Canto 4 - Chapter 22: The sage Sanaka and his three brothers impart instruction to king Pṛthu ...

Discourse XXII

The sage Sanaka and his three brothers impart instruction to king Pṛthu

Maitreya continued : While the people were thus extolling Pṛthu of great prowess, there came to that spot four sages, resplendent as the sun. (1)
Surrounded by his attendants, the king saw the lords of divine seers descending from the heavens. They were (easily) recognized (to be no other than Sanaka and his three brothers) through their splendour, which dispelled the sins of the spheres (through which they passed). (2)
King Prthu (instantly) rose with his courtiers and all others present there, as if eager to seize back his life-breath, that had shot forth (to meet those sages) at their very sight *, even as the mind runs forth to meet the objects of sense-enjoyment. (3)
When they had accepted the Arghya (water offered for washing the hands of a distinguished guest) and taken their seat, the king, who was (most) urbane (in manners) and was overwhelmed by his esteem for them, worshipped them with due ceremony, his head bent low with modesty. (4)
He (then) sprinkled his tuft of hair with the hallowed drops of water wherewith he had washed their feet, thus duly following the ways of the virtuous, as if in order to evince his respect for the same. (5)
Endowed with reverence and self-discipline, and full of delight, he addressed those sages, the elder brothers (even) of Lord Śiva—who, when installed on seats of gold, shone like the sacrificial fires in their proper places. (6)

Prthu said : Oh, what meritorious acts have I performed, O abodes of auspiciousness, that I have been blessed with your sight, whom even Yogis (men possessed of mystic powers) find it difficult to perceive? (7)
There is nothing very difficult to attain in this world or the next for him with whom Brāhmaṇas (like you) and Lord Śiva and Viṣṇu and their attendants are pleased. (8)
The world does not perceive you, even though you range through the various regions, just as the visible creation and Mahattattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence) etc., which are the causes of this world, are unable to perceive the all-seeing self. (9)
Though poor, those pious householders are (indeed) blessed, whose house contains water, (a mat of) straw or (bare) ground, the master himself and his servants etc., worthy of acceptance by venerable souls (like you). (10)
(Worthless) like the trees harbouring (venomous) serpents are those houses which, though replete with all kinds of riches, are not hallowed by the holy water washing the feet of the Lord's devotees. (11)
Welcome is your visit to this place, O exalted Brāhmaṇas; for despite your juvenility you are ever self-controlled and reverently observe great vows (of perpetual celibacy and so on), following the ways of seekers after liberation. (12)
Is there (any hope of) good for us, who know the objects of senses to be the only thing worth coveting and have fallen, through our own doings, into this (whirlpool of) transmigration (which is a hotbed of miseries) ? (13)
It is out of place to make enquiries about your welfare inasmuch as you revel in your own self and no thoughts of good and evil (ever) arise in you. (14)
Therefore, reposing full faith in you, I (make bold to) enquire of you, the loving friends of the distressed, how salvation can be easily attained in this (very) birth. (15)
Surely the birthless Lord, who shines as the very self in (all) sages and reveals Himself (in the heart of His devotees) moves about on this earth in the guise of Siddhas (sages like you in order to shower His grace on His devotees. (16)

• Our scriptures maintain that the life-breath of a young man goes forth to meet his elders when the latter pay him a visit and that it is only when he rises and bows to them that the life-breath returns :—

Maitreya went on : Hearing these graceful and righteous words of Pṛthu, which were pregnant with serious import, brief and delightful, the sage Sanatkumāra cheerfully replied as though smiling. (17)

Sanatkumāra said : A very good enquiry has been made by you, even though you know the answer, O great monarch, your heart being given to the good of all living beings, (for) such is the bent of mind of the virtuous. (18)
The meeting of pious souls is thought highly of both by themselves and by those who meet them; for worthy questions put to and the noble answers given by them enhance the happiness of all. (19)
Certainly, O king, are you gifted with that rare and abiding love for hearing the praises—elicited by suitable questions—of the lotus-feet of Śrī Hari (the Slayer of Madhu), which shakes off the impurity of the mind in the shape of latent desires, so difficult to remove. (20)
In the scriptures, which have made a thorough enquiry (into the truth), (only) absence of attachment to things other than the Self and intense love for one's real Self, the attributeless Brahma, have been finally concluded to be the only way to salvation for men. (21)
That love for the attributeless Brahma as well as the absence of attachment to the world of matter, both as cause and effect, is easily developed through (intense) faith, through the discharge of duties consecrated to the Lord, through a desire to know the higher truths and by being firmly established in the Yoga of Knowledge, through worship of the Lord of Yoga and by ever listening to the hallowed stories of the Lord of sacred renown, through a distaste for the company of those delighting in lucre and sense-enjoyments and by eschewing wealth and sense-gratification esteemed by such people, through love for seclusion when finding delight in the Self, but not such occasions when a potion of the nectarine drink of Śrī Hari's glories is had, through harmlessness and by living the life of an ascetic, through an enquiry into that which is conducive to one's spiritual welfare and by drinking the peerless nectar of Lord Mukunda's glories, by practising the twelve forms of self-discipline, (viz., non-violence, truthfulness, non-thieving, absence of attachment, modesty, non-accumulation of wealth and luxuries except in the interests of others, belief in God, continence, habit of meditation on God, firmness, forgiveness and fearlessness) and observing the twelve religious vows (of internal and external purity, muttering the divine names and sacred texts, austerity, offering oblations into the sacred fire, reverence, worship of the Lord, pilgrimage to holy places, endeavour for the good of others, contentment and waiting upon the preceptor *) by refraining from calumny and abandoning all activity (for the acquisition and preservation of worldly goods), by enduring pairs of opposites (like heat and cold etc.), and by devotion to Śrī Hari, growing through the utterance of His praises, which (ever) adorn the ears of His devotees. (22—25)
When this love for Brahma gets firmly rooted, man resorts to a (worthy) preceptor and, like the fire consuming the very source whence it originates, he dissolves his subtle body, mainly consisting of the five subtle elements and enveloping his pure self (in the form of the ego), when the same has been freed from its latent desires by the force of wisdom and dispassion. (26)
When the envelope (in the shape of the subtle body) that wraps the pure Self and which stood heretofore between the soul and the Oversoul has (thus) been dissolved, the embodied soul sheds all the attributes of that envelope and no longer perceives that which is external to the self nor his subjective states, just as a dreaming man no longer sees the things of his dream when it has been broken. (27)

Only so long as this conditioning mind-substance (the principal constituent of the subtle body) persists (i.e., in the waking and dream states) man perceives his own self, the objects of sense and that which connects the self with these latter (viz., the ego), and not at any other time (e.g., in the state of deep sleep). (28)
Everywhere (in the external world too) it is only when water or a mirror or any other condition is present that a man perceives the difference between one's own self and that which is external to oneself (viz., one's reflected image), and not at other times (when the condition is absent). (29)
Distracted by the senses, which are themselves drawn towards their objects, the mind of those that (ever) muse on such objects (as worth attaining), takes away the power of discrimination of the intellect (as imperceptibly) as a clump of grass sucks up water from a pool (through its roots). (30)
Consequent on the loss of reason, memory fails; loss of memory is followed by loss of wisdom and the sages refer to loss of wisdom as the ruination of the self through one's own self. (31)
There can be no greater loss in the world to a man than the ruination, through one's own self, of the soul, for whose sake everything else becomes dear*. (32)
Constant preoccupation with wealth and the objects of sense means the ruination of all the interests of men. Deprived of his knowledge and wisdom through such preoccupation, man is reborn in the immobile creation (the vegetable or mineral kingdom). (33)
Whoever is keen to cross and reach the other end of the impenetrable gloom in the form of ignorance (the root of transmigration) should never conceive an attachment to that which is most detrimental to (the attainment of) religious merit, worldly possessions, gratification of the senses and liberation. (34)
Of these four too, liberation alone is acknowledged as the highest purpose of life; for everything falling under the category of the other three objects of human pursuit is ever exposed to the fear of death. (35)
There can be no stability in (the life of) the higher and the lower orders of creation that have come into existence ever since the equilibrium of the three modes of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) was disturbed (at the dawn of creation); for their hopes (to survive) have always been blasted by the all-powerful Time. (36)
Therefore, O king, know Him to be your very Self—the Lord who perceptibly and inwardly shines as the all-pervading Ruler of the Jiva (the conscious principle in the psycho-physical organism) in the heart of (all) mobile (animate) and immobile (inanimate) beings invested with a body, the senses, the vital airs, the intellect and the ego. Him do I resort to (for protection)—the ever free, taintless and enlightened principle—who has set aside Prakṛti (Primordial Nature) defiled by the Karmas (of the various Jivas) and in whom appears this phantom of the universe both as cause and effect, vanishing on the dawn of discriminating wisdom even like the (false) notion of a serpent with regard to a wreath of flowers. (37-38)
Resort (then) as your (sole) refuge to Lord Vāsudeva, by fixing the thought on the splendour of the very toes of whose lotus-feet pious souls cut asunder the knot of egotism (which is nothing but a conglomerate of tendencies to action) formed (by Karmas themselves), in a manner that even recluses who have emptied their mind (of all thoughts of the world), having withdrawn their senses (from their objects) are not able to do. (39)
Great agony is experienced in crossing the ocean of metempsychosis—which is infested with (fierce) crocodiles in the shape of the five senses and the mind—by those who have not found their boat in God, inasmuch as they seek to reach the other end of it by painful means (such as the practice of Yoga). Therefore, you make the adorable feet of Lord Śrī Hari your boat and cross the ocean of misery, which is so difficult to cross. (40)

Maitreya resumed : Enlightened thus about the true nature of the Self by Sanatkumāra, son of Brahmā (the creator) and a knower of Brahma, the king duly praised him and addressed him (as follows). (41)

The king said : Śrī Hari, who is (so) kind to the afflicted, showed His grace to me in the first instance (vide Discourse XX above). It is in order to bring it to its culminating point, O divine sage, that you have all come (here). (42)
And compassionate as you are, it has been made fruitful in its entirety by you. What shall I give you (in return for this grace), when everything belonging to me, including myself, has been graciously allowed (as a favour) to me by pious souls? (43)
My life, spouse, sons and house with all its appurtenances, kingdom, army, lands and treasury—all this I offer (at your feet as something already belonging to you). (44)
He alone who is well-versed in the Vedas and (other) sacred books is competent to command armies, rule over a kingdom, direct policies of war and exercise dominion over all the worlds. (45)
A Brāhmaṇa eats his own food, wears his own (clothing) and gives away his own (property to others). It is by his sufferance that the Kṣatriyas and others eat their food. (46)
May you—who are well-versed in the Vedas and have in your abounding compassion precisely explained to us, in the course of your dissertation on the Spirit, the true nature of God as depicted above—may you ever be pleased with your own acts (of delivering the afflicted). Who will make himself a butt of ridicule by presuming to recompense your acts of benevolence? (47)

Maitreya continued : Adored by king Prthu (the first constitutional monarch on the earth), and praising his virtuous conduct, those masters of the science of Self-Realization, rose to the heavens, while everyone stood gazing on them. (48)
Vena's son, the foremost among exalted souls, who was firmly established in the Self through concentration of mind as a result of the instruction received from them in the science of the Spirit, regarded himself as one who had realized all his ambitions (in life). (49)
He performed (all) his duties at the proper time, at the proper place and in the proper way to the best of his ability and resources as an offering to God. (50)
Resigning the fruit (of his actions) to God with a concentrated mind, and regarding himself as a witness of (all) actions and beyond (the realm of ) Prakṛti, he remained unattached (to everything). (51)
While remaining a householder and endowed with imperial fortune, he was free from egotism and conceived no attachment for the objects of sense, even as the sun, though shining on bog etc., does not get daubed with it. (52)

Thus duly performing (his) duties at the proper place and time with his mind fixed on the Self, the king begot through (his consort) Arci five sons who came up to his ideals—Vijitāśwa, Dhūmrakeśa, Haryakṣa, Dravina and Vṛka. A part manifestation of the immortal Lord, Pṛthu alone manifested at the proper time (special) qualities of all the regional gods for the protection of the created beings of the (whole) world. Delighting the people with his mind, speech and conduct as well as by his charming virtues, he bore the (significant) title of Rājā (he who delights) like another moon-god (who is known by the name of king Soma because of his delighting all created beings with his cool rays). Even as the sun drains (in summer) the moisture of the earth, and releases it (during the rains) and radiates heat, so he drew the wealth of the earth (by way of land revenue and other taxes), (freely) distributed it (among the people during famines etc.) and exercised his authority (over the people). (53—56)
He was formidable like fire in splendour and hard to conquer like the great Indra (the lord of paradise), vied with the earth in forbearance, and with the heaven in bestowing on men whatever they sought. (57)
Like the god of rain he showered blessings on the people according to their desire, (thereby) gratifying (them all). Like the ocean he was too deep to be understood and in firmness he was a compeer of Mounts Sumeru (the king of mountains). (58)
In meting out punishment he was as just as Yama (the god of retribution); in his marvellous acquisitions he resembled the Himālaya mountain. Like Kubera (the god of wealth) he was rich in treasures, and like Varuṇa (the god of water) he had his wealth well-guarded. (59)
Like the wind-god he could move everywhere and matched him in strength (of body), vitality and prowess; while in irresistibility he vied with Lord Śiva (the Ruler of the ghosts). (60)
In comeliness of form he matched the god of love and was full of spirit as a lion. In paternal affection he equalled Swāyambhuva Manu, while in lordship over men he was like Brahmā (the birthless creator). (61)
In expounding the Vedas he was (another) Bṛhaspati (the preceptor of the gods), while in self-control he was (as good as) Śrī Hari Himself. And in devotion to the cow, the preceptor and the Brāhmaṇas as well as to the votaries of Lord Viṣṇu, and (even so) in modesty, humility and amiability as well as in his efforts for (the benefit of) others he was his own equal (peerless). (62)
Through his glory, sung by the people everywhere in the three worlds, he had reached the ears of women even as Śrī Rāma entered the ears of pious men. (63)

Thus ends the twenty-second discourse, forming part of the Story of king Pṛthu, in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārṣa-Sarhhitā.