अर्जुन उवाच ।
वञ्चितोऽहं महाराज हरिणा बन्धुरूपिणा ।
येन मेऽपहृतं तेजो देवविस्मापनं महत् ॥ ५॥
यस्य क्षणवियोगेन लोको ह्यप्रियदर्शनः ।
उक्थेन रहितो ह्येष मृतकः प्रोच्यते यथा ॥ ६॥
यत्संश्रयाद्द्रुपदगेहमुपागतानां
राज्ञां स्वयंवरमुखे स्मरदुर्मदानाम् ।
तेजो हृतं खलु मयाभिहतश्च मत्स्यः
सज्जीकृतेन धनुषाधिगता च कृष्णा ॥ ७॥
यत्सन्निधावहमु खाण्डवमग्नयेऽदा-
मिन्द्रं च सामरगणं तरसा विजित्य ।
लब्धा सभा मयकृताद्भुतशिल्पमाया
दिग्भ्योऽहरन् नृपतयो बलिमध्वरे ते ॥ ८॥
यत्तेजसा नृपशिरोऽङ्घ्रिमहन् मखार्थे
आर्योऽनुजस्तव गजायुतसत्त्ववीर्यः ।
तेनाहृताः प्रमथनाथमखाय भूपा
यन्मोचितास्तदनयन् बलिमध्वरे ते ॥ ९॥
पत्न्यास्तवाधिमखकॢप्तमहाभिषेक-
श्लाघिष्ठचारुकबरं कितवैः सभायाम् ।
स्पृष्टं विकीर्य पदयोः पतिताश्रुमुख्या
यस्तत्स्त्रियोऽकृतहतेशविमुक्तकेशाः ॥ १०॥
यो नो जुगोप वनमेत्य दुरन्तकृच्छ्रा-
द्दुर्वाससोऽरिरचितादयुताग्रभुग् यः । (द्दुर्वाससोऽरिविहिता)
शाकान्नशिष्टमुपयुज्य यतस्त्रिलोकीं
तृप्ताममंस्त सलिले विनिमग्नसङ्घः ॥ ११॥
यत्तेजसाथ भगवान् युधि शूलपाणि-
र्विस्मापितः सगिरिजोऽस्त्रमदान्निजं मे ।
अन्येऽपि चाहममुनैव कलेवरेण
प्राप्तो महेन्द्रभवने महदासनार्धम् ॥ १२॥
तत्रैव मे विहरतो भुजदण्डयुग्मं
गाण्डीवलक्षणमरातिवधाय देवाः ।
सेन्द्राः श्रिता यदनुभावितमाजमीढ
तेनाहमद्य मुषितः पुरुषेण भूम्ना ॥ १३॥
यद्बान्धवः कुरुबलाब्धिमनन्तपार-
मेको रथेन ततरेऽहमतार्यसत्त्वम् ।
प्रत्याहृतं बहुधनं च मया परेषां
तेजास्पदं मणिमयं च हृतं शिरोभ्यः ॥ १४॥
यो भीष्मकर्णगुरुशल्यचमूष्वदभ्र-
राजन्यवर्यरथमण्डलमण्डितासु ।
अग्रेचरो मम विभो रथयूथपाना-
मायुर्मनांसि च दृशा सह ओज आर्च्छत् ॥ १५॥
यद्दोष्षु मा प्रणिहितं गुरुभीष्मकर्ण-
नप्तृत्रिगर्तशलसैन्धवबाह्लिकाद्यैः ।
अस्त्राण्यमोघमहिमानि निरूपितानि
नोपस्पृशुर्नृहरिदासमिवासुराणि ॥ १६॥
सौत्ये वृतः कुमतिनाऽऽत्मद ईश्वरो मे
यत्पादपद्ममभवाय भजन्ति भव्याः ।
मां श्रान्तवाहमरयो रथिनो भुविष्ठं
न प्राहरन् यदनुभावनिरस्तचित्ताः ॥ १७॥
नर्माण्युदाररुचिरस्मितशोभितानि
हे पार्थ हेऽर्जुन सखे कुरुनन्दनेति ।
सञ्जल्पितानि नरदेव हृदिस्पृशानि
स्मर्तुर्लुठन्ति हृदयं मम माधवस्य ॥ १८॥
शय्यासनाटनविकत्थनभोजनादि-
ष्वैक्याद्वयस्य ऋतवानिति विप्रलब्धः ।
सख्युः सखेव पितृवत्तनयस्य सर्वं
सेहे महान् महितया कुमतेरघं मे ॥ १९॥
सोऽहं नृपेन्द्र रहितः पुरुषोत्तमेन
सख्या प्रियेण सुहृदा हृदयेन शून्यः ।
अध्वन्युरुक्रमपरिग्रहमङ्ग रक्षन्
गोपैरसद्भिरबलेव विनिर्जितोऽस्मि ॥ २०॥
तद्वै धनुस्त इषवः स रथो हयास्ते
सोऽहं रथी नृपतयो यत आनमन्ति ।
सर्वं क्षणेन तदभूदसदीशरिक्तं
भस्मन् हुतं कुहकराद्धमिवोप्तमूष्याम् ॥ २१॥
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Arjuna said : "I have been deceived, O great king, by Śrī Hari (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), who appeared in the form of a friend and relation to me, and who has now robbed me of my mighty valour, which was once the wonder even of gods. (5)
At a moment's separation from Him the world presents a loathsome sight, even as this body is called dead when bereft of life. (6)
Through His might I was able, on the occasion of the self-election of a husband by Draupadi, to outshine the princes that had assembled at the house of king Drupada, intoxicated with love, to hit the revolving fish (hanging from the roof as a target) after duly fitting the bow with an arrow, and in this way to win the hand of Kṛṣṇā (Draupadi). (7)
In His presence I speedily conquered Indra and his heavenly hosts, offered the Khāṇḍava forest to the god of fire and secured the council-chamber built by the demon Maya, which was of wonderful workmanship and full of conjuring devices; and tributary chiefs brought presents from every quarter during your Rājasūya sacrifice. (8)
It was by His might that the revered Bhīmasena (your younger brother), possessing as he does the strength and vigour of ten thousand elephants succeeded in slaying Jarāsandha—who was haughty enough to set his foot on the heads of vanquished kings—in order to accomplish the Rājasūya sacrifice. Nay, it was He who set free a number of princes that had been (made captive and) brought by Jarāsandha (to his capital) for being sacrificed to the god Mahābhairava (the chief of the Pramathas or attendants of Lord Śiva) and who in return brought presents for your sacrifice. (9)
When your wife (Draupadi) fell at His feet with tears rolling down her cheeks, and loosing her lovely braid—which, though rendered most sacred and praiseworthy by being sprinkled with holy water during the Rājasūya sacrifice, had been roughly handled by miscreants (like Duḥśāsana and others) in open court—He requited the wrong done to her by widowing their own wives and thereby compelling the latter to loose their hair.†(10)
Nay, it was He who saved us from a terrible pitfall contrived by our enemy (Duryodhana) through the sage Durvāsā—who took his meals ahead (in the company) of not less than ten thousand pupils (wherever he went)—by going to the forest and accepting a stray remnant of some vegetable stuffn(left in Draupadi's kettle). By His doing so the whole host of students (that had accompanied Durvāsā), while yet immersed in water (for ablutions and prayers), felt as if all the three worlds had been surfeited. (11)
Again, it was by His might that I astonished (with my valour) in a single combat Lord Śaṅkara (who holds a trident in His hand) no less than His Spouse, Goddess Girijā (the daughter of Himālaya, the king of the mountains), the former of whom was pleased to impart to me (the secret of using) His own missile (called the Pāśupatāstra), as also did the guardian of every other quarter. Nay, (ascending to heaven) in this very body I shared with the mighty Indra the exalted throne in his court. (12)
While I was enjoying a holiday in the same celestial abode, Indra and the other gods sought the help of my powerful arms, which bore the celebrated Gāṇḍiva bow and owed their strength to Him, for the destruction of their enemies (the Nivātakavacas and other demons, who often molested them), O Yudhiṣṭhira (a descendant of Ājamīḍha) ! Alas ! by that Supreme Person I stand cheated today. (13)
Befriended by Him, I was able to cross on a chariot all alone the boundless and unfathomable ocean of the Kaurava host, which was rendered further impassable by formidable aquatic creatures (in the shape of Bhiṣma, Droṇa and others). Again, it was with His help that I not only recovered from the hands of our enemies (the Kauravas) the abundant wealth (in the shape of cattle of king Virāta) but was also able to snatch from their heads their glorious turbans as well as the precious stones from their diadems. (14)
Keeping in front of me (as a charioteer) as I stood face to face with the armies (successively) led by Bhiṣma, Droṇa (our preceptor), Karṇa and Śalya and adorned with the chariots of a host of Kṣatriya chiefs, my lord, He stole away by His very look the life-span, the heart as well as the strength and vigour of the great car-warriors who commanded the various troops. (15)
Securely placed as I was in His arms, the missiles of unfailing power hurled at me by my preceptor (Droṇa), Bhiṣma, Karṇa, Bhūriśravā (the grandson of Bāhlīka), Suśarmā (the king of the Trigartas), Śalya, Jayadratha (the king of the Sindhus) and Bāhlīka (the younger brother of Śāntanu) and others did not even touch my person any more than the weapons of the demons (in this service of king Hiranyakaśipu, Prahlāda's father) did Prahlāda (a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu). (16)
Stupid as I was, I chose for my charioteer the Lord whose lotus-feet are adored by noble souls for exemption from birth and death, and who surrenders to His devotees His very Self. Nay, dazzled by His glory, great car-warriors who were arrayed against me could not strike at me even though I stood on the ground, my horses being exhausted. (17)
The jokes of Lord Mādhava (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), brightened with His hearty and charming smiles, and His captivating manner of addressing me as son of Pṛthā (Kuntī), Arjuna, beloved companion and delight of the Kurus stir my heart to its very depth, O ruler of men, even as I call them to mind. (18)
Since we treated each other on an equal footing while in bed or sitting together, while rambling or indulging in self-praise, or even at dinner and so on, I occasionally twitted him and said, "Friend, you are indeed a veracious man!" Yet, in His unlimited greatness, that exalted soul put up with all my faults, fool as I was, even as a friend would bear with his friend or a father with his own son. (19)
Bereft of that Supreme Person, who was my beloved companion and friend, O suzerain lord, I am left without a heart. That is why while escorting the Lord's spouses on the way, dear brother, I was vanquished like a woman by the wicked cowherds. (20)
The same indeed is my Gāṇḍiva bow, and the same my shafts; the same my chariot and drawn by the same horses; nay, I am the same car-warrior before whom monarchs bowed their head. Bereft of the Lord, however, all these were reduced to nothingness in a moment, like an oblation poured into ashes, service done with some covert motive and the seed sown in a barren land. (21)
*On a certain occasion prince Duryodhana showed great hospitality to the sage Durvāsā. Pleased with him, the sage desired him to ask a boon. Finding it a splendid opportunity to bring ruination on his cousins, the Pāṇḍavas, by inviting the sage's curse on them, he persuaded him to seek the hospitality of Yudhiṣṭhira, the principal member of his race with his ten thousand alumni. But he advised the sage to call on the Pāṇḍavas, living in the forest, at a time when their consort, Draupadi, had finished her meal after feeding all the other people of their camp, so that the virtuous lady might not have to starve. Draupadi had in her possession a miraculous kettle, bestowed on her by the sun-god, the contents of which would not be exhausted till she had partaken of them. Durvāsā, as advised by Duryodhana, called on the Pāṇḍavas with his ten thousand pupils in the afternoon after Draupadi had taken her meal and, after meeting Yudhiṣṭhira and asking him to get food ready for him and his pupils, he proceeded with them to the river bank for ablution and prayers. Much concerned over this, Draupadi in her deep agony invoked the succour of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the friend of the distressed, who immediately responded to her prayer and called at her door. No sooner had He stepped into her cottage than He asked her to get Him something to eat, as He was feeling awfully hungry. Draupadi felt overwhelmed with gratitude at the Lord's unique grace in asking her for food, even though He sustained the whole universe, but pleaded helplessness, as there was nothing left in the kitchen to satisfy His hunger. The Lord would not however, be easily put off; He insisted on seeing the kettle Himself. Draupadi could no longer resist His importunity and brought the kettle before Him, when lo ! He found a fragment of the vegetable food cooked in it sticking somewhere in the neck of the kettle. The Lord, who is the Soul of the universe, satisfied His hunger with that fragment, thereby satisfying the whole universe, and asked Bhimasena to call the sage and his host of pupils for dinner. The sage and his pupils, however, had already disappeared since they felt no appetite and feared lest they should incur the displeasure of the Pāṇḍavas, who like Ambariṣa were great devotees of the Lord, for declining their hospitality. (5-21)
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निशम्य भगवन्मार्गं संस्थां यदुकुलस्य च ।
स्वःपथाय मतिं चक्रे निभृतात्मा युधिष्ठिरः ॥ ३२॥
पृथाप्यनुश्रुत्य धनञ्जयोदितं
नाशं यदूनां भगवद्गतिं च ताम् ।
एकान्तभक्त्या भगवत्यधोक्षजे
निवेशितात्मोपरराम संसृतेः ॥ ३३॥
ययाहरद्भुवो भारं तां तनुं विजहावजः ।
कण्टकं कण्टकेनेव द्वयं चापीशितुः समम् ॥ ३४॥
यथा मत्स्यादिरूपाणि धत्ते जह्याद्यथा नटः ।
भूभारः क्षपितो येन जहौ तच्च कलेवरम् ॥ ३५॥
यदा मुकुन्दो भगवानिमां महीं
जहौ स्वतन्वा श्रवणीयसत्कथः ।
तदा हरेवाप्रतिबुद्धचेतसा-
मधर्महेतुः कलिरन्ववर्तत ॥ ३६॥
युधिष्ठिरस्तत्परिसर्पणं बुधः
पुरे च राष्ट्रे च गृहे तथाऽऽत्मनि ।
विभाव्य लोभानृतजिह्महिंसना-
द्यधर्मचक्रं गमनाय पर्यधात् ॥ ३७॥
स्वराट् पौत्रं विनयिनमात्मनः सुसमं गुणैः ।
तोयनीव्याः पतिं भूमेरभ्यषिञ्चद्गजाह्वये ॥ ३८॥
मथुरायां तथा वज्रं शूरसेनपतिं ततः ।
प्राजापत्यां निरूप्येष्टिमग्नीनपिबदीश्वरः ॥ ३९॥
विसृज्य तत्र तत्सर्वं दुकूलवलयादिकम् ।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः सञ्च्छिन्नाशेषबन्धनः ॥ ४०॥
वाचं जुहाव मनसि तत्प्राण इतरे च तम् ।
मृत्यावपानं सोत्सर्गं तं पञ्चत्वे ह्यजोहवीत् ॥ ४१॥
त्रित्वे हुत्वाथ पञ्चत्वं तच्चैकत्वेऽजुहोन्मुनिः ।
सर्वमात्मन्यजुहवीद्ब्रह्मण्यात्मानमव्यये ॥ ४२॥
चीरवासा निराहारो बद्धवाङ्मुक्तमूर्धजः ।
दर्शयन्नात्मनो रूपं जडोन्मत्तपिशाचवत् ॥ ४३॥
अनवेक्षमाणो निरगादशृण्वन् बधिरो यथा ।
उदीचीं प्रविवेशाशां गतपूर्वां महात्मभिः ।
हृदि ब्रह्म परं ध्यायन् नावर्तेत यतो गतः ॥ ४४॥
सर्वे तमनुनिर्जग्मुर्भ्रातरः कृतनिश्चयाः ।
कलिनाधर्ममित्रेण दृष्ट्वा स्पृष्टाः प्रजा भुवि ॥ ४५॥
ते साधुकृतसर्वार्था ज्ञात्वाऽऽत्यन्तिकमात्मनः ।
मनसा धारयामासुर्वैकुण्ठचरणाम्बुजम् ॥ ४६॥
तद्ध्यानोद्रिक्तया भक्त्या विशुद्धधिषणाः परे ।
तस्मिन् नारायणपदे एकान्तमतयो गतिम् ॥ ४७॥
अवापुर्दुरवापां ते असद्भिर्विषयात्मभिः ।
विधूतकल्मषा स्थानं विरजेनात्मनैव हि ॥ ४८॥ (स्थाने)
विदुरोऽपि परित्यज्य प्रभासे देहमात्मवान् । (देहमात्मनः)
कृष्णावेशेन तच्चित्तः पितृभिः स्वक्षयं ययौ ॥ ४९॥
द्रौपदी च तदाऽऽज्ञाय पतीनामनपेक्षताम् ।
वासुदेवे भगवति ह्येकान्तमतिराप तम् ॥ ५०॥
यः श्रद्धयैतद्भगवत्प्रियाणां
पाण्डोः सुतानामिति सम्प्रयाणम् ।
शृणोत्यलं स्वस्त्ययनं पवित्रं
लब्ध्वा हरौ भक्तिमुपैति सिद्धिम् ॥ ५१॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे पारमहंस्यां संहितायां
प्रथमस्कन्धे पाण्डवस्वर्गारोहणं नाम पञ्चदशोऽध्यायः ॥ १.१५॥
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Hearing of the Lord's departure (for His divine Abode) and the extermination of the race of Yadu, Yudhiṣṭhira, whose mind was now completely set at rest, resolved to ascend to heaven. (32)
When Pṛthā (the mother of the Pāṇḍavas) heard from Yudhiṣṭhira of the destruction of the Yadus and the Lord's mysterious departure, as told by Arjuna, she fixed her mind with exclusive devotion on Lord Adhokṣaja (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) and turned her back on this world consisting of birth and death. (33)
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (who is ever free from birth and death) cast off (in the eyes of the world) the very body with which He had relieved the earth's burden, just as a man throws away the thorn with which he has extracted another; for both were equal in the eye of the Lord. (34)
Even as the Lord, like an actor, assumes and then drops the forms of a fish etc., so did He shuffle off the body with which He had removed the earth's burden. (35)
* When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Bestower of Liberation) bodily departed from this earth, leaving behind His stories which are charming to the ear, that very day entered the Kali age, which leads men of unawakened consciousness to unrighteousness. (36)
The wise king Yudhiṣṭhira saw the growth of vices like greed, falsehood, deceit and violence etc., not only in the city (of Hastināpura) but in the whole of his state, nay, in every home as well as in the mind of the people, and, concluding therefrom the advance of the Kali age, prepared to depart from this world. (37)
At Hastināpura the emperor installed his grandson (Parikṣit)—who was not only well-disciplined but was his own compeer in virtues—as the sovereign of the ocean-girdled earth; while at Mathurā he enthroned Vajra (the son of Aniruddha and the only surviving member of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's family) as the lord of the Śūrasenas. Then, having offered a sacrifice to Prajāpati (the divinity presiding over procreation), Yudhiṣṭhira, who had mastered his self, received the sacred fires into himself (renounced his home and became a recluse). (38-39)
Leaving at the palace his fine clothes, bangles and all he renounced the feelings of "I" and "mine" and completely severed all his worldly ties. (40)
He mentally merged his speech into mind, the mind into Prāṇa (the vital air, which has its seat in the lungs), the Prāṇa into the Apāna (the life-wind which goes downwards and out at the anus), the Apāna with its function (of excretion) into Mṛtyu (the god of death) and merged Mṛtyu into his body made up of the five elements. (41)
Thus realizing his body as nothing but death, the royal sage (Yudhiṣṭhira) merged the same into the three Guṇas (modes of Prakṛti); these three Guṇas, again, he merged into the one fundamental Prakṛti (Nature). This Prakṛti, which is the universal Cause, he merged into the Jiva (individual soul) and the Jiva into the imperishable Brahma (the Absolute). (In other words, he began to feel that the whole of this phenomenal universe is the same as Brahma). (42)
Clad in rags, and abstaining from food and drink, he took a vow of complete silence, flung about his hair in a disorderly way and exhibited himself like a dullard or a madman or a fiend. (43)
Waiting for none and hearing nothing like a deaf man, he came out of the palace; and contemplating in his heart on the supreme Brahma, he took the path towards the north, a path trodden by exalted souls even in the past, and treading which one does not return. (44)
Finding the people on earth in the grip of the Kali age, the promoter of unrighteousness, all his brothers too followed him with a similar resolve (to attain the divine Abode). (45)
Having fully achieved all the ends of life and knowing the lotus-feet of Lord Vaikuṇṭha (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) as their eternal abode, they clung to them with their mind. (46)
Their intellect being purified by Devotion that had grown in intensity through meditation on those feet, their mind was exclusively fixed on the supreme Reality of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), which is the abode of only those who are purged of all sin. With that pure mind they attained that goal which is difficult of attainment for the wicked and sensually-minded. (47-48)
Vidura too, whose mind was fully controlled and possessed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, cast off his body at Prabhāsa (near Dwārakā); and with his thought fixed on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he returned to his abode (the realm of Yama) accompanied by the manes (who had called there to take him back). (49)
Draupadi also, when she came to know of her lord's indifference (to the world), concentrated her mind on the divine Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the son of Vasudeva) and attained to Him. (50)
He who listens with reverence to this most sacred and blessed story of the departure in this manner of Pāṇḍu's sons, the beloved of the Lord, develops devotion to Śrī Hari (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) and attains perfection (final beatitude). (51)
- Verses 34 and 35 are missing in the oldest manuscript yet found of Śrīmad Bhāgavata, existing in the Saraswati Bhavana Library attached to the Queen's College at Vārāṇasī. The well-known commentator Vijayadhwaja (who represents the Madhva school) has rejected these two verses as well as the one immediately preceding them as interpolated. The divine form of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which is spiritual and of the same essence as the Lord Himself, is eternal; and to say that the Lord cast it off as something adventitious or superfluous would be a contradiction in terms. Hence the votaries of the Lord have rejected these two verses as spurious. Their omission from the manuscript existing in the Saraswati Bhavana Library also confirms their questionable authenticity.
Thus ends the fifteenth discourse entitled the "Ascent of the Pāṇḍavas to Heaven", in Book One of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhitā.
(32-51)
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