Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) - Complete (Concatenated version)

(1) Completely satisfied with the correct questions of the sages there, the son of Romaharshana [Sûta] tried to reply after thanking them for their words. (2) Sûta said: "He [S'ukadeva] who went away to live with the renounced order without the prescribed ceremony of reform of the sacred thread, made Vyâsadeva, being afraid of the separation exclaim: 'O my son!', and all the trees and all living beings responded sympathizing in the heart of the sage. (3) Let me offer my obeisances to him, who from his experience of life, as the only transcendental torchlight in desiring to overcome the darkness of material existence of materialistic men, assimilated the cream of the Vedas and out of his causeless mercy conveyed the very confidential holy story as the master of the great sages. (4) After offering first one's obeisances to Nara-Nârâyana, the [Lord as the] supermost human being, the goddess of learning and Vyâsadeva, let then all be announced that is needed for the conquering.

(5) O sages, your questions about Lord Krishna are of relevance for the welfare of the world because they satisfy the true self. (6) That duty no doubt is for mankind the highest, of which there is the causeless, uninterrupted devotional service unto Krishna as the One in the Beyond [Vishnu] that leads to the full satisfaction of the soul. (7) The practice of connecting oneself in devotion unto Vâsudeva, the Personality of Godhead, very soon leads to the detachment and spiritual knowledge that relies on its own power. (8) What mankind does in its duties according to each his own position, is useless labor leading nowhere, if it does not lead to the message of Vishvaksena [Krishna as the Supreme Commander]. (9) One's occupational activities are certainly meant for ultimate liberation and not for the end of material gain, neither is, according to the sages, the material progress of the dutiful ones in devotional service meant for the attainment of sense-gratification. (10) One's longing is not so much there for sense-gratification, profit and self-preservation, one's karma is instead there for no other purpose than inquiring after the Absolute Truth. (11) The learned souls say that the reality of nondual knowledge is known as Brahman, Paramâtmâ, and Bhagavân [the impersonal, localized and personal aspect]. (12) The sages who with the good of knowledge and detachment are of serious inquisition, will see within themselves and the Supersoul in devotional service, exactly that, what they have heard from in the Vedas. (13) So by the human being, o best of the twice-born, the highest perfection of occupational duties according to the divisions of status and vocation is achieved in the pleasing of the Lord. (14) Therefore one should with a one-pointed mind constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Supreme Lord, the protector of the devotees. (15) Who would not attend to this message of intelligentlyremembering the Lord which gives one the sword for cutting through the bonds of materially motivated labor [karma]? (16) One who listens with care and attention in respect of Vâsudeva, will find affinity with the message through the devotional service rendered to pure devotees, o learned ones, and be purified from all vice. (17) Those who developed this hearing of Krishna His own words will find virtue listening and singing and will certainly in their hearts see their desire to enjoy purified by the benefactor of the truthful. (18) By regular attention to that fortune [of the book and the devotee] as good as all the inauspicious will lose its hold, and thus serving the Supreme Lord with transcendental prayers irrevocably loving service will come into being. (19) At that time the consciousness not being spoiled by the effects of passion and ignorance such as lust, greed and whatever else, will be fixed in goodness and find happiness. (20) The mind, in contact with the devotional service of the Lord thus cleared, becomes, of the association liberated, then effective in the knowledge of wisdom regarding the Fortunate One. (21) Seeing the [true] self that way as being the master for sure will cut the knots in the heart to pieces, put an end to all doubts and terminate the chain of materially motivated actions [karma]. (22) Therefore all transcendentalists have for certain always delighted in the service to Lord Krishna - it enlivens the soul. (23) The ultimate benefit of the Transcendental Personality, that is associated with as well the material qualities of nature of goodness, passion and ignorance as with the maintainer Vishnu, the creator Brahmâ and the destroyer S'iva, is of course for the human being found in the form of the quality of goodness [Vishnu]. (24) The way we have the firewood from sacrifices stemming from the earth producing smoke set afire, so we also have passion stemming from ignorance leading to the goodness from which the essential nature is realized.

(25) Whoever follows these sages who before thus rendered service to the transcendental Lord above these three modes of nature, deserves the same benefit. (26) For that reason they who desire liberation reject the less attractive forms of the demigods, and are sure to worship, without any envy, the many forms of the all-blissfull Lord Vishnu [Nârâyana]. (27) Those who are ignorant and of passion, desire wealth, power and progeny, clinging to forefathers and other beings of cosmic control with a likewise character. (28-29) But Vâsudeva is the object of knowledge, the purpose of the sacrifices and the yoga, the controller of all material activity, and the supreme knowledge, austerity, quality, religion and goal of life. (30) From the beginning of the manifestation He, by His internal potency, has been the cause and effect of all forms and the transcendental Absolute of the modes of nature. (31) Although He, manifesting by the modes, having entered into them, appears to be affected by the modes, He is the full manifestation of all wisdom. (32) He, as the Supersoul, pervades all living beings as the source of the creation like fire does in wood and shines forth as different living entities, at the same time being the Absolute Person. (33) That Supersoul, created the subtle senses influenced by the modes of nature by entering the living beings in His own creation, causing them to enjoy those modes. (34) Thus He maintains all in the mode of goodness, being incarnated Himself in the performance of His pastimes mastering all worlds of divine, human and animalistic beings."

(1) Sûta said: "In the beginning the Supreme Lord assumed, for the creation of the worlds, the form of the Original Person[: the integrity of the material realm] composed of the sixteen elements [of the ten knowing and working senses, the mind and the five elements] and the cosmic intelligence and such. (2) Resting in His meditative slumber in that water, out of the lotus that spread from the lake of His navel, Brahmâ was manifested, the master of the progenitors in the universe. (3) One believes the different worlds [as expansions] to be part of the form of the Fortunate One that constitutes the excellence of the purest existence. (4) His form thus seen perfectly has numerous legs, thighs, arms and faces, with wonderful heads, ears, eyes and noses, all glowing with garlands and dresses. (5) This source of the multifarious incarnations is the imperishable seed from which the plenary portions and portions thereof, the gods, the human beings and the animals, originate."

(6) "The sons of Brahmâ [the Kumâras] were first disciplined in austerity for the sake of realizing continuity. (7) Next He incarnated for the sake of the welfare of the earth and like a boar lifted her up from the lower regions. (8) Thirdly He accepted [in the form of Nârada Muni] His presence among the learned for the sake of evolving Vedic knowledge concerning the service in devotion without further material motives. (9) Fourth born as the twin sons of king Dharma in the form of Nara-Nârâyana He underwent severe penances to attain control over the senses. (10) Fifth with the name of Kapila He gave an exposition to the brahmin Âsuri on the nature of metaphysics and the elements of creation because in the course of time the knowledge was lost. (11) Sixth, born as the son of Atri from Anasûyâ who prayed for Him, He lectured to Alarka, Prahlâda and others about the transcendental. (12) Seventh born from Âkûti as Yajña, the son of Prajâpati Ruci He, assisted the godly, with His son Yama ruled during the period of Svâyambhuva Manu. (13) Eighth, from the wife of King Nâbhi, Merudevî, He took birth as King Rishabha and showed the path of perfection respected by people of all stages of life. (14) Accepting His ninth incarnation in response to the prayers of the sages, He ruled [as Prithu] the earth for the sake of its cultivation and produces, which made her beautifully attractive. (15) Like a fish [Mâtsya] in the water He kept Vaivasvata Manu after the period of Câkshusha Manu protected in a boat afloat the waters when the world was deeply inundated. (16) Eleventh as a tortoise [Kurma] He sustained the Mandarâcala Hill of the theists and atheists which served as a pivot in the ocean. (17) Twelfth there was Dhanvantari [Lord of medicine] and thirteenth He appeared as an alluring beautiful woman to the atheists when He gave nectar to the godly. (18) In His fourteenth incarnation He appeared as Nrisimha, who with His nails half as a Lion on His lap tore apart the king of the atheists like a carpenter splitting cane. (19) Fifteenth He assumed the form of Vâmana [the dwarf-brâhmana] who went to the arena of sacrifice of Mahârâja Bali and begged for three steps of land only, while He in fact wanted to seize the three worlds. (20) In His sixteenth incarnation [as Bhrigupati or Paras'urâma] He acted twenty-one times against the ruling class that negated the intelligentsia. (21) Seeing the common people as being less intelligent He seventeenth incarnated as Vyâsadeva taking birth from Satyavatî with Parâs'ara Muni as His father, in order to divide the desire tree of the Veda into several branches. (22) Next He performed superhuman in controlling the Indian Ocean having assumed the form of a divine human being [Râma] in order to act for the sake of the godly. (23) Nineteenth as well as twentieth He appeared as Balarâma and Krishna from the Vrishni family and thus Bhagavân removed the burden from the world. (24) Thereafter in the Age of Kali His birth as Lord Buddha from Añjanâ in Gayâ will take place in order to delude the ones envious of the theists. (25) Next, at the conjunction of two yugas when there is hardly a ruler to be found who is not a plunderer, the Lord carrying the name of Kalki will take birth as the son of Vishnu Yas'â."

(26) "O twice-born ones, the incarnations of the Lord that appeared from the ocean of goodness are as innumerable as the thousands of streams found from the lakes. (27) All the powerful sages, the godly, the Manus and their progeny, as well as the Prajâpatis [founding fathers] are aspects of the Lord. (28) All these are part of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord [Bhagavân] in person who offers protection during all ages and in all worlds against the enemies of the king of heaven [Indra]. (29) Those who in the morning and the evening carefully recite these mysterious births of the Lord, will find relief from all miseries of life. (30) All these forms of the Lord no doubt stem from the One who is without a form and transcendental; they came about in the self from the modes of material energy with their elements. (31) To the less intelligent spectator they are there to be perceived the way one sees clouds in the sky and dust in the air. (32) This unmanifested self in the beyond that cannot be seen or heard, has no form that is affected by the modes of nature - thàt is the living being that takes birth repeatedly. (33) As soon as one realizes that all these gross and subtle forms originate in the self because of ignorance, they lose their value and so one achieves association with the divine. (34) With the illusory energy subsided one is enriched with the full knowledge of enlightenment and thus being established able to see the glories of the Self. (35) Thus the inactive unborn Lord of the Heart with His births and activities has been described by the learned as being undetectable even in the Vedas. (36) Residing within every living being He, the omnipotent master of the senses whose play is spotless, is independent and unaffected by creation, destruction and maintenance. (37) Because of His manipulations He, acting like an actor in a drama, by the ones with a poor fund of knowledge cannot be known in His activities, names and forms by means of speculation and oration. (38) Only he who renders unconditional, uninterrupted, favorable service to His fragrant lotus feet may know the transcendental glories of the all-powerful Creator with the wheel of the chariot in His hand. (39) In this world one can be successful if one knows everything about the Personality of Godhead who embraces all of His universes and who inspires for the complete of the spirit of ecstasy in which one will never find the dreaded vicious circles of worldly interest."

(40) "This book containing the story of the Personality of Godhead and His devotees was compiled by the wise man of God and is, as a supplement to the Vedas, there for the ultimate good of bringing success, happiness and perfection to all people. (41) S'rîla Vyâsadeva delivered this story, which constitutes the cream he managed to extract from all the Vedic literatures and histories, to his son who is the most respectable one among the self-realized. (42) He on his turn told it to emperor Parîkchit who surrounded by the wise sat down at the Ganges to fast until his death. (43) Now that Krishna has left for His abode and with Him also proper conduct and spiritual insight have vanished, this Purâna bright as the sun has appeared at the horizon for the sake of everyone who in the Age of Quarrel [Kali-yuga] has lost his vision. (44) When I heard the story from that powerful, great sage, I, being perfectly attentive by his mercy, managed to understand it as well, so that I from my own realization now am able to relate it to you."

(1) The elderly and learned S'aunaka, the head of the long-standing ceremony the sages were gathered for, congratulated Sûta Gosvâmî thanking him thus: (2) "O most fortunate one of those who are respected to speak, please tell us about the message of the Bhâgavatam the way it was discussed by S'ukadeva Gosvâmî. (3) When, where, on what ground and wherefrom inspired could this literature be compiled by Vyâsadeva? (4) His son, who being equipoised and unwavering always had his mind fixed on the One, was a great devotee and an awakened soul, but unexposed he appeared ignorant. (5) Naked bathing beauties covered their bodies out of shyness when they once saw sage Vyâsa following his son, whereas they astonishingly by him being asked about his son replied that they didn't feel ashamed before him because he looked at them purely without any sexual discrimination. (6) How was he [S'uka], appearing like a retarded dumb madman as he wandered through the Kuru-jângala provinces, recognized by the inhabitants of Hastinâpura [now: Delhi] the moment he reached the city? (7) How could the discussion, o dear soul, between the saint and the descendant of Pându, the wise king, take place covering this Vedic truth about Krishna? (8) He, as a pilgrim sanctifying the places he visits, stayed at the door of the householders only for as long as it takes to milk a cow. (9) Please tell us about Parîkchit, the son of Abhimanyu, who is said to be a first class devotee whose birth and activities are all wonderful. (10) What was the reason that the emperor, who enriched the name of Pându, neglected the opulences of his kingdom and sat down to do penance at the Ganges until his death? (11) Oh why did he, at whose feet all enemies surrendered their wealth for their own sake, in the full of his youth give up his so difficult to relinquish life of royal riches? (12) Men of devotion for the One Hailed in the Verses, live for the welfare, the affluence and prosperity of all living beings and not for any selfish purpose; for what reason gave he, freed from all attachment, up his mortal body that was the shelter for others? (13) Clearly explain to us all we by this have asked you, for we consider you fully acquainted with all the meanings of the words in the scriptures, except for those of the Vedic hymns."

(14) Sûta Gosvâmî said: "When the second era ran into the third and thus ended, the sage [Vyâsa] was born as the son of Parâs'ara from the womb of the daughter of Vasu. He was a partial expansion of the Lord. (15) One morning when the sun globe rose above the horizon he, after being cleansed by the water of his morning duties, sat down at the bank of the river Sarasvatî to focus his mind. (16) The rishi knowing the past and the future, saw that gradually irregularities were developing in the dharma of his time. It was something that can be observed more often in the different eras on earth as a consequence of unseen, irresistible forces. (17-18) The sage contemplating with his transcendental vision the welfare of all vocations and stages in life, saw from his elevated position how with the dull and impatient of the faithless the people lacked in goodness, that the natural capacity of all types of men as well as of other creatures was declining and that the common man was unlucky and short-lived. (19) According to the insight that there were four sacrificial fires for purifying the work effort of the people, he divided the one original Veda into four divisions of sacrificial activities. (20) Rig, Yajuh, Sâma and Atharva were the names of these four Vedas while the Itihâsas [the single histories] and the Purânas [the collections of histories] were called the fifth Veda. (21) Thereafter the Rig Veda was propagated by the rishi Paila, the Sâma Veda by the learned Jaimini, while Vais'ampâyana was the only one versed enough to qualify for the defense of the Yajur Veda. (22) The serious respect for the Atharva Veda was heartened by Angirâ - also called Sumantu Muni - while the Itihâsas and the Purânas were defended by my father Romaharshana. (23) All these scholars on their turn distributed the knowledge entrusted to them to their disciples who did the same with their following who did so with their pupils, and thus the different branches of followers of the Vedas came about. (24) In order to assure that the Veda would be assimilated as much by the less intellectual people, the great sage Vyâsa, the Lord in these matters, took care to edit it for the ignorant. (25) Motivated this way to serve the welfare of women [see 6.9: 6 & 9], the more foolish working class, and the friends of the twice-born who themselves do not work for understanding, the sage was as merciful to their benefit to take down the story of the Mahâbhârata.

(26) O dear twice-born, by no means he, who was always working for the welfare of all living beings, could then be content with that. (27) Being purified in seclusion at the bank of the Sarasvatî he, knowing what religion means, thus said from the dissatisfaction of his heart to himself: (28-29) 'With strict discipline I sincerely was of proper worship in my according to the tradition of the Vedic hymns doing the sacrifices in respect of the masters. Even for women, the working class and others I, by compiling the Mahâbhârata, have properly explained what according to the disciplic succession should be stated about the path of religion. (30) Despite of answering, so it appears, sufficiently to the demands of the vedantists in my discussing the Supreme Soul as situated in the body and even my own self, I feel something is missing. (31) I might not have given sufficient directions about the devotional service that is so dear to the perfect as well as to the Infallible One.'

(32) While Krishna Dvaipâyana Vyâsa thus regretfully thought about his shortcomings, Nârada, as I stated before, reached his cottage. (33) Seeing what fortune that was, he quickly got up to honor him with a respect equal to the respect the godly pay to Brahmâjî, the creator."

(1) Sûta said: "Then comfortably seated next to him, the rishi of God of great renown who has a vînâ in his hands outwardly with a smile addressed the learned wise. (2) He said: 'O greatly fortunate son of Parâs'ara, can you in the self-realization of your soul find the satisfaction of the body and the mind? (3) You have done your full enquiries and being well versed, you have prepared the great and wonderful Mahâbhârata to which you've added your extensive explanations. (4) In spite of the full of your deliberations about the Absolute and Eternal you are, dear master, lamenting that you wouldn't have done enough for the purpose of the soul.'

(5) Vyâsa said: 'All you've said is certainly true, but my soul has found no peace with it. What is the root I've missed, I ask you who originated from the soul as a man of unlimited knowledge. (6) You have the all-inclusive knowledge as a confidential devotee of the Supreme Personality, who is the Original Controller of the material and spiritual and in whose mind only, from the transcendence above the modes of material nature, the universe is created and destroyed. (7) In your goodness you travel the three worlds as the selfrealized witness penetrating the heart of everyone like the all-pervading ether. Please point out what my deficiency is in my being absorbed in the Absolute with discipline and vow concerning matters of cause and effect.'

(8) S'rî Nârada said: 'You hardly praised the glories of the Fortunate One who is spotless and who, I gather, is not really pleased by that lesser vision. (9) Although you, great sage, repeatedly were writing for the sake of the four principles of religion [dharma, artha, kâma, moksha or righteousness, economy, sense gratification and liberation], you have not been doing so for the sake of Vâsudeva. (10) Only sparsely using the words describing the glories of the Lord who sanctifies the universe, is something the saintly think of as pilgrimaging to a place for crows; not as something where the perfect ones of the transcendental take pleasure in. (11) That creation of words revolutionizing the sins of the people in which, although imperfectly composed, each verse depicts the names and glories of the unlimited Lord, is heard, sung and accepted by the purified and honest. (12) In spite of self-realization free from material motives, the transcendental knowledge of the infallible does not look good when one gives up on personal names. What good will it bring to work time and again troublesome for a result when one misses the Lord with it? That leads nowhere! (13) Therefore you as a highly fortunate, spotless and famous perfect seer dedicated to the truth and fixed in the qualities, for the sake of liberation from universal bondage from your trance should think about and describe Him whose actions are supernatural.

(14) Whatever you want to describe that is of a vision separate from Him, will only lead to names and forms that agitate the mind like a boat that is taken by the wind from its place. (15) For the matter of religion you have instructed the people according to their natural inclinations [to kill animals for their food e.g.], which is in truth something reprehensible and quite unreasonable. The people fixed on such instructions for good conduct will not think of the prohibitions. (16) For understanding the unlimited Lord they qualify who are expert in withdrawing from material enjoyment, and therefore you must from your goodness to those who bound to the modes are missing the spiritual knowledge show the ways and activities of the Lord.

(17) Inexperienced in devotional service at the lotus feet one may fall down in that position when one forsakes one's own, true nature. But what inauspiciousness wouldn't befall the nondevotee who, engaged in his occupational duties, doesn't reach to that what is His interest? (18) The philosophically inclined should for that reason endeavor only for that which is not so much found wandering from high to low. In the course of time, the time that is so impetuous and subtle, one will automatically everywhere find the enjoyment - as good as the miseries - as a result of one's work. (19) Failing for some or another reason the devotee has a different experience as others have: once he in his material life has the taste he, remembering the feet of the Lord of Liberation he embraced, will never want to give it up. (20) From the goodness of your self you know that all of this cosmos is the Lord Himself, even though He differs from it. He constitutes the beginning and the end of creation; I am only summarizing it for you. (21) Please give a true-to-life description of the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. For you from the perfect vision of your own soul are able to discover what the transcendence of the Personality of the Supersoul would be, of which you are a full aspect because you took birth for the sake of the well-being of the entire world. (22) The acknowledged scholars all agree that the unmistakable purpose of each and everyone's austerities, study, sacrifice, attending lectures, fostering intelligence and charity consists of attaining to the descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord glorified in the verses.

(23) O sage, in the previous millennium I took birth from a maidservant of certain followers of this conclusion [the Vedânta]. I, only a boy, was engaged in their service when I lived together with them during the months of the rainy season. (24) These followers of wisdom were unto me, an obedient, well-mannered, self-controlled and silent boy without much interest in games and sport, specially merciful, despite of their impartiality towards believers. (25) When the twice-born, during that period, once allowed me to enjoy the remnants of their food, I, by that action, was freed from all my sins and thus manifested itself in me being engaged with purity, the attraction to that dharma. (26) Thereafter I heard every day the descriptions of the life of Krishna. Because of their respect for me, dear Vyâsa, I managed to pay close attention and thus develop my taste with every step I took. (27) O great sage, as I acquired the taste, I found continuity with the Lord and thus I realized that one accepts all the gross and subtle of life because of one's ignorance concerning the Supreme of transcendence. (28) Thus for the time of two seasons, autumn and the rainy season, constantly hearing nothing but the glories that were chanted by the sages, my devotional service because of those great souls began to flow while the [influence of] the modes of passion and ignorance receded. (29) As an obedient boy free from sins I, because of those believers being attached to that what is His, thus in my strictly following managed to subjugate [my senses]. (30) When these devotees so full of care for the meek left, they were as merciful to instruct me in this most confidential knowledge which is directly propounded by the Lord Himself. (31) Thus I could easily grasp what the influence is of the deluding material energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vâsudeva, the supreme creator, and how one can reach the refuge He is.

(32) O learned one, it is said that to dedicate one's actions to the Supreme Lord is the remedy for the threefold misery of life. (33) O good soul, isn't it so that the cure for a disease is found in [counteracting] that what caused it? (34) The same way also all dealings of man directed at a material[istic] existence will put an end to that self[hood] when one succeeds in dedicating them to the Transcendent. (35) Whatever one does in this world to please the Lord and what thereto is done in one's dependence on knowledge is bhakti yoga [yoga of devotion]. (36) When one mindful of the will of the Fortunate One performs one's duties, the mind constantly takes to the names and qualities of S'rî Krishna. (37) So, let us meditate upon the name and glory of Vâsudeva and His full expansions Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarshana. (38) That person who this way worships the Lord who has no material form with the help of the sound-form [of these names] representing Him, is, in his worship of [Lord Vishnu] the Original Person of Sacrifice, of a perfect vision. (39) With me this way being engaged, o learned one, and knowing well the confidential part of the Vedic knowledge, the knowledge of His transcendental opulences was bestowed upon me and also was an intimate personal love for Lord Krishna [Kes'ava] installed. (40) You, dear good soul with your vast Vedic knowledge, also dilate on the Almighty of whom the wise always have found satisfaction in learning about the transcendental. Please describe His activities for the mitigation of the suffering of the masses of common people for whom there is no other way of relief.' "

(1) Sûta said: "Thus hearing from the great sage among the gods about his birth and exploits, sage Vyâsadeva, the son of Satyavatî, asked him: (2) 'What did you, before your present life began, do after the great devotees had departed who instructed you in transcendental wisdom? (3) How were the conditions of the life you spent after this initiation and how have you, in the long run, attained to this body? (4) How could you, o great sage, remember all of this from a previous era in any detail, isn't it so that time in due course annihilates all?'

(5) S'rî Nârada said: 'The great sages in my previous life gave me the transcendental knowledge I have at present and after they had departed the following took place. (6) I was the only son of my mother who was a simple woman working as a maidservant. I, as her offspring, was completely determined by the emotional bond I had with her and had no one else to protect me. (7) Although she wanted to take care of me properly, she, being dependent like a puppet on a string, couldn't do so. (8) I, being only five years old, attended the school of the brahmins and lived, depending on her, without having a clue about the time, the direction and country in which we were living. (9) When she once went out at night to milk a cow, she was bitten in the leg by a snake on the path and thus fell victim of the supreme time. (10) I took it as a benediction of the Lord who always wishes the best for His devotees, and with that in mind I headed for the north. (11) There I found many flourishing big and small towns and villages with farms, mineral and agricultural fields in valleys with flower and vegetable gardens and forests. (12) I saw hills and mountains full of gold, silver and copper and elephants pulling branches from the trees nearby delightful lakes and ponds full of the lotus flowers aspired by the denizens of heaven - and my heart was pleased with the birds and the amount of bees hovering about. (13) I passed through thickets of bamboo, sharp grass and weeds and through caves which were difficult to pass alone, and I reached deep and dangerous forests that were the playground of snakes, owls and jackals. (14) Being physically and mentally tired, I, hungry and thirsty, took a bath and drank from the water of a lake from a river in which I found relief from my fatigue. (15) In that uninhabited forest I sat down under a banyan tree to meditate, intelligently taking shelter of the Supersoul situated within the way I had learned it from the liberated souls. (16) Thus meditating on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality, all of my thinking, feeling and willing transformed into transcendental love. I was that eager that tears rolled from my eyes when I saw the Lord appear in my heart without delay. (17) Fully overwhelmed by an excess of love and transfixed in feelings of happiness all over my body, I o sage, being absorbed in an ocean of ecstasy, could not distinguish Him from myself any longer. (18) No longer seeing the form of the Lord who removes all disparity from the mind, I all of a sudden got up being perturbed like someone who has lost something desirable. (19) Desiring to experience that again I could, having focussed my mind on the heart, despite of my waiting, not see Him, and got very depressed being frustrated that way. (20) Trying and trying in that lonely place I heard from the beyond pleasing words of gravity being spoken to me that mitigated my grief: (21) 'Listen, for the duration of your life you will not acquire the vision of Me here, because it is difficult to acquire the vision when one, immature with impurities, is guilty in one's being united. (22) That form was only shown once to raise your desire o virtuous one, because by the increase of the desire of the devotee all lusts will be driven away from the heart. (23) When one for a few days only being of service to the Absolute has attained a steady intelligence unto Me someone, having given up on the deplorable of this world, will head for and be of My associates. (24) The intelligence engaged this way in devotion can at no time be separated from Me because, whether beings are becoming or fading away, by My mercy their remembrance will continue.'

(25) After thus having spoken, that great and wonderful sound of the Supreme authority stopped and I, grateful for the grace, bowed my head in obeisance to the great and glorified. (26) Free from formalities exercising the holy name of the Unlimited One and being of the constant remembrance of His mysterious and benedictory activities, I traveled the earth liberated and contented in all modesty, without any resentment awaiting my time. (27) Thus free from attachment to the material world being absorbed in Krishna o Vyâsadeva, in due course of time death came to get me as natural as lightning coinciding with a flash. (28) Having been awarded with a transcendental body worthy of an associate of the Lord, I, seeing that my acquired karma had ended, quitted the body that is composed of the five material elements. (29) At the end of the era the Lord, having laid Himself down in the waters of devastation, took me, with the creator and all, in within His breath. (30) A thousand ages later, when the creator again was expired I reappeared together with rishis like Marîci. (31) Faithful to the vow traveling within the three worlds as well as in the beyond, I, because of the mercy of Mahâ-Vishnu, am free to go wherever and whenever I want. (32) This way I move around constantly singing the message of the Lord while I vibrate the transcendentally charged vînâ with which the Godhead has decorated me. (33) Singing thus soon the sight of the Lord of the lotus feet about whose actions one gladly hears, as if called for appears in the seat of my heart. (34) I arrived at the insight that for those who in their desire for the objects of the senses are full of worries, there is a boat to cross over the ocean of material nescience: the repeated singing of the glories of the Lord. (35) Desire and lust being curbed every time by the discipline of yoga certainly will not be as satisfying to the soul as the devotional service to the Personality of Godhead. (36) I, upon your request, described to you who are free from sin all this about my birth and activities, so that the satisfaction of your as well as of my soul is served.' "

(37) Sûta said: "After thus having addressed the powerful sage, Nârada Muni took leave of the son of Satyavatî and, vibrating his enchanting vînâ, left for wherever. (38) All glory and success to the sage of the gods who takes pleasure in singing the glories of the Personality of Godhead and thus, with the help of his instrument, enlivens the distressed universe."

Chapter 7: The Son of Drona Punished

(1) S'rî S'aunaka said: "What did, upon the departure of Nârada Muni, the great lordship of Vyâsadeva do after having heard from the great sage what he wanted to know?"

(2) Sûta replied: "On the western bank of the Sarasvatî where sages meditate there is at S'amyâprâsa an âs'rama for the promotion of transcendental activities. (3) There at home Vyâsadeva sat down surrounded by berrytrees to focus his mind after he had performed his water sacrifice. (4) With his mind aligning in the devotion of yoga he saw, being perfectly fixed without material concerns, the entirety of both the Original Person [the purusha] and the external energy that depends on Him. (5) The living entities conditioned to the modes of nature take, in spite of the transcendental nature of their soul, the unwanted for granted and undergo the reactions thereof. (6) For the sake of the common people who are unaware of the cessation of the unwanted that one finds in the yoga of devotion unto the One in the Beyond, the sage, who understood this, composed the different stories relating to the Absolute Truth. (7) Simply attending to the literatures about the Supreme Personality of Krishna will make the devotional sprout that takes away lamentation, illusion and fear. (8) After having assembled and revised the collections of stories, he taught them to his son S'ukadeva Gosvâmî, the sage of the path of self-realization."

(9) S'aunaka asked: "Why would he, who on the path of self-realization is always contented within in contempt of everything else, make any work of such an extensive study?"

(10) Sûta said: "Such are His wonderful qualities that, in spite of the fact that one takes pleasure in the soul, the common people as well as the sages who are freed from all material bondage are of pure devotional service unto Lord Vishnu, Urukrama. (11) The devotees loved the powerful son of Vyâsa because he, in having taken up the regular study of this great narration, was always absorbed in the transcendental quality of the Supreme Lord. (12) So let me now tell you the story about the birth, activities and deliverance of King Parîkchit, the sage among the kings, as well as the story about how the sons of Pându came to renouce the world. These stories lead to the stories about Lord Krishna.

(13-14) When on the battlefield of Kurukshetra the warriors of the Pândavas and the Kauravas had found their heroic fate and the son of King Dhritarâshthra [Duryodhana] was lamenting his broken spine due to being beaten by the club of Bhîma, the son of Dronâcârya [As'vatthâmâ] thought that he could please his master Duryodhana by delivering the heads of the sleeping sons of Draupadî as a trophy. But the master being confronted with this disapproved of this heinous act. (15) The mother of the children [of the Pândavas], cried aggrieved bitter tears when she heard about the massacre. Arjuna [who headed the Pândavas], tried to pacify her and said: (16) 'I can only wipe the tears from your eyes o gentle lady, when the head of that degraded brahmin aggressor is severed by the arrows of my bow Gândîva. I will present it to you so that you can place your foot on it and you, after the cremation of your sons, can take a bath.' (17) Satisfying her with this choice of words Arjuna, he who is guided by the Infallible One, fully armed and equipped ascended his chariot to persecute As'vatthâmâ, the son of his martial teacher. (18) When he from a distance saw him in hot pursuit, the child murderer fearing for his life fled with his chariot in great speed, just like Sûrya did when he fled from from S'iva [*]. (19) Finding himself unprotected the moment his horses got tired, [As'vatthâmâ] the brahmin son, only thinking of himself, resorted to the ultimate weapon [the brahmâstra]. (20) With his life in danger, he touched water and concentrated to recite the mantras, even though he didn't know how to stop the process. (21) A glaring light spreading in all directions shone that fierce, that seeing the life threat Arjuna turned to the Lord [who drove his chariot] and said: (22) 'O, Krishna, Krishna, You are the Almighty who takes away the fears of the devotees, You alone are the path of liberation for those who suffer in their material existence. (23) You are the transcendental, original enjoyer and direct controller of the material energy. You are the one who by means of His own internal potency, from the bliss and knowledge of Your own Self, wards off the material illusion. (24) From that position You in the heart of the ones materially entangled, by virtue of Your power bestow the ultimate good of righteousness and such [characteristics of dharma: truth, purity, penance and compassion]. (25) Thus You incarnate in order to take the burden away from the earth and to satisfy Your friends and pure devotees as the constant object of their meditation. (26) O Lord of Lords, I don't know where this highly dangerous, dazzling light that is spreading in all directions originates from.' (27) The Supreme Lord said: 'Take it from Me that it is caused by the son of Drona who, faced with the imminence of his death, launched the weapon of mantras without knowing how to retract it. (28) Nothing else can counter this weapon but another one; in fact you will have to subdue this immense glare by means of your own dazzling, martial art.' "

(29) Sûta said: "After hearing what the Supreme Lord said, Arjuna, circumambulating the Lord, sipped water himself and took up the supreme weapon to curb the one of his opponent. (30) From the combined glare of the two weapons was thereupon the entire firmament including outer space covered by an expanding ball of fire as bright as the sun. (31) When the inhabitants of the three worlds saw how the heat of both of the weapons scorched them severely, that reminded them of the fire of annihilation at the end of time [sâmvartaka]. (32) Realizing the disturbance it all created for the common people and their places, Arjuna, on the direction of Vâsudeva, retracted both the weapons. (33) Then Arjuna, angered with eyes red as copper, arrested the son of Gautamî, binding him skillfully with ropes as if it concerned an animal. (34) When he with force had bound the enemy and was about to take him to the military camp, the Supreme Lord, looking on with His lotus eyes, said to the angered Arjuna: (35) 'Never let this relative of the learned go, punish him, for he has killed innocent boys in their sleep. (36) Someone who knows the principles of religion is afraid to kill an enemy who is careless, intoxicated, insane, asleep, of tender age, a woman, foolish, a surrendered soul or someone who has lost his chariot. (37) But someone who shameless and cruel thinks he can rightly maintain his own life at the cost of the lives of others, certainly for his own good deserves to be stopped in his tracks, because the person [of the criminal as well as the one consenting] is brought down by crime. (38) I personally heard you making the promise to the daughter of the King of Pâñcâla: 'I will bring you the head of the one you consider the murderer of your sons.' (39) He, being not more than the burnt ashes of his family, an offending sinner who is responsible for the assassination of your sons and is someone who displeased his own master, must therefore be sentenced.' "

(40) Sûta said: "Although Arjuna, by Krishna being put to a test concerning the matter of his duty, was encouraged to do so, he didn't aspire to kill the son of his teacher, despite of the fact that he was the heinous murderer of his sons. (41) When he thereafter together with his dear friend and charioteer Govinda reached his own camp, he entrusted the assassin to his dear wife who was lamenting over her murdered sons. (42) Upon seeing the criminal silent from his heinous act thus being brought in like an animal tied in ropes, Draupadî, from the beauty of her nature out of compassion showed the son of the teacher due respect. (43) She couldn't bear the sight of him brought in ropes and said: 'Release him, for he as a learned one [a brâhmana] is our teacher. (44) By his [Drona's] mercy you yourself have received the confidential knowledge of the martial arts and the release and control of all kinds of weapons. (45) The lordship of Drona for certain still exists in the form of his son, because his other half Kripî [his wife] with a son present didn't follow her husband into death [by means of satî]. (46) Therefore, o most fortunate one in knowing the dharma, by the goodness that is in you, cause no grief to the ever respectable and honorable family. (47) Do not make his mother, Drona's devoted wife, cry the way I do in constantly shedding tears in distress over a lost child. (48) If the noble administration is of no restraint in relating to the order of the learned, that rule will burn up in no time and will, together with its family members fall to grief.' "

(49) Sûta said: "O learned ones, the king [of the Pândavas, Yudhishthhira] supported the statements of the queen as they were in accord with the dharma of justice, merciful, without duplicity and glorious in equity. (50) And so did Nakula and Sahadeva [the younger brothers of the king] and also Sâtyaki, Arjuna, the Supreme Lord the son of Devakî, as well as the ladies and others. (51) Thereupon Bhîma said indignantly: 'About the fact that he without a good reason, nor for himself nor for his master, has killed sleeping children, is stated that he deserves death.'

(52) The four-armed one [Lord Krishna] who had heard the words spoken by Bhîma and Draupadî and had seen the face of His friend [Arjuna], said with a faint smile: (53-54) 'One should not kill the relative of a brahmin, even though one kills an aggressor - as far as I am concerned both is prescribed to be carried out when we want to follow the rules. You have to keep to the truth of the promise you made when you pacified your wife and also act to the satisfaction of Bhîma as well as of Me.' "

(55) Sûta said: "Immediately understanding what the Lord meant, he separated with his sword the jewel from the head of the twice-born one along with his hair. (56) After releasing him from the ropes, he [As'vatthâmâ], who next to the loss of his bodily luster because of the infanticide, also had lost his strength in being deprived of his jewel, was driven out of the camp. (57) Cutting the hair, confiscating the wealth and banishment are the forms of physical punishment reserved for the relatives of the learned, not any other method of dealing with the body. (58) Thereafter the sons of Pându together with Draupadî, overtaken by grief performed the duties that were needed in respect of the deceased family members."

*: When the sun-god chased the demon Vidyunmâlî, darted Lord S'iva in anger against him with his trident. The sugod fleeing toppled at Kâs'î, where he became known as Lolârka.

(1) Sûta said: "Thus they headed, along with Draupadî and the women put in front, to the Ganges, with the wish to perform the water duties for their relatives. (2) After each had done his offering of water and sufficiently had mourned, they took a bath in the water of the Ganges that is purified by the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord. (3) There the king of the Kurus [Yudhishthhira] with his younger brothers, Dhritarâshthra and Ghândârî sat in deep bereavement together with Kuntî, Draupadî and the Lord Himself. (4) Lord Krishna together with the munis there pacified the shocked and affected family who had lost their friends and members, by showing how each is subjected to the Time that cannot be avoided. (5) Because of cheating Yudhishthhira [the eldest of the Pândavas], who had no enemies, the unscrupulous ones [Duryodhana and his brothers] had been killed who cleverly seized the kingdom and had shortened their lifespan by their insult of touching the hair of the queen [Draupadî]. (6) By the proper performance of three horse sacrifices his [Yudhishthhira's] fame spread in all directions like the fame of Indra who performed that sacrifice a hundred times.

(7) Worshiped by the wise and the learned, the Lord, in response to their farewell, invited the sons of Pându as well as Uddhava [another relative and friend of Krishna]. (8) Seated on His chariot He, just as He wanted to leave for Dvârakâ, saw Uttarâ [the mother expecting Parîkchit] hurrying towards Him in fear. (9) She said: 'Protect me, protect me, o Greatest of the Yogis, o Worshiped One of the Worshiped and Lord of the Universe, apart from You I see no one fearless in this world of death and duality. (10) O all-powerful Lord, a fiery iron arrow is coming towards me. Let it burn me, o Protector, but save my embryo!' "

(11) Sûta said: "Patiently hearing her words the Supreme Lord, who is the caretaker of the devotees, understood that this was the result of a brahmâstra weapon of the son of Drona who wanted to end the existence of all Pândava descendants. (12) O chief of the munis [S'aunaka], seeing the glaring brahmâstra heading towards them, the Pândavas each took up their own five weapons. (13) Seeing that they were in great danger with no other means available, the Almighty One took up His Sudars'ana disc for the protection of His devotees. (14) From within the soul of all living beings, the Supreme Lord of Yoga, by means of His personal energy, shielded the embryo of Uttarâ in order to protect the progeny of the Kuru dynasty. (15) O S'aunaka, even though the brahmâstra weapon can't be stopped by counteractions, it was, being confronted with the strength of Vishnu, neutralized. (16) But do not regard all of this, with everything mysterious and infallible that we know of Him, as something special. The unseen godhead is by means of His material potency of creation, maintenance and annihilation.

(17) Being saved from the radiation of the weapon, the chaste Kuntî along with her sons addressed Lord Krishna who was about to leave. (18) Kuntî said: 'My obeisances unto You, the Purusha, the Original Controller of the Cosmos who is invisible and beyond all existing both within and without. (19) Covered by the deluding [material] curtain, being irreproachably transcendent and not discerned by the foolish, You are like an actor dressed up as a player. (20) You appear for the sake of the advanced transcendentalists and philosophers who can discriminate between spirit and matter, in order to execute the science that unites them in devotion. But how must we, the women, then exercize respect for You? (21) Therefore I offer You my respectful obeisances, You the Protector of the cows and the senses, the Supreme Lord, the son of Vasudeva and Devakî, the One of Nanda and the cowherd men of Vrindâvana. (22) My respects for You, who has a lotuslike depression in His abdomen, who is always decorated with lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as a lotus flower and whose footprints show the mark of lotusflowers. (23) You are the master of the senses and have released the distressed Devakî [mother of Krishna] from being imprisoned for so long by the envious [uncle] King Kamsa. And o Lordship, You have protected me and my children against a constant threat. (24) Saving us in the past from poison, a great fire, man-eaters, a vicious assembly, sufferings from exile in the forest and against weapons in battles with great generals, You have now fully protected us against the weapon of the son of Drona.(25) I wish we would have more of those calamities, o Master of the Universe, so that we can meet You again and again, because meeting You means that we no longer see the repetition of births and death. (26) The ones intoxicated by striving for a good birth, opulences, education, and beauty will never ever deserve to address You, who are easily approached by the ones destitute. (27) All honor to You, the wealth of the ones living in poverty, who transcendental to the emotions one has with the material modes, are the One selfcontented and most gentle; all my respect for You who are the master of beatitude. (28) I consider You the personification of Eternal Time, the Lord without a beginning or an end, the All-pervasive One distributing Your mercy everywhere equally among the beings who live in dissent with each other. (29) O Lord, no one understands Your pastimes, that appear to be as conflictuous as the exploits of the common man; people think You are partial, but You favor or dislike no one. (30) O Soul of the Universe, with Your vital energy taking birth although You are unborn and acting although You are inactive, You manifesting Yourself with the animals, the human beings, the wise and the aquatics, are veritably bewildering.(31) It is bewildering for me to see that at the time the gopî [Yas'odâ, the cowherd foster mother of Krishna] took up a rope to bind You because You were naughty, You were afraid and cried the make-up off Your eyes, even though You are feared by fear in person. (32) Some say that You, like sandalwood appearing in the Malaya Hills, are born from the unborn for the glory of the pious kings or the pleasure of the family of dear King Yadu. (33) Others say that You descended from the unborn for the good of Vasudeva and Devakî who prayed for You and for the demise of the ones envious with the godly. (34) Still others say that You, like a boat on the sea, came to take away the burden of extreme worldly grief and were born from the prayers of Lord Brahmâ. (35) And yet others say that You appeared for the ones suffering from desire and nescience in the materially motivated world so that they may perform in hearing, remembering and worshiping You. (36) Those people who take pleasure in continuously hearing, chanting and remembering Your activities, certainly very soon will see Your lotus feet, who put the recurrence of rebirths to an end. (37) O Lord, with all that You did for us, You, today going to the kings engaged in enmity, are leaving us behind. Us, Your intimate friends living by Your mercy alone in dependence on Your lotus feet. (38) We, without You, will, along with the Yadus and Pândavas, be without the fame and name, like a body is without the senses after the spirit has left. (39) The land of our kingdom will no longer appear as beautiful as it does now, being dazzled by the marks of Your footprints. (40) All these cities and towns, because of Your glances, flourished more and more with their wealth of herbs, vegetables, forests, hills, rivers and seas. (41) Therefore, o Lord of the Universe, o Personality of the universal form, cut my tie of deep affection for my kinsmen the Pândavas and the Vrishnis. (42) Make my attraction to You pure and continuously overflowing, like the Ganges flowing down to the sea. (43) O Krishna, friend of Arjuna and chief of the Vrishnis, annihilator of the rebellious dynasties on this earth, with Your unrelenting bravery You relieve the distressed cows, the twice-born and the godly, o Lord of Yoga incarnate, universal preceptor and original proprietor, unto You my respectful obeisances.' "

(44) Sûta said: "Thus being worshiped in His universal glories with the choice of words of queen Kuntî, the Lord gave a mild smile that was as captivating as His mystic power. (45) Thus accepting all of that the Lord, after further paying respects to other ladies in the palace of Hastinâpura, upon leaving for His own residence, was stopped by the love of [Yudhishthhira] the king. (46) The learned, the sages and Lord Krishna, of all people the One of superhuman accomplishment Himself, could not convince the king in his distress, nor could he find any solace in the classical stories. (47) King Yudhishthhira, the son of Dharma, from a material conception thinking about the loss of his friends, got, o sages, carried away by the delusion of his affection when he said: (48) 'O, just look at me who in the ignorance of his heart is immersed in the sin of with this body, which is meant to serve others, having killed so many formations of warriors. (49) I, having killed so many boys, twice-born ones, caretakers, friends, elders, brothers and teachers, for sure will never ever, not even for a million years, be freed from hell. (50) It is no sin for a king to kill when he fights his enemies for the right cause of protecting his people, but those words, instituted for the satisfaction of the administration, do not apply to me. (51) All the enmity that accrued because of the friends that I have killed who left women behind, I cannot expect to be undone with me serving the sake of material welfare.(52) J ust like one cannot filter mud through mud or clear wine stains with wine, it is of no avail to counteract one's sin of having killed with the reglementary sacrificing of animals.' "

Chapter 9: The Passing Away of Bhîshmadeva in the Presence of Lord Krishna

(37) For the sake of the fulfillment of my duty factually to be more of violence and against His own sworn principle [to stay out of the fray], He got down from His chariot, took up it's wheel and - while dropping His outer garment - paced towards me like a lion that is about to kill an elephant. (38) Wounded by the sharp arrows and without His shield He, smeared with blood, in the angry mood of the great aggressor moved towards me in order to kill me. May that Supreme Lord who awards salvation become my destination. (39) Let me, at this hour of death, be of love for the Personality of Godhead who, controlling the horses with a whip in His right hand and the reins in the left, so elegant to behold by all means protected the chariot of Arjuna. It was by looking at Him that those who died at this place realized their original form. (40) Watching the attractive movements of His supremely spirited, fascinating acts and sweet smiles, the gopîs of Vrajadhâma [the village of Krishna's youth] imitating Him in ecstasy, found their original nature. (41) When King Yudhishthhira performed the [Râjasûya] royal sacrifice where the great sages and kings were assembled, He received the respectful worship of all the members of the elite. I present there recognized Him at the time [and still remember Him now] als the spirit soul, as the object of worship. (42) Having experienced the absorption of being freed from the misconceptions of duality, I know [ever since] that He, now present before me, is the One Unborn in the heart of the conditioned soul. It is He who in His being situated as the Supersoul in the heart of all who are created by Him, just like the one sun, is looked upon different from every angle.' "

(43) Sûta said: "With his mind, speech, sight and actions thus fixed upon Krishna only, he fell silent and stopped breathing, having merged in the living being of the Supersoul. (44) After hearing this all from Bhîshmadeva as he merged into the Supreme Absolute and Unlimited, everyone fell silent like birds at the end of the day. (45) Thereafter from everywhere drums sounded being beaten by gods and men, accompanied by heartfelt praise from the pious royal order and showers of flowers falling from the sky. (46) O descendants of Bhrigu [S'aunaka], after having performed the funeral rites for the dead body, Yudhishthhira was afflicted for a moment. (47) The sages who were satisfied and happy about the [revelation of the] confidential secret of Lord Krishna's glories, then went back to their own hermitages with Him installed in their hearts. (48) King Yudhishthhira went together with Lord Krishna to Hastinâpura and consoled his uncle [Dhritarâshthra] and ascetic aunt Ghândhârî. (49) With the approval of his uncle and consent of Lord Vâsudeva he thereafter, faithful to the greatness of his forefathers, executed the royal duties over the kingdom."

(1) S'aunaka Muni asked: "How ruled King Yudhishthhira, the greatest of the strict followers of the religion, together with his younger brothers the kingdom after having killed the aggressors who wanted to usurp the legal inheritance? They had to accept a restriction on the joys of life, isn't it?"

(2) Sûta said: "After the exhausting bamboo fire of the Kuru dynasty, the Lord, the maintainer of the creation, was pleased to see how the seedling of Yudhishthhira's kingdom had been restored. (3) After having heard what Bhîshma and the Infallible One had said, Yudhishthhira, enlightened by perfect knowledge, was freed from his bewilderment and ruled, followed by his brothers and protected by the invincible Lord, over the earth and the seas like he was the king of heaven [Indra]. (4) All the rain that was needed showered, the earth yielded everything desired and the cows out of sheer joy moistened the pastures with their filled udders. (5) The rivers, oceans and hills assured him in every season of all necessary vegetables, greenery and medicinal herbs. (6) Never was, because of themselves, nature or because of others, any living being troubled by anxieties, diseases or extreme temperatures, as always happens with a king who has no enemies.

(7) In order to appease His family and please His sister [Subhadrâ, who was married to Arjuna], the Lord stayed for a few months in the city of Hastinâpura. (8) After that time He, after duly asking permission, was permitted to leave. After embracing the king and bowing down to him He ascended His chariot, receiving from others the same respects and embraces. (9-10) His sister, [the wife of the Pândavas] Draupadî, [their mother] Kuntî, [Parîkchit's mother] Uttarâ and also [the blind grandfather] Dhritarâshthra and [his wife] Gândhârî, [their son] Yuyutsu, [the Kuru priest] Kripâcârya, [the twin brothers] Nakula and Sahadeva together with Bhîma, and [the Pândava priest] Dhaumya as also other ladies from the palace and [Vyâsa's mother] Satyavatî, had great difficulty with the departure of the One with the conch in His hands, and almost fainted. (11-12) An intelligent person will, concerning the fame that is sung, in good company being liberated from materialistic association, never think of giving it up when he but once has heard the pleasing. How could the Pândavas who gave Him their heart then tolerate it to be separated from Him having seen Him face to face and touching, sleeping, sitting and eating together with Him? (13) All of them, looking at Him with wide open eyes, melted for Him and moved restlessly, bound as they were by pure affection. (14) The ladies of the family who came out of the palace, had difficulty checking their tears from overflowing, as they were afraid that because of it inauspicious things might happen to the son of Devakî. (15) At that time mridangas [drums used in devotional service], conchshells, horns, strings, flutes and more drums, bells and other rhythm-instruments were sounded. (16) To have a good view the ladies of the Kuru dynasty climbed on the roof of the palace, from where they showered flowers upon Krishna with love and shy smiles. (17) For the Most Beloved of the Beloved [Arjuna] the conqueror of sleep took up an embroidered sun-shade decorated with perls and lace that had a handle inlaid with jewels. (18) He, as the master of Madhu, resplendently sitting on flowers scattered all around was on His way fanned by Uddhava, His cousin brother and His driver Sâtyaki.

(19) From all sides the truthful respects and sayings of the brahmins could be heard that to the occasion were neither befitting or unbefitting considering the fact that the Absolute Truth was present there in a form subjected to the modes of nature. (20) The ladies of the capital of the king of the Kurus were with their hearts absorbed in talking amongst each other about Him hailed in the scriptures, in such a manner that it sounded more attractive than the hymns of the Vedas themselves: (21) 'Him we will definitely remember as the Personality of Godhead, as the Original One who existed materially unmanifested in His own Self before the creation of the modes of nature. He is that Supersoul, that Supreme Lord, in whom the living beings merge with their energies suspended, like going asleep at night. (22) He as the one who puts the revealed scriptures in practice thus gives, when He excercizes His own personal potency, the individual soul time and again names and forms when He [in the form of an avatâra] creates the outer illusion of material nature. And these names He assigns to that what factually cannot be named. (23) He happens to be the same Personality of Godhead as the one by those great devotees seen who managed to control their senses and life and who, by the grace of their devotion, may see the development of a pure mind; it is they who by dint of this, only this, deserve a purified existence. (24) O friends, it is He who for His excellent pastimes, that are confidentially described in the Vedas as also discussed by the intimate devotees, is respected as the one and only Supreme Controller and Supersoul of the complete creation, as He who by the manifestation of His pastimes, creates, maintains and destroys without ever becoming attached to it. (25) Whenever there are rulers who ignorantly like animals go against the divine principles, He manifests, for sure out of goodness, His supreme power and positive truth, mercy and wonderful activities in various forms for the sake of maintaining [the dharma] in the different periods and ages [see also B.G 4: 7]. (26) O, how supremely glorified the dynasty of King Yadu is and how elevated the virtue of the land of Mathurâ, for He who has appeared and roamed here is the supreme leader of all the living beings and the husband of the goddess of fortune. (27) How wonderful Dvârakâ is [the island where Krishna resides], that place that, adding to the virtue and fame of the earth, defeats the glory of the heavenly worlds, that place of which the inhabitants are used to constantly see the soul of the living being [Krishna] who bestows His grace with the benediction of His smiling glance. (28) For the wives He married to relish His lips again and again, they no doubt by vow, bath, fire-sacrifice and such must have been of perfect worship for the Lord, o friends. Often the damsels of Vraja fainted with that in their minds! (29) Of the lady of Dvârakâ [Rukminî, Krishna's first wife], who with great valor was taken away by Him from the open selection of the bridegroom as the price that had to be paid by the harassing powerful kings headed by S'is'upâla, and of the other ladies that were similarly brought home after the killing of thousands of wicked kings [headed by Bhaumâsura], there are children like Pradyumna, Sâmba and Amba. (30) All these very fine women of the highest stature who were bereft of their individuality and purity were by their lotus-eyed husband who touched them in drawing them near in His heart, thus never left alone in their homes.'

(31) While the ladies of the capital were praying and talking this way about Him, He granted them the grace of His glance and greeting them with a smile on His face the Lord departed. (32) Yudhishthhira, the man without enemies, out of affection and being anxious, engaged four divisions of soldiers [on horseback, elephant, chariot and foot] for the protection of the enemy of the atheists. (33) After thus having accompanied Him over a long distance, the Lord persuaded politely and full of affection the determined Pândavas to return. They were overtaken by the thought of their future separation. Thereafter He with His dear companions proceeded towards Dvârakâ. (34-35) Traveling through Kurujângala [the province of Delhi], Pâñcâlâ [part of Punjab], S'ûrasenâ, Brahmâvarta [Uttar Pradesh its north] and the districts along the Yamunâ river, He passed Kurukshetra where the battle was fought and traversed the province of Matsyâ, Sârasvatân [another part of Punjab] and so on. Then crossing the land of deserts [Rajasthan] and the land where there is hardly any water [Madhya Pradesh], and after passing through the provinces of Sauvîra [Saurastra] and Âbhîra [part of Gujarat], He, o S'aunaka, finally reached the western side of the province of Dvârakâ with His horses slightly overtaken by fatigue from the long journey. (36) In several places it so happened that the Lord was welcomed and served in different ways when He arrived in the evening after the sun had passed the eastern sky to be gone where the ocean is."

(1) Sûta said: "Reaching the border of the land of the Ânartas [the land of the ones free from the unwanted, Dvârakâ], He for the arrival in His own prosperous city sounded His conchshell [the Pâñcajanya], which, evidently, ended the dejection of the inhabitants. (2) The brilliant white of the round form of the conchshell, even though it was reddened by the lips of the Great Adventurer, looked, as it was loudly sounded in His hands, like a swan ducking at the stems of lotusflowers.(3) Having heard the sound that is even feared by the fear of a material existence itself, all the citizens rapidly proceeded in the direction of the sound to have an audience with the protector of the devotees they had awaited for so long. (4-5) Thereupon they offered their presentation of welcome to the Self-contented One who by dint of His own potency was their unrelenting provider. It was like offering a lamp to the sun. With cheerful, affectionate faces they ecstatically gave gladdened speeches before the Father, the way friends and protégées do for their guardian.

(6) They said: 'We have always bowed down to Your lotus feet like one does with the worship of Brahmâ and His sons and the king of heaven, because You, for the one who desires the supreme welfare in this life, are the Master of Transcendence upon whom the inevitable time has no grip. (7) For the sake of our welfare be the Creator of our world and be also our mother, well-wisher, husband, father, Lord and spiritual master. Following in the footsteps of You as our idol and supreme lordship we have succeeded in our lives. (8) Oh how lucky we are to see Your all-auspicious form and enjoy again the protection of Your good Self, because the sight of Your affectionate, loving, smiling face even by the demigods is rarely seen. (9) Whenever, o lotus-eyed One, You leave from here to meet Your friends and relatives among the Kurus [in Hastinâpura] and the people of Mathurâ, o Infallible One, each moment seems to take a million years and our eyes are as useless as they would be without the sun. (10) How can we, with You being elsewhere, live without the satisfaction of Your glance that vanquishes the miseries of the world; how can we live without seeing your beautiful smiling and decorated, attractive face?'

With the sound of these words of the citizens in His ears the caretaker of the devotees, He who teaches humanity humaneness by the distribution of His glances, entered the city of Dvârakâ. (11) The way the city of Bhogavatî was protected by the Nâgas, Dvârakâ was protected by the strength of the descendants of Vrishni [Krishna's family], Bhoja, Madhu, Das'ârha, Arha, Kukura, Andhaka etc. [together called the Yadus], who were all as good as Krishna Himself. (12) During all seasons there was the wealth of orchards and flower gardens that with their trees, plants and also with the hermitages that were found there, formed beautiful parks around ponds filled with lotuses which made the city extra beautiful. (13) The gateway of the city as well as the different roads were decorated with arches and flags that, painted with all the known signs, were casting shadows in the sunshine. (14) The lanes, alleys, the marketplace and public meeting places were thoroughly cleansed, sprinkled with scented water and strewn with fruits, flowers and unbroken seeds. (15) At the door of each residential house there was a display of curd, unbroken fruits, sugar cane, decorations, pots of water and articles for worship like incense and lamps. (16-17) Hearing that their dearest friend was coming home, His father Vasudeva and the magnanimous Akrûra, Ugrasena, Krishna's superhumanly powerful elder brother Balarâma, Pradyumna, Cârudeshna and Sâmba the son of Jâmbavatî, were all by the force of an extreme happiness alerted from their resting, sitting and dining. (18) Headed by elephants, with auspicious articles, the sound of conchshells and the glorifying chanting of hymns, they hurried, together with the brahmins excited in cheerful expectancy on their chariots towards Him. (19) Hundreds of courtesans with dazzling earrings that enhanced the beauty of their cheeks, very anxious to meet Him followed with their vehicles. (20) There were entertainers, dancers, singers, historians, genealogists and learned speakers who spirited sang the praises of the superhuman activities of the Lord. (21) The Supreme Lord approached each of the friends and citizens who came to receive and welcome Him, as it should with due honor and respect. (22) He, the Almighty One, with the encouragement of His glancing smile bowed His head, greeted them in words, embraced them and shaked hands with them, down to the lowest as desired giving His benedictions. (23) Then, accompanied by the esteemed elders and the brahmins and their wives, He entered the city where He was welcomed as well with blessings and praises from other admirers.

(24) While He passed through the public roads of Dvârakâ the ladies of standing climbed on the roofs of their houses, o learned ones, to feast their eyes on the sight of Him. (25) Even though it was their habit to look at Him this way, the inhabitants of Dvârakâ could never get enough of the compelling sight of the reservoir of beauty who was the embodiment of the Infallible One. (26) In His chest the Goddess of Fortune resides, from the cup of His face the eyes are drinking, by His arms the ruling demigods abide, and His lotus feet are the shelter for the singing and talking devotees. (27) Being served with a white parasol, fans and a road covered by a shower of flowers the Lord with His yellow garments and flower garlands resembled a cloud surrounded by the sun, the moon, lightening and a rainbow combined.

(28) But after He entered His parental home He was embraced by His seven mothers [His own mother, the wife of the priest, of the guru and of the king, the cow, the nurse and mother earth] who joyously were headed by Devakî to whom He bowed His head down in obeisance. (29) After they all had put Him on their laps, their breasts got wet of their affection and delight and also of the water of the tears that overwhelmed them. (30) Thereafter He entered His personal quarters that, inhabited by His wives who numbered over sixteen thousand, offered all that one could wish for. (31) From a distance seeing their husband now returned home the ladies within their minds rejoicing rose up at once from their seats and meditations with a coyly looking face. (32) As soon as they saw Him the shy ones first sent their sons and embraced Him in their hearts in an insuperable ecstasy but, o leader of the Bhrigus, in spite of that they choked up with tears that inadvertently fell like water from their eyes. (33) Although He was always present at their side, even when they were alone, His feet nevertheless every time appeared completely new to them - after all, who could let go of the feet of the Eternal One that are never abandoned by the Goddess of Fortune? (34) He, without being part of it Himself, created the enmity between the rulers who from the day they were born had become a burden to the earth with their military control over their surroundings. He brought relief by killing them just like the wind does with bamboos when he creates fire by friction. (35) The Supreme Lord, from His own causeless mercy, out of His own appeared among all those who are part of this human world, to enjoy a life, with the worthiest of women, as if it concerned an ordinary worldly affair. (36) Even though they were spotless and exciting with their charming smiles, the way they with their grave expression looking from the corners of their eyes even convinced Cupid to give up his bow, they, as maddening, first class women, never were able to perturb His senses with their magic. (37) Ordinary people who see how He, in spite of His detachment, is actively engaged, consider in their ignorance Him for that reason a human being full of attachment who is as affected as they are. (38) Such is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead that He, despite of being in touch with material nature, is never affected by its qualities; and the same is true for the intelligence of the ones situated in the eternal of the Lord who is their refuge. (39) The women in their simplicity and weakness held it for true that He would be like someone who follows because he is dominated and isolated by his wife. They, unaware of the glories of their husband, were the way the atheists think of Him who do not know Him as the supreme controller."

Chapter 12: The Birth of Emperor Parîkchit

(1)S'aunaka said: "The [embryo in the] womb of Uttarâ, that was tormented by the enormous heat of the invincible weapon released by As'vatthâmâ, was brought back to life by the Lord. (2) How was Emperor Parîkchit born who was highly intelligent and proved to be a great soul? How exactly took his demise place and where did that death take him? (3) Please tell it to us, we all want to hear everything about what you deem worth mentioning about him. We are of the greatest respect for you to whom S'ukadeva Gosvâmî delivered the knowledge of the Supreme."

(4) Sûta said: "King Yudhishthhira brought wealth, the way his father did, in pleasing his subjects without in his observance of Krishna's feet being motivated for the ulterior of any material gain or sense gratification. (5) The fame of his wealth, sacrifices, what he stood for, his queens, his brothers and his sovereignty over the planet earth where we are living, even spread to the heavens. (6) But, just as only food may satisfy a hungry man and nothing else, he in his hunger as a God-fearing person, o brahmins, was not moved by all those earthly desirables that are aspired by even the denizens of heaven.

(7) At the time Parîkchit the great fighter, as a child in his mother's womb, was suffering from the heat of the brahmâstra weapon, o son of Bhrigu, he could see the Purusha [the original person] in a shining appearance. (8) In the blaze he saw at the size of not more than a thumb the transcendental, infallible Lord beautiful with a dark skin, a golden helmet and lightening clothes. (9) With the riches of His four arms, earrings of the purest gold, bloodshot eyes and a club in His hands, He was moving about, constantly circling the club around like it was a torch. (10) As He was vanquishing the radiation of the brahmâstra like the sun evaporating dew drops, He was observed by the child who wondered who He was. (11) He saw how the all-pervading Supersoul, the Supreme Lord and protector of righteousness, took away the glare upon which the Lord who stretches in all directions all of a sudden disappeared from his sight. (12) Thereupon, when the good signs of a favorable position of the stars gradually evolved, he who would prove himself as being of a prowess equal to that of Pându, took his birth as the heir apparent of Pându. (13) King Yudhishthhira gladdened had priests like Dhaumya and Kripa perform the birth ritual with the recitation of auspicious hymns. (14) Knowing where, when and how, he in charity rewarded for the occasion the learned ones with good food and gifts of gold, cows, land, housing, elephants and horses. (15) The brahmins happily addressed the king, the chief of the Purus, communicating that they felt very obliged to the descent in the line of the Purus [of the decendants of their ancestor King Puru]. (16) They said: 'For the purpose of obliging you to Him this son by the all-pervasive and all-powerful Lord has been saved from being destroyed by the irresistible, supernatural weapon. (17) Therefore he shall become well known in all the worlds as the one protected by Vishnu. No doubt he will be a most fortunate, supreme devotee endowed with all good qualities.'

(18) The good king said: 'O best of the truthful, will he follow in the footsteps of all the great souls of this family of saintly kings? Will he, to the honor of his family name, be meritorious and true to his word in his achievements?'

(19) The brahmins answered: 'O son of Prithâ [Kuntî], he will be the maintainer of all living entities, exactly like King Ikshvâku, the son of Manu, and he will be faithful to his promises and have respect for the learned just like Râma, the son of Das'aratha. (20) He will be as charitable as King S'ibi of Us'înara and protect the ones of surrender, and like Bharata, the son of Dushyanta who performed many sacrifices, he will spread the name and fame of his family. (21) Among the archers he will be as good as the two Arjunas [his grandfather and the king of Haihaya], he will be as irresistible as fire and as unsurpassable as the ocean. (22) As powerful as a lion and as worthy for taking shelter as the Himalayas, he will be as forbearing as the earth and as tolerant as his parents. (23) With a spirit as good as that of the original father Brahmâ, he will be as generous and equanimous as Lord S'iva and be the refuge of all living beings as good as the Supreme Lord with whom the Goddess of Fortune resides. (24) Following in the footsteps of Lord Krishna he will be of the majesty of all divine virtues, he will have the greatness of King Rantideva and be as pious as Yayâti. (25) Being as patient as Bali Mahârâja this child will be as devoted as Prahlâda was unto Lord Krishna and he will perform As'vamedha [horse] sacrifices and be faithful to the elderly and experienced. (26) He will bring forth kings as good as sages, will chastise the upstarts and crush the quarrelsome for the sake of worldpeace and the religion. (27) After having heard of his personal death, that is caused by a snakebird sent by the son of a brahmin, he will free himself from his attachments and take to the shelter of the Lord. (28) Having inquired after the right self-knowledge with the son of sage Vyâsa he, o King, will abandon his material life on the banks of the river Ganges and attain a life of fearlessness.'

(29) After they thus had informed the king and generously were rewarded, they who are learned in matters of astrology and birth ceremonies returned to their homes. (30) He, o master [S'aunaka], would become famous in this world as Parîkchit, the examiner, because he from what he had seen before his birth, keeping Him in mind constantly would be examining all men. (31) Just like the waxing moon growing day by day, the royal prince under the care of his protective parents day by day soon grew up to what he would be.

(32) King Yudhishthhira, desiring to perform a horse-sacrifice to be freed from the burden of having fought his kinsmen, thought about acquiring funds because all he received stemmed from collecting taxes and fines. (33) In respect of his mindful wishes his brothers, advised by the Infallible One, went north to collect sufficient riches. (34) With the result of that collected wealth Yudhishthhira, the pious king who was so anxious, managed to conduct three horse-sacrifices with which he worshiped Lord Hari perfectly. (35) The Supreme Lord, with the help of whom the twice-born could perform the sacrifices, then invited by the king stayed for a few months more to please the ones who loved Him. (36) Thereafter, dear brahmins, He, with the permission of the king, Draupadî and His relatives, went back to Dvârakâ accompanied by Arjuna and other members of the Yadu dynasty."

Chapter 13: Dhritarâshthra Quits Home

(1) Sûta said: "Vidura* as he was traveling to the different places of pilgrimage, had received knowledge about the destination of the self from the great sage Maitreya, and since he by that knowledge was sufficiently acquainted with everything to be known, he returned to the city of Hastinâpura. (2) After all the questions that Vidura put before Maitreya in his presence an undivided devotion unto Govinda had grown in him and he refrained from further questioning. (3-4) Arriving in Hastinâpura he, o brahmins, was welcomed by Yudhishthhira and his younger brothers, Dhritarâshthra, Sâtyaki and Sañjaya, Kripâcârya, Kuntî, Gândhârî, Draupadî, Subhadrâ, Uttarâ, Kripî, other wives of the family members of the Pândavas and other ladies with their sons. (5) Like awakened from death they approached him in great delight to receive him with all respect with embraces and obeisances. (6) In their affection they emotionally shed tears because of the anxiety and grief they had felt because of the separation. King Yudhishthhira offered him a seat and then arranged for a reception.

(7) After he was fed sumptuously, had rested and was seated comfortably, the king humbly bowed down to address him in front of everybody. (8) He said: 'Do you remember how we, brought up under the wings of your care, together with our mother were delivered from various calamities like poisoning and arson? (9) How did you maintain your livelihood as you traveled the surface of the earth and in which holy places of pilgrimage have you been of service here on this planet? (10) Devotees like your goodness are converted into holy places themselves, o powerful one; having the Supreme Personality in your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage. (11) Dear uncle, can you tell us what you saw or heard about our friends and well-wishers? Are the descendants of Yadu, who with Krishna are rapt in their love for God, all happy where they are living?'

(12) Thus being questioned by the king he properly described, discussing one subject after the other, all he had experienced, but did not mention the destruction of the dynasty. (13) Because he didn't want to upset them he was as graceful not to expound on this in fact so unpalatable and unbearable aspect of mankind's behavior. (14) The sage, who was treated like a god, thus resided for a few days with them so that he could mean something to his eldest brother and all would be happy. (15) Because of a curse of Mandûka Muni [who under Yama's responsibility was treated unjustly], Vidura for the time of a hundred years had to play the part of a s'ûdra [a working class man]. During that time it was Aryamâ who [in his place] administered punishment as was suitable for the sinful ones **.

(16) Yudhishthhira had seen that there was a grandson in the dynasty fit for ruling the kingdom that he had retreived and enjoyed together with his politically gifted brothers a life of great wealth. (17) But Time, insurmountable and imperceptible in its being, surpasses inimitably those who are inattentive and engrossed in the mind of attachment to family affairs. (18) Vidura who knew this said to Dhritarâshthra: 'O King, [dear brother], please withdraw yourself without delay, just see how fear has taken the lead in your life. (19) In this material world there is no help of anyone or anything to escape from this fear, because that fear concerns the Supreme Lord who approaches us all in the form of eternal Time. (20) Inevitably overtaken by the pull of time a person must, just like that, give up this life as dear as it is to everyone, not to mention the wealth and such he has acquired. (21) With your father, brother, well-wishers and sons all dead, with your life expended and your body decrepit, you live in another man's home. (22) You have been blind since you were born, don't hear that well anymore, your memory fails and recently your teeth loosened, your liver gives you trouble, and you are loudly coughing up mucus. (23) Alas, how powerful the living being its attachment to life is! It is that strong that it makes you, just like a household dog, eat the remnants of the food left over by Bhîma [your Pândava nephew]. (24) How can you subsist on the grace of those whom you tried to burn and poison and whose wife you have insulted while usurping their kingdom? (25) Whether you like it or not, you will, however much you value your life, have to face the fact that this miserly body will dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment. (26) Someone is courageous and wise if he, unconcerned in being freed from all obligations, accepts that he has to head for an unknown destination when he is no longer able to use his body properly. (27) Anyone in this world who, by his own understanding or having it learned from others, arrives at consciousness when he has awakened from his material attachment and next leaves home with the Lord installed in his heart, is certainly a first class human being. (28) Therefore, please leave for the north without letting your relatives know where you are heading for; hereafter soon the time will arrive of a general diminishing of the qualities of men [Kali-yuga].' (29) Having heard this the old king of the Ajamîdha family, in respect of the wisdom of his younger brother Vidura, broke determined with the strong family ties and left in that direction which was set for the path of liberation. (30) He was followed by the chaste and worthy daughter of King Subala [Gândhârî] who went along with her husband to the Himalayas - the place that is the delight of those who took up the staff of renunciation like they were fighters accepting the legitimacy of a good beating.

(31) Returning to the palace he who considered no one his enemy [Yudhishthhira], having worshiped the demigods with oblations, obeisances and gifts for the brahmins, wanted to pay his respects to the elderly. But he couldn't find his two uncles or aunt Gândhârî. (32) Anxious, he turned to Sañjaya the son of Gavalgana [the assistant who gave the blind Dhritarâshthra the account of the battle], and said to him: 'Where is our old, blind uncle? (33) Where is my well-wisher Vidura and mother Gândhârî who was grieving over losing her offspring? Has the old king, ungrateful to me for having lost his sons, distressed in a mind of doubt about my offenses drowned himself together with his wife in the Ganges? (34) After the downfall of my father King Pându they were the well-wishers who protected us all who were still small children - where have my uncles gone from here?' "

(35) Sûta said: "Sañjaya, who worried in the love for his master couldn't find him, was upset about the separation and could, being too aggrieved, not speak a word in reply. (36) Thinking about the feet of his master he with his hands wiped the tears from his face and tried to regain his composure to answer King Yudhishthhira. (37) Sañjaya said: 'I do not know what your uncles or Gândhârî had in mind, o descendant of the Kuru dynasty - o great King, these great souls have led me by the nose.' (38) At that moment the supreme personality Nârada appeared on the scene with his musical instrument and after Yudhishthhira and his younger brothers had gotten up from their seats to welcome him properly by offering him their obeisances, the king said: (39) 'O Supreme One, I do not know in which direction my uncles and my ascetic aunt who is so aggrieved about the loss of her sons, have left. (40) Just like a captain on a ship in the great ocean you are the Lord to guide us to the other side.'

Thus being addressed the divine personality Nârada, the greatest among the wise philosophers of the eternal, began to speak: (41) 'O King, never lament for whatever reason, for you are controlled by the Supreme Lord. All living beings and their leaders in this world perform their ceremonies in order to be protected. He is the one who brings everybody together and also disperses us again. (42) The way a cow is tied by a rope through the nose, one is likewise tied by the hymns and precepts of the Veda so as to follow according the demands of the Supreme. (43) The way in this world playthings at will are brought together and separated again, it also happens to the people who subjected to the game of the Lord are brought together and separated again. (44) Whether one considers persons eternal [souls] or temporal [bodies] or else as both [embodied souls] or as neither of both [because of the Absolute Truth which is transcendental to all attributes], they never under any circumstance should constitute a reason for lamentation; one is only of that state because one is emotionally involved or has lost one's mind. (45) Therefore, o King, give up the anxiety you feel because of a lack of self knowledge, and stop thinking how these helpless poor creatures would be able to survive without you. (46) How is this body, which is made out of the five elements [fire, water, air, earth and ether] and is controlled by time, materially motivated action and the modes of nature [kâla, karma and the gunas], capable of protecting others when it is just as well bitten by that snake? (47) Those who have no hands [the animals] are at the mercy of the ones who do have hands [the human beings]. Living beings without limbs [like grasses] are at the mercy of the four-legged ones [like the cows]. The weaker ones are at the mercy of the stronger ones and thus one living being feeds on the other. (48) Therefore only have eyes for the outer form of Him who by the power of illusion appears as a diversity; He, o King, is the Supreme Personality, the Supersoul who self-illuminating manifests Himself as the object as well as the subject of the different living beings. (49) That Unborn One, the Father of Creation, has, o King, at present descended in this world in a form of [the all-devouring] Time in order to eliminate all the enemies of the enlightened. (50) The Lord did for the enlightened souls what had to be done and is now awaiting the rest. You Pândavas the same way observe and wait for as long as He is present in this world.

(51) Dhritarâshthra, his brother Vidura and his wife Gândhârî have departed for the southern side of the Himalayas where the sages have their refuge. (52) The place is known as Saptasrota [seven sources] because the river of the heavens [the Svardhunî] sprouted there and to the satisfaction of the respective wise divided herself into the seven currents we know as her branches. (53) By bathing regularly there, sacrificing in the fire according the regulative principles and fasting on drinking water only, Dhritarâshthra has completely subdued his mind and senses and is thus freed from the dependency he had with his family. (54) With the help of sitting postures, breath-control and turning one's mind inward away from the six senses one can, absorbed in the Lord, conquer the contaminations of passion, goodness and ignorance. (55) By allowing his self to merge in the wisdom and the wisdom to merge with the pure witness, he has united with the Absolute [brahman], the reservoir of pure being, the same way the air within a pot merges with the space outside of it. (56) With his breaking with the effects of the operation of the natural modes, his senses and mind will no longer be fed and come to a stop when he, no longer hindered in renouncing all his duties, sits concentrating his mind without moving a limb. (57) I expect that he will quit his body five days from now, o King, and will allow it to turn to ashes. (58) While she outside observes the body of her husband being [mystically set] afire along with his cottage, his chaste wife fully conscious will follow him in the fire. (59) Vidura, witnessing that wonderful incident, o son of the Kuru dynasty, will, with mixed feelings of delight and grief, leave that place to embark on an inspiring pilgrimage.' (60) After thus having addressed the king Nârada, along with his stringed instrument, rose up into heaven. Yudhishthhira, taking his instructions at heart, thereupon gave up all his lamentation."

*: Vidura is a younger brother of Dhritarâshthra. He was born as a s'ûdra, a laborer, because of being conceived by Vyâsa from a maidservant of the mother of Pându.

**: Aryamâ was a son of Aditi and Kas'yapa officiating for Yamarâja the Lord of punishment. Vidura is considered the s'ûdra incarnation of Yamarâja.

(1) Sûta said: "Arjuna went to the city of Dvârakâ to see his friends and Krishna, the One Glorified by the Vedic Hymns, in order to know what His further plans were. (2) After a few months, when Arjuna did not return from there, Yudhishthhira observed various fearful signs. (3) The time had taken an inauspicious turn: he observed seasonal irregularities and saw that the people in their human sinfulness turned to anger, greed and falsehood in heartening their means of livelihood. (4) There was cheating in ordinary transactions, misunderstanding rose in the regard of well-wishers, fathers, mothers and brothers and also between man and wife there was quarrel. (5) The people gradually were acquiring godless habits as wantonness and such. The king facing these serious matters and bad omens, spoke with his younger brother about it.

(6) Yudhishthhira said [to Bhîma]: 'Arjuna went to see his friends and also wanted to know what Krishna's plans were. (7) It is now seven months ago that your younger brother left, o Bhîmasena, and I do not know exactly why that is the case. (8) Is it so, as Nârada instructed, that the Supreme Personality has decided it is time to leave this manifest world? (9) From Him we have our wealth, kingdom and wives - through Him the existence of the dynasty and the life of our subjects has become possible and by His mercy we could defeat our enemies and live for a better world. (10) Just look, o man with the strength of a tiger, at the position of the planets, how things are faring on earth and what is happening to the body and the mind. All these dreadful signs deluding our intelligence indicate a great danger in the near future. (11) Again and again my thighs, eyes, arms and the left side of my body are quivering and I have heart palpitations due to the fear I have. This is all indicative of undesirable happenings. (12) See, o Bhîma, how the jackal frantically cries at sunrise and how the dog barks at me without any fear. (13) O tiger among man, the cows treat me indifferently and the asses and such are turning around me while my horses seem to weep. (14) The pigeon appears like a messenger of death and the shrieks of the owls and their rivals the crows make my heart tremble as if they wish the void of the cosmos. (15) O Bhîma, see how smoke circles in the sky and how the earth is throbbing along with the hills and mountains with loud thunderbolts out of the blue of a cloudless sky. (16) The wind blows sharply creating darkness with the dust and rain pours like blood from the clouds as an omnipresent disaster. (17) The sun is shining less - see how the stars in the sky seem to clash into one another and how the living beings are confounded and agitated as if they are crying. (18) Rivers and their tributaries, lakes and the mind are all perturbed while fire doesn't ignite with the help of butter. What is this extraordinary time? What is going to happen? (19) The calves don't suck the teats and the cows don't want to be milked looking afraid as if they're weeping, while the bulls don't take pleasure in the pasture ground. (20) The deities seem to be crying and perspiring as if they want to leave the temple and also the cities, villages, towns, gardens, mines and hermitages have lost their beauty being bereft of all happiness. What sort of calamities will befall us? (21) I think that all these great upsurges manifest out of the need for the marks of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality - the earth bereft of the extraordinary quality of the Supreme Person will be unfortunate without those auspicious signs.'

(22) O brahmin, while King Yudhishthhira who observed the bad omens thus was thinking to himself, Arjuna returned from the kingdom of the Yadus. (23) Bowing down at the feet of the king his dejection was unprecedented with the tears that fell from the lotus eyes of his downward looking face. (24) Seeing the anxious heart and pale appearance of Arjuna, the king, who remembered what Nârada had said, questioned him in the midst of the friends. (25) Yudhishthhira said: 'Are our Yadu relatives of Madhu, Bhoja, Das'ârha, Ârha, Sâtvata and Andhaka all happy passing their days in Dvârakâ? (26) Is my respectable [maternal] grandfather S'ûrasena in good health passing his last days and are my [maternal] uncle Vasudeva and his younger brothers all well? (27) Are my aunts - his wives - all seven sisters headed by Devakî in person, with their sons and daughters-in-law all happy? (28-29) Are King Ugrasena, whose son was the mischievous one [Kamsa], and his younger brother, Hridîka and his son Kritavarmâ and Akrûra, Jayanta, Gada, Sârana as well as S'atrujit and the rest all happy? Is also the Supreme Personality Balarâma, who is the protector of the devotees, all right? (30) Are the great warrior Pradyumna [a son of Krishna] and all others of the Vrishni family happy? And is the plenary expansion of Krishna Aniruddha [a grandson of Krishna] faring well? (31) And how are Sushena, Cârudeshna and Sâmba, the son of Jâmbavatî, doing, and the other eminent sons of Krishna as also their very best sons? (32-33) Are likewise the constant companions of Krishna like S'rutadeva, Uddhava and others, Sunanda, Nanda and other leaders doing well? And are the other liberated souls, those best of men in order as well? And are all who are bound in friendship under the protection of Balarâma and Krishna also thinking of our well-being? (34) Is the Supreme Lord, who is the pleasure of the cows and the senses and always cares for the devoted and the brahmins [the ones versed in sacred knowledge], enjoying the pious assembly of His friends around Him in Dvârakâ? (35-36) For the benefit of the protection and elevation of all worlds in the company of the ocean of members of the Yadu dynasty there resides the Original, Supreme Enjoyer together with Ananta [Balarâma]. Because they deserve it the members of the Yadu family relish in His city under the protection of His arms the transcendental pleasure alike the residents of heaven. (37) By most importantly managing the comforts at the feet, the sixteen thousand companions of the fair sex who are headed by Sathyabhâmâ, made the Lord subdue the denizens of heaven, so that they could enjoy what is normally the privilege of the wives of the controller of the thunderbolt. (38) The Yadus, enjoying the protection of His arms, always fearlessly enter the Sudharmâ assembly hall which, procured by force [from Indra], was worthy of the best of gods.

(39) My dear brother, are you all healthy? You appear to have lost your luster. Is it because of missing the respect being neglected or, my brother, because you were away so long? (40) Have you lost your grip because you were addressed unfriendly or have been threatened, or couldn't you give in charity or keep to the hope of doing so? (41) Were you who are approached for the protection of the learned ones, the children, the cows, the old aged, the diseased and the women, unable to offer shelter to any living being who deserves your care? (42) Have you contacted a reprehensible woman or have you maybe treated an acceptable woman improperly or has your good self on the road been defeated after all by a superior power or by equals? (43) Have you disregarded old men or boys who deserved to dine together with you or did you do something abominable which is hard to forgive? (44) Or is it so that you in your relation to the one most dear, my brother Arjuna, your heart's friend Lord Krishna, you feel a void missing Him all the time? I can think of no other reason why you should suffer such a mental distress.' "

(1) Sûta said: "Arjuna, the friend of Krishna, emaciated as he was because of his separation from Krishna, thus was subjected to the various forms of doubt and speculation of his elder brother the king. (2) Because of his grief his mouth and lotuslike heart had dried up and his bodily luster had vanished. Preoccupied with thoughts about the Supreme Lord S'rî Krishna he wasn't able to reply properly. (3) The more he with great difficulty checked the force of his sadness while he wiped the tears out of his eyes, the more he eagerly thought about Him in his affection and the more distressed he became. (4) Remembering Him as well-wisher, benefactor, intimate associate and charioteer, Arjuna, overwhelmed and heavily breathing, began to speak to his eldest brother the king. (5) He said: 'O my King, the Personality of Godhead Hari who treated me like His intimate friend has left me. Now I am bereft of the astounding power that even astonished the gods. (6) I lost Him from whom being separated but for a moment all universes appear unfavorable and void of all life, like they are all dead bodies. (7) By the strength of His mercy I could vanquish all the princes who lusted for power during the selection of the bridegroom at King Drupada's palace where I gained Draupadî's hand by piercing the fish-target with my bow. (8) Because of His support I was able to defeat Indra and his godly associates, I managed to enable the god of fire to set ablaze his forest, and we could realize our wonderfully decorated assembly house built by Maya [out of gratitude for saving him from that fire in the forest named Khândava] where all the princes assembled to your honor bringing presents collected from everywhere. (9) Under His influence our younger brother [Bhîma], who has the strength of a thousand elephants, for the sake of the [râjasûya] sacrifice managed to kill him [Jarâsandha] who was worshiped by many a king. It was He who saved the kings who by Jarâsandha had been brought [to his capital] to be sacrificed to the lord of the ghosts [Mahâbhairava]. They all paid you tribute afterwards. (10) He [in turn] took the life of the husbands of the wives [of the Kurus] whose hair was condemned to be loosened because of the fact that the cluster of your wife's [Draupadî's] hair had been loosened, which was beautifully dressed and blessed for the great ceremony. Being caught by the miscreants [the Kurus headed by Duhs'âsana] she in tears fell down at the Feet. (11) He protected us when we ran into trouble, being endangered in the forest by the intrigue of our enemies in association with Durvâsâ Muni who arrived there to eat with his ten thousand disciples. By simply before they came to it accepting the remnants of the food, He satisfied the three worlds as well as the munis who at the moment were bathing, by giving them the thought that they had been fed already. (12) Under His influence I once could astonish the Personality of God with the Trident [Lord S'iva] and his wife the daughter of the Himalaya, because of which he and other gods rewarded me with their own weapons. And thus I living in this body succeeded to obtain a half-elevated seat in the House of Indra. (13) As a guest of that heaven I could with both my arms, with my bow Gândîva, Indra and all the gods, because of being empowered by Him, the Supreme Personality whom at present I am bereft of, kill the demon Nivâtakavaca o descendant of King Ajamîdha. (14) Because of His friendship alone I, seated on the chariot, could cross the insurmountable ocean of the invincible existence of the military strength of the Kauravas, and thanks alone to His friendship, I could return with the enormous wealth of the enemy; the brilliance of all the jewels I by force took from their heads. (15) It was He who by the power of His glance ended the mental agitation that sprouted from the motivation for results of all the fighters who with the wealth of their chariots were positioned on the battlefield o great King, and from whose ranks I stepped forward with before my eyes the immensity of great royal personalities like Bhîshma, Karna, Drona and S'alya. (16) Under His protection the very powerful invincible weapons wielded by Drona, Bhîshma, Karna, Bhûris'ravâ, King Sus'armâ, S'alya, King Jayadratha, Bâhlika [a brother of Bhîshma] etc., could not touch me, just like when Prahlâda [the famous devotee of Nrisimhadev, the lion-incarnation] was threatened by the demons. (17) Thinking erroneously of Him as being only my chariot driver He to whose feet the intelligent for the sake of salvation render service delivered me. By His mercy my enemies were absentminded and didn't attack me when I alighted for my thirsty horses. (18) With His smiling face He made jokes and being frank with me He addressed me with 'son of Prithâ', 'friend' and 'son of the Kuru dynasty' and such; heartful sayings of my Mâdhava [Krishna] that touch and overwhelm my soul as I remember them. (19) When we were sleeping, sitting, walking and dining together and truthfully confronted each other and so on, I took Him by mistake for a friend just like me, while He, despite of my seeing Him lower in my offenses, tolerated me in the glory of His magnanimity the way a friend accepts a friend or a father accepts his child. (20) O Emperor, without the Supreme Personality, my dearmost friend and well-wisher, my heart and soul are vacant. Recently I, just like a weak woman, was defeated by infidel cowherds while I was protecting Krishna's wives. (21) Having the same bow, arrows, chariot and horses, and being the same Arjuna and chariot fighter to whom all the kings offered their respects, all of this in a single moment, with me missing Him, has become as useless as butter offered to ashes, as money obtained by magic or as seeds sown on barren land.

(22-23) O King, in reply to your question about our friends and relatives in Dvârakâ I can say that they were cursed by the brahmins. As a consequence of that curse they, being drunk with rice wine, like fools killed one another with sticks, not even recognizing each other in that intoxicated state. Only four or five of them remained. (25-26) Like in the ocean where the bigger ones eat the smaller and the stronger ones devour the weaker o King, the same way the Omnipotent One removed the burden of all the Yadus in one stroke from the earth by having the stronger Yadu kill the weaker one and the bigger Yadu kill the smaller one in a fight. (27) Bearing in mind the words spoken by Govinda, I remember how attractive they are, and how they, imbued with importance and appropriate to the time and circumstance, put an end to the pain in the heart.' "

(28) Sûta said: "Thus thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord and what He had instructed in the intimacy of deep friendship, Arjuna with his mind freed from all material concerns found his calm. (29) Constantly remembering the feet of Vâsudeva, Arjuna's devotion increased rapidly and the endless ruminations ended. (30) Recalling the instructions of the Supreme Lord about the transcendental in the midst of the battle and thinking of His time and actions he dispelled the darkness of his ignorance and became master of his senses. (31) Free from lamentation, by his spiritual capacity managing to cut with the doubts that were raised by the duality of being identified with the material world, he, due to the transcendence of being without a material form, was freed from the entanglement of birth and death. (32) Listening to the deliberations about the disappearance of the Supreme Lord to His abode and the end of the Yadu dynasty, Yudhishthhira for the sake of the soul decided to withdraw and also left. (33) Also Queen Kuntî, who had overheard what Arjuna told about the end of the Yadus and the disappearance of the Lord, found, as well as all the others did who were undivided in their devotion for the Lord's transcendence, in her soulful commitment release from her material existence. (34) By taking away the burden of the world that body [of the Yadu dynasty] by the Unborn One was relinquished the way a thorn is thrown away after having been used to extract another thorn, because all those thorns to the Lord are one and the same. (35) Just like with His Matsya incarnation and other incarnations, as a magician giving up one body in order to accept another, He relinquished the body He manifested to diminish the burden of the world. (36) When Mukunda [the Lord of Liberation] the Fortunate One so worthwhile to hear about, left this earth from that very day on Kali[-yuga] manifested itself in full, being inauspicious to all whose minds have not awakened.

(37) Yudhishthhira who keenly in his capital, state and home as also in the self saw things grow worse with the vicious circle of avarice, falsehood, dishonesty, irreligion and violence and such, understood that it was time to leave and dressed himself accordingly. (38) His grandson [Parîkchit], who was properly trained and as for his qualities was alike himself in all respects, was by the emperor for the occasion in the capital of Hastinâpura enthroned as the master of all land bordered by the seas. (39) At Mathurâ he made Vajra [the son of Aniruddha] king of S'ûrasena, after which he had a prâjâpatya sacrifice performed for being able to find the fire in himself in order to attain his goal. (40) Renouncing his belt, ornaments and all of that, he became uninterested perfectly being detached from the unlimited bondage. (41) He withdrew his speech into his mind, his mind with his other senses into his breath, his breath he withdrew in death, and in full dedication he united that with the body made of the five elements. (42) Having offered those five elements to the three qualities of nature, he united the thoughtfulness in one indifference, fixing the sumtotal of that in the soul directed to the spiritual soul of the inexhaustible Brahman. (43) Accepting torn clothes, refusing solid food, stopping to talk and untying his hair, he began to look like a dumb madman and an unengaged urchin not listening to anyone as if he had become deaf. (44) Heading for the north he trod, as all others do who go there, the path of his mindful forefathers, passing his days constantly thinking from within his heart of the Supreme Beyond wherever he went.

(45) In accord with their friend seeing that the Age of Kali and its irreligion had overtaken the citizens on earth, all the brothers followed the eldest one and left home. (46) All of them having performed with all the virtue and knowledge of holiness, kept themselves, with the ultimate goal of the living being in mind, steadfast to the lotus feet of the Lord of Vaikunthha. (47-48) That is the destination of those who by positive meditation being purified in devotion found liberation in fixing their mind on the transcendental feet of the One Nârâyana. They with their material contaminations washed away, attained in the same bodies as they were born with, the abode which for the materialists absorbed in material concerns is so very difficult to attain. (49) Also Vidura who with his mind and actions was devoted to Krishna returned to his own abode [Yama's realm] after quitting his physical self at Prabhâsa in the company of his forefathers. (50) Also Draupadî who realized that her husbands didn't care anymore, concentrated on Lord Vâsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and reached Him thus. (51) Anyone who with devotion hears about this departure for the ultimate goal of the sons of Pându who are so dear to the Supreme Lord, will find nothing but good fortune and purity and will, gaining in perfection, thus arrive at the devotional service of the Lord."

(25) Mother Earth replied: 'O Dharma, I will do my best to answer all the questions you asked me, for you are with your four legs [the vidhi] present in all the worlds to bring happiness. (26-30) Truthfulness, cleanliness, compassion, self-control, magnanimity, contentment, straightforwardness, concentration, sense-control, responsibility, equality, tolerance, equanimity and loyalty. And certainly also knowledge, detachment, leadership, chivalry, influence, power, dutifulness, independence, dexterity, beauty, serenity and kindheartedness, as well as ingenuity, gentility, mannerliness, determination, knowledgeability, propriety, pleasantness, joyfulness, immovability, faithfulness, fame and dignity - all these and many others are the everlasting qualities of the Supreme Lord, the never diminishing higher nature which can be attained by those who are worthy of that greatness. Thanks to Him I myself am, just as the Goddess of Fortune, such a reservoir of qualities, but in the absence of Him who is the pivot, Kali, the source of all sins, is seen in all worlds. (31) I am lamenting for me as well as for you, for the best of the enlightened, the gods and the ancestors in heaven, the sages and the devotees, as well as for all people in their status orientations in society. (32-33) Lakshmî [the Goddess of Fortune] whose grace was sought by demigods like Lord Brahmâ and for whom the gods so often were doing penance in surrender to the Lord, has for the sake of worship forsaken her own abode in the forest of lotus flowers out of attachment to the all-blissful feet. As a consequence of what He did I, who on my skin experienced the impressions of the footprints of the Supreme Lord, the proprietor of all opulence, succeeded magnanimously to be victorious in all the worlds, decorated as I was with the special powers of the lotus flower, thunderbolt, flag and driving rod that I myself had obtained. But in the end, just when I was feeling so fortunate, He has left me. (34) He who relieved me of the burden of the hundreds of military divisions of atheist kings, incarnated also for you in the Yadu family, and that He did because you lacking in strength had difficulty to keep standing. (35) Who, I ask you, can tolerate it to be separated from the love, glances, smiles and hearty appeal of the Supreme Original Person who conquered the passionate wrath and gravity of women like Satyabhâmâ and made my hair [my grasses] stand on end out of the pleasure of being imprinted by His feet?'

(36) While the earth and the personality of religion were thus conversing, Parîkchit, who was renown for being the saint among the kings, arrived at the Sarasvatî river that was flowing to the east."

Chapter 17: Punishment and Reward of Kali

(1) Sûta said: "There [at the Sarasvatî river] the king observed how a s'ûdra who was dressed like a king was beating a cow and a bull with a club, as if there was no one to protect them. (2) The bull, that was as white as a lotus, terrified of being beaten by the s'ûdra urinated and trembled out of fear, standing on one leg only. (3) The cow also, on itself a religious example but now rendered poor and distressed because of the s'ûdra who beated her legs, was without a calf and had tears in her eyes while she in her weakness hankered for some grass to eat. (4) From his with gold embossed chariot Parîkchit, well equipped with bow and arrows, asked with a thundering voice: (5) 'Who are you to think that you in this place can violently kill the helpless who fall under my protection! As an actor you make a powerful appearance dressed up like a God-conscious man, but you behave like someone who never saw the light of civilization [of being twice born]. (6) Do you think that because Lord Krishna and the carrier of the bow the Gândîva [Arjuna] have disappeared from the scene, you can secretly beat an innocent cow? Being a culprit that way you deserve it to be killed!'

(7) 'And you', he said turning to the bull, 'are you just a bull that, as white as a lotus, moves on one leg and has lost three legs or are you some demigod who in the form of a bull makes us sad? (8) Except for the case of you having tears in your eyes because of someone else, under the protection [of the arms] of any of the kings of the Kuru dynasty there has never been such grievance on earth. (9) O son of Surabhi [the celestial cow], in my kingdom there will be no lamentation and therefore do not fear the s'ûdra, and dear mother cow, do not cry. As long as I am alive as the ruler and subduer of the envious you will fare well! (10-11) O chaste one, he in whose state the living beings are terrified because of miscreants, will lose his fame, longevity, fortune and good birth. It is certainly the supreme duty of the kings to subdue in order to put an end to the misery of the ones who suffer and therefore I shall kill this most wretched man who is so violent with other living beings. (12) Who is the one who has cut your three legs, o son of Surabhi? What happened to you has never happened before in this royal state of kings who live in respect of Lord Krishna. (13) O bull, you are honest and without offenses, tell me therefore about him who mutilated you and tarnished the reputation of the sons of Prithâ. (14) Those who make the sinless suffer may fear me wherever they are, for I will curb the actions of the miscreants and restore the wellfare of the ones who are honest. (15) The upstart who offends innocent living beings I shall forthwith defeat, whether he's a demigod from heaven with armor and decorations or not. (16) It is certainly the holy duty of the head of state to always protect the ones who faithfully perform their duty and, safely according the scriptures, chastise those in this world who have strayed from the path.'

(17) The personality of religion said: 'All you said speaking for the sake of the freedom from anxiety of those who are suffering is befitting for someone of the Pândava dynasty, the dynasty of which the qualities led Lord Krishna to behave like a servant and such. (18) O greatest among the human beings, because the person is bewildered as a consequence of all the differences of opinion, we cannot tell who [or what] would be the cause of all human suffering. (19) Some declare in defiance of all duality that one suffers because of one's own actions, others speak of supernatural causes, while still others say that it is all due to the operation of material nature or the consequence of accepting outside authorities. (20) Some also conclude that it is a matter which defies explanation and comprehension. Who of them would be right in this matter o sage amongst the kings, is left to your own power of judgement.' "

(21) Sûta said: "Parîkchit, who attentively had followed what the personality of religion had to say, o best among the brahmins, mindfully replied. (22) 'You o knower of the duties, o dharma in the form of a bull, speak this way [of the unknown cause] only because you know that [just as it is with a guru who pointing out the karma takes the karma upon him] he who points out the wrongdoer ends up in the position of doing wrong himself. (23) In other words: the Lord His ways with the material world can not be put in words nor be conceived by living beings. (24) Penance, cleanliness, compassion and truthfulness [tapas, s'auca, dayâ, satya] are the legs that established the age of truth [Satya-yuga, the 'old days'], but because of irreligiosity three of them have broken in conceit, clinging to intercourse and intoxication. (25) At present, o personality of religion, you are hobbling along on the one leg of truthfulness while quarrel personified [Kali] who flourishes on deceit, irreligiously tries to destroy that leg too. (26) Through the actions of the Supreme Lord personally mother earth has been relieved of a great burden. His all-auspicious footprints brought good fortune everywhere. (27) Lamenting with tears in her eyes the unfortunate and chaste one [mother earth] who was deserted by Him is now enjoyed by lower-class people who, devoid of the culture of learning, pose as rulers in my place.'

(28) Thus the personalities of religion and mother earth were pacified by the great warrior who took up his sharp sword in order to kill Kali, the root cause of irreligion. (29) Realizing that the king wanted to kill him, Kali, stressed from the fear, abandoned his royal atire and in full surrender bowed his head down at the feet. (30) Out of compassion he who is kind to the poor and capable of handling worship with a smile refrained from killing the one who had fallen at the feet of the hero that he was, he, the hero of whom one says that he is worthy of being glorified. (31) The king said: 'Do not fear, for you have surrendered yourself with folded hands. We certainly inherited the fame of Arjuna, but that doesn't mean that you can be allowed to stay in my kingdom. You are a friend of irreligion after all. (32) With you physically present as a god of man, everywhere the irreligion of greed, falsehood, robbery, incivility, treachery, misfortune, cheating, quarrel and vanity and all of that will be abound in the masses. (33) For that reason, o friend of irreligion, you do not deserve it to remain in the vicinity of those places where the experts of religion and the truth duly and expertly are of worship with sacrifices for the Lord of Sacrifices. (34) In such sacrificial ceremonies the Supreme Personality of God, the Lord, is worshiped as the Soul of all worshipable deities. In that form He spreads welfare, for He is the to all desires inviolable Supersoul who is present inside as well as outside, just like the air is for all that moves and not moves.'

(35) Sûta said: "That way being addressed by king Parîkchit, the personality of Kali seeing him ready with a raised sword speaking like Yamarâja, the Lord of Death, trembled. (36) Kali said: 'Wherever I may live under your order, o Emperor, I will always have to face the reign of your bow and arrows. (37) Therefore please, o chief of the protectors of the religion, allot me a place where I may count on a permanent stay under your rule.' "

(38) Sûta said: "Thus being petitioned, he gave Kali the permission to dwell in places where the four sinful activities of gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter [dyûtam, pânam, striyah, sûnâ] were taking place. (39) Next to that the master, upon his insistent begging, alotted him the place where there is gold, for gold by passion is the fifth sin bringing falsity, intoxication, lust and enmity. (40) Thus under the direction of the son of Uttarâ were the five dwelling places given to Kali where indeed irreligion is encouraged. (41) For that reason a person desiring his well-being should never resort to any of these places, especially not those persons who follow the path of liberation, the royalty, the state officials and the teachers. (42) By encouraging activities that restored the bull's three lost legs of austerity, cleanliness and compassion, the earth [by King Parîkchit] was perfectly improved. (43-44) The present rule we have of him; the throne that was handed over by the king, grandfather [Yudhishthhira] when he wished to withdraw into the forest. From that rule that sage among the kings and chief of the Kuru dynasty is now known in Hastinâpura as the most fortunate and famous emperor. (45) Because of this experience of the son of Abhimanyu the king, thanks to his rule over the earth, you may all now have the initiation of the performance of sacrifices like this one."

Chapter 18: Mahârâja Parîkchit Cursed by a Brahmin Boy

(1) Sûta said: "He [Parîkchit] who in the womb of his mother was scorched by the weapon of the son of Drona, didn't die thanks to the mercy of the Supreme Lord S'rî Krishna whose actions are so wonderful. (2) Cursed by a brahmin to die by a snake-bird, he was never overwhelmed by the great fear of death because he had consciously surrendered himself to the Supreme Lord. (3) After he had left behind all the ones surrouding him and had understood the actual position of the Invincible One, he as a disciple of the son of Vyâsa [S'ukadeva Gosvâmî] gave up his material body at the bank of the Ganges. (4) They who remembering His feet occupy themselves with His hymns and appreciate the nectarine stories in which He is glorified, will not even at the time of their death be confounded. (5) Even though he is present everywhere, the personality of Kali cannot flourish as long as the mighty ruler, the son of Abhimanyu, is the one who factually rules. (6) The moment the Supreme Lord left this earth, Kali, he who promotes irreligion, appeared in this world. (7) The emperor who as a realist lived for the essence was never envious of the personality of Kali. Like a bee going for the nectar, he knew that auspicious things lead to immediate success, while working for the inauspicious one never attains. (8) Kali, who in the eyes of the weaker ones appears to be a great power, is to the selfcontrolled a cause of apprehension, and thus Parîkchit as a tiger among man was the one who among the careless took care. (9) Upon your request I have related as good as all the stories that in relation to Vâsudeva can be told about the pious Parîkchit. (10) Those who want to develop and prove themselves should take notice of all and everything about the Supreme Lord His wonders, transcendental qualities and uncommon deeds I spoke about."

(11) The sages said: "O Sûta, may you live a long, happy and particularly eternally famous life, because you speaking so nicely about Lord Krishna grant us mortals certainly the nectar of eternity. (12) In this performance of sacrifice, of which the outcome is uncertain, we are black of the smoke, but by the pleasing of Govinda's feet of your good self we enjoy the nectar of a lotus flower. (13) Attaining higher worlds or liberation from matter, not even mentioning the worldly benedictions of those who inevitably head for their death, is nothing compared to finding but for a moment one's perfect balance in enjoying the company of a devotee of the Lord. (14) Once having acquired the taste someone will never get enough of relishing the nectar of the stories about the greatest and only refuge among the living beings, He whose transcendental qualities could never be measured by even the greatest masters of mystic union like Lord Brahmâ and Lord S'iva. (15) Be so kind o learned one to describe to us who are eager to hear about it, His impartial transcendental activities, for He to the good self of you, our most important person in relation to the Supreme Lord, is the one and only shelter, the greatest of the great. (16) Evidently Parîkchit, as a first-class devotee, attained the lotus feet of Him who has Garuda in His banner, after he had strengthened his intelligence with the knowledge that was voiced by the son of Vyâsa in order to inform him about the path of liberation. (17) Please tell us therefore about the supreme and purifying that is so wonderfully contained in bhakti [devotion]. Describe to us, the way it was spoken to Parîkchit, the activities of the Unlimited One that are so particularly dear to the pure devotees."

(18) Sûta said: "See how we, this way being connected to the great ones in conversation, despite of having a mixed background, today clearly are promoted to take [a higher] birth [in the spirit of the Lord]. By serving the ones who are advanced in knowledge one is quickly freed from the suffering that is a consequence of one's being born in a lower [material] sense. (19) And, again, what to say of those who exclusively take to the shelter of the great devotees and thereto chant the holy name of Him who is called Ananta because of the fact that He is unlimited in His potency and unmeasurably great by His attributes? (20) To give a description of Him unlimited in His attributes and equal to none, it suffices to say, that the Goddess of Fortune, with rejecting others who asked for it, wished to serve in the dust of His feet, while He Himself never asked for it. (21) Who else would be worth the position of carrying the name of Supreme Lord besides Mukunda [Lord Krishna as the one granting liberation] from whose toenails the water [of the Ganges] collected by Brahmâjî emanated that via Lord S'iva purifies the whole universe. (22) Those who are firmly attached to Him are capable of instantly leaving aside the attachments of the gross body and the subtle mind and go away to take shelter of the highest stage of perfection [sannyâsa], the stage of life in which nonviolence and renunciation is found. (23) Because you who are as strong as the sun asked me for it I can give you an account of the knowledge I have acquired; it is in this matter as with the birds who fly as far as they can: I can enlighten you on Vishnu as far as my realization permits.

(24-25) Once upon a time when Parîkchit was hunting stags with bow and arrows, he got very fatigued, hungry and thirsty. Looking for a reservoir of water he entered the hermitage of the famous rishi S'amîka where he saw the sage silently sitting down with his eyes closed. (26) Having restrained his sense organs, breath, mind and intelligence he, in quality equal to the Supreme Absolute, had ceased all activity while he remained unaffected in trance elevated above the three modes of consciousness [wakefulness, dream and unconsciousness]. (27) He was covered by his long, compressed hair as also by the skin of a stag. The king, whose palate was dry of thirst, asked for water. (28) Not being properly received with a place to sit, water and nice words, he felt neglected and so he got angry. (29) O brahmins, given the circumstance of being distressed because of his hunger and thirst, his anger and hostility against the brahmin was unprecedented. (30) Having lost his respect he with the tip of his bow picked up a lifeless snake and placed it angry over the shoulder of the sage as he left to return to his palace. (31) There he wondered whether or not the sage's meditative state of withdrawing from the senses with closed eyes was a false, pretended trance to remain in avoidance of seeing a lower ruler.

(32) When the sage's son, who was a very powerful personality, heard of the grief the king had caused his father while he was playing with some kids, he said this: (33) 'Just see how irreligious these rulers are! Enriching themselves like crows they defy what is settled for servants, while they are nothing but dogs keeping watch at the door! (34) The sons of the ruling class are to guard the learned like watchdogs - on what grounds would he who is supposed to stay at the door deserve it to enter the house of the master and eat from the same plate? (35) Since Krishna our protector, who is the Supreme Lord and ruler of those upstarts, has departed, I shall today punish them myself, just witness my power!' (36) Thus with eyes red-hot of anger speaking to his playmates, the son of the rishi touched the water of the Kaus'ika river and discharged the following thunderbolt of words: (37) 'Verily, seven days from now the wretched one of the dynasty who offended my father will, because of breaking with the etiquette, be bitten by a snake-bird.' (38) When the boy thereafter returned to the hermitage, he saw the snake over his father's shoulder and wept aloud over that sorry plight.

(39) O S'aunaka, when the rishi heard his son crying in distress, he who was born in the family of Angirâ slowly opened his eyes and saw the dead snake on his shoulder. (40) Throwing it aside, he asked: 'My dear son, what are you crying about? Has someone wronged you?' Thus being requested, the boy told him everything. (41) After hearing about the curse pronounced against the king who should never have been condemned because he is the best among man, he did not compliment his son, but lamented instead: 'Alas! What a great sin you have committed yourself today in awarding such a heavy punishment for such an insignificant offense! (42) In fact no one may ever place a transcendental man of God on the same footing with common men - your command of intelligence is immature... by his unsurpassable prowess his subjects completely protected enjoy the prosperity. (43) O my boy, the Lord who carries the wheel of the chariot is represented by this monarch; once he is abolished, this world will be full of thieves who immediately will vanquish the unprotected like they were lambs. (44) Because of us negating the monarch, from this day on, the reaction upon this sin will overtake us causing great social disorder. The wealth will be taken by thieves and among the people there will be murder and molestation as also abuse of women and animals. (45) The righteous civilization of human progress in the vocations and stages of life according the Vedic injunctions will at that time systematically be vanquished, and with the economy then only serving sense-gratification will result in an unwanted population on the level of dogs and monkeys. (46) The protector of the religion, the king, is a highly celebrated emperor, a direct, first class devotee of the Lord and a saint of nobility; a great performer of horse sacrifices - and when he hungry and thirsty is stricken with fatigue he never deserves it to be cursed by us like this.'

(47) Next the sage addressed the Supreme, All-pervading Lord in order to beg His pardon for the great sin that by the child immature of intelligence was committed against a sinless, deserving and subordinate one. (48) [He prayed:] 'Whether they are defamed, cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or even when one of them is killed, the forbearing devotees of the Lord for certain never will avenge themselves for any of this.' (49) Thus the sage regretted the sin of his son while he personally didn't consider the king insulting him sinful. (50) Generally the saints in this world prove themselves not distressed or happy when they because of others are engaged in worldly duality, because they are situated in the transcendence of the soul."

Chapter 19: The Appearance of S'ukadeva Gosvâmî

(1) Sûta said: "While going home the king thought that what he had done was something abominable and he was very depressed saying to himself: 'Alas, it was uncivilized and evil what I did to the faultless, grave and powerful brahmin. (2) I will no doubt because of going against the injunctions very soon meet with a very troublesome calamity. I certainly hope that that will happen as soon as possible so that I'll be relieved of my sins and never do something like that again. (3) May I, on this very day, burn with my kingdom, strength and wealth of riches in the fire ignited by the brahmin community, so that the inauspiciousness of sinning against the Lord, the culture and the cows may not return to me.' (4) Thus pondering the message reached him of the curse of death pronounced by the sage's son. That curse in the form of the fire of a snake bird he accepted as something auspicious because that expected happening would be the logical consequence of the indifference of an all too attached person. (5) He decided to give up on this world as also on the next, for he already had concluded that both worlds were inferior compared to a life of service at the feet of Krishna. So he sat down at the bank of the transcendental river [the Ganges] in order to fast. That was to his opinion the best thing he could do. (6) That river, always flowing mixed with tulasî leaves [a plant used in worship], consists of the auspicious water carrying the dust from the feet of Lord Krishna that sanctifies both the worlds inside and outside and even the Lord of Destruction [Lord S'iva]. What person destined to die would not turn to that river? (7) With that decision he, the worthy descendant of the Pândavas, with his sitting down at the river which flows from the feet of Vishnu, surrendered himself to the mercy of Mukunda till he died. He, free from all kinds of material attachment, would complete his fasting without deviating from the spirit of the vows respected by the sages.

(8) All the great minds and thinkers who together with their pupils are capable of elevating the entire world, then came to gather there on the plea of a pilgrimage. It is because of their personal presence that the holy places enjoy their status of sanctity. (9-10) Atri, Cyavana, S'aradvân, Arishthanemi, Bhrigu, Vasishthha, Parâs'ara, Vis'vâmitra, Angirâ, Paras'urâma, Uthathya, Indrapramada, Idhmavâhu, Medhâtithi, Devala, Ârshthisena, Bhâradvâja, Gautama, Pippalâda, Maitreya, Aurva, Kavasha, Kumbhayoni, Dvaipâyana and the great personality Nârada arrived. (11) Also many other divine personalities, saintly brahmins, the best saintly advisors of the most prominent nobles and many other sages like Aruna appeared to the occasion. All the heads of the dynasties of sages assembling there were respectfully welcomed by the emperor bowing his head. (12) When all of them were seated comfortably he, with folded hands present before them as someone whose mind is detached from worldly affairs, after again having offered them his obeisances, thereupon humbly spoke about his decision to fast. (13) The king said: 'We are truly grateful to be the most fortunate of all the kings who are trained to be receptive to the favors granted by the greatest of souls, because at the feet of the brahmins the royal orders because of their reprehensible actions are but refuse to be kept at a distance. (14) Because of my sins the Controller of the transcendental and mundane worlds pronounced a curse against me via that brahmin, I who out of attachment always thought of family matters. Having assumed that form He, inspiring with fear, very soon will overtake my mundane attachment. (15) Therefore o brahmins, just accept me as someone who with the Lord in his heart in surrender has taken to the divine mother Ganges. Let the snakebird, or whatever magical thing the twice-born called for, bite me forthwith. You please continue reciting the deeds of Lord Vishnu. (16) And, again, let it be so that wherever that I in relation to the Supreme, Unlimited Lord and the association He attracts in the material world may take birth, I will find friendly relations everywhere in obeisance to the twice-born.'

(17) And so it came to pass that the king, with the same perseverance as he had shown before, fully self-controlled seated himself on kus'a grass laid to the east, while facing the north from the southern bank of the wife of the sea [the Ganges]. The charge of his administration he had handed over to his son. (18) To that occasion the gods, who from the sky had seen that the king would fast until his end, all in praise scattered the earth with flowers, continually beating celestial drums in pleasure. (19) All the great sages who had assembled there praised him for the wisdom he had thus shown and in approval said from the power of their goodness for the living beings, a goodness that in its quality is as beautifull as the divine praised in the scriptures: (20) 'It is not astonishing that this saintly king, the chief of all of us who strictly follow Krishna, being seated on the throne that is decorated with the helmets of kings, immediately gave up his life out of his desire to achieve association with the Fortunate One. (21) We all will stay at this place as long as it takes the king to give up his body and return to the world of the Supreme, where this foremost devotee will be completely free from worldly concerns and lamentation.'

(22) After having heard the assembled sages speak thus impartially, sweet to hear, grave and perfectly true, Parîkchit complimented them all with their appropriate show of respect and said, desirous to hear about the activities of Vishnu: (23) 'You all have assembled here as the representatives of the One above the three worlds [Brahmâ], with no other intention in this world or a world hereafter but to act for the good of others according your innate nature. (24) Therefore I beg you to tell me now, as trustworthy Vedic men of learning, after due deliberation, what of all the different duties of each and especially of those who are about to die, to your opinion would be the proper and befitting conduct.'

(25) At that moment, as if called for, the powerful son of Vyâsa, S'ukadeva Gosvâmî appeared. He, looking like a mendicant, satisfied in self-realization freely traveled around in the company of children without any concern about material comforts or an identity. (26) He, only sixteen years old, had a body with delicate legs, hands, thighs, arms, shoulders and forehead. His eyes were beautifully wide in a face with a high nose, similar ears, nice eyebrows and a neck as shapely as a conchshell. (27) With a fleshy collarbone, a broad chest and a deep navel he had nice folds in his abdomen. Stark naked with curly, scattered hair and long arms he had the hue of the best among the gods [Krishna; a dark complexion]. (28) Even though he covered his nakedness the sages, who had a keen eye for physiognomy, recognized the symptoms of the blackish skin, the beauty of his tender age and the attraction for the fair sex with his beautiful smiles. And so they all stood up from their seats. (29) To welcome the new guest, he who is always protected by Vishnu [Parîkchit] bowed before him and offered his obeisances, whereupon his less educated following of boys and women withdrew the moment he took his exalted seat in regard of the respect shown. (30) Surrounded there by the greatest of the great saints among the brahmins, the kings and the godly ones, S'ukadeva as the greatest lord shone as resplendent as the moon surrounded by the planets, heavenly bodies and stars. (31) Calm, intelligent and self-assured sitting down the sage was approached by the great devotee, the king, who properly bowing down with folded hands asked him questions in a polite and friendly manner.

(32) Parîkchit said: 'O brahmin, what a blessing it is for us from the ruling class today to be chosen as a servant of the devotee, by your mercy of being our guest to be considered worthy the visit of all these relations of your good self. (33) When we think of your person that immediately purifies all the places we inhabit, not to mention what it means to see you, touch you, wash your feet and offer you a seat. (34) Through your presence, o great mystic, our gravest sins are immediately vanquished, even as the nonbelievers are by the presence of Vishnu. (35) Finally Krishna, the Supreme Lord so dear to the sons of Pându, is of mercy for me and has, for the satisfaction of His cousins and brothers, accepted me, their descendant, as one of theirs. (36) How else could it be possible that you, out of your own free will, specially for someone in his last hours before death have appeared here to meet us, while you normally, all-perfect as you are, cannot be found among the common people? (37) Therefore I beg you as the supreme spiritual master of all ascetics, to tell what for a person in this life would be the perfection, the final beatitude, and what for someone about to die all would be the duty. (38) Please explain what the people in general, o master, should attend to and chant about, what they should do, what they should remember and share, as also what would be against the principle. (39) This I ask because, o supreme devotee, in the house of the householders one rarely sees you staying for longer than the exact time of milking a cow.' "

(40) Sûta said: "Thus pleasantly being addressed and questioned by the king, the supreme son of Vyâsadeva who was so well versed in the knowledge of what is one's actual duty, began his reply."

Thus the first Canto of the S'rîmad Bhâgavatam ends named: Creation.

(1) S'rî S'ukadeva said: 'For the intelligent among men, I have given you all the answers in response to the inquiring of your good self about the human being on the threshold of death. (2-7) They who desire the luster of the Absolute worship the master of the Vedas [Brihaspati]; Indra, the king of heaven is there for the ones desiring the strength of the senses [sex] and the Prajâpatis [the strong progenitors] are there for those who desire offspring. The goddess [Durgâ] is there for those who desire the beauty of the material world, the fire god is there for the ones desiring power, for wealth there are the Vasus [a type of demigod] and the incarnations of Rudra [Lord S'iva] are there for those who wish strength and heroism. For a good harvest the mother of the demigods Aditi is worshiped, desiring heaven one worships her sons, for those desiring royal riches there are the Vis'vadeva demigods and to be of commercial success there are the Sâdhya gods. The As'vinîs [two brother demigods] are there for the ones desiring longevity, for a strong body mother earth is worshiped and those who want to maintain their position and be renown respect the goddesses of the earth and the heavens. Aspiring beauty there are the heavenly Gandharvas, those who want a good wife seek the girls of the heavenly society [the Apsaras and Urvas'îs] and anyone who wants to dominate others is bound to the worship of Brahmâ, the head of the Universe. Yajña, the Lord of Sacrifice is worshiped for tangible fame and for a good bank balance Varuna, the treasurer, is sought. But those who desire to learn, worship S'iva himself while f or a good marriage his chaste wife Umâ is honored.

(1) Sûta said: "Just having realized what S'ukadeva Gosvâmî thus said about the verification of the reality of the soul, the chaste son of Uttarâ [Parîkchit] concentrated upon Lord Krishna. (2) He [thus meditating for a moment innerly] gave up his deep-rooted and constant possessiveness in relation to his body, his wife, his son, his treasury and all his relatives and friends in his undisputed kingdom. (3-4) The great soul in full faith inquired for the purpose of this exactly the way you are asking me, o great sages. Being informed of his death he renounced his fruitive activity according the three principles [of self-realization: renouncing religious acts, economic development and sense gratification] and everything thereto and thus firmly fixed he achieved the attraction for the love of the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva. (5) The king said: 'What you said is perfectly right, o learned one; being without contaminations you have the knowledge of it all and make the darkness of ignorance gradually disappear when you are speaking about the topics concerning the Lord. (6) Furthermore, I would like to learn how the Supreme Lord by His personal energies creates this phenomenal world of the universe that is so inconceivable for even the great masters of meditation. (7) And please tell me also about the way the powerful one maintains His energies and winds them up again, how He as the all-powerful Supreme Personality arrives at His expansions, involves them and being involved Himself enacts them and causes them to act [see also canto 1, chapter 3]. (8) Even the highly learned in spite of their endeavors for His sake, fall short, dear brahmin, in explaining the wonderful, inconceivable acts of the Supreme Lord. (9) Even though He acts through His different incarnations He is the One and Supreme, whether He acts by the modes, is there simultaneously in the material energy or is manifesting in many forms consecutively. (10) Please clear up these questions asked by me, since you, being as good as the Supreme Lord, are of the oral tradition with the Vedic literatures as well as of full realization in transcendence.' "

(1) Nârada said [to the Creator]: 'My obeisances to you o god of the demigods, for you are the one firstborn from whom all living beings generated. Please explain which knowledge specifically leads to the transcendental. (2) What is the form, the basis and the source of this created world? O master, how is it conserved, by what is it controlled and please, what is it factually? (3) All this is known by your good self, since you know all that has become, will become and is becoming. Master, you hold this universe in the grip of your scientific knowledge, like one holds a walnut. (4) What is the source of your wisdom, who protects you and who is above you? In what capacity do you, with the help of the potency of the soul, on your own create the lives of all beings with the elements of matter? (5) Like a spider creating its web, you without any help manifest from your own soul power all these lives by whom you are never controlled. (6) O almighty one, in this world I do not know a single entity having a name and form that is superior, inferior or equal, of a temporary nature or lasting forever, which owes its existence to another source [than you]. (7) We're weary of the fact that you with your perfect discipline underwent severe penances. We thus had the chance to doubt whether your good self would be the ultimate truth [and thus thought of an entity higher than you]. (8) O all-knowing ruler over all, please explain to me all that I have asked you, so that I will be of an understanding in accord with your instructions.'

(9) The Creator replied: 'O gentle one so dear to me, you are so very kind in your perfect inquiries. That inspires me to further see into the heroism of the Supreme Lord. (10) My son, you are not mistaken in what you just said in your describing me, because without knowing the Supreme beyond me, it certainly will turn out to be as you said [viz. that one has to do penance when one takes me for the Supreme]. (11) All of the world that I created was created by the effulgence [the brahmajyoti] of His existence, just as the fire, the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars [radiate after His effulgence]. (12) I bring Him my obeisances, the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva upon whom I meditate, by dint of whose invincible potencies one calls me the teacher [guru] of the world. (13) Unashamed about keeping a prominent position with the bewildering material energy, those who are deluded make a wrong use of words in speaking of 'I' and 'mine'. By that use of words I am poorly understood. (14) The five elements in their interaction with Eternal Time as also the natural disposition of the living being, are certainly part of Vâsudeva o brahmin, but the truth is that each of them separately has no value. (15) Nârâyana [Krishna as the four-armed original Personality of God and primordial Lord of man] is the cause of the knowledge, the demigods are His helping hands, for His sake the worlds exist and all sacrifices are just there to please Him, the Supreme Lord. (16) Concentration of mind is just there to know Nârâyana, austerity is only there to achieve Nârâyana, the culture of transcendence is just there to become aware of Nârâyana and progress on the path of salvation is there only to enter the kingdom of Nârâyana. (17) Inspired by what was created by Him, the Seer, the Soul of All, the Controller of All Intelligence who created me, I also create.

(18) Of the [modes of] goodness, passion and ignorance [see 4.23], that because of the Almighty [Lord of Time] by the external energy were assumed, there are the three qualities of transcendence: maintenance, creation and destruction. (19) The eternally liberated, living entity subjected to conditions of cause and effect is affected [though] by the modes of material energy that [in his life then] manifest with the symptoms of [respectively] knowledge, activities and material inertia. (20) He, the Supreme Lord, the witness of the witness who [by the living entity who is led] by the symptoms of the three modes cannot be recognized in His movements o brahmin, is the controller of everyone as well as of myself. (21) [The Lord of] Eternal Time, the controller of the deluding potency of matter [mâyâ] thus took upon Himself, from His own potency spontaneously appearing in different obtained [guna] forms, the workload [karma] and specific nature [or svabhâva, of the living entity]. (22) Because of the superintendence of the original person the creation of the mahat-tattva [the 'greater reality'] took place, from eternal time there was the transformation of the modes and from these specific natures the different activities found their existence. (23) But because of the transformation of the greater complete passion and goodness strongly dominated [in the beginning]. Thereupon [countering in reaction] the mode of darkness became more prominent that is characterized by matter, material knowledge and a predominance of material activities. (24) That transformed material ego, as said, manifested itself according to the three characteristics of goodness, passion and ignorance, and thus prabhu, the powers of a guiding intelligence, knowledge of creation and material evolution divided. (25) From the form of darkness that underwent transformation, of all the elements [first] the ether evolved with its subtle form and quality of sound which is indicative of the seen as well as the seer. (26-29) By transformation of the ether the air found its existence which is characterized by the quality of touch. Along with it sound also appeared as a characteristic that was remembered from the ether. Thus air acquired a life of diversity as well with energy and force. Air on its turn again transformed under the influence of time and generated from its nature the element of fire in response to what preceded. With its form there was likewise touch and sound [as the hereditary burden or the karma of the previous elements]. Fire transformed [or condensated from oxygen and hydrogen] into water. Thus the element of taste came about which consequently was accompanied by touch, sound and form. But because of the variegatedness of that transformation of water next followed the smell of the juice which assumed form [as the earth element] together with the qualities of touch and sound. (30) From the mode of goodness the [cosmic] mind of the gods generated who act in goodness, counting the ten of them [according to the five senses of perception and action] as the controllers of the directions [the Digdevatâs], the air [Vâyu], the sun [Sûrya], the waters [Varuna], longevity [the As'vinî-Kumâras], fire [Agni], the heavens [Indra], the deity of transcendence [Vishnu in the form of Upendra], the deity of friendship [Mitra] and the guardian of creation [Brahmâ]. (31) From the passion of ego the according tenfold transformation took place that gave the living energy the intelligence of all the senses of action - the mouth, the hands, the feet, the genitals, and the anus - and perception - sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. (32) As long as all these catogories of the elements, the senses, the mind and the modes of nature remained separate, the body [of man and mankind] could not be formed, o best one of knowledge [Nârada]. (33) When all these [elements] by means of the [compelling] force of the Supreme Lord were assembled and found their application, this universe with both its true and illusory, its spiritual and material realities [sat/asat] found its existence.

(34) The universe after countless millenia having been submerged in the [causal] waters, was by the individual soul [the jîva or the Lord] who animates the inanimate awakened to its own time of living. (35) He Himself as the original person [the Purusha] appeared from within the universal egg to divide Himself in thousands of divisions of legs, arms, eyes, mouths and heads. (36) The great philosophers conceive of all the worlds of the universe as the limbs of a body [the virâth rûpa] which has seven systems below the waist and seven systems in the upper portion. (37) The brahmins represent the mouth of the Original Person, the ruling class constitutes His arms, the traders form the thighs of the Supreme Lord and the laborer class His legs. (38) The earthly [lower] worlds [Bhûrlokas] belong to His legs so one says, the ethereal worlds [Bhuvarlokas] belong to His belly, the heavenly worlds from the heart [Svarlokas] are situated in His chest while the highest worlds of the saints and sages [Maharlokas] are of the Great Soul. (39) Above the chest up to the neck one finds the world of the godly [the sons of Brahmâ, Janaloka] and higher up in the neck one finds the world of renunciation [Tapoloka, of the ascetics]. The world of truth [Satyaloka of the selfrealized, the enlightened ones] is found in the head. [These worlds are all temporal] but the spiritual world [Brahmaloka, the world of the one Soul, the Supreme Lord] is eternal. (40-41) With on His waist the first of the lower worlds, further down the second on the hips, the third down to the knees, the fourth on the shanks, the fifth on His ankles, the sixth on His feet and the seventh on the soles of His feet [compare 2-1: 26-39], the body of the Lord [virâth-rûpa or universal form] is filled with all the [fourteen types of] worlds. (42) One imagines the worlds alternatively [simply divided in three] with the earthly, lower worlds situated on the legs, the ethereal, middle worlds in the region of the navel and the heavenly, higher worlds found from the chest upwards.'

Chapter 6: The Hymn of the Original Person Confirmed

(1) The Creator said: 'The mouth [of the universal form] is found in the fire which is the center for the voice of the seven [meters of] hymns [sung in honor] of the essential ingredients [the elements, the layers of His body. Dhâtava, literally: skin, flesh, sinew, marrow, bone, blood and fat]. With respect for the forefathers and the gods offering all kinds of foodstuff and delicacies that by humans beings then are appreciated as the nectar [of the remnants] is the field of action [for the sake of] His tongue. (2) For His nose there is the life air and the air outside in order to bring about the transcendental experience of longevity [the As'vinî demigods] in combinaton with all the medicinal herbs and fragrances one may enjoy. (3) The eyes [of the gigantic body] that see all kinds of forms as also all the illumined that glitters to the eyeball of the sun, accompany the hearing by the ears of all the sounds of veneration that from all directions resound in the ether. (4) His outer appearance [the presence of the Universal Form] constitutes the foundation of all things and favorable opportunities and is also the field where one harvests, while His skin of moving airs forms the touch that leads to all kinds of offerings. (5) His bodily hair is the vegetation of the kingdoms with the help of which in particular the sacrifices are performed. The clouds with their electricity, the stones and the iron ore make thereto for the hair on His head, His facial hair and His nails. (6) His arms, the governing men of God, predominantly provide what is needed and protect the general mass. (7) In the Lord His lotus feet that offer shelter His progress is recognized of the lower middle and heavenly worlds, because they, in providing all that was needed, liberate from fear and contain all the benedictions. (8) Water, semen and the generative capacity of rain refer to the genitals of the Creator, the Lord, or to the spot where the happiness originates that is brought about by the [need of] begetting [offspring or cultural products]. (9) O Nârada, the orifice where the evacuation of the Universal Form takes place is the birthplace of Yama the controlling deity of everything running to its end and of Mitra. It forms the rectum where envy, misfortune, death and hell are remembered. (10) Frustration, immorality and ignorance are found at His backside, while the rivers and streams [as said] make for His veins and the mountains for the stack of His bones. (11) The unseen mover [viz. Time] of the seas and oceans of the living beings that are involved with evolution and extinction is, as seen from His belly [the middle worlds, S'iva], by the intelligent known as the [beating] heart that is located in the subtle body.

(12) Your, mine, my sons' [the Kumâras] and Lord S'iva's heartening of dharma depends on the life and soul of the Supreme Being [who constitutes the save harbor] of truth and wisdom. (13-16) Me, you, Lord S'iva, as also the great sages before you, the godly, the demoniac, the human beings and the excellent [the Nâgas], the birds, the beasts, the reptiles and all the heavenly beings as well as the plants and many other living entities found on land, in water and in the sky, together with the asteroids, stars, comets, planets and moons and lightening and thunder; all that was, that is and will be created, this entire universe together is [pervaded] and covered by the Original Person in a form measuring not more than nine inches [see also 2.2: 8]. (17) The same way the sun spreads its rays outside and illumines and gives strength [inside with prânâ], the expansion of the universal form, the Supreme Person also vitalizes all that lives from the inside as well as from the outside. (18) He is the controller of immortality and fearlessness, transcendental to death and the fruitive action of anyone and therefore, o Nârada, the glories of the Original Personality are considered immeasurable.

(19) You should know that all the living entities exist in [but] one fourth of the secure reservoir of all opulence where there is no death or fear. That reservoir is the Supreme Person who resides in the beyond of the material coverings of the three worlds. (20) The [remaining] three fourths of Him in the beyond is the place where those reside who will never be reborn. Within [the material world] there are even though the three worlds [heaven, purgatory and hell] that are reserved for the status positions of those who, attached to family life, do not strictly follow the vow of celibacy. (21) Thus neatly arranging the destination of the living beings, the Maintainer rules over the devotion of the nescient as well as the ones who factually know, and is thus, as the Original Personality of God, the master of both. (22) He from whom all the planets and the gigantic universal form originated, together with the elements and the senses according to the material qualities of the universe, in the superlative of that Universal Form compares to the sun [that] relating to its distributed rays and heat [remains aloof from it].

(23) When I took birth from the lotus flower sprouting from the navel of this great person, I had next to the personal limbs of the Original Person nothing to perform sacrifices with. (24) For the performance of sacrifices, the sacrificed such as flowers and leaves and burning material [such as straw] is needed together with an altar as also a framework of time [a calendar e.g.] in order to follow the modes of nature. (25) Utensils, grains, fuel [clarified butter], sweetener ['honey'], capital ['gold'] and a fire place ['earth'], water, the scriptures ['Rig, Yajur and Sâma Veda'] and [at least] four [officiating] persons are comprised in this, o pious one. (26) It also involves the invocation of holy names and mantras as well as the settling of contributions and taking of oaths concerning the specific godhead at hand. And for the purpose of each of them there is a particular scripture. (27) In order to be able to progress towards the ultimate goal by means of worship and to be able to compensate [to safeguard, correct or excuse] with the offerings ultimately made for the diverse parts of the [governing] body of the Original Person [the representing demigods], I arranged for the ingredients. (28) Thus well-equipped I worshiped, engaging with all the ingredients, the expansions of the Original Person, the Supreme Personality, the original enjoyer of all sacrifices. (29) According to that example your [god-]brothers, the nine masters of the living creatures [schools; demigods next to Brahmâ; compare 5: 30], with proper ritual were of sacrifice for the manifest and non-manifest personalities. (30) In following those [schools or demigods] also the Manus, the fathers of mankind, in due course of time were of worship to please Him, and so did the other great sages, forefathers, scholars, opponents [Daityas] and mankind at large.

(31) For the sake of Nârâyana, the Personality of Godhead, all these greatly powerful manifestations, who had accepted the material illusion of form in the spheres of the universe, found their existence in the reality of creation, maintenance and destruction, even though He Himself is self-sufficient above it. (32) According to His will, I create while under His subordination S'iva destroys. He Himself acts thereto as the Original Person and controller of the three energies who maintains the entire Universe.

(1) The Creator said: 'When the Lord attempted to lift the earth out of the great ocean [- the Garbodhaka], assumed He as the Unlimited One within the universe for His pastimes the form of the sum total of all sacrifices, in being faced with the first demon [called Hiranyâksha, the demon of gold] who by Him, as if He was a thunderbolt piercing a pack of clouds, was defeated with His tusk [Him considered as the boar-avatâra Varâha].

(2) From Âkûti ['good intention'], the wife of the Prajâpati, Suyajña ['appropriate sacrifice'] was born who with his wife Dakshinâ ['the reward'] gave birth to the godly headed by Suyama ['proper regulation'] by which He greatly diminished the distress in the three worlds and because of which the father of mankind called Svâyambhuva Manu was named Hari [the Lord].

(3) Next He took birth in the house of the twice-born Kardama ['the shadow of the Creator'], from the womb of Devahûti ['the invocation of the Gods'] accompanied by nine women. In teaching His mother as Lord Kapila ['the analytic one'] in spiritual realization, she in that life was freed from the soul-covering material modes and achieved liberation.

(4) The sage Atri praying for offspring, I, satisfied by his surrender, promised the Supreme Lord to be born as Datta [Dattâtreya, the given one] of whom the dust of His lotus feet purified the body of mysticism bringing wealth to the spiritual and material worlds of Yadu [the founder of the dynasty], Haihaya [a descendant] and others.

(5) Because of my first having lived austere in penance for the sake of the creation of the different worlds, the Lord appeared as the four Sanas [the four celibate sons called Sanat-kumâra, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanâtana]. In the epoch before, the spiritual truth was devastated in the inundation of the world, but it became completely manifest with these sages who had a clear vision of the soul.

(6) From Murti [the idol], the wife of Dharma ['righteousness'] and the daughter of Daksha[the able one, a Prajâpati], He took the form of Nara-Nârâyana ['man, the course of man']. Thus [in that descent] by seeing the strength of [the beauties originating of] His personal penances the Supreme Lord never would see His vows broken by the celestial beauties that came to Him with Cupid [the god of love]. (7) Great stalwarts [like Lord S'iva] can overcome their being overwhelmed by lust by means of their wrathful vision, but they cannot overcome their own intolerance. To that however, with having Him within, the lust is afraid to enter. How can it factually reclaim the attention with Him in mind?

(8) Incited by the sharp words uttered by a co-wife, even in the presence of the king, [He as] a boy took to severe penances in a great forest and therewith set the goal of the attainment of Dhruva [the immovable] with being prayed for to the satisfaction of the denizens of heaven as do the great sages ever since ascending and descending from that position [see also fourth Canto].

(9) When the twice-born, cursed King Vena ['the anxious'], strayed from the path of religion, it burnt him like a thunderbolt and all his great deeds and opulence went to hell. Being prayed for He delivered him coming to earth as his son [named Prithu, 'the great one'] as well achieving that the earth could be exploited to yield all kinds of crops.

(10) As the son of King Nâbhi ['the pivot'] He was born as Rishabha ['the best one'] from Sudevî to go for the certainty of being equipoised in the matter of yoga which is accepted by the learned sages as the highest stage of perfection, in which one, being perfectly liberated from material influences, accepts the selfreposed in suspension of the activities of the senses.

(11) In a sacrifice of mine the Supreme Lord appeared with a horse-like head [called Hayagrîva] and thus He is seen as the Personality of Sacrifices with a golden hue from whose breathing through His nostrils the sounds of the Vedic hymns, personal sacrifices and all that concerns the [Super-]soul of the godly can be heard.

(12) He who became the Manu [called Satyavrata, 'the truth-abiding'] at the end of the epoch saw that Lord Matsya ['the fish'] is the shelter of all living beings up to the earthly ones because of which out of a great fear for the waters, having taken to my mouth, therefrom certainly all the Vedas could be enjoyed.

(13) When in the ocean of milk [knowledge] the leaders of the immortals and their opponents where churning the mountain [called Mandara, big] for gaining the nectar, supported the primeval Lord half asleep as a tortoise [called Kurma] it scratching and itching His back.

(14) As Nrisimha ['the lion'] He appeared as the one that takes away the fear of the God-conscious in rolling His eyebrows and showing the terrifying teeth of His mouth, directly on His lap with His nails piercing the fallen king of the demons [Hiranyakas'ipu] who had challenged Him with a club in his hands.

(15) The leader of the elephants who within the river at his leg was taken by an exceptionally strong crocodile, holding a lotus in great distress addressed [Him] like this: 'You are the original personality and Lord of the Universe and as famous as a place of pilgrimage all good ensues just hearing of Your name so worthy to chant.' (16) The Lord who heard him in his need, as the Unlimited Powerful One seated on the king of the birds [Garuda], cut the beak of the crocodile in two with His cakra-weapon and delivered him in His causeless mercy by pulling him out by his trunk.

(17) Although by His transcendental qualities the greatest He [as the youngest] of all the sons of Aditi ['the infinite one'] surpassed in this universe all the worlds [as Vâmana] and was therefore called the Lord of Sacrifice: pretending to need only three steps of land He took thus begging all the lands [of Bali Mahârâja] without ever offending the authorities He is never bereft of. (18) O Nârada, by virtue of the strength of the water that washed from the feet of the Lord, he [Bali Mahârâja], who kept it on his head and who had the supremacy over the kingdom of the godly, never tried for anything else but to keep - even at the cost of his own body - to his promise, as he was dedicated to the Lord within his own mind.

(19) Unto you, Nârada, the Supreme Lord satisfied by the developing of your goodness through your transcendental love, nicely in all detail described the light of the knowledge of yoga and the science of relating to the soul, which all surrendered to Vâsudeva so perfectly know to appreciate.

(20) By His cakra and undeterred in all circumstances ['ten sides'] He in the different incarnations as the Manu-successor in the Manu-dynasty ruled over de miscreants and kings of that type, subduing by the marks of His personal glories from the world of truth the three systems [see loka] thus establishing His fame.

(21) With the name of Dhanvantari ['moving in a curve'] the Supreme Lord as fame personified descended in the universe directing the knowledge for obtaining a long life by bringing the nectar from the [Kurma-churning] sacrifice that swiftly cures the diseases of all living entities.

(22) With the purpose of diminishing the increasing dominance of the ruling class the great soul [as Lord Paras'urâma] as the Ultimate Spiritual Truth abated all those thorns of the world who strayed from the path and opted for a hellish life, awfully powerful operating thrice seven times by His transcendental hatchet.

(23) By dint of His causeless all-embracing mercy, the Lord of All Time [as Râma] descended in the family of Ikshvâku [the dynasty of the solar order] where on the command of his father [Das'aratha] He took to the forest with His wife [Sîtâ] and brother [Lakshmana] on the opposition of the ten-headed one [the demoniac ruler Râvana] who had caused great distress. (24) Unto Him the fearful Indian ocean, which saw its aquatics [sharks, seasnakes and such] burnt, quickly gave way when from a distance He, angered as He was about His aggrieved intimate friend [the kidnapped Sîtâ], meditated the city of the enemy [on the island of Lankâ] with red-hot eyes like Hara did [who wanted to burn the heavenly kingdom by his fiery looks] in desiring to burn it down. (25) When the trunk of the elephant carrying Indra with light in all directions broke on the chest of Râvana, he was proudly overtaken by laughter strolling amidst the armies, but within no time the kidnapper was killed by the tingling sound of the bow [of Râma].

(26) When the entire world is in misery from the burden of the soldiers of disbelievers, is He, with His plenary expansion, His beauty and His black hair, whose glorious activities are so difficult to see by the people in general, bound to appear for the sake of the decimation of those atheists. (27) Who possibly else than He could as a child kill a living being that assumed the form of a giant demoness [Pûtanâ] or only being three months old with His leg turn over a cart and also uproot two high rising Arjuna trees? (28) At Vrindâvana [where Krishna grew up] by His merciful glance He brought back to life the cowherd boys and their animals who drank of the poisoned water [of the Yamunâ]. In order to purify [the water] from the excess of the highly potent poison He in the river took pleasure in punishing the snake severely that was lurking there with its venomous tongue. (29) He by His superhuman activity saved all the inhabitants of Vraja [the cowherd-village], that unworried were sleeping that night, from being burnt by the fire that was ablaze in the dry forest. Thus to them [later on, also those cowherdboys] who were sure to see the last of their days, He together with Balarâma proved His unfathomable prowess [delivering them the same way from another fire in the forest] by simply having them closing their eyes. (30) Whatever rope His [foster] mother [Yas'odâ] tried to take to bind her son, time and again proved to be too short and that which she saw when He opened His mouth to the doubting cowherd woman were all the worlds, which convinced her thus another way. (31) Nanda Mahârâja His [fostering] father whom He also saved from the fear for Varuna [the demigod of the waters] and the cowherd men who were held captive in the caves by the son of Maya [a demon] and also the ones [in Vrindâvana] working during the day and sleeping during the night of their hard labor, He surely awarded the highest world of the spiritual sky. (32) When the cowherd men were being stopped in their sacrifices by the king of heaven who caused the downpour of heavy rains, He, desiring to protect the animals in His causeless mercy, being only seven years of age, held up Govardhana Hill for seven days in a row, just like an umbrella playfully with one hand only without getting tired. (33) When in His nightly pastimes in the forest desiring to dance in the silver light of the moon with sweet songs and melodious music He awakened the amorous desires of the wives of Vrajabhûmi [the region of Vrindâvana], He decapitated their kidnapper [a demon known as S'ankhacûda] who was in pursuit of the riches of Kuvera [the heavenly treasurer]. (34-35) All those like Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kes'î, Arishthâ, Cânûra and Mushthika [wrestling for Kamsa], Kuvalayâpîda [the elephant], Kamsa [the demoniac uncle], many foreign kings [like those of Persia], the ape Dvivida, Paundraka and others, as well as kings like S'âlva, Narakâsura, Balvala, Dantavakra, Saptoksha, S'ambara, Vidûratha and Rukmî and all powerful and well equipped as Kâmboja, Matsya, Kuru [the sons of Dhritarâshthra], S'rîñjaya, and Kekaya, found their dissociation or would attain to His heavenly abode through either Himself or with His other names, like Baladeva [Krishna's brother], Arjuna or Bhîma.

(36) Born from Satyavatî He [as Vyâsadeva], in due course of time seeing the difficulties of the less intelligent and short-lived of mankind at large, with His appearance in the exact, complex Vedic literature compiled, [would and] will for certain divide the desire tree of the Vedas into its branches according the circumstances of the age.

(37) To those who, well situated on the path of the Vedas, envious with the divine unseen roam the worlds by inventions of Maya [a demon] and who are destructive of the bewildered mind, He dresses Himself attractively [as the Buddha] speaking mainly of moral guidelines.

(38) When with even the civilized gentlemen there is no mention of the Lord, and the twice-born [the higher classes] and the government itself never take to the hymns, paraphernalia, altars and words wherever, then at the end of the Age of Dissent will the Supreme Lord, the chastiser appear.

(39) I of penance [as Brahmâ] from the beginning with the generating [nine] sages [Prajâpatis], certainly [in the middle] maintained the duties of sacrifice [as Vishnu] with Manu, the godly and the different rulers, but in the end with the forsaking of the principles it is S'iva to the atheists subjected to anger. All of them are the potent representatives of the One of Supreme Power. (40) Who can fully describe the prowess of Lord Vishnu? Not even the scientist that might have counted the atoms. All were greatly moved by Him who by His own leg could cover the universe [as Trivikrama] up to the topmost world beyond the operating modes. (41) Never do I, nor all the sages born before you, know the end of the Omnipotent Original Person. Then what to expect of others born after us who even to the present day by singing the qualities with the thousand faces of Ananta S'esha [the 'snakebed' of Vishnu] of the primordial God, cannot achieve to His limit? (42) He, the Supreme Lord, will only bestow the mercy of His unlimited potential upon those who by all means, without any reservation and pretension, are as the souls that surrendered to His feet passed the insurmountable ocean of His material energies, and not upon those who hold on to the I and mine of the body that is known [in the end] to be eaten by dogs and jackals. (43-45) O Nârada, know me and yourself to be of the Supreme over the deluding material potency as also are the great Lord S'iva, Prahlâda Mahârâja who came from the atheist family, S'atarûpâ, the wife of Manu and Svâyambhuva Manu himself with his children, Prâcînabarhi, Ribhu, Anga [the father of Vena], and like Dhruva, Ikshvâku, Aila, Mucukunda, Janaka, Gâdhi, Raghu, Ambarîsha, Sagara, Gayâ, Nâhusha, etc. as also others like Mândhâtâ, Alarka, S'atadhanve, Anu, Rantideva, Bhîshma, Bali, Amûrttaraya, Dilîpa, Saubhari, Utanka, S'ibi, Devala, Pippalâda, Sârasvata, Uddhava, Parâs'ara, Bhûrishena, and first ones as Vibhîshana, Hanumân, S'ukadeva Gosvâmî, Arjuna, Ârshthishena, Vidura and S'rutadeva. (46) Undoubtedly do also those persons manage to surpass the illusion of the divine energy and to arrive at knowledge, who are women, laborers, barbarians and outcasts do know despite of [formerly] being sinful souls - provided they observe the instructions of admirable devotees. When even those who were not of the human do, then what would one expect from those who devotedly listened [from the beginning]? (47) Being eternal and unperturbed, free from fear and uncontaminated in the opposing consciousness without preferences in the reality of the Supersoul over the true and untrue, one is [having surpassed] unconcerned about the fruits of action in sacrifices and sees the illusion flying away that is full of shame [see also B.G. 2: 52]. For certain that is the ultimate phase of the Supreme Lord [Bhagavân] who is the Spirit of Transcendence of the person which is thus known as being of unlimited happiness without grief. (48) In that state of hearing are the diverse practices of the mystics seeking the truth in their process of spiritual culture then given up, just the way Indra [god of the rains] doesn't worry to dig a well [to have water]. (49) He, all-auspicious is also the master, the Supreme Lord, because to the natural living being its own constitution all doing good is rewarded the ultimate success to which, after the body with its constituent elements is being vanquished and given up, one, being unborn like the original person, will never be vanquished.

(50) My dear, thus I explained in brief to you about the Supreme Lord as the creator of the known worlds, without whom nothing else of whatever that may exist in the phenomenal and noumenal can be of any causation. (51) This story of the Fortunate One called the S'rîmad Bhâgavatam, was handed down to me by His Holiness and constitutes the summary of His diverse potencies. Now you from your good self must expound on this science of Godhead yourself. (52) Therefore describe with determination, for the cause of enlightening mankind, this science of devotion [bhakti] for the Supreme Personality, the summum bonum and Absolute of all Souls. (53) With the description of the external affairs of Him, the Lord, in regular devoted appreciation and attendance, the living entity will never become illusioned by the external energy.

(1) The king asked: 'How did Nârada, being instructed by Lord Brahmâ, o brahmin, explain the modes and their transcendence, and whom did he explain it to?' (2) This I wish to understand o best one: what is the reality of those who are in the Absolute of the truth of the Lord who is so full of wonderful potencies and whose narrations are so beneficial to all the worlds? (3) Please continue speaking, o you of great fortune, so that I, about to leave my body, freed from material association, may put my thoughts to the Supreme of the soul, Lord S'rî Krishna.(4) Those who with faith, regularly take to the matter and as well seriously endure in the endeavor, will after not too long a time see the Supreme Lord appear in their hearts.(5) Thus receiving it through their ears from the love of their own liberation, this lotus [the Bhâgavatam] of Krishna washes away the impurities like the waters of autumn do. (6) Once being cleansed will the person, who took to the shelter of Krishna's feet, never give up that liberation, just like a traveler, who going through the miseries of life, will never give up his home [see also B.G. 5: 17; 8: 16; 8: 21-28; 9: 3; 15: 3-4; 15: 6].

(7) As it is not a question of being material, o brahmin, can you as you may know from your good self tell me whether the living being in the beginning comes to the body accidentally or of some cause?(8) If He is in possession of the lotus flower of this world, that as it were sprouted from His abdomen, then what is the difference between the Original Person with this certain measurement [of the virâth-rûpa] and the situation that one speaks of with the many different embodiments? (9) How could he who was not born from matter himself and who gave life to all the ones born with a material body, through His mercy see His Form while being born from the lotusflower of the navel? (10) And also [how can it be that] He as the Original Person maintaining, creating and annihilating the material worlds remains untouched by His own external energy while resting as the Lord of all energies in the heart of everyone? (11) Before I heard you discuss the different worlds with their governors as the different parts of the body of the Original Person, so what [can you tell] about those governors that by the different systems are the different parts of Him?

(12) And what about the day of Brahmâ [a kalpa] and the periods between them [vikalpas], as also what to say about the time measuring what one calls the past, future and present - and how about the lifespan allotted to embodied beings? (13) O purest of the twice-born, what may be the beginning of time and what about the way in terms of one's karma it is experienced as being short or long?(14) Then again to what extent is one taken over by accruing [karma] to the different modes of nature in the different life forms which are also certainly the result of one's desire.(15) Please describe to us how life underneath the earth, in the four quarters of heaven, in the sky, on the planets and about the stars, on the hills, in the rivers, the seas and on the islands comes about and what are their inhabitants?(16) What is the extent and measurement of the outer space universe and the inner space, and what are their divisions? And what is the character and action of the great souls and the vocations and age groups of society? (17) What are the different ages, how long do they take and what is their nature and which incarnation of the Lord performs what kind of wonderful activities in each and every age?

(18) What are the specific religious affiliations of human society in general and what are the duties of the three classes [labor, trade and intellect] and their administration [the fourth class] as also what would the obligations be to people in distress? (19) And what is the number of elements of creation and what are their characteristics and interaction? What are the rules and regulations of the devotional practice to the Original Person in the cultivation of yoga and what are the different spiritual methods leading thereto? (20) What are the opulences of the yogamaster, where do they lead to, how do the yogis detach from the astral body and what is the transcendental knowledge found in the religiosity about the historical accounts and the Vedic stories?(21) What is the specific order of all those transient living beings and how does it end? What are the good deeds, rituals and also the regulative principles concerning the religion, the means of existence and the pleasing of the senses?(22) How do all those who either live in union with the Lord or go against Him come about and what is the conditioning of the ones liberated as also that of the ones that live undetermined?

(23) As surely as the independent Supreme Lord enjoys His pastimes from His own inner potency, He, correctly, gives them up just the same, to the external of His capacity remaining a witness as the Almighty. (24) About all this and more that I didn't ask you, o fortunate one, I've been wondering from the beginning. Please explain in accordance with the truth, o great sage, what you want to tell me with us all having fallen at your feet. (25) Surely in these matters of factual knowing are you as good as Brahmâ originating directly from the Lord, while others are only following to custom after what of borrowed knowledge could be said. (26) I never get tired, o brahmin, of drinking, in hunger of my fasting, of the nectar of the Infallible flowing from the ocean of your speech.' "

(27) Sûta Gosvâmî said: "He [S'ukadeva] thus being questioned by the king on topics of the highest truth like these, was, as the instrument of the Creator, very pleased in meeting this servant of Vishnu. (28) He said that this Purâna in pursuance of the Vedas called the Bhâgavatam, was spoken by the Supreme Lord to Lord Brahmâ at the beginning of the first of his days. (29) He then prepared himself to describe in full whatever the king, the best of the dynasty of Pându, all asked in his, from the beginning to the end, continuing inquiries."

(1) S'uka said: 'Without the drive of the [Super-]soul, o King, there will never be any good in the spirited consciousness of the beyond relating to the material body, which is then to the seer completely like in a dream. (2) Driven in matter the many forms that appear to have manifested experience different sorts of enjoyment according the modes of the material world and thus they think of 'I' and 'mine'. (3) Whenever indeed, in his own glory of transcendence to the time of the material energy, he [the living entity] enjoys the freedom from misconceptions, then, in that fullness, he will give up those two. (4) 'The reality of the soul is the goal of purification' is what the Supreme Lord factually told the Creator showing him His Form when he was without any misunderstanding in vows and worship. (5) He, the first godly person in the universe, as the supreme spiritual teacher, began from his own divine position [on the lotus of the creation] to reflect on the matter of where it came from and he could not figure out what the directions and the ways were of how all should be put together materially.

(6) Once when he was immersed in thinking thus, he heard two syllables being spoken which were the sixteenth [ta] and the twenty-first [pa] of the spars'a-alphabeth and, joined together, became known as the wealth of the renounced order, o King [tapas means penance]. (7) When he heard that, he looked all sides to see the speaker, but there was no one to be found and from where he sat in his divine position he then thought it the best to pay attention to doing penance as he was instructed. (8) With a spotless vision for a thousand godly years, he as the controller of both life and mind, enlightened all the worlds executing such a penance in the past, being of all the ones doing penance the one of the severest practice.

(9) For him, the Supreme Lord being pleased by his penance, manifested His own abode [also called Vaikunthha, the place without fear], beyond which no other world is found and which is worshiped as the place where the five miseries of material life [ignorance, selfhood, attachment, hatred and death-fear] have completely ceased with persons who without illusion and fear of existence are of perfect self-realization. (10) There, the mode of goodness prevails over the other two of passion and slowness without them ever being mixed with it, nor is there the influence of time, the external energy - or what to say of [the influence of] others; there both the enlightened and the unenlightened souls worship the Lord as devotees. (11) Sky-bluish and glowing with lotus-like eyes, very attractive and youthful with yellowish dress, all of them there have the four arms and the luster of pearls and effulgence of fine ornaments. (12) Some radiate like coral or diamonds, with heads blooming like a celestial lotus with earrings and garlands. (13) That place, radiating with the rows of brilliant high rising, excellent buildings and celestial ladies with electrifying complexions of the great devotees of the Lord, is as beautiful as a sky decorated with clouds and lightning. (14) The goddess there is doing devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, being of praise with the help of diverse paraphernalia and a following of dearmost associates who moved by the company [of Apsaras] that took to the shelter of the [everlasting season of] spring are singing their songs. (15) There one surrounds the Lord of the entire community of devotees, of the goddess, of the Universe and the sacrifice - the Almighty One, who is being served in transcendental love by the foremost associates like Sunanda, Nanda, Prabala and Arhana. (16) The servitors affectionately facing Him are intoxicated by the very pleasing sight of His smile, reddish eyes, His face with His helmet and earrings, His four hands, yellow dress, His marked chest and the Goddess of Fortune at His side. (17) Seated on His highly valuable throne He, accompanied by the opulence of His four [matter, original person, intellect and ego] sixteen [the five elements, perceptive and working senses, and mind] and fivefold energies [sense objects of form, taste, sound, smell and touch] and other personal prowesses He sometimes shows [the eight siddhis or mystic powers], verily enjoys His abode as the Supreme Lord.

(18) The Creator of the Universe, who was overwhelmed by the sight of that audience, was in his heart full of ecstasy and with his body full of divine love he bowed down with tears in his eyes before the lotus feet of the Lord - an example which is followed by the great liberated souls. (19) Seeing him present before Him He thought the worthy great scholar suitable for creating the lives of all living beings to His own control, and mildly smiling He addressed the beloved one with enlightening words, very pleased shaking hands with His partner in divine love. (20) The Supreme Lord said: 'As opposed to My contentment with those who do profit-minded service, am I completely satisfied about your long lasting penance to create from your Vedic expertise. (21) All my blessings to you, just ask Me, the giver of all benediction, whatever favor you wish from Me, o Brahmâ, as the limit of My realization is the ultimate success of everyone's penances. (22) This enviable perception of My abodes you may actually experience because of your submissive hearing in doing penance to the beyond. (23) It was ordered by Me as you were perplexed in your duty. That penance directly affects My heart and soul and is to the one engaged in it my factual identity, o sinless one. (24) By that penance I create, surely by that penance I withdraw and again I, by that penance, maintain the cosmos; My power is found in strict penance'.

(25) Brahmâ said: 'Supreme Lord of all living beings, You are the director seated in the heart who unobstructed, by Your superior intelligence, knows of all endeavors. (26) In spite of that I ask You, o Lord, please enlighten me in my desire to know about Your being beyond and descending in Your form as we may know it, although You are yourself formless. (27) And how do You by Your own potency, from Your own Self, combine and recombine the different forces in matters of annihilation, generation, acceptance and maintenance? (28) O Mâdhava [master of all energies], please let me know in proper terms of all those [forms] You infallibly enact with determination like a spider does in covering [its own web]. (29) As the Supreme Lord teaching it me by Your acts I may, by Your mercy, thus never factually be entrapped in matter, even though I acting as your instrument create the lives of the beings. (30) O Lord, like a friend does with a friend You have accepted me for creating the different lives of the living entities; o my Lord, may all those who are born unperturbed in the service of You never give rise to me being mad with imagination about it, o Unborn One.'

(31) The Supreme Lord said: 'The knowledge acquired about Me is very confidential and is realized in combination with devotional service and its necessary paraphernalia; just try to take it up as I explain it to you. (32) Let that factual realization be there by the causeless mercy of Me, as seen in the transcendental existence of My eternal form with its diverse appearances and qualities. (33) I indeed existed before [your creation of these lives] and nothing else but the Supreme would be the cause of the effect of all that is seen, while it is also I that is all that remains of these created; that is what I am. (34) That which appears to be of value, is not what it seems without relating to Me - know that illusory energy of Mine to be a reflection, to be darkness. (35) Just like the elements of the universe that appear in the minute as well as in the gigantic before being engaged as well as thereafter, am I even so as well in them as not in them Myself. (36) No doubt must a person in search of the soul to this extent inquire after the Reality of the Principle, in a direct as well as indirect manner, in whatever time, space or circumstance. (37) If your concentration of mind remains fixed on this conclusion about the Supreme you have no complacency to fear, nor in temporary loss nor at the end of your time."

(38) S'uka said: "After thus giving full instruction, disappeared the Unborn One, Lord Hari as He was seen in His transcendental form of the Absolute by the leader of the living entities [Brahmâ]. (39) On the disappearance began Brahmâjî, with folded hands unto the Lord, the objective of all senses, to shape the lives of all living beings that fill the universe, exactly as he did before. (40) Thus once upon a time he, the father of all living beings and religious life, situated himself with vow and respect for the sake of the welfare of the living beings, desiring it in the interest of their own good qualities. (41) It is unto Him that Nârada, the very dear of the inheriting sons, is very obedient and ready to serve by the good behavior of his meekness and sense-control. (42) With his desire to know about Vishnu, the Lord of all energies, the great sage and first-class devotee, o King, very much pleased his Father [Lord Brahmâ]. (43) After seeing the satisfaction of the great grandfather of the whole universe, Nârada Muni questioned him the same way you are questioning me. (44) Thereupon this story of the Fortunate One [summarized in the four verses 33-36] was with its ten characteristics [see next chapter], explained by the Supreme Lord who told it the son, the creator of the universe, with great satisfaction. (45) Nârada instructed this Supreme of the Spirit, to the great sage, the meditative Vyâsadeva with his immense capacity, on the bank of the Sarasvatî, o King. (46) All the things you've been asking me concerning the world of the Universal Form of the Original Person and other matters, I shall now explain to you in great detail."

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'In this [Bhâgavatam] 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]. (2) For the purpose of doing justice to the Summum Bonum the symptoms of the other nine in this [Bhâgavatam] are described by Vedic inference or either more direct explanations or summaries given by the great sages. (3) 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]. (4) 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. (5) 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. (6) 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.

(7) 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. (8) From being the personality in possession of his senses [adhyâtmika] He is as well the controlling deity [adhidaivika] as the person separate therefrom perceived asan embodied living being [adhibhautika]. (9) 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.(10) 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. (11) 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 Nârâyana [the path, the lead of God relating to man], for He, resting in the causal waters, emanated from the Original Person. (12) The physical elements, the activities, the time and surely also the living entities all exist by His mercy and cease to exist on neglect. (13) 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.

(14) 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.(15) 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 prâna] ruling over each. (16) 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. (17) 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. (18) From the mouth the palate generated showing the tongue after which the various tastes manifested that could be relished by it. (19) 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. (20) 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. (21) 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. (22) 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. (23) 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.

(24) 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. (25) 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]. (26) 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 Prajâpati]. (27) 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. (28) 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. (29) 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. (30) 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. (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 there from the ether, the water and the air [see also kosha]. (32) 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.

(33) 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. (34) 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. (35) 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. (36) 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 which is free from material interest. (37-40) O King, know that all the happiness and distress and their mixture as experienced by the members of the family of Brahmâ, the Manus, the godly, the wise, the inhabitants of Pitriloka [forefathers] and Siddhaloka [the perfected], the Câranas [the venerable], Gandharvas [singers of heaven], Vidyâdharas [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 Mâtriloka [of the place of the mother], the demons and Pis'âcas [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].

(41) 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. (42) 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. (43) 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. (44) 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. (45) 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. (46) This all but exemplifies the regulative principles by which the Creator operates for the duration of his time [described as a day of Brahmâ] and the duration of the universes. Herein, in summary, is the generating of the entire dispersed material creation given.(47) The exact measurement of the time to its form and symptoms of one day of Brahmâ [kalpa] I will explain after first letting you know about this epoch of His descend [also called the Pâdma Kalpa].' "

(48) S'aunaka said: "O Sûta, 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. (49-50) 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?"

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

(1) S'uka said: 'This is what formerly Vidura asked His Grace Maitreya Rishi when he entered the forest after renouncing his prosperous home: (2) 'What to say of the house [of the Pândavas] I am identified with? S'rî Krishna, the Supreme Lord and master of all, was accepted as the minister of its people and had given up entering the house of Duryodhana.'

(3) The king said: 'Please tell us master, where and when did Vidura meet with His Grace Maitreya Muni to discuss this? (4) Certainly the questions Vidura asked the holy man cannot have been unimportant, they must have been full of the highest purpose as approved by the see kers of truth.'

(5) Sûta said: "He, the great sage S'ukadeva thus being questioned by King Parîkchit, fully satisfied replied him from his great expertise: 'Please listen to this'.

(6) S'rî S'ukadeva said: 'At the time when King Dhritarâshthra was nourishing his dishonest sons he, never being on the right path, had lost his sight with the sons of his younger brother [the deceased Pându, see family tree] in being their guardian. He made them enter the laquer house which he set on fire [see Mahâbhârata I 139-148]. (7) When in the assembly the wife of the saintly Kurus [Draupadî] was insulted by his son [Duhs'âsana] who grabbed her by her hair, the king did not forbid this, although his daughter-in-law shed tears that washed the red dust of her breast [see Mahâbhârata II 58-73]. (8) When by unfair means he who was without an enemy [Yudhishthhira] was defeated in a game of gambling and as one loyal to the truth went to the forest, he upon returning in due course never was given his right share by him who was overcome by illusion [Dhritarâshthra]. (9) Also Lord Krishna, when He on the plea of Arjuna came for them into the assembly as the teacher of the world, was, with His words as good as nectar, of all men of sense by the king not taken seriously in the dwindling of the last of their piety.

(10) When [formerly] called to the palace Vidura entered there for consultation upon the request of of course the elder brother [Dhritarâshthra] and the advice that he then gave was exactly suitable for what the ministers of state with his instructions knew to appreciate: (11) 'Return now the legitimate share to the one who has no enemy [Yudhishthhira] who was so forbearing to your unbearable offenses together with his younger brothers, of which we know Bhîma of anger wrathful like a snake and of whom you verily should be afraid. (12) The sons of Prithâ have now been taken in by the Supreme Lord of Liberation who, together with the brahmins and the godly, is now here along with His family, the worshipful Yadu dynasty, that conquered with Him an unlimited amount of kings. (13) He [Duryodhana], this offense in person, stepped, with the idea of him as your son, forward in your household as an enemy of the Original One, while he, bereft of all goodness, opposes Krishna - that inauspiciousness you must, for the sake of the family, give up as soon as possible.'

(14) After Vidura spoke thus he was there addressed by Duryodhana who, swollen with anger and with trembling lips, insulted the respectable one of good qualities in the company of Karna, his younger brothers and S'akuni [a maternal uncle]: (15) 'Who asked him to be here, this crooked son of a mistress, who grew up living on the subsistence of those with whom he's taking the position of an enemy spy? Throw him immediately out of the palace to be left with his breath only!' (16) Vidura on his turn consequently put his bow at the door and left the palace of his brother, being afflicted in the core of his heart with the external energy; but despite of these to the ear so severe arrows, about which he didn't feel sorry, he felt great.

(17) After having left the Kauravas and leaving Hastinâpura, achieved he the piety of the Supreme Lord in taking shelter in pilgrimages, desiring only the high grade of devotion as established by all those thousands of idols. (18) He traveled to holy places of devotion where the air, the hills and the orchards, waters, rivers and lakes are pure with temples decorated with the forms of the Unlimited. Thus he proceeded alone through the holy lands. (19) Traversing the earth pure and independent, he was sanctified by the ground he slept on and without his familiar dress one could not recognize him, for he was dressed like a mendicant performing to the vows to please the Lord. (20) Traveling this way through India only, he came to the holy land of Prabhâsa, which at the time was under the reign of King Yudhishthhira who by the mercy of the Invincible Lord ruled the world under one military force and flag [see 1-13]. (21) There he heard how all his kinsmen had perished [at Kurukshetra] in violent passion like a bamboo forest burned of igniting through its own friction, upon which he, silent with his thoughts, went westward towards the river Sarasvatî. (22) There at the bank of the river he visited and duly worshiped the holy places called Trita, Us'anâ, Manu, Prithu, Agni, Asita, Vâyu, Sudâsa, Go, Guha and S'râddhadeva. (23) There were also other places there established by the godly twice-born and devotees of the various forms of Lord Vishnu, who, as the chief, marked each and every part of the temples - which already seen from a distance reminded one of Lord Krishna. (24) From there passing through the wealthy kingdom of Surat, Sauvîra and Kurujâñgala (west of India), did he, as he after some time reached the Yamunâ river, also happen to see Uddhava, the Supreme Lord His greatest devotee [see Canto 11].

(25) He embraced the sober and gentle constant companion of Vâsudeva who was formerly a student of Brihaspati, the master of all ritual, and with great love and affection he questioned him about the family of the Supreme Lord: (26) 'Are the original personalities of Godhead [Krishna & Balarâma], who, on the request of the Creator who was born from the lotus, descended in the world for the elevation and well-being of everyone, all well in the house of S'ûrasena [the father of Queen Kuntî, aunt Prithâ]? (27) And, o Uddhava, is our greatest Kuru and brother-in-law, Vasudeva [the father of Lord Krishna] happy, who is truly like a father to his sisters and so generous in providing his wives to their pleasure with everything they desire? (28) Please, tell me whether the military commander-in-chief of the Yadus, Pradyumna, is all happy, o Uddhava - he was in his previous life the god of love and is now the great hero whom Rukminî bore as prince from the Supreme Lord after pleasing the brahmins. (29) And is Ugrasena all well, the king of the Sâtvatas of the Vrishni family from the Das'ârha race in the Bhoja-dynasty? He is the one to whom Lord Krishna restored the hope of the throne after he had to give it up being put at a distance [because of uncle Kamsa's reign]. (30) O grave one, is the son of the Lord, Sâmba, faring well? He, the foremost and best behaved among the warriors, is so much alike Him. Jâmbavatî [another wife of Krishna] so rich in her vows gave birth to after his previous life as the godly Kârttikeya who was born unto the wife of S'iva? (31) And how is Yuyudhâna [Sâtyaki], he who learned from Arjuna and achieved as one understanding the intricacies of the military art and as well surely of service attained to the destination of the Transcendental that even by the great renouncers is so difficult to achieve? (32) And the well learned faultless son of S'vaphalka, Akrûra, how is he - he is the one who in his surrender on the path of Krishna's lotus feet fell in the dust showing symptoms of transcendental love having lost his equilibrium. (33) Is everything well with the daughter of King Devaka-Bhoja; the way from the Vedas came about the purpose of sacrifice did she [Devakî], just like the mother of the demigods [Aditi] who gave birth to the Godhead, give birth to Vishnu. (34) And is also He, the Personality of Godhead all happy who of you all is the one devotee that is the source of all desires, Aniruddha, who from a long time past is accepted as the birth channel of the Rig-Veda, the creator of mind and the transcendental fourth plenary expansion of the Reality Principle [Vishnu-tattva]? (35) And o sober one, are others like Hridîka, Cârudeshna, Gada and the son of Satyabhâmâ, who accept the Divine of their own self as the soul in following with absolute faith, also all well passing their time?

(36) Does Yudhishthhira, heartening the principles of humanity, maintain the respect of religion under the protection of the arms of Arjuna and the Infallible One, which, with the opulence of his royal entourage and the service of Arjuna, so envied Duryodhana? (37) And did the unconquerable Bhîma, who is like a cobra, release his long-cherished anger upon the sinners? The battlefield could not bear his tread on the path of the wonderful play of his club. (38) Arjuna, the famous one among the chariot warriors with his bow the Gândîva who vanquished so many enemies, is he doing well? Once he satisfied Lord S'ivacovering him with arrows when S'ivaunrecognizable presented himself as a false hunter. (39) And do the twin sons of Prithâ [Nakula and Sahadeva] play carelessly who protected as they are by their brothers as the eyelids do the eyes in their snatching back their own property in the fight with the enemy like Garuda [the carrier of Vishnu] did [with the nectar] from the mouth of Indra? (40) O dear one, is Prithâ still alive; she dedicated her life to the care for the fatherless children, living without King Pându, who alone as a commanding warrior could conquer the four directions with a second bow only.

(41) O gentle one, I am just lamenting him [Dhritarâshthra] who sliding down upon his brother's [Pându's] death revolted and drove me, his well-wisher, out of my own house in adopting the same line of action as his sons. (42) Therefore I travel without being recognized by the eyes of the common man through this world of the Lord, which is so bewildering for others to manage, to the grace of His feet, which I never missed to see being doubtless in this matter. (43) Of course, to the kings going astray out of the three kinds of false pride [from the hindrances of the self, others and the wordly influence] who constantly agitated the earth through the movement of their troops, He, being the Supreme Lord of the Kurus and willing to relieve the distress of the surrendered, waited to kill them despite of their offenses. (44) The appearance of the Unborn One, the One without any obligation in the world, is there to put an end to the upstarts so that each may understand; what other purpose would serve His taking up a body and all kinds of karma? (45) O my friend, sing the glories of the Lord of all the sacred places who for the interest of the unborn was born in the family of the Yadus and to whom all rulers of the universe surrendered in the control of His own Self.

(1) S'uka said: 'The great devotee [Uddhava] questioned by Vidura about what could be said regarding the dearest, at first, eager as he was, could not reply because of his great anxiety at the remembrance of the Lord. (2) He was someone who in his childhood five years old, being called by his mother for breakfast, didn't like to have it because he was absorbed in the play of service [of Lord Krishna]. (3) That way Uddhava grew up in service and in the course of time it had never slackened; when he was just asked to tell about Him, he remembered everything of the Lord His lotus feet. (4) For a moment he fell dead silent by the nectar of the Lord His feet; strong as he was and well matured in the union of devotion, he became fully absorbed in the love of its goodness. (5) Every part of his body showed the signs of transcendental ecstasy and with his checking the tears from his eyes out of missing Him, Vidura could see that he had fully assimilated His extensive love. (6) Slowly He came back down to earth from the abode of the Lord and wiping his tears away Uddhava spoke affectionately to Vidura from all those recollections.'

(7) Uddhava said: 'The sun of Krishna has set being swallowed by the great snake of what is the past. What else can I say about our well-being with the disappearance of the house of my family? (8) How unfortunate is this world and especially the Yadu dynasty who living together didn't recognize the Lord any more than the fishes do recognize the moon. (9) Well acquainted with the knowledge and highly experienced, His own men were His devotees who relaxed with Him as the head of the family and could [only] think of Him as He who was behind everything. (10) The outer illusion of the Godhead infected all those and others who took to the untrue with the bewilderment of their intelligence - but the words of those never do work that way in the souls of the ones in full surrender to the Lord. (11) By exhibiting Himself to persons that went without penance and the fulfillment of ideals He took to the feat of His disappearance, withdrawing His own form from public vision. (12) His perishable was just suitable for His pastimes that demonstrated the power of His inner magic which lead to the discovery of His wonders, His supreme opulence and the ultimate ornament of ornaments of His feet.

(13) It is the form which certainly of King Yudhishthhira's royal sacrifice [râjasûya] became the sight pleasing the sum total of the three worlds, by which He, taking the position of normal people in the material world, thus today in the world has surpassed the contemplated intelligence [Brahmâ]. (14) After having obtained the attachment to Him, that was powered by laughter, funny games and glances, the anguished damsels of Vraja who had followed Him with their eyes, indeed sat in silent contemplation without completing their household duties. (15) For the devotees harassed by others who live to the material conception, appears the Unborn one, the all-compassionate Lord and controller of the spiritual and material, accompanied by the complete of His association, as the Supreme Lord like He is fire.

(16) With this bewildering birth of the unborn I am distressed about how from the home of Vasudeva he lived in Vraja as if He feared the enemy [uncle Kamsa] and how He, the unlimitedly powerful one, fled from Mathurâ city [the capital where Krishna resided after defeating Kamsa]. (17) It hurts me in my heart to think of this what He said in worship of the feet of His parents: 'O mother, o father, in great fear of Kamsa we failed in our service, please be pleased with us!' (18) Who now, once having the dust of His lotus feet in his nose, is able to forget Him who by the mere raising of His eyebrows gave the deathblow to the burden of the earth? (19) Of course, you from your own good self could see how during Yudhishthhira's royal sacrifice the king of Cedi [S'is'upâla] despite of being envious of Krishna, attained to the perfection which to its full is verily desired by the yogis who by their yoga can bear to be separated from Him. (20) And also others, who certainly were fighters in the human society and who saw Krishna's very pleasing lotus-like face and eyes on the battlefield that was purified by Arjuna's arrows, have achieved His heavenly abode. (21) He is none but the unique and greater Lord of the threefold reality by whose independence supreme fortune is achieved and to whose feet all desires with their millions of helmets bow in the worship with all paraphernalia as led by the eternal maintainers of order. (22) As servitors in His service it of course causes us therefore pain, o Vidura, how He before King Ugrasena [the one ruled out by Kamsa], who was sitting on his throne awaiting, submitted Himself saying: 'O my Lord, please see it this way'.

(23) Alas, to the shelter of whom else shall I take who would assure a greater mercy than He who, despite of the unfaithful of the she-devil [Pûtanâ] that in envy poisoned her breast deadly for nourishing, granted her the position of a mother? (24) I think that the opponents inimical towards the Lord of the threefold, are great devotees in their being preoccupied with the fight, as they could see Him on His carrier [Garuda, the son of Târkshya - Kas'yapa] coming forward with His wheel. (25) Born of Devakî in the jailhouse of the king of Bhoja [Kamsa], the Supreme Lord came to bring welfare on earth as being prayed for [by the Creator]. (26) Thereafter He was brought to the cow-pastures of His [foster] father Nanda, where He out of fear for Kamsa, together with Baladeva [Balarâma] was kept for eleven years like one covers a flame. (27) Surrounded by cowherd boys and herding calves the Almighty roamed the shores of the Yamunâ through the gardens that vibrated the chirping of heavenly birds in their many trees. (28) In the display of His youth activities could He only be appreciated by the inhabitants of Vraja, the land of Vrindâvana, where He just like other kids cried and laughed and was struck with wonder looking like a lion cub. (29) Certainly being the love of the wealth of cows and the reservoir of beauty, He, while tending them beauties, enlivened the cowherdboys by playing His flute. (30) The great wizards engaged by the King of Bhoja to take any form they liked were in the course of His pastimes, just like a child playing with dolls, killed by Him on their approach. (31) [To help the inhabitants of Vrindâvana] being perplexed by the great trouble of drinking poison [from the snake Kâliya in the Yamunâ], He subdued the chief of the reptiles and after coming out of the water He caused the cows to drink it to prove it natural again. (32) Desiring the proper use of the wealth of Nanda, the king of the cowherds his opulence, He with the help of the brahmins lead them to perform the worship of the cows and the land [instead of Indra]. (33) Indra angry on being insulted highly perturbed made heavy rains pour down on Vraja from which the cowherds were protected by the merciful Lord with His pastime of the [Govardhana] hill that served as an umbrella, o sober Vidura. (34) In autumn thought He, in the night brightened by moonshine, it pleasing to sing songs to enjoy the women, being the beauty in their midst.'

(1) Uddhava said: 'After that time when the Lord came to the city of Mathurâ, He wished His parents all well [freeing them from imprisonment], after together with Baladeva having dragged down from the throne the leader of public enmity [Kamsa] and having killed him by pulling him to the ground with great strength. (2) He learned all of the Vedas after only once having heard about them, having studied them in detail under the instruction of His teacher Sândîpani Muni, whom He rewarded the benediction of bringing back his own deceased son from the region of the departed souls [Yamaloka] that is within. (3) Invited by the daughter of King Bhîshmaka [Rukminî], all those who according custom were candidates to marry her and likewise had come expecting that fortune, Lord Krishna took away His own share by carrying her away like Garuda does with the feet of the Lord on his head. (4) In an open competition for the selection of the bridegroom for Princess Nâgnajitî He subdued seven wild bulls and won her hand, but the fools who nevertheless wanted her in their disappointment, He killed and wounded without getting hurt Himself, well equipped as He was with all weapons. (5) Because of the fact that He, like an ordinary living being just tried to please His dear wife, who wished that He brought the pârijâta flower shrub [from heaven], went Indra the King of Heaven with all his strength against Him, being blind of anger, henpecked of course by his own wives.

(6) The son of Narakâsura who physically wanted to rule the sky was killed by His Sudars'ana Cakra [the disc], but being prayed for by mother earth, He returned what was taken from him to his son and then entered his house. (7) There all the princesses that were kidnapped by the demon, upon seeing the Lord, the friend of the distressed, at once got up from there and accepted Him joyfully and shy in the attachment of their eager glances. (8) He accepted the hands of all women at the same time, although they lived in different apartments, with perfect ritual matching with them exactly through His internal potency. (9) Desiring to expand Himself, from each and every one of them He begot about ten children that were all alike Himself in all respects.

(10) Kâlayavana, the king of Magadha [Jarâsandha], King S'âlva and others who with their soldiers had surrounded Mathurâ, He, personally proving the power of His kind, did not kill. (11) Of S'ambara, Dvivida, Bâna, Mura, Balvala and others like Dantavakra and assorted as well, He killed some, while others He caused to be killed [by Balarâma e.g.].

(12) Thereafter were of both parties of the nephews in the battle of Kurukshetra the kings killed of whom the earth shook by the strength of their traversing. (13) He did not take pleasure in the sight of seeing Karna, Duhs'âsana and Saubala, who were bereft of fortune and lifespan by the ill advice of Duryodhana, with their followers and all of their power lying down with broken limbs. (14) 'What is this', the Lord said when with the help of Bhîshma, Drona, Arjuna and Bhîma and eighteen akshauhinîs [an army consisting of ten anikinis, or 21.870 elephants, 21.870 chariots, 65.610 horses, and 109.350 foot soldiers] He had abated the earth's enormous burden, 'There is still the unbearable of the great strength of the Yadu dynasty. (15) They will disappear when, intoxicated from drinking, a quarrel among them will take place which turns their eyes red like copper; there is no other alternative to ensure this on My disappearance.' (16) Thus thinking to Himself the Supreme Lord installed Yudhishthhira to his own kingdom, gladdening His friends by indicating the path of the saints.

(17) The descendant of Pûru [Parîkchit] conceived from the womb of Uttarâ by the hero Abhimanyu, surely would have been burnt by the weapon of the son of Drona if the Supreme Lord hadn't averted it protecting him [see S.B. 1: 7 & 8]. (18) The Almighty induced the son of Dharma [Yudhishthhira] to perform also three horse sacrifices and with that assisted by his brothers he protected and enjoyed the earth as a constant follower of Krishna.

(19) The Supreme Lord and Supersoul of the Universe customarily following the path of Vedic principles, enjoyed the lusts of life in the city of Dvârakâ, without, conform to the analytical of yoga [Sânkhya], getting attached. (20) Gentle and with His sweet glances and words compared to nectar, He, with His flawless character, resided there in fortune by His transcendental body. (21) He, pleasing the Yadus, enjoyed this earth and certainly also the other worlds, in the leisure of the night with the women, being of friendship in conjugal love. (22) Thus, for many many years, He enjoyed household life to the [sensual] union of which His detachment awakened. (23) Like with Himself, is the enjoyment of the senses of whatever living entity controlled by the divine, in which one can have faith through joining oneself in the service of the Lord of Yoga.

(24) In the city of Dvârakâ once the princely descendants of Yadu and Bhoja had been sporting and thus had angered the wise who then cursed them as was desired by the Supreme Lord. (25) A few months later the descendants of Vrishni, Bhoja and others like the sons of Andhaka went, bewildered by Krishna, to the place of pilgrimage called Prabhâsa with great pleasure. (26) There they took a bath and also were sure to offer by that water their respects to their forefathers, the gods and the great sages. Then they gave in royal charity cows to the brahmins. (27) For their livelihood they also provided them with gold, gold coins, bedding, clothing, seatcovers, blankets, horses, chariots, elephants, girls and land. (28) After supplying the brahmins with highly delicious food that was first offered to the Supreme Lord, the valiant representatives offered, for the sake of their good life, the cows and the brahmins their obeisances by touching the ground with their heads.

(1) Uddhava said: 'After, with the permission of the brahmins, partaking of the offerings they [the Yadus] drank liquor of which they spoilt their minds and touched each others hearts with harsh words. (2) At sunset, they who lost their balance of mind because of the faults of that intoxication, saw the destruction of the bamboos [with which they started fighting oneother] take place. (3) The Supreme Lord, who from His internal potency foresaw the end, went to the river the Sarasvatî and after sipping water He sat down underneath a tree. (4) I was told by the Lord of the Surrendered who vanquishes all distress, that indeed I should go to Badarikâs'rama to see you about Him who desired to destroy His own family. (5) Yet in spite of His wish did I, o subduer of the enemy [Vidura], follow the Master not able to bear the being separated from His lotus feet. (6) I saw Him, He who doesn't need to take shelter, my Patron and Master, sitting alone thinking deeply, taking shelter of the goddess at that riverbank. (7) Beautiful with His blackish color, of pure goodness and peaceful with His reddish eyes, He could be recognized as having four arms and yellow silken garments [Vishnu]. (8) Resting with His right foot on His thigh against a young banyan tree He looked quite cheerful having left His household comforts.

(9) At that time [Maitreya,] a great devotee and follower of Krishna Dvaipâyana Vyâsa [Vyâsadeva], a well-wisher and friend traveling the three worlds, on his own accord [also] arrived at that place. (10) As the sage, attached to Him bent over in a pleasing attitude, with rapt attention was listening, allowed He, with kind glances and smiles, me to rest and spoke He to me. (11) The Supreme Lord said: 'I know from within what you desired in the days of yore when the wealthy ones who built this world were sacrificing. I give you that which by others is so difficult to achieve, o wealthy one: the association with Me you desire as the ultimate goal of life. (12) This life now is of all your incarnations, o honest one, the ultimate one because you achieved My mercy; as it is because of Me that, in the seclusion of quitting the worlds of man, you came to see what you saw in your unflinching devotion [viz. Vaikunthha]. (13) Long ago, in the beginning of creation, I told Brahmâ on the lotus that came out of My navel of the knowledge of the supreme of My transcendental glories, clarifying that which the theists call the Bhâgavatam.'

(14) Thus being favored by His addressing me, I at each instant being the object of the Supreme Personality His mercy, out of my own affection saw my hairs standing on end and with my eyes hazy of smearing my tears, I with folded hands said: (15) 'O my Lord, for those who live to Your feet, which are so difficult to obtain, it is in this world all a matter of the four goals of life [dharma, artha, kâma, moksha; religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation], but yet I have no preference for them, o Great One, as I am anxious to serve Your lotus feet only. (16) Although without desires You engage in all kinds of activities, although unborn You still take birth, although the controller of eternal time, You take shelter of the fortress out of fear for Your enemies and although You enjoy in Yourself, You lead a household life in the association of women; this bewilders the intelligence of the learned in this world. (17) You are never divided under the influence of time, yet do You, in Your eternal intelligence o Master, call me in for consultation, as if You are bewildered while that is never so; that is boggling my mind, o Lord. (18) If You deem me sufficiently competent, then please, my Lord, tell me in detail about the sum total of the knowledge, the mystery and supreme enlightening of Your own Self, the way You told it Brahmâjî, as the Supreme Lord for crossing over the ocean of miseries.'

(19) Thus being prayed to by me from the core of my heart, He, the lotus-eyed Supreme Lord of the beyond, instructed me on His transcendental situation. (20) So have I thus, under the instruction of the Master, worshiped and studied the reality of the soul, understanding the path by respecting His lotus feet and did I, after circumambulating Him, reach this place with sadness in my heart due to being separated. (21) Thus, my best one [Vidura], I am now in pain without the pleasure of seeing Him and will go, as instructed by Him, to Badarikâs'rama [in the Himalayas] for association. (22) There did Nârâyana, in the incarnation of His humanity and Supreme Lordship [Nara and Nârâyana], as a sage amiable to everyone severe penance for a long time for the welfare of all living beings.'

(23) S'rî S'uka said: 'Hearing from Uddhava about the unbearable of the annihilation of his friends and relatives, the learned Vidura pacified, by means of transcendental knowledge, his rising bereavement. (24) As the great devotee of the Lord and best among the Kauravas was leaving, submitted Vidura in confidence the following to the chief in the devotional service of Krishna. (25) Vidura said: 'The Lord of Yoga enlightened you on the mystery of the transcendental knowledge of one's own soul - now of your own good self please tell it to me for the reason of being worth of Vishnu and the servants who wander for the interest of others.' (26) Uddhava then said: 'Turn yourself to the worshipable sage, the son of Kushâru [Maitreya] who stays nearby and who was directly instructed by the Supreme Lord while quitting the mortal world.

(27) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus discussing with Vidura the nectar of the Universal Person His qualities, he was greatly overwhelmed thereof at the bank of the Sarasvatî river and after passing the night that way as in a moment, the son of Aupagava went away.'

(28) The king [Parîkchit] asked: 'How could it be that after the destruction that came over the Vrishni and Bhoja dynasty, the great leader in command among them, the prominent Uddhava was the only one to remain after the Lord completed His pastimes as the Master over the three worlds?

(29) S'rî S'uka said: 'The cursing of the brahmins [of the Yadu dynasty] was only a plea, factually it was the [Lord His] unfailing desire to end the excess of His own family after which He gave up His universal appearance and thought to Himself: (30) 'Having disappeared from this world the knowledge of Myself and My shelter will certainly befall Uddhava directly, who is at present the foremost of the devotees. (31) Uddhava is not in the least inferior to Me as he is never affected by the material modes and therefore, as the master of the knowledge of Me, may remain to disseminate it in this world'. (32) Thus being perfectly taught by the spiritual master and source of all Vedic knowledge of the three worlds he [Uddhava] reached Badarikâs'rama and was he happy in being absorbed in the Lord. (33) Vidura also heard from Uddhava about how Krishna, the Supersoul, extraordinarily assumed a form for the ways of the world and also most gloriously worked Himself above it. (34) His entering the body is for as well the persevering great sages as for others very difficult to understand and for the beastly ones simply a mental disturbance. (35) This was also true for himself, o best amongst the Kurus, when he thought of how Krishna had remembered him, and with the Fortunate One having left, cried he out loud overwhelmed by the joy of ecstasy.

(36) O best of the Bharatas, Vidura thus having passed his days on the bank of the Yamunâ [see 3: 1.24], thereafter reached the holy waters of the Ganges where he, the son of Mitra [in the sense of being the incarnation of Yamarâja as the son of a s'ûdra, see 1.13: 15], met the sage Maitreya.

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'At the source of the celestial river [the Ganges], the best of the Kurus, Vidura who had come closer to the Infallible One, sat before Maitreya Muni, whose knowledge was fathomless, and with perfect respect he politely inquired from his satisfaction in transcendence. (2) Vidura said: 'For the sake of happiness everyone in this world engages in fruitive activities, but by those activities one never attains to happiness or another idea of contentment, on the contrary, one certainly finds misery that way. Please, o great one, kindly enlighten us on what would be the right course under which circumstances. (3) Because of their compassion towards the common man, who turned his face against Lord Krishna and who under the influence of the material world is always unhappy in neglect of his duties to God, the great souls of sacrifice wander around for the sake of the Lord of the three worlds. (4) Therefore o greatest among the saints, please instruct me on the path that is favorable for our serving perfectly the Supreme Lord who, residing in the heart of the living being, awards the unalloyed devotee the knowledge of the primary reality by which one learns from history [the Veda]. (5) How does the selfsufficient Supreme Lord and ruler of the three worlds, although desireless, by accepting incarnations arrange, through His transcendental activities in the created universe, the regulative principles for its maintenance? (6) How can He, turning back to His form in the universe, lie down within it without concerns about His existence as the Lord of Unification that is the one and only original proprietor after whom innumerable others enter existence likewise? (7) Why is it that, manifesting His pastimes for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the devoted ones, and with His operating in different incarnations, the mind is never satisfied in spite of continuously hearing about the underlying auspicious characteristics of the Lord? (8) By the reality of which differentiation does the King of all kings and worlds from the lowest on, together with them, plan therein for certain the existence as it appears to be of the living entities in their different occupations? (9) And, please describe to us, o chief among the brahmins, how the Lord of man, Nârâyana, did settle, for those who are born, the differentiation of their engagements, their specific forms as also their dispersed cultures.

(10) O my Lord, I heard from the mouth of Vyâsadeva repeatedly about the higher and lower of these occupations, but I am little satisfied about the happiness derived from that without hearing the nectar of the talks about Krishna. (11) Who can find satisfaction [without the nectar]; from the talks entering one's ears about the journey for the feet, is, by the One who in human society is worshiped so by the great devotees, a man's bondage by the affection for his family cut off! (12) The sage Krishna Dvaipâyana Vyâsa, who is your friend too, has described the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord in the Mahâbhârata, which is just there to draw the attention of the people that take pleasure in attending to worldly topics towards the stories of the Lord. (13) That interest of belief will bring about indifference to other things; the one in constant remembrance of the Lord His feet has achieved the bliss that vanquishes all miseries without delay. (14) I pity all those ignorant pitiable of the pitiable who of their sins are in decay of vigilance towards God and who waste the length of their lives with useless philosophical exercises, imaginative ultimate goals and a diversity of rituals. (15) Therefore, o Maitreya, heartening the good fortune of everyone, please describe to us of all topics the essence: the talks about the Lord that like the nectar of flowers are the glorious of pilgering. (16) Please recite all pertaining to the transcendental superhuman activities accomplished by the Lord who, through His acceptance of incarnations, centers on the maintenance of the created of His universe. '

(17) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus did, as requested, the great sage His lordship Maitreya Vidura the great honor to expound on this to him for the ultimate welfare of all. (18) S'rî Maitreya said: ' All blessings to you, o good one, your questioning me for the sake of all is proof of the goodness of your mercy to broadcast the glories of the soul in the Transcendental of the mind in this world. (19) It does not astonish me to find you in this, without deviation of thought, in acceptance of the Supreme Personality our Lord, o Vidura, as you were born from the semen of Vyâsa. (20) You are the one born from the curse of the powerful sage Mândavya Muni as the incarnation of Yamarâja, the controller of death, from the maidservant of the brother [Vicitravîrya] and the son [Vyâsadeva] of Satyavatî [see family tree]. (21) You, your goodness, are recognized as one of the eternal associates of the Supreme Lord, who, on His return to His abode, has given me the knowledge and order to instruct you. (22) Therefore I shall describe to you systematically the pastimes pertaining to the Supreme Lord His greatly extended external energy for the maintenance, creation and dissolution of the cosmic reality.

(23) The one and Supreme Lord was there prior to the creation as the soul of the living entities mastering the self, and, being merged in its longing, He is seen as being different with different characteristics. (24) At that time was He, with all of these, not seen as the undisputed proprietor in the cosmic creation and was He thought to be nonexistent with His plenary portions unmanifested to the power of His manifest internal potency. (25) The external energy is of the perfection of the seer, that is the Lord, seen as the power of the operation of cause and effect and is called mâyâ [or the deluding influence of matter], o fortunate one, of which the Almighty has constructed this world. (26) The Supreme Living Being, by the incarnation of the Original Person, which is the plenary expansion of the original soul, impregnated through the seeds of the living entities, under the influence of time, the external energy in being the Transcendence to the modes of mâyâ. (27) Thereafter came about, by the interaction of time, from the unmanifested, the sum total of unalloyed goodness that could root in the embodied to manifest the supreme light of complete universes. (28) That sum total - which must as well be considered a plenary expansion of the soul to the mode and time - differentiated, as the reservoir of the becoming entities, into the many different forms of the range of sight of the Personality of Godhead, and of this one saw the desire to create come into being.

(29) The great of the causal truth [mahat-tattva], transformed into the material reality of false ego, gave rise to effects, the material cause and the doer and thus sprouted, to the self its senses, the material ingredients of the three kinds of false ego known as the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance that one finds on the mental plane. (30) By the transformation of this reality was, in interaction with the mode of goodness, the mind generated and manifested itself through this interaction also the phenomenon of all the godly that are the source of material knowledge. (31) The senses are certainly of the mode of passion and so is that in most of the time also true for the applied knowledge and fruitive activities belonging to it. (32) From slowness then the subtle sense objects [of sound] were realized and from that may the ether be considered the symbolic representation of the Supreme Soul. (33) The Supreme Lord, as [cyclic] time mixing the external energy, glancing over the ether, created from the touch of contacting with the ether the air. (34) The air, also transformed by the extremely powerful ether then gave rise to the lightening [bio-electricity] of sense perception and thus the light of the world to see . (35) The interacting of the air and the glance of the Supreme with that electricity created, by the time mix of the material energy, the taste [of life] in water. (36) Electrified water subsequently, due to the transforming glancing over by the Supreme of the earth, achieved the quality of smell in the partial mixture of cyclic [eternal] time with the external energy.

(37) Understand that, beginning from the ether, all the material elements, and o gentle one, the great number of their superior and inferior qualities, are the finishing touch of the Supreme. (38) The godly of all these physical elements are part and parcel of Vishnu and are embodied as part and parcel of the cyclic of time to the external energy. Because of their different duties being not capable [of the complete] they utter fascinating prayers to the Lord. (39) The godly ones said: 'Our obeisances to Your lotus feet, o Lord, in distress we surrendered to them as they are the protecting umbrella offering the great sages shelter who, with force, completely do away with all the great miseries of material life. (40) O Father, because of the fact that in this material world, o Lord, the individual souls are always embarrassed by the three miseries [born from oneself, others and nature] they are never happy, but gaining to Your (Super-)soul, o Supreme One, to the shade of Your lotus feet, they are full of knowledge and find shelter. (41) At every step taking shelter of the feet of pilgrimage, they who search after Your lotus-like face find its protection carried by the wings of the Vedic hymns of the sages at the best of rivers [the Ganges], whose clarity of mind liberates one from the reactions to sin. (42) The meditation that with belief and from simply hearing, and in devotion as well, is cleansing the heart by the strength of the knowledge of detachment, obliges the pacified to go for the sanctuary of Your feet. (43) For the birth in, the fortitude with and internalization to the paining material reality, let us all take shelter of the incarnations of Your lotus feet that are the refuge, o Lord, that awards the courage of the devotees with remembrance. (44) Because of getting entangled and thus being of the material body in the mind of 'I' and 'mine', are we as persons immersed in undesirable eagerness and do we see You as being far from us although we are present in Your [Universal] body; let us therefore worship Your lotus feet, o Lord.(45) They [Your feet] are certainly there for the ones under the material influence who by their sense-perception are alienated from the internal vision, o Supreme One, and therefrom never see Your greatness, but to those who do see Your divine action there is the enjoyment of the transcendental. (46) O Lord, those who are of a serious attitude simply, by drinking the nectar of the talks, attain to enlightened devotional service, the full purport of renunciation and the intelligence in which they quickly achieve the spiritual sphere where there is no carelessness [Vaikunthha]. (47) For others of the transcendental realization of unifying by the strength of powerfully conquering over the material nature, You are also that one pacifying Original Person they enter into, but for them it is a lot of work whereas that is not so for the ones who serve You. (48) O Original One, therefore we are [now] all Yours; as for the sake of the creation of the world we were created one after another and in the past were separated by our own actions to the three modes and thus, in the network of our own pleasures, failed to manage in respect of You. (49) O Unborn One, direct us in our efforts of offering to You at the right time so that we can share as well the meals as the amenities for You and surely also all the ones we live with, and that we, with our sacrifices, therewith may enjoy the food in peace. (50) O Lord, You are of us, the God-conscious and our orders, the one and the same original founder; You o Lord, although You are unborn, are to the energy, the cause of the material modes and the activities indeed as the initiated seed for begetting the variety. (51) O Supreme Soul, tell us what we, who were all created from and for the totality of the cosmos, should do for You, and specifically grant us the vision of Your personal plan and the ability, o Lord, to work and act according our different departments [status-orientations and their transcendence].'

(1)The wise [Maitreya] said: 'Thus the Lord came to know that in the progress of the universal creations His own potency was in suspension because of their lack of order. [see 3.5.: 24] (2) At that time the supremely powerful potency all at once entered the twenty three elements [the five elements and their qualities, the five organs of action and the senses and the three forms of individual consciousness: mind, intelligence and ego; compare 2.4: 23] and was known as Kâlî, the goddess of destruction. (3) That entering later on of the Supreme Lord in the form of the force of matter, Kâlî, separately engaged all the living beings in work awakening them from their unconscious state to their karma. (4) Induced by the combination of the twenty-three principal ingredients the will of the Supreme thus awakened the activities by His personal plenary expansion of the Universal Form. (5) The Lord entering by a plenary portion of His own self [Kâlî] all the elements of creation, transformed that way into the forms that He came to in combination, in which all the moveable and immovable [of the creations] of the worlds finds its peace. (6) He, this Vishnu Hiranmaya, the original person, so spread Himself for a thousand celestial years [one such year is a 360 years to man] within the world residing in the water with all that was of His goodness.

(7) From the active soul full of potency that totality of the living energy of the gigantic form was sure to divide the divine self relative to itself as the oneness that relates to the three- and tenfold. (8) This certainly unlimited of the living entities their souls that are part of the Supersoul, is the first incarnation whereupon the aggregate of all those beings flourishes. (9) The gigantic form in three refers to the foundation of the self [of timespace, âdhyâtma], the foundation of the divinity [or the lotus of creation, the âdhidaiva], and the foundation of the world and its beings [the âdhibhûta], the tenfold refers to the [organs of the] lifeforce [or prâna: hands, feet, anus, the genitals, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, skin, mouth; brahma sûtra 2.4: 5-6], and the being one refers to the heart. (10) The remembrance of the entrusted beings of the Lord who prayed for Him as the Transcendence thus considered of the gigantic form the splendor that was there for their understanding. (11) Now listen to my description for you of how many embodiments of demigods therefore there were as the separated parts in this contemplation of His.

(12) From the mouth of His fire [Agni] thus were separated the local directors of material life and in their relating to the ideas of their own department the speech originated by which they express themselves. (13) Varuna, the godly one controlling the air separated himself as the palate from these worldly directors and entered of the Lord [His potency] the portion of the tongue and gave the living entity the expression in taste. (14) The two As'vinî Kumâras were separated as the two nostrils of Vishnu and by entering that position the respective experience of odors thereupon came into being [see also 2.1: 29 and 2.5: 30]. (15) As His eyes, the sun, the local ruler of light entered the gigantic of which to the forms the experience of the part of the eyesight came into being. (16) The skin separated of the gigantic form, as the local ruler of the air [Anila] and so entered as the part of the breathing of which the living entity is able to experience touch. (17) From the ears of the gigantic form then were separated the controllers to the original directions that entered with the principles of hearing by which the perfection of sound is experienced. (18) With the separate manifestation of the skin of the universal form the rulers of sensation and their departments entered of which by the hairs on the body [or the vegetation] the living entity experiences itching. (19) When the genitals of the gigantic form were being separated the first One [Brahmâ, the Prajâpati] came to his position and thus the part of the semen entered existence by which the beings experience the pleasure [of sex]. (20) The evacuation outlet separately manifested by which its local ruler with the name of Mitra entered with the part of the evacuation process [death] and thereof the living entity performs his passing of excrements. (21) To the separate manifestation of the hands of the gigantic form, Indra the ruler of the authentic [of heaven] came in existence with the part of the mercantile principles of which the living entity is transacting his business. (22) With the legs of the form that then came separately into being, the local rule of Vishnu entered with his own part of the power of movement by which the living being moves towards its destination. (23) With the intelligence of the universal separating itself, the Lord of the spoken word [the Veda] came into being as the controlling power that entered as that part of the intelligence by which the experience of understanding things could be realized. (24) Also the heart of the Universal Being was manifested separately as Candra, the rule of the moon, which entered as the controlling power over the part of the mental activity by which the living entity decides and transacts. (25) The ego of identifying with the [matter of the] universal form also separately manifested entering the position [as Rudra, Lord S'iva] with the part of the activities by which the living entity undertakes in objective actions. (26) When also the goodness separately manifested itself from the gigantic form, the control over the complete of the energy entered existence as the part of His consciousness by which the living entity cultivates specific knowledge.

(27) Of the head of the Universal Form with the heavenly worlds, the earth worlds as His legs and the interest of the sky from His abdomen, the reactions to the three modes came about by which the demigods and others manifest themselves. (28) In the excess of the mode of goodness the godly have been situated in the higher places whereas all those human beings who live by the nature of their passion are subordinated to them on earth. (29) All those who, in the excess to the third mode, of the nature [of slowness] are situated in between the two [of heaven and earth], belong by the sky of His navel to the population as associates of Rudra.

(30) The leaders to the Vedic wisdom, which generated from the mouth of the Universal Form, o chief of the Kuru dynasty, in their inclination towards the orders of society [the vocations] became the so-called brahmins, the recognized teachers or spiritual spokesmen. (31) Those who then manifested from the arms [of the gigantic form] were the followers [of the brahmins] in relation to the power of protection [the kshatriyas or rulers] who, as representatives of the Supreme Personality, deliver the other occupations from the mischief of disturbing societal elements. (32) From His thighs the Almighty, for the production and distribution of the means of livelihood, generated the mercantile community [the vais'yas] whose occupation it is to take charge of provisioning all men. (33) For perfecting the duties from the legs of the Supreme Lord was manifested the service to which the prime interest of the occupation of the laborers [s'ûdras] was generated by which the Lord is satisfied. (34) All these orders of society to the individual duties worship with the teachers themselves the Lord by whom, with faith and devotion, a soul along with its occupational duty gets purified.

(35) Who can estimate, o Vidura, the totality of this form of the divine operating Self of the Supreme Lord that manifested by the strength of the deluding material oneness [of His internal potency]? (36) Therefore do I, despite of this fact, describe, o brother, the intelligence as far as gathered from hearing about the glories of the Lord in talks of purity, otherwise the mind will turn to the untrue. (37) The Incomparable One is won by discussions about the Supreme Person His famous activities, which in their glorification are said to be as nectarine transcendence to the ear and which, being put in writing by the learned, also serve the real purpose of bringing one nearer. (38) The glories of the Supreme Soul were by the original poet [Brahmâ], my dear son, after a thousand celestial years known by an intelligence matured in meditation. (39) Therefore is that which is even for the manipulative an enchanting godly potency, also by the self-sufficient soul not known; and what to say of others? (40) Of whom we, unable to measure, have ceased to try with words and the mind, ego and all these other gods; Him, the Supreme Lord, we offer our respectful obeisances.

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus speaking with Maitreya Muni, the learned son of Dvaipâyana Vyâsa,Vidura, respectfully expressed a request. (2) Vidura said: 'O brahmin, how can of the Supreme Lord, although He is of the complete whole and the unchangeable, His pastimes take place of acting with the modes of nature while He Himself is outside of them? (3) Boys willing to play with other boys are enthused in the matter of playing, but how is that different for one who is self-satisfied and at all times detached? (4) The Supreme Lord gave rise to the universe endowed with its three modes; by the potency of her soul are all these maintained and again conversely dissolved as well. (5) How can He, the Pure Self whose consciousness, nor from Himself, nor from others nor by any time, place or situation is obscured, in the normal position of a living entity be associated with nescience? (6) The One Supreme Lord is situated in all these living entities; by what kind of actions is there either the misfortune or the obstruction of the living beings? (7) On this, o learned one, is, in distress of nescience, my mind causing me trouble and therefore, o great one, please clear the great impurity of my mind.'

(8) S'rî S'uka said: "He, this way urged by Vidura so anxious to find out about the reality, as a great sage acted as if wondered and then without hesitation God-consciously replied. (9) Maitreya said: 'Saying that of the Supreme Lord one is of illusion, that of the ever liberated of His Lordship there would be insufficiency or the idea of bondage, one becomes logically contradictory. (10) Of that kind of confusion of the identifying self of people one is thus bereft of meaning, which from the outside looks like if one's own head is being cut off. (11) The way because of the quality of water the moon reflected in it is trembling, offers the quality of the body, an illusory image to the seer differing from it. (12) In this existence does, in bhakti-yoga relating to the Fortunate One, indeed that [illusion] diminish gradually, when one by the mercy of Vâsudeva is engaged in detachment. (13) When the senses thus are satisfied with the observing soul that to the Lord finds engagement in transcendence, are the miseries completely vanquished as if one has enjoyed sound sleep. (14) If one can put an end to all kinds of misery by simply listening to the repeated explanations about the qualities of Murarî [Krishna as the enemy of Mura], what then again to say of the, to one's heart's desire, serving of the dust of His lotus feet?'

(15) Vidura said: 'O learned one, you're perfectly right in stating that [reasoning from] the deluding energy of the Lord is not the path for the soul to follow; it proves itself as meaningless without the basis of the Supreme root outside of which one misses the point. (16) All these explanations you gave are as good as they should be, o learned one, the self is not without the apparent meaning in being moved by the external of the Lord, as outside the origin of the Supreme there is no basis. (17) In this world the one slowest of understanding and the one of transcendental intelligence both enjoy in happiness while the persons in between do suffer. (18) Having aknowledged and being convinced of what is insubstantial, of that what is not the soul, am I, by the service of your feet, thus able to give up [the notion that one is in illusion because of the Lord]. (19) In serving the Personality of Godhead who is the unchangeable enemy of the demon Madhu, one develops, in different relationships [râsas] to the feet, the highly ecstatic that vanquishes distress. (20) Of those who are meager in their austerity it is certainly rarely seen that they are on the path of service towards the Kingdom of God [Vaikunthha] in which the Lord by the godly is always glorified as the controller of all living beings.

(21) After the creation of first the complete of the material energy, in a gradual process of differentiation [evolution] the universal form manifested along with its senses and organs in which later the Almighty entered [for His incarnations]. (22) He who is called the original person has thousands of limbs, legs and hands living in all the worlds of the universe according the evolution of each. (23) You explained how there are three kinds of life [to the modes] in which one has ten kinds of life force with the [five] senses and their [fivefold] interest, please describe now to me what the specific powers of the societal divisions are. (24) In these [divisions] has, with the sons, grandsons and family-members of the different generations, that prowess spread itself in the different forms of existence. (25) What were all the Manus [heads of the age], and also the generations that for certain followed, to which He was decided as the leader or the father of the living beings [the Prajâpati, or Brahmâ] of the generations, and what was their descend? (26) What worlds are there at the head and which earthly worlds are lying beneath, o son of Mitrâ; please describe what their situation is and what the extend of their worldly locations is. (27) Describe me the infrahuman, the human and the superhuman, as there are the generations and subdivisions of the ones born from the reptiles [or the birds], from wombs, from moist, from the twice-born and from the soil [the plants and vegetables]. (28) Kindly describe the incarnations to the modes of material nature for the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe and the magnanimous activities of the one Personality of Godhead who forms the ultimate shelter.

(29) What are to the respective divisions of the status-orientations to age and vocation in society the embodiments, the character and the births of the sages and their activities, and the divisions of the Veda in categories? (30) And of what sacrifices and ways are the expansions of the yogic capacity, o master, and what is the path of devotional service, in the nonmaterial interest and analytical study as well, of relating to the Personality of God with regulative principles? (31) The paths and imperfections of the faithless, they who go against the grain, and the situation and movements of the individual souls as many as there are to the modes and the types of work, what are they? (32) And what are the non-contradictory causes of religiosity, economic development, sense-gratification and salvation, what are the different means of livelihood, the codes of law, the scriptural injunctions and what are the different regulative principles? (33) How are the periodical offerings of respect regulated, o brahmin, to that what the forefathers have created and how are the timedurations settled to the planets, the stars and luminaries? (34) What may one expect from charity, penance and the endeavoring for reservoirs of water and how are the duties described for someone away from home and for a man in danger? (35) Please describe to me, o sinless one, how He as either the Supreme Person, the Father of the Religion, or the Controller of All, or as all of these can be satisfied completely. (36) O best among the brahmins, please describe the spiritual masters so kind to the needy, who tell their followers, their disciples and sons, even what they didn't ask for. (37) O supreme one, how many dissolutions are there for the elements of nature, who are they who in this are thereupon saved, and who are they who [of praise] may join in Him when He is asleep? (38) And what is the nature and identity of as well the individual person as of the Supreme, what is the leading motive of the Vedic wisdom and what moves the guru and his disciples? (39) How in the world is from a person his devotion as also his detachment, there the source of the self-sufficient spiritual knowledge as defended by the spotless devotees?

(40) All these questions I asked in the desire to know about the pastimes of the Lord; please answer them to me as a friend for those ignorant ones who lost their vision by the external energy. (41) All the Vedas, sacrifices, charities and penances, o spotless one, do for sure not even partially compare to the freedom from fear that an individual soul is offered by a person imparting the teaching [like you].

(42) S'rî S'uka said: 'He [Maitreya], the chief among the sages so well known with the stories [Purânas], thus being questioned by the chief of the Kurus was sufficiently satisfied and inspired and thus being stimulated on the topics about the Supreme Lord, he smilingly replied Vidura.'

(1) S'rî Maitreya said: 'The descendants of King Pûru are certainly worthy to serve the true because their kings are chiefly devoted to the Supreme Personality; and also with you who are born in this chain of devotional activity to the Invincible One, step by step there is constant renewal. (2) To that I will speak this Bhâgavatam, this Vedic supplement which was directly spoken to the wise by the Supreme Lord for the mitigation of the great distress of the human beings who experience so little happiness.

(3) The son of Brahmâ [Sanat-kumâra] inquired, heading the great sages [the four boy-saints, the Kumâras], just like you for the truth about the original Personality with Lord Sankarshana [the first plenary portion and companion of the Lord] who undeterred of knowledge resides at the basis of the Universe. (4) He thus situated for the meditation of Him who is greatly esteemed by the name of Vâsudeva had turned His vision inward, but for the advancement of the greatly learned sages He slightly opened His lotus-like eyes. (5) With the hairs on their heads wet from the water of the Ganges they touched the shelter of His lotus feet that are worshiped by the daughters of the serpent-king with great devotion and various paraphernalia in the desire for a good husband. (6) With words and great affection in rhythmic accord repeatedly glorifying the activities of the Lord, from the thousands of raised hoods [of Ananta, the serpent king] emanated the glowing effulgence of the valuable stones of their thousands of helmets. (7) It is said that He then of the purport of the Bhâgavatam spoke to Sanat-kumâra who had taken the vow of yoga and it was also told [on his turn by him] on request, o Vidura, to Sânkhyâyana who had also taken to the vow. (8) When the great sage Sânkhyâyana as the chief of the transcendentalists reciting this Bhâgavatam [thereafter] gave explanation, he was heard by the spiritual master Parâs'ara I followed as also by Brihaspati. (9) He [Parâs'ara] kindhearted told me, as was told him by the sage Pulastya, the foremost of the Purânas which also I shall speak to you, my dear son, as you are a follower that is always faithful.

(10) At the time the three worlds were submerged in the water was He therein laying down with nearly closed eyes on the snakebed Ananta and was He without any interest in the external actively enjoying His internal potency. (11) He, from within the body of transcendence kept the subtle of the material elements as the soul of time [kâla], giving life and energy from His own position of residing in the water, the way the power of fire is contained in firewood. (12) For a thousand times four yugas [4.32 billion years], He was asleep with His internal potency for the sake of the further development - by His own force called kâla [time] - of the whole world bound in fruitive action that made Him in His own body look bluish [as the resort of life-giving water]. (13) To the purpose of His internal attention for the subtle subject matter, there was in due course of time by the material activity of the modes of nature, the agitated [of the primal substance] that then generated very subtly [with organic forms] the piercing through of His abdomen [the ether]. (14) That bud of the lotus flower, generated from within, by time suddenly appeared, awakening the fruitive activities and, by its own effulgence, illuminating the vast waters of devastation like the sun.

(15) In that lotusflower that is the universe Vishnu in person entered as the reservoir of all the qualities of which, so one says, He in the past generated the person of Vedic wisdom, the controller of the universe or the self-born one. (16) And in that water situated on the whorl of the lotus the [Brahmâ of the] world was not able to see and so wandered around with spying eyes in the four directions thus achieving his heads ['the four heads' of Brahmâ]. (17) From there at the end of the yuga could, because of the air of devastation [thunder and lightening] from the whirl of the water, the mystery of creation situated on and sheltered by the lotusflower, in its astonishment not understand itself perfectly as being the first demigod [Brahmâ]. (18) 'Who am I, this one on top of the lotus? Where did this lotus come from? Surely there is something in the water below. Whether it sprouted of its own or not, it must belong to something else!' (19) He [Brahmâ] contemplating this way the lotusstem, by that channel in the water he entered, could not, despite of turning inward and thinking extensively about that stemming from the navel [of Vishnu], understand how it took birth of its own. (20) Because of looking in ignorance, o Vidura, came it thus contemplating the cause of the creation, to the dominance of three-dimensional [material or linear] time which to the embodied generates fearfulness and the diminishing of the lifespan to a hundred years in relating to the self-born and the wheel [s'is'umâra cakra or galactic] of eternal time [compare 2.2.: 24-25].

(21) Thereafter retiring from that endeavor without achieving what he desired, he came back to his own seat [or material position] where he as the demigod immediately sat down and withdrew his intelligence controlling the breath, self-assured absorbed in yoga. (22) In due course of time, he, the selfborn for his lifetime [a 'hundred years of Brahmâ', of which one day of 4.32 billion solar years has 1000 mahâyugas], developed in his meditation the intelligence that manifested out of its own in the heart, of which he saw what he couldn't see before. (23) On the bed of the completely white gigantic S'esha-nâga [snake] lotusflower the Original Person was lying alone under the umbrella of the serpent hood that was bedecked with head jewels of which by its rays the darkness in the water of devastation [the primal soup] dissipated. (24) The panorama derided the green and coral of the evening splendor of the sun and the great and golden of the mountain summits with their jewels of waterfalls and herbs, and so was the scenery of flowers and trees [but] the adornment of His hands and legs. (25) The length and width of the measurement of His transcendental presence covered the totality of the three worlds in all its variety with the beauty of the divine radiance of the ornaments that dressed His body.

(26) To the desire of the human being on the path of devotional service in worship of the lotus feet that reward with all what is longed for, He showed of those feet in His causeless mercy the moonlike shine of His toe- and fingernails that reveal the most beautiful [flowerlike] division. (27) From his facial expression answering to each his merit, bedazzles He, the vanquisher of the worldly distress, with His smiles and the decoration of His earrings, and with the rays reflected from His lips and His fine nose and eyebrows. (28) My dear Vidura, the waist was well decorated with a belt and cloth of a saffron color of kadamba flowers; there was a priceless necklace and on the chest there was the attractive S'rîvatsa mark [a few white hairs]. (29) The way trees in the world are self-situated and disseminate with thousands of branches their high value [of flowers and fruits] as if ornamented with precious jewels, so the Lord, the ruler of Ananta, [Garbhodakas'âyî Vishnu] is ornamented with the hoods over His shoulders. (30) The Supreme Lord as the mountain range forms the abode for what moves around and does not move with the friendship of Anantadeva who, from within the water bedecked with thousands of golden helmets, manifests as the peak of those mountains the Kaustubha [priceless jewel] in the ocean. (31) In the midst of that with the sweet sound of the beauty and the flower garlands of Vedic wisdom of His own glories [saw Brahmâ that] the Lord of the sun, the moon, the air and the fire was very difficult to reach, unapproachable as He was in His wandering around in the three worlds fighting for the duty. (32) So could it be that the godhead of the universe, the creator of destiny, was sure of seeing the navel of Him, the lake, the lotusflower, the soul its waters of destruction, its drying air and the sky; but he could not glance beyond the created of the cosmic manifestation. (33) He as the seed of worldly activities invigorated by the mode of passion with that vision thus prayed, with the [sensual] fivefold of the entities eager to procreate, to be creative after the worshipable transcendental on the path of the steadfast soul.

(1) Brahmâ said: 'Today, after a long time, I may know that the embodied beings that do not know You of Your ways as the Supreme Lord are not safe in this life. There is none beyond You, o my Lord, and anything that appears to be so can never be the absolute; You are the power because of which there is the mixture of the material energy. (2) That form, which is always free from material ignorance, came into being with the manifestation of Your internal potency for the sake of the devotees as the original incarnation in hundreds of forms and is the source of the lotus flower from which I myself originated. (3) O my Lord, beyond You I see no form that is superior to Your eternal form of bliss, that is without changes and deterioration of potency; You are the one and only Creator of the cosmic manifestation and the nonmaterial Supreme Soul itself; I who takes pride in the identification with the body and senses am surrendered to You. (4) That form, or however You make Your presence, is all-auspicious for the entire universe and benefits our meditation, and to You, Supreme Lord, who are the manifested for us devotees, I offer my obeisances; unto You I perform that which is neglected by persons who are heading for hell in their concern with material topics. (5) Those who inside only smell the aroma of Your lotus feet, through their ears hearing the sounds of devotional service, are in acceptance of the school of transcendence and for them, Your own devotees, there is never the separation of You from the lotus of their hearts, o Lord. (6) Till then there will be fear because of the wealth, the body and the relatives, and will the lamentation and desire as also the avarice and contempt be very great; till then, as long as the people of the world do not take to the shelter of Your safe lotus feet, will one, undertaking to the perishable notion of ownership, be full of anxieties. (7) How unfortunate are they who are bereft of the memory of Your topics; tied down by inauspiciousness and their senses turned against, they act to their desires finding happiness for only a brief moment: they are poor fellows whose minds are overwhelmed by greed and whose activities are full of stress. (8) Their always being troubled by [neurotic] hunger, thirst and their three humors [mucus, bile and wind], winter and summer, wind and rain and many other disturbances as also by a strong sexdrive and an inevitable anger, I see all together as most unbearable, o great actor - it aggrieves me a lot. (9) As long as a person, acting for sake of the senses under the influence of the material illusion, is faced with the being separated in a body, o Fortunate One, will such a one for that time, o Lord, not be able to overcome the cycle of repeated births in the material world; even though working for results has no factual meaning [to the soul], will it bring him endless miseries. (10) During the day they are engaged in stressful labor and at night they suffer insomnia because of their ruminations that break their intelligence and sleep constantly; the divine order frustrates their plans and also the wise, o my Lord, who turned against Your topics, stay around in this world. (11) Unto You cent percent united in devotion, with You residing on the lotus of their hearts, do the devotees who are on the path of hearing, o my Lord, see You, in the here and now, in Your causeless mercy manifesting Your very same transcendental form, according whatever each of them in his meditations thinks of You hymned by so many. (12) You're never that much pleased by the big arrangements with a lot of articles of high-class servants who are of worship with hearts full of all kinds of desires, for You, the variously percieved Unique One and Only Wellwisher, the Supersoul within the living entities, are there to show all living entities Your causeless mercy and cannot be achieved by those going for the temporal. (13) Therefore is it the people's worship which, with different fruitive activities, charities, difficult penances and transcendental service, is performed for simply pleasing You, the Fortunate One, that is the right course one at any time is fixed upon and never will die.

(14) Let me offer my obeisances unto You, who are this Supreme, who in enjoying pastimes in the matter of the cosmic creation, maintenance and destruction, for sure is distinguished by the glories of the eternal original form: all glory to the intelligence of the self-knowledge after Your transcendence of the illusory conception. (15) I take shelter of the Unborn One whose incarnations, transcendental qualities and activities are all mysterious; of Him whose names invoked at the time of leaving this life, even unconsciously, immediately for sure take away the accumulated sins of many, many lives and open up the way to immortality. (16) The one who indeed, with me and S'iva, as the Almighty personality and the cause of maintenance, creation and dissolution rooting in the soul, penetrated [this world] growing three trunks as the one and only to the many branches; unto Him, the Personality of Godhead, this tree of the planetary systems, my obeisances. (17) As long as the people of the world are engaged in unwanted activities and in the fixed acts of their own business are negligent of the by You pronounced beneficial activities, will the struggle for existence of these people be very tough and of the Vigilant One [of Time] all run straight into shambles; let there be My obeisances unto Him. (18) To You whom I also fear, although I exist in a place that lasts for two parârdhas [2 x 50 years, with one day and night being two times 4.32 billion earthly years: 311.04 trillion years] and are respected in all the worlds having undergone severe penances for many years for self-realization, I nevertheless offer My respectful obeisances my Lord, Supreme Personality and enjoyer of all sacrifices. (19) By the power of Your own will You project Yourself among the lower and the human beings, among the empowered ones and in the different species, performing transcendental pastimes in the desire to fulfill Your obligations, to which You are never under the material influence but for sure are manifesting Your divine form; my obeisances to that primeval Lord, the Supreme Personality. (20) In spite of having accepted the influence of the fivefold interaction of the senses, You remain unaffected and sleep lying down on the snakebed happy to be in touch within the waters of devastation with its violent waves - and that You do so for the maintenance of the different entities in Your abdomen, showing the chain of the intelligent Your happiness. (21) Unto Him of whom I, from the lotus house sprouting from the navel, manifested to assist Him, the worshipable one, in the creation of the three worlds; unto Him who has the universe in His abdomen and unto Him whose eyes are blossoming like lotuses after the end of the union of His sleep, my obeisances.

(22) Let He, the Lord of all universes, the one friend and philosopher, the Supersoul who by the mode of goodness gives happiness as the Supreme Lord of the six opulences [beauty, intelligence, penance, power, fame and wealth], for sure give Me the power of introspection so that I will be able to create as before this universe in surrender and love with Him. (23) To this benefactor of the surrendered soul, who [as Râma] enjoys with the Goddess of Fortune [Lakshmî] in whatever He may enact from His internal potency with the accepting of incarnations of goodness, I pray that I may create gifted with His omnipotency and that, in spite of the material affection of my heart engaged in the work, I will also be able to stop with all of it. (24) I pray that I, who was born from the lake of the Supreme Person His navel as the energy of the total universe to the manifestation of the variegatedness of the unlimitedly powerful of Him, may not lose sight of the soundvibrations of the Vedic truth. (25) And may He, the Supreme Lord who is unlimitedly merciful in His ultimate love and His smiles in opening His lotuseyes for the florishing and glory of the cosmic creation, with His sweet words as the oldest and Original Person lovingly remove our dejection.'

(26) Maitreya said: 'After thus regarding the source of His appearance in penance, knowledge and concentration of mind, as far as possible giving thought to the words of his prayer, he fell silent as if tired. (27-28) Madhusûdana [Krishna as the killer of Madhu] saw the sincerity of Brahmâ and his being sorrowful at heart about the devastating waters of the age. Seeing him sufficiently anxious about His science to the situation of the planet, He in deep thoughtful words spoke to him removing that way his anxiety.

(29) The Supreme Lord said: 'You who has the depth of all Vedic wisdom, do not despair on the endeavor of creation. What you have set yourselves to and pray for, I most sure have already granted before. (30) As before set yourself to penance and the principles of knowledge to be sure of My support and from those qualifications you will see all the worlds disclosed within your heart, o brahmin. (31) Then, when to the universe you are fully absorbed connected in devotion, you shall see Me as spread throughout, o Brahmâ, and that you, all the worlds and all beings, are part of Me. (32) The time that you see Me in all living entities and the universe the way fire is present in wood, then without doubt you'll be able to abandon the weakness. (33) When you have freed your soul from the material ideas of your senses under the influence of the modes, will you, thus seeing, find your pure in relating to Me and will you enjoy the spiritual kingdom. (34) With all the variety of service and the desire to expand the population innumerably, your soul will never be saddened; concerning you My causeless mercy will be forever. (35) You are the original sage; the vicious mode of passion will never encroach upon you because, despite of your generating progeny, your mind is always narrowed down to Me. (36) Although for the conditioned soul I am difficult to be known, I Myself am known today by you because you understand Me as not being made of matter, senses, modes and the bewilderment of the self. (37) To you, when you tried to figure Me out contemplating the source of the lotus through its stem in the water, I showed myself from within. (38) The prayers you did for Me, o Brahmâ, put into My words, enumerating My glories or the penance and your faith; consider all these as the result of My causeless mercy. (39) Let with all this that pleased Me, all benediction rest upon you, who in your desire prayed for the conquest of all the worlds by nicely describing My qualities and My being above them. (40) May whatever person, who regularly prays this way with these verses, of his worship very soon see all his desires fulfilled, for I am the Lord of all benediction. (41) By the good works, penances, sacrifices, charities and the absorbtion in yoga that are done in love for Me, will the human being find his ultimate success, so is the opinion of they who know the reality. (42) I am the Supersoul, the director of all other souls, the dearest being of all that is dear and certainly one should therefore direct all the attachment in which one's body and mind are so dear, towards Me. (43) With the command of your knowledge of the Veda and with your body that directly found its life from the Soul, now generate the lives, which also lie in Me, as it was done here before.

(44) Maitreya said: 'After thus instructing him, the creator of the universe, did the primeval original Lord in His personal form of Nârâyana disappear.'

(1) Vidura said: 'How many sorts did the grandfather of all creatures on this planet create to the body and mind of the Almighty after the disappearance of the Supreme Personality? (2) For the purpose of all that I asked you about, o powerful one, kindly describe all of them, o greatly learned one, from the beginning to the end and be so kind to remove all my doubts.' "

(3) Sûta said [see Canto 1]: "O son of Bhrigu [S'aunaka], the great sage, the son of Kusâra [Maitreya] thus enlivened by Vidura felt pleased and thus replied the questions from the core of his heart.

(4) Maitreya said: 'And so did Brahmâ perform for a hundred celestial years penances for the sake of the soul, engaging himself as was told to him by the unborn One, the Supreme Lord. (5) In that saw he, who was born from the lotus, that by the inherent power of the natural forces [eternal time] the wind separated the waters on which the lotus was situated. (6) By his penance he surely had won in transcendental knowledge and had matured in his self-awareness and practical knowledge, and with that power he took in the wind along with the water. (7) Then he saw how widespread the lotus was on which he was situated; from the action all the world that was previously submerged had now separated and was open to his creation, so he found. (8) Entering into that whorl of the lotus, in his activities encouraged by the Supreme Lord, he divided the one into three worlds and from that He could create the fourteen of them [see also 2.5.42]. (9) Concerning these the highest person in the universe had no other motivation than setting the duties all round to the mature stage of the interest of the individual localities where the souls had their living.

(10) Vidura said: 'You spoke to the variety of the different forms of the Lord, the wonderful actor, of the eternal of time, o brahmin; can you please describe to us what the factual appearance of it is, o Lord?'

(11) Maitreya said: 'It is the source of the interactions to the modes of nature, it is undivided and unlimited and the instrument of the Original Person who created the material life of the soul through His pastimes. (12) The phenomenal which for sure is there as the same energy of Vishnu, separated itself from the Spirit by the Supreme Lord in the form of time [kâla], which is considered His unmanifest [impersonal] feature. (13) As it is at present, so it was in the beginning and to the end it will also continue to be the same.

(14) There are nine types of creations: the three modes of matter [to prakriti: passion, goodness and ignorance], the three qualities to these modes [to vikriti: movement, knowledge and inertia], and the three types of annihllation which are then the material divisions of time [to kâla: the ascension of humans, the extinction of animals and the ending of the plants together with the universe]. (15) The first one [the mahat-tattva, of the goodness] is nothing but the total of creation that emanated from the Lord with the interacting of its three modes. The second one [of passion] is but the false ego of the awakened activities of the material ingredients and their interrelating. (16) The created of matter itself is the third kind [that of ignorance] that is only of sense perception to which fourth there is to the matter of the senses the practical basic of material knowledge. (17) The interaction to the mode of goodness gives the godly [of movement] to the material creation which with the sum total of mind forms the fifth kind to which sixth there is the darkness of creation [the inert of matter] that makes fools of masters. (18) Next to the first six creations of the material energy [of nature or the Lord] there are the secondary creations [of plant animal and man]; hear from me concerning those just about the the powerful one that is the incarnation of the mode of passion [Brahmâ] and about the pastimes of that brain of the Supreme Lord.

(19) The seventh principle of creation concerns six kinds of beings that do not move themselves: trees bearing fruit without flowers, plants and bushes that exist until the fruit has ripened, the creepers, the pipe-plants, creepers without support and fruit trees that do blossom. (20) Those [unmoving] beings seek their subsistence upwards, are almost unconscious with a mere feeling within and are of many varieties. (21) The eight creation are the species of lower animals, they are of twenty-eight different kinds and are considered to be without knowledge of destiny, of an extreme ignorance, of a discrimination by smell and of a poor memory of heart [conscience]. (22) O purest one, the cow, the goat, the buffalo, the antelope, the hog, the gavaya [a type of oxen], the deer, the sheep and the camel all have split hooves. (23) The ass, the horse, the mule, the gaura, the s'arabha-bison and the wild cow so have only one toe, o Vidura and just let me tell you now of the animals with five nails. (24) They are the dog, the jackal, the fox, the tiger, the cat, the rabbit, the sajâru-porcupine, the lion, the monkey, the elephant, the tortoise, the iguana ['four legged snake'], the alligator and others. (25) The heron, the vulture, the crane, the hawk, the bhâsa [another kind of vulture], the bhallûka, the peacock, the swan, the sârasa [indian crane], the cakravâka, the crow, the owl and others are the birds. (26) The ninth kind that [also] stocks its belly, o Vidura, is of one species: the humans; in them the mode of passion is very prominent, they are very busy to their misery but think themselves always happy.

(27) All these three creations as well as the demigods appearing with them [as the tenth], my dear one, are, as opposed to the previous ones [of the modes and the qualities] I described before, subjected to modifications [or evolution], but the sons of Brahmâ [the brahmins, the Kumâras] are of both [viz. evolving along but not changing in quality]. (28-29) The creation of the devoted ones is of eight kinds: (1) the demigods, (2) the forefathers, (3) the atheists, (4) the celestial beings, angels and the saints (5) the protectors and the giants (6) the celestial singers (7) the spirits guiding to the good and bad and the ones dwelling in heaven and (8) the superhuman beings and others. All the ten types of creation I described you, o Vidura, are created by Brahmâ, the creator of the universe. (30) Hereafter I will explain the different descendants of the Manus and that way how the Creator, infused with the mode of passion, in the different ages creates with an unfailing determination to the Lord who, from Himself as Himself, came by His own energy.

(1) Maitreya said: 'The ultimate truth of what shows itself in the many as the indivisible, should always be seen as the atomic from which the oneness of men is misunderstood. (2) Surely is, of the truth of physical bodies [of atoms] that keep the same form till the end of time, that which emancipates to the Supreme ever composed into unlimited forms. (3) And thus, to the subtle as well as the gross forms, can time be measured, my best, by the motion of the combination of atoms of which the Supreme unmanifest Lord is the great force controlling all physical action. (4) That eternal time of the atoms is ascertained by means of the entire aggregate of the space taken by the atoms in their non-dual existence [their expansion], which is the supreme or great of [cosmic] time.

(5) Three times the double of two atoms becomes a hexatom of which one is reminded by what can be known to lighten up in the fluid of one's eye [as a dust-particle], seeing it go up when one looks in the sky. (6) The time formed by the combination of three hexatoms [in their expanding to the space they take] is called a truthi [calculated as 1/16.875 of a second] of which