a famous rishi] who is so full of transcendental knowledge. What did he ask his grace and what truths did he get in return for an answer? And why exactly gave Vidura up his activities and associates, and why did he return home thereafter?"

(51) Sūta replied: "This is what King Parīkchit also asked. I shall tell you what the great sage said about it when he answered the king's question. Please listen."
   

Thus the second Canto of the S'rīmad Bhāgavatam ends named: The Cosmic Manifestation.

King
              Parīkchit questions Sukadeva Gosvāmi 




Read the inspiration to this chapter by Anand Aadhar.


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Third revised edition, loaded July 12, 2023.

 

 

 

Previous Aadhar edition and Vedabase links:

Text 1

S'rī S'uka said: 'In this [book, the S'rīmad Bhāgavatam] the following [ten] subjects are discussed: primary creation [sarga], how the interactions of life and the lifeless came about [visarga], the planetary order [sthāna], the maintenance of belief [poshana], the impetus for action [ūtaya], the administrative eras [manvantaras], stories about the Lord's appearances [īs'a-anukathā], renouncing  a material life [nirodha], liberation in devotional service [mukti] and the shelter [the refuge of Krishna, ās'raya].
 S'rī S'uka said: 'In this [Bhāgavatam] there are [ten types of] statements about the following: the creation of the universe, the secondary creation, the different worlds, support [by the Lord], the creative drive, the changes of Manus, following divine instruction, returning to God, finding liberation and the Summum Bonum [description of the actions of Lord Krishna]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 2

Great souls, sages, reasoning from Vedic texts and their purport, state that the purpose of  the first nine characteristics of this book is to offer a clear notion of the tenth subject.

For the purpose of doing justice to the Summum Bonum the symptoms of the other nine in this [Bhāgavatam] are described by vedic inference or either more direct explanations or summaries given by the great sages.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 3

The [sixteen elements of the five] gross elements, the [five] sense objects and the senses themselves including the mind, constitute the manifestation that is called the creation of the creator [sarga], and that what resulted from their interaction with the three modes of nature [the gunas] is what is called the secondary creation [visarga].

The five gross elements, the objects of the senses and the senses themselves including the mind give rise to the manifestation which is called the created universe [sarga] of the Creator, while the resultant activities of the interaction to its modes is called the secondary creation [visarga].  (Vedabase)

 

Text 4

The stability of the worlds [sthāna] is the victory of the Lord of Vaikunthha and His mercy is the maintenance of belief [poshana]. The reign of the Manus [during the manvantaras] settles the perfection of the dutifulness that constitutes the impetus for action with the karmic propensities [ūtaya].

The stability of the worlds is the victory of the Lord of Vaikunthha, His support is His causeless mercy, the reign of the Manus sets the perfection of duty and the creative drive is about the propensity to fruitive labor. (Vedabase)


Text 5

The different stories about the Lord [īs'a-anukathā] describe the activities of the avatāras of the Personality of Godhead and the persons who are His followers.

The following to divine instruction as said deals with the various narrations describing the activities of the Lord descending and the persons that are His followers. (Vedabase)

 

Text 6

Returning to God [nirodha] pertains to the resigning of souls to the Original Person and His energies, while liberation [mukti] is concerned with forsaking other ways [of living] with finding stability in one's original nature of service.

Returning to God is about the resting in the Original Person of souls along with the energies while liberation is about giving up other forms [of existence] for the sake of the permanence of the constitutional Original One. (Vedabase)

 

Text 7

He who is both the source from which the creation manifests and the one to whom everything returns, is for that reason called the refuge, the resting place [the ās'raya] of the Supreme Spirit, of God or the Supersoul.

He is of both the cosmic manifestation and its returning to God, the source from which all takes place and thus He is called the reservoir of the Supreme Spirit or the Supersoul. (Vedabase)

  

Text 8

Hear from me now about the way the one Lord divided His personal potency in three aspects: 1) nature in the form of controlling deities [adhidaivika], 2) individual souls as the ones who are controlled [adhyātmika] and 3) their material bodies [adhibhautika].

From being the personality in possession of his senses [adhyātmika] He is as well the controlling deity [adhidaivika] as the person separate therefrom perceived as another embodied living being [adhibhautika]. (Vedabase)


Text 9

Since one of these three cannot be conceived without the other two, it must be concluded that the one knowing all of them must be Him, the Original Soul who constitutes the support of His own union.

The one who sees that each one of the three is not understood in the absence of one of the others, knows that He is the soul that is its own shelter in this spiritual division. (Vedabase)

 

Text 10

When that Supreme Person [expanding in spacetime] separated the universes, He, having appeared from Himself, looking for a place to rest, [thereby] created the causal waters of the purest transcendence. 

As He [expanding in space-time] separated the Universes, came He as the same Original Person out of Himself to rest in the [causal] waters desiring for the created the most pure of transcendence.  (Vedabase)


Text 11

Residing in these waters of His own creation for a thousand celestial years He became known by the name of Nārāyana ['to follow the path of Nāra'] because these waters [nārā] emanated from the Supreme Person [from Nara].

In that residing in Himself for a thousand of His godly years, is He in the matter of His own creation known by the name of Nārāyana [the path, the lead of God relating to man], for He, resting in the causal waters, emanated from the Original Person. (Vedabase)


Text 12

The material elements, karma, time and  the conditioned living entities all exist by His mercy and cease to exist on [His] neglect.

The physical elements, the activities, the time and surely also the living entities all exist by His mercy and cease to exist on neglect. (Vedabase)

 

Text 13

Where the Godhead lay in His mystical slumber He was all alone. Thus wishing to multiply Himself He by means of His māyā  divided His golden seminal principle in three.

Being on Himself He, from His mystic slumber, desired the variety and thus generated the golden hue of the seminal demigod to the created external energy perfect in its three features. (Vedabase)

Text 14

Let me now dilate on the threefold in which the Lord divided His potency in that of His nature, adhidaiva, the individual soul, adhyātma and the conditioned living beings, adhibhūta.

Let me now tell you about how the Lord, as the One only, divided the potency of His Lordship in three deities ruling the sensing, controlling and embodied beings. (Vedabase)

Text 15

From the ether within the body of the Original Person moving His limbs, the vital power, the structural power and the physical power generated, after which the life breath [the prāna] found its existence as the principle ruling each and all.

Proceeding from the ether within the body of the Original Person generated the energy of the senses, the mental force and the physical strength and then the life breath [the prāna] ruling over each.   (Vedabase)


Text 16

Like the followers of a king, all active entities follow the life force of prāna and when the life force is no longer active all the activity of the entities ceases.

The in all living entities endeavoring senses who follow the symptoms of life, find their peace the way all subjects stop endeavoring in following a king as he stops. (Vedabase)

Text 17

The life force that was generated [from the ether] made the Almighty One hungry and thirsty, and to quench that thirst and satisfy that hunger, first of all the mouth was opened.

The living force being agitated generates from the Supreme within hunger and thirst and at first, in order to quench that thirst and still that hunger, the mouth was opened. (Vedabase)


Text 18

From the mouth the palate was generated whereupon the tongue manifested and the various tastes to be relished by it.

From the mouth the palate generated showing the tongue after which the various tastes manifested that could be relished by it. (Vedabase)

 

Text 19

With the need to speak with the mouth, from the Supreme One the capacity to vibrate sounds originated, but in the water that for a very long time remained suspended.

With the need to speak from the mouth of the Supreme there came the fire of as well vibrations as speeches, but because He was at rest in the waters, for a very long time that remained suspended.   (Vedabase)


Text 20

Desiring to smell odors the nose with its sense of smell developed together with the nostrils to rapidly inhale the air that carries the smell.

In the nostrils the movement of the respiration was developed upon which from the nose its desire to function the sense to smell odors came about. (Vedabase)

 

Text 21

Being by Himself in the darkness He desired to observe Himself and the rest of creation. For the sake of His vision the sun then separated that gave the eyes the power of sight.

Being on Himself in the darkness did, on the desire to observe all the coming manifestations of His transcendental body, for His vision the Sun manifest to give all eyes the power of seeing. (Vedabase)

 

Text 22

Also the ears manifested when the Supreme being desired to hear the sound vibrations from all directions, and from that desire to understand the seers found their existence.

From the wise desiring to understand from their realization that what He wanted to know, the ears as well manifested to the direction of the power of hearing and its objects. (Vedabase)


Text 23

From His desire to experience the hardness, softness, lightness, weight, heat and cold of all matter, the sense of touch was distributed over the skin along with its bodily hair, the plants and trees. That sense of touch of the skin rose from the objects that were perceived within and without.

Of the desire to experience the hard, soft, light, weight, heat and cold of all matter, the sense of touch was distributed over the skin with its bodily hair and of having perceived through the touch of that skin the objects of perception from within and without, the three controlling deities manifested as well. (Vedabase)


Text 24

From His desire for different types of work the two hands manifested, but to give strength to the manipulation that depends on them [viz. on the gods who are His hands], Indra, the king of the gods, found his existence as the manifestation of both.

Desiring the different types of work, from them His hands manifested, but to give strength to the manipulation depending on them [the gods and His hands], Indra, the king of the gods, came into being. (Vedabase)

 

Text 25

Desiring movement the legs manifested, that are ruled by the Lord of Sacrifice [Vishnu] Himself. It is He who motivates the different human beings according to the duties of their labor perspective [karma].

Wishing to control movement the legs manifested, for the purpose of which the Lord of Sacrifice [Vishnu] Himself manifested motivating the different human beings to the duties according their fruitive activities [karma]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 26

Desiring to taste the nectar of sexual enjoyment the genitals of the male and female organ appeared and the lustfulness found its existence that is the shelter cherished by the both of them [controlled by the Prajāpati].

Desiring to taste the nectar of sexual enjoyment appeared the genitals of the male and female organ and found the cherished of the lustful its existence that is the shelter for the both of them [controlled by the Prajāpati]. (Vedabase)

  

Text 27

Desiring to evacuate used substances the opening of the anus evolved with the excrements, including the control over the two called Mitra, the controller of the excretion.

Desiring to evacuate the refuse of eatables first the opening of the anus and then its sense came about after which Mitra, the controller over the excretion, came to give shelter to the both of them.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 28

With the wish to move from one body to another body, the navel manifested itself, the place of staying closely united both after arresting one's breath and after death [with a new body in the womb].

Wishing to spread everywhere in different bodies, from the one body the navel manifested after which it became the place wherefrom separated the arrest of the vitality and death were found.  (Vedabase)


Text 29

In want of food and drink the abdomen with the intestines and arteries originated as also [in the greater body of mother earth] the rivers and seas that are their source of sustenance and metabolism.

In the want for food and drink the abdomen with the rivers and seas of the intestines and arteries originated as also the source of the sustaining metabolism of them. (Vedabase)

 

Text 30

With the repeated contemplation on His own energy the heart [as the seat of thought] manifested after which the mind, Candra the controller [the moon] as also determination and desire found their existence.

Desirous to know His own energy the heart [as the seat of thinking] manifested after which the mind, Candra the controller [the moon] and thus the reality of determination and desire were found.  (Vedabase)
 
Text 31

The seven elements of the nails, skin, flesh, blood, fat, marrow and bone are predominantly of earth, water and fire whereas the life breath is a product of ether, water and air [see also kos'a].

The seven elements of the nails, skin, flesh, blood, fat, marrow and bone are predominantly of earth, water and fire whereas the life breath is there from the ether, the water and the air [see also kosha].   (Vedabase)

 

Text 32

The senses of the material ego are attached to the modes of matter. The modes influence the mind and all the feelings belonging to it because of which for the individual the intelligence and the realized knowledge assume their form.

The senses of the material ego are attached to the modes of matter, which thus affect the mind after which all affection follows that shapes the intelligence and its deliberation of soul. (Vedabase)

 

Text 33

The Supreme Lord's gross form, as I explained to you, is among all of this that what is known by the eight elements [of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego] of the planets and everything else, that together constitute an unlimitedly expanded, external covering.

Of all this is the Supreme Lord His form, as I explained to you, known in the eight elements [of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego] of all the worlds and such, that make for an unlimited external covering. (Vedabase)
 
Text 34

The Supreme that is finer than the finest, that is the featureless unmanifested reality, thus is without a beginning, an intermediate stage or an end, is eternal and is transcendental to the mind with its words.
Therefore there are, for the supreme of the finer than the finest, the featureless unmanifested, that is without a beginning, without an intermediate stage and without an end and is thus eternal, the words for the mind to the transcendental. (Vedabase)

Text 35

No scholar aware of these two [material and transcendental] forms of the Supreme Lord as I described to you, will therefore ever take the external manifestation for granted.

Neither of these forms about the Supreme Lord as I described to you are, because of their external manifestation, ever taken for granted by the learned ones of consciousness. (Vedabase)

 

Text 36

He who transcendentally in fact does nothing [who is of akarma], manifests Himself [also] with names, words and what is denoted by those words, as the Supreme Lord in visible forms of the Absolute Truth by which He engages in His pastimes.

He by His incarnations and activities, His transcendental qualities and entourage, as the Supreme Lord of the Spirit, accepts in the pastimes of His forms the work of transcendence that is free from material interest. (Vedabase)


Text 37-40

Oh King, know that all the happiness and distress and their mixture is there as a result of actions in the past [of karma]. This is the experience of all the members of the family of Brahmā, the Manus, the godly souls, the wise, the inhabitants of Pitriloka [the forefathers] and Siddhaloka [the perfected souls]; the Cāranas [the venerable souls], Gandharvas [the singers of heaven], Vidyādharas [the scientists], Asuras [the unenlightened ones or the demons], Yakshas [treasure-keepers or evil spirits], Kinnaras [of superpowers] and angels; the snake-like, the monkey-shaped Kimpurushas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Mātriloka [of the place of the mother], the demons and Pis'ācas [yellow flesh-eating demons]. This includes the ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, devils taking possession of people and the birds, the forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the reptiles, those of the mountains, the moving and immobile living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from heat [micro-organisms] and from seeds, and all others, whether they are of the water, of land or the sky.

O King, know that all the happiness and distress and their mixture as experienced by the members of the family of Brahmā, the Manus, the godly, the wise, the inhabitants of Pitriloka [forefathers] and Siddhaloka [the perfected], the Cāranas [the venerable], Gandharvas [singers of heaven], Vidyādharas [scientists], Asuras [the unenlightened or the demons], Yakshas [treasure-keeper or evil spirits], Kinnaras [of superpowers] and angels, the snake-like, the monkey-shaped Kimpurushas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Mātriloka [of the place of the mother], the demons and Pis'ācas [yellow flesh-eating demons], as also the ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, the ones of good and evil stars, as well as the birds, the forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the reptiles, those of the mountains, the moving and standing living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from heat [microorganisms] and from seeds, and all others, whether they be in the water, land or the sky, is with all of them there as the result of deeds in the past [karma]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 41

Depending the modes of goodness, passion and slowness there are as such the three [life conditions] of the godly souls, the human beings and those who have to suffer. There are also positions, oh King, that result from a mix of each of these three with the rest of them. Depending the relationship of one such quality with the other two a certain particular nature develops.

To the modes of goodness, passion and slowness we thus have the three of the godly, the human and the suffering ones and even others, o King, when one divides it to moving in habits developed in each of the three in relation to the other two. (Vedabase)

 

Text 42

After having created the universes, evidently the Supreme Lord, the maintainer of the universe, for the purpose of maintaining the dharma [and redeeming the living beings] assumes the forms of gods, human beings and lower creatures [in line with His three potencies].

Without doubt in this does He, the Maintainer of the entire universe, the Supreme Lord, assume the form of the principles of righteousness, in order to reclaim, after the creation of the universes, the godless, the human and the godly ones. (Vedabase)


Text 43

In the form of Rudra [S'iva, the destroyer] He, just like the wind dispersing the clouds in the sky, will completely annihilate anything He created in the fire of the end of time.

At the end of the era all that is with Him will be completely annihilated by fire in the form of Rudra [S'iva the destroyer], the way in time the wind does with clouds. (Vedabase)

 

Text 44

The Supreme Lord is by the great transcendentalists described with these features, but enlightened souls deserve not just these qualities and witness His glory in the beyond [nirguna].

With these features concerning the matter of creation and destruction is by the great transcendentalists the Supreme Lord described, but the great devotees deserve to see more of the most glorious than these features alone. (Vedabase)

Text 45

Never is in the matter of creation and so on the Supreme in the beyond described as the engineering agency, for that notion [of having a Supreme position] is there to counterbalance that what is manifested by the material energy.

Never is in the matter of creation and so on the Supreme in the beyond described as the engineer, for that [idea of having a Supreme position] is to counteract what by the material energy is manifested.  (Vedabase)
 

Text 46

This [primary engineering process or evolution] of Brahmā, was discussed to illustrate the rule of one day of the creator [a kalpa consisting of 1000 mahāyugas of 4.32 million human years each, in a 100 year life of Brahmā called a mahākalpa] while its varieties, its transformations [the vikalpas or periods of change], concern the secondary creation of organic life forms.

This all but exemplifies the regulative principles by which the Creator operates for the duration of his time [described as a day of Brahmā] and the duration of the universes. Herein, in summary, is the generating of the entire dispersed material creation given. (Vedabase)


Text 47

I will tell you more about the characteristics and measures of time that constitute a day of Brahmā later, but let me first inform you about this period [also called the Pādma Kalpa or Varāha Kalpa].' "

The exact measurement of the time to its form and symptoms of one day of Brahmā [kalpa] I will explain after first letting you know about this epoch of His descend [also called the Pādma Kalpa]'."  (Vedabase)


Text 48

S'aunaka said: "Oh Sūta, you in your goodness spoke about Vidura, who as one of the best devotees, went to the places of pilgrimage on this earth and left behind the relatives who are so difficult to give up.

S'aunaka said: "O Sūta, you told us from your good self about Vidura, who is one of the best devotees, as he took to the places of pilgrimage on this earth, leaving aside the relatives that are so difficult to give up. (Vedabase)

 

Text 49-50

Oh gentle one, please tell us here about the conversation Vidura had with Maitreya [a famous rishi] who is so full of transcendental knowledge. What did he ask his grace and what truths did he get in return for an answer? And why exactly gave Vidura up his activities and associates, and why did he return home thereafter?"

O gentle one, please tell us here about the new things Vidura discussed with Maitreya [a famous rishi] who is so full of transcendental knowledge and anything else he asked His grace and got answered from him back then. Why did Vidura actually give up his activities and his associates and why did he return home afterwards?" (Vedabase)

Text 51

Sūta replied: "This is what King Parīkchit also asked. I shall tell you what the great sage said about it when he answered the king's question. Please listen."

Sūta replied: "Please listen while I explain to you what the great sage [S'uka] spoke about in his answering according the questions of King Parīkchit." (Vedabase)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The first picture is showing an episode from the Bhāgavata Purāna.
"Krsna in the form of a young cowherd plays his flute to entice the cowgirls'.
17th century kalapustaka, a lavishly illustrated manuscript from Nepal.
Source:
Cambridge University site on sacred scripts.
The second image is titled: 'The Creation of the Cosmic Ocean and the Elements" (detail),
folio 3 from the S'iva Purāna, c. 1828. (3rd paintings).
The royal collection of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur. Date c. 1828
Source:
The British Museum.
The third image is a picture of the Dasāvatara Veda.
Source.
Production:
Filognostic Association of The Order of Time


  

 

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