Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 3

(1) Maitreya said: 'Diti was afraid that she by the power of [the seed of] the great Prajâpati for the time of a century would destroy the power of others and distress the God-fearing people. (2) The world was deprived of light because of this [threat] and thus the local authorities who saw their power diminished consulted with the creator of the universe [Lord Brahmâ] about the darkness that expanded in all directions. (3) The demigods said: 'You, oh mighty one, must be knowing about this darkness we are so very afraid of. Your supreme divinity is not affected by time and thus nothing is hidden for you. (4) Oh god of gods, sustainer of the universe, you as the crown jewel of all the guardians of the spiritual and material worlds know about the intentions of all living beings. (5) We offer you whose strength is found in wisdom our obeisances. Having obtained this body composed of external energy and in acceptance of your distinguished mode [of passion], we pay you our respects, oh unseen source. (6) Those who are steadfast in their devotion meditate upon you, the origin of all beings, the absolute consisting of the true and untrue and the self in which all worlds are connected. (7) For souls who are mature in the practice of yoga and have attained your mercy in controlling their senses and mind by means of their breath, there is no defeat in any way. (8) Him whose directions are the lead for all living entities the way a rope is the lead for a bull, him under whose authority offerings are presented, that most important personality, you, we offer our obeisances. (9) Because of this darkness we cannot fulfill our prescribed duties. We ask you to act to our good fortune, oh great Lord, please grant us, surrendered souls, the magnanimous mercy of your glance. (10) Oh god, this semen of Kas'yapa deposited in the womb of Diti, causes complete darkness in all directions like a fire loaded with too much firewood.'

(11) Maitreya said: 'Oh mighty-armed one, he, the self-born one who in the prayers was addressed as the Supreme Lord, with a smile satisfied the demigods and gave a reply in sweet words. (12) Brahmâ said: 'They who before you were born from my mind and are headed by Sanaka [Sanâtana, Sanandana en Sanat-kumâra], traveled free from expectations the distances between the people of the spiritual and material worlds. (13) Free from all material contamination they one day entered Vaikunthha, the eternal abode of Vishnu, the Supreme Lord, the realm for which one prays in all the worlds. (14) All the persons living there have the same form as the Lord of Vaikunthha and live free from any desire because of their devotional service of continuously worshiping the Supreme Personality. (15) The Lord of all Fortune, the original person who is understood through the scriptures, dwells there as the personification of the religious principles in order to accept in His goodness our purity to the greater happiness of us who belong to Him. (16) In that realm where everything is spiritual and personal, there are forests that for the sake of happiness yield to all desires with [desire] trees full of splendid flowers and fruits throughout all the seasons. (17) Living in palaces with their wives, the devotees free from all inauspicious qualities are always singing there about the Supreme Lord, while being critical about the by the wind wafted mind-blowing fragrance of the mâdhavî flowers that full of nectar are blossoming in the water. (18) When the king of the bumblebees loudly sings the glories of the Lord, the tumult of the pigeons, cuckoos, cranes, cakravâkas and gallinules, swans, parrots, partridges and peacocks stops for a while. (19) The fragrant mandâra, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka, arna, punnâga, nâgakes'ara, bakula, lily and pârijâta, all agree that the tulsî plant [the basil plant the Lord adorns Himself with and] which in the form of a garland is appreciated [by Him] for her smell, best of them all honors the good spirit of renunciation there. (20) By simply being of obeisance to the Lord's feet, the devotees earned the palaces standing everywhere, made of lapis lazuli with emeralds and gold, whose [female] inhabitants have large hips and beautiful smiling faces. But with their friendly laughing and joking, they, spiritually absorbed in Krishna, never give rise to any lust. (21) In that house of the Lord [sometimes], reflected in the crystal clear walls inlaid with gold, the Goddess of Fortune is seen who is free from all faults. She then assumes a beautiful form with tinkling [bangles at her] feet and playing with a lotus flower. That grace of her is something for which the other ladies manifest themselves with the greatest zeal as true scrubwomen. (22) Surrounded by maidservants they in their gardens on coral banks to ponds with pellucid, nectarean water, offer tulsî leaves to the Supreme Lord. Seeing the beauty of the locks of the goddess reflected in the water, they thereby imagine the Lord kissing her face. (23) How unfortunate are they who never attain this Vaikunthha creation of the Vanquisher of All Sin, but rather hear about other subject matters phrased in bad words that kill one's intelligence. Alas, such persons far removed from the values of life are devoid of all shelter and cast into the deepest darkness. (24) They who realized the human way of life, who acquired knowledge about the Absolute and are of the proper code of conduct [dharma] the way we [Lord Brahmâ and the demigods] wish it, but do not succeed in propitiating the Supreme Lord, are alas bewildered by His omnipresent illusory energy. (25) [But] following in the footsteps of [me,] the chief of the demigods, they will go to Vaikunthha, the realm situated above mine, they who, attracted to each other in discussions about the Lord's desirable, supreme qualities and glories, feel ecstasy, have tears in their eyes and shiver with their bodies, and thus keep Yamarâja [the Lord of death] at a distance.'

(26) [Brahmâ continued:] 'When the sages [headed by Sanaka] by dint of their spiritual potency reached Vaikunthha, they experienced a transcendental ecstasy they never had experienced before. It was the place, radiating with the palaces of the most deserving and learned devotees, where the teacher of the universe rules who is the object of worship in all the worlds. (27) After passing there through six gates without taking much interest, they at the seventh gate ran into two demigods of the same age who carried valuable maces, bracelets, earrings, helmets and beautiful garments. (28) Placed around their necks there was, between their four blue arms, a garland of forest flowers with intoxicated bees around them. But looking about with their arched eyebrows, restless breathing and reddish eyes, they seemed somewhat agitated. (29) Seeing them both standing at the gate, the sons of Brahmâ passed, as they did before, the golden and diamond doors without taking any notice. They, after all, were the great sages who of their own accord moved everywhere without being checked or doubted. (30) When they saw them, four naked boys of age who had realized the truth of the self but who looked as if they were not older than five years, the two gatekeepers in disregard of the glory and the etiquette, in an attitude offensive to the Lord wrongfully blocked their way with their staffs. (31) The moment they were faced with the slight hindrance of the two doorkeepers who, for all the inhabitants of Vaikunthha to see, refused them despite by far being the fittest of the Lord, their eyes, in their eagerness to see their most beloved one, suddenly turned red out of anger ['the younger brother of lust'].

(32) The sages said: 'Who are the two of you, to have attained here the service of the Supreme Lord by dint of your actions in the past? Which devotee who in Him is without anxiety and enmity, can be engaged as false as you? Who in the world is of such a deceptive mentality like yours that betrays the confidence? (33) No one here is strange to the Supreme Personality who contains all in His abdomen. The living entity has its place in the Supersoul the way the small portion of air in one's lungs is part of the air outside. As a sober person seeing the two of you being dressed up like inhabitants of Vaikunthha, like awakened people who discriminate between body and soul, one wonders how such a fear about Him can exist? (34) Therefore, in order to secure the grace of the Lord of Vaikunthha, according to our opinion the appropriate measure for you antipathetic minds who consider matters in opposition, is that you both depart from here to the material world where one finds this threefold sin that is the enemy of the living being [lust, anger and greed, see B.G. 16: 21].'

(35) The two [doorkeepers] who understood that a terrible brahmin curse had been pronounced by them, a curse that cannot be countered by any weapon, at once stricken with fear for the devotees of the Lord fell down to grasp their feet in great anxiety. (36) 'Let it be so that you have punished us for our sins. A lack of respect for great sages like you cannot go unpunished. But we pray that we, with a bit of your infinite compassion for our repentance, not in a state of illusion will lose the memory of the Supreme Lord when we have to descend to the material world.'

(37) That very moment the Supreme Lord, from whose navel the lotus sprouted, learned about the offense against the righteous sages. To their delight He came to the place being accompanied by His Goddess of Fortune, walking on the very same lotus feet that are sought by the hermits and the wise. (38) Seeing Him coming forward with all His associates and paraphernalia, the sages, now seeing the One whom they always had been looking for, fell into ecstasy over the sight of the câmaras [fans of yak-tail] that like beautiful swans waved a cool breeze that moved the pearls of His white umbrella, making them look like drops of water to a reflected moon. (39) Blessing all with His auspicious face as the desirable shelter, He affectionately looked upon them and touched them expanding in their hearts. With His blackish skin and His broad chest decorated by the Goddess of Fortune, He spread the good fortune as the culmination of the spiritual worlds and the abode of the soul. (40) Covered by yellow cloth He had a brightly shining girdle around His hips and humming bees about His garland of forest flowers. On His wrists He had lovely bracelets and while one of His hands rested on the shoulder of the son of Vinatâ [Garuda], He waved a lotus flower with another one. (41) Shining brighter than lightening, the decoration of His alligator shaped earrings completed the countenance of His cheeks and straight nose. He wore a gem-studded crown, carried a charming most precious necklace between His stout arms and the Kaustubha jewel adorned His neck. (42) With His beautiful decoration meditated upon by His fully attentive devotees, He outshone the smiles of the Goddess of Beauty. The sages could not get enough of the sight of the very beautiful figure so worshipable for me and for S'iva as also for all of you, and that made them joyously bow down their heads. (43) When the breeze, carrying the fragrance of tulsî leaves from the toes of the lotus feet of the lotus-eyed Lord, entered their nostrils, they experienced an inner transformation, even though they in body and mind were devoted to [the impersonal realization of] Brahman. (44) Thereafter looking up they saw His face that resembled the inside of a blue lotus and also saw His even more beautiful jasmine flower lips smiling. Thus having achieved their life's aim they again looked down at the ruby red nails of His lotus feet and then meditated upon their shelter. (45) For those people who seek liberation in this world by the paths of yoga, He is the object of meditation approved by many. With the display of His human form pleasing the eyes He, eternally present, is praised as endowed with the perfection of the eight achievements, a perfection that cannot be achieved by others [the so-called eight perfections or siddhis are: animâ: smallness, mahimâ: greatness, garimâ: weight, laghimâ: lightness, prâpti: free access, prâkâmyam: doing at wish, vas'itva: control over the elements and îs'itvam: lordship over all].

(46) The Kumâras said: 'Even though You are seated in the heart, You are not manifest to those who are far removed from the soul. Today, oh Unlimited One, we see You face to face, You who through our ears reached our inner being when we heard our father [Brahmâ] describe the mysteries of Your appearance. (47) You, oh Supreme Lord, who with Your personality consisting of pure goodness brings delight to all [who are like us], we now know as the ultimate reality of the soul. This reality one may, according to the understanding of the sages who are not interested in a material life, grasp by Your grace in steadfast devotional service with a heart free from attachments. (48) They [who follow this practice] do not even care about Your imperishable beatitude [kaivalya, enlightenment] or about any other minor form of happiness with which they may fear the frowning of Your eyebrows. They, oh Supreme One, take shelter of Your lotus feet and the narrations about Your pure glories so worthy to be sung by the very expert knowers of Your rasas [the emotional mellows one may have with You]. (49) From the falsity of the lives we desired we may be of low births and have minds busy like bees, but if we are engaged in the devotional service at Your lotus feet and fill our ears with Your transcendental qualities, our words used become as beautiful as the tulsî leaves of Your mercy. (50) We obtained so much satisfaction from seeing this eternal form You manifested, oh Lord of great renown. Let us therefore offer our obeisances to You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord who is recognized by spiritual persons like us and not by those who are not spiritual.'

Maitreya said: 'Diti was afraid that she by the power of [the seed of] the great Prajâpati for the time of a century would destroy the power of others and distress the God-fearing people.

Maitreya said: 'Diti understood that of the powerful semen of the great Prajâpati others in power would be in trouble and thus she bore it in doubt about how it for a hundred years would affect the godly. (Vedabase)

Text 2

The world was deprived of light because of this [threat] and thus the local authorities who saw their power diminished consulted with the creator of the universe [Lord Brahmâ] about the darkness that expanded in all directions.

The world was deprived of light from it and the diverse local divinities who saw their power diminished, turned to God [Brahmâ] wondering about where the darkness expanding in all directions came from. (Vedabase)

Text 3

The demigods said: 'You, oh mighty one, must be knowing about this darkness we are so very afraid of. Your supreme divinity is not affected by time and thus nothing is hidden for you.

The godly said: 'Of this darkness you know of, o mighty one, we are very afraid because we are not unmanifest as you are; your supreme divine ways are unaffected by the touch of time. (Vedabase)

Text 4

Oh god of gods, sustainer of the universe, you as the crown jewel of all the guardians of the spiritual and material worlds know about the intentions of all living beings.

O god of gods, sustainer of the universe, you as the crown jewel of the spiritual and material worlds of all local divinities, know of all intentions of all living beings. (Vedabase)

Text 5

We offer you whose strength is found in wisdom our obeisances. Having obtained this body composed of external energy and in acceptance of your distinguished mode [of passion], we pay you our respects, oh unseen source.

Our respects, o original source of strength and objective knowledge. Having obtained this body of external energy and accepting the differentiated of your mode of passion, we offer our obeisances to you for you are the original unmanifest source. (Vedabase)

Text 6

Those who are steadfast in their devotion meditate upon you, the origin of all beings, the absolute consisting of the true and untrue and the self in which all worlds are connected.

Those with unswerving devotion meditate upon you as the origin of all beings; all the worlds are linked by your self which is the supreme generator of cause and effect.(Vedabase)

Text 7

For souls who are mature in the practice of yoga and have attained your mercy in controlling their senses and mind by means of their breath, there is no defeat in any way.

To those who are mature in the practice of yoga and have attained to your mercy in controlling the senses and the mind by the breath, there is no defeat from whatever side. (Vedabase)

Text 8

Him whose directions are the lead for all living entities the way a rope is the lead for a bull, him under whose authority offerings are presented, that most important personality, you, we offer our obeisances.

He by whose directions all living entities are led like a bull by the rope, he whose force of control cannot be undone, to that chief, to you, we offer our obeisances.(Vedabase)

Text 9

Because of this darkness we cannot fulfill our prescribed duties. We ask you to act to our good fortune, oh great Lord, please grant us, surrendered souls, the magnanimous mercy of your glance.

Him, you, we ask to act to our good fortune, o great Lord, as from the darkness all our prescribed duties have been suspended. By the magnanimous mercy of your glance, we, the surrendered, are able to see. (Vedabase)

Text 10

Oh god, this semen of Kas'yapa deposited in the womb of Diti, causes complete darkness in all directions like a fire loaded with too much firewood.'

O god, this semen of Kas'yapa deposited in the womb of Diti, causes complete darkness in all directions like a fire that is overloaded with fuel. (Vedabase)

Text 11

Maitreya said: 'Oh mighty-armed one, he, the self-born one who in the prayers was addressed as the Supreme Lord, with a smile satisfied the demigods and gave a reply in sweet words.

Maitreya said: 'Smilingly did he, the self-born, o mighty-armed one, who by the prayers is understood as the original possessor of all opulence, reply the godly satisfying them with sweet words. (Vedabase)

Text 12

Brahmâ said: 'They who before you were born from my mind and are headed by Sanaka [Sanâtana, Sanandana en Sanat-kumâra], traveled free from expectations the distances between the people of the spiritual and material worlds.

Brahmâ said: 'Those headed by Sanaka [Sanâtana, Sanandana en Sanat-kumâra] where, before you, born from my mind and traveled without any desire the peoples of the spiritual and material worlds without any desire. (Vedabase)

Text 13

Free from all material contamination they one day entered Vaikunthha, the eternal abode of Vishnu, the Supreme Lord, the realm for which one prays in all the worlds.

Once upon a time did they, free from all material contamination, enter Vaikunthha the abode of Vishnu, the Supreme Lord; a realm worshiped in all other worlds. (Vedabase)

Text 14

All the persons living there have the same form as the Lord of Vaikunthha and live free from any desire because of their devotional service of continuously worshiping the Supreme Personality.

All the persons living there have the same form as the Lord of Vaikunthha and live without desire because of their devotional service of continuous worship of the Supreme Personality. (Vedabase)

Text 15

The Lord of all Fortune, the original person who is understood through the scriptures, dwells there as the personification of the religious principles in order to accept in His goodness our purity to the greater happiness of us who belong to Him.

There the original person is the Supreme Lord Himself who is understood by scripture in accepting, in the mode of goodness, the uncontaminated of His own associates, which increases our happiness about the personification of the religious principles. (Vedabase)

Text 16

In that realm where everything is spiritual and personal, there are forests that for the sake of happiness yield to all desires with [desire] trees full of splendid flowers and fruits throughout all the seasons.

At Vaikunthha, where everything is spiritual and personal, there are forests in the name of happiness that yield to all desires with trees that throughout all seasons are filled with splendid flowers and fruits. (Vedabase)

Text 17

Living in palaces with their wives, the devotees free from all inauspicious qualities are always singing there about the Supreme Lord, while being critical about the by the wind wafted mind-blowing fragrance of the mâdhavî flowers that full of nectar are blossoming in the water.

Highly elevated they along with their wives are always singing there, free from all inauspicious qualities, of the Supreme Lord, deriding even the mind expanding fragrance of the mâdhavî flowers full of nectar blossoming in the midst of the water. (Vedabase)

Text 18

When the king of the bumblebees loudly sings the glories of the Lord, the tumult of the pigeons, cuckoos, cranes, cakravâkas and gallinules, swans, parrots, partridges and peacocks stops for a while.

The tumult of pigeons, cuckoos, cranes, cakravâkas, and gallinules, swans, parrots, partridges and peacocks but for a moment is stopped by the loud humming of the king of the bumblebees as he sings the glories of the Lord. (Vedabase)

Text 19

The fragrant mandâra, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka, arna, punnâga, nâgakes'ara, bakula, lily and pârijâta, all agree that the tulsî plant [the basil plant the Lord adorns Himself with and] which in the form of a garland is appreciated [by Him] for her smell, best of them all honors the good spirit of renunciation there.

The fragrance of the mandâra, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka, arna, punnâga, nâgakes'ara, bakula, lily and pârijâtâ, being worshiped in the good mindedness of the austerity of Vaikunthha, finds there its full glory in a garland of tulsî-leaves. (Vedabase)

Text 20

By simply being of obeisance to the Lord's feet, the devotees earned the palaces standing everywhere, made of lapis lazuli with emeralds and gold, whose [female] inhabitants have large hips and beautiful smiling faces. But with their friendly laughing and joking, they, spiritually absorbed in Krishna, never give rise to any lust.

Simply by obeisance to the Lord His feet the devotees attained to palaces, made of lapis lazuli with emeralds and gold, of which the [female] inhabitants have large hips and beautiful smiling faces. But with their minds absorbed in Krishna this does not give rise to any lust with their friendly laughing and joking. (Vedabase)

Text 21

In that house of the Lord [sometimes], reflected in the crystal clear walls inlaid with gold, the Goddess of Fortune is seen who is free from all faults. She then assumes a beautiful form with tinkling [bangles at her] feet and playing with a lotus flower. That grace of her is something for which the other ladies manifest themselves with the greatest zeal as true scrubwomen.

In that house of the Lord is sometimes, reflected in the crystal clear walls inlaid with gold, seen the Goddess of Fortune free from all faults assuming a beautiful form with tinkling [bangles at her] feet and playing with a lotus flower; [a vision] for which the other ladies, in order to win her grace, manifest themselves as sweepers of the greatest care. (Vedabase)

Text 22

Surrounded by maidservants they in their gardens on coral banks to ponds with pellucid, nectarean water, offer tulsî leaves to the Supreme Lord. Seeing the beauty of the locks of the goddess reflected in the water, they thereby imagine the Lord kissing her face.

In the ponds with banks of coral they offer, in their gardens surrounded by their maidservants, the Lord tulsî leaves, to that considering their faces, as seen in the clear nectarine water with the tilaka high on their noses, thus kissed by the Lord as being part of His beauty. (Vedabase)

Text 23

How unfortunate are they who never attain this Vaikunthha creation of the Vanquisher of All Sin, but rather hear about other subject matters phrased in bad words that kill one's intelligence. Alas, such persons far removed from the values of life are devoid of all shelter and cast into the deepest darkness.

Alas, how unfortunate are the ones who never get near to this Vaikunthha creation of the Vanquisher of All Sin, but rather hear of other subject matter in bad words that kill the intelligence. Such persons, removed from the values of life, are, devoid of all shelter, thrown into the darkness. (Vedabase)

Text 24

They who realized the human way of life, who acquired knowledge about the Absolute and are of the proper code of conduct [dharma] the way we [Lord Brahmâ and the demigods] wish it, but do not succeed in propitiating the Supreme Lord, are alas bewildered by His omnipresent illusory energy.

Those, and us as well, who so desired it, attained to the human form of life and knowledge of the subject matter of the Absolute by dint of the right conduct [dharma]. Where one is not in such respect of the Supreme Lord, one is alas performing in the bewilderment of His all-pervading illusory energy. (Vedabase)