॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
॥ त्रयोविंशोऽध्यायः - २३ ॥
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Discourse XXIII
King Pṛthu practises asceticism and departs for the other world (Preamble)
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मैत्रेय उवाच ।
दृष्ट्वाऽऽत्मानं प्रवयसमेकदा वैन्य आत्मवान् ।
आत्मना वर्धिताशेषस्वानुसर्गः प्रजापतिः ॥ १॥
जगतस्तस्थुषश्चापि वृत्तिदो धर्मभृत्सताम् ।
निष्पादितेश्वरादेशो यदर्थमिह जज्ञिवान् ॥ २॥
आत्मजेष्वात्मजां न्यस्य विरहाद्रुदतीमिव ।
प्रजासु विमनःस्वेकः सदारोऽगात्तपोवनम् ॥ ३॥
तत्राप्यदाभ्यनियमो वैखानससुसम्मते ।
आरब्ध उग्रतपसि यथा स्वविजये पुरा ॥ ४॥
कन्दमूलफलाहारः शुष्कपर्णाशनः क्वचित् ।
अब्भक्षः कतिचित्पक्षान् वायुभक्षस्ततः परम् ॥ ५॥
ग्रीष्मे पञ्चतपा वीरो वर्षास्वासारषाण्मुनिः ।
आकण्ठमग्नः शिशिरे उदके स्थण्डिलेशयः ॥ ६॥
तितिक्षुर्यतवाग्दान्त ऊर्ध्वरेता जितानिलः ।
आरिराधयिषुः कृष्णमचरत्तप उत्तमम् ॥ ७॥
तेन क्रमानुसिद्धेन ध्वस्तकर्ममलाशयः ।
प्राणायामैः सन्निरुद्धषड्वर्गश्छिन्नबन्धनः ॥ ८॥
सनत्कुमारो भगवान् यदाहाध्यात्मिकं परम् ।
योगं तेनैव पुरुषमभजत्पुरुषर्षभः ॥ ९॥
भगवद्धर्मिणः साधोः श्रद्धया यततः सदा ।
भक्तिर्भगवति ब्रह्मण्यनन्यविषयाभवत् ॥ १०॥
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Maitreya began again : A man of (great) self-control and a (true) protector of his subjects, Pṛthu (the son of Vena) had himself fostered his own creation (in the shape of the various crops and the numerous towns and villages founded and populated by him), made (necessary) provision for the maintenance of (all) mobile (animate) and immobile (inanimate) creatures, lent his support to the practice of virtue by the virtuous and (fully) discharged the commission of the Lord, for which he was born on this earth. Realizing, one day, that he had grown old, he entrusted the earth, (who was a daughter to him and) who was weeping as it were out of grief at her separation (from him), to the care of his sons and repaired unattended to a hermitage alongwith his consort, while his subjects stood disconsolate. (1—3)
Uninterruptedly observing his rules of self-discipline there too, he embarked on (a course of) severe asceticism, highly approved of by anchorites, with the same earnestness as he had erstwhile evinced in the conquest of his own ancestral dominion. (4)
Subsisting on bulbs, roots and fruits (to begin with), he ate dried leaves for sometime, contented himself with water alone for some fortnights and thereafter lived on air (alone). (5)
Leading the life of a hermit, the dauntless Pṛthu basked in the heat of five fires (one in each of the four quarters with the sun shining overhead) in summer, exposed himself to hard showers during the rains, stood immersed in water up to his neck in the last two months of winter and slept on the bare ground (all the year round). (6)
Practising forbearance with (strict) control over his speech and senses, he observed (a vow of) complete celibacy, controlled his vital airs and did the highest form of austerity, seeking (thereby) to please Śrī Kṛṣṇa. (7)
His (stock of) Karma having been burnt as a result of that asceticism, gradually developed to perfection, and his mind (thus) purged of all impurities, he thoroughly subdued his senses and mind by controlling the breath and was (thereby) able to cut asunder the bonds of his Vāsanās (latent desires). (8)
Pṛthu (the foremost of men) now adored the Supreme Person through that very Yoga (mode of worship) which the divine sage Sanatkumāra had taught him as the best means of realizing the Self. (9)
Ever engaged in duties sacred to the Lord and striving with utmost reverence the pious soul developed exclusive devotion to the Lord, who is no other than Brahma (the Absolute). (10) (1-10)
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तस्यानया भगवतः परिकर्मशुद्ध-
सत्त्वात्मनस्तदनुसंस्मरणानुपूर्त्या ।
ज्ञानं विरक्तिमदभून्निशितेन येन
चिच्छेद संशयपदं निजजीवकोशम् ॥ ११॥
छिन्नान्यधीरधिगतात्मगतिर्निरीह-
स्तत्तत्यजेऽच्छिनदिदं वयुनेन येन ।
तावन्न योगगतिभिर्यतिरप्रमत्तो
यावद्गदाग्रजकथासु रतिं न कुर्यात् ॥ १२॥
एवं स वीरप्रवरः संयोज्यात्मानमात्मनि ।
ब्रह्मभूतो दृढं काले तत्याज स्वं कलेवरम् ॥ १३॥
सम्पीड्य पायुं पार्ष्णिभ्यां वायुमुत्सारयञ्छनैः ।
नाभ्यां कोष्ठेष्ववस्थाप्य हृदुरःकण्ठशीर्षणि ॥ १४॥
उत्सर्पयंस्तु तं मूर्ध्नि क्रमेणावेश्य निःस्पृहः ।
वायुं वायौ क्षितौ कायं तेजस्तेजस्ययूयुजत् ॥ १५॥
खान्याकाशे द्रवं तोये यथास्थानं विभागशः ।
क्षितिमम्भसि तत्तेजस्यदो वायौ नभस्यमुम् ॥ १६॥
इन्द्रियेषु मनस्तानि तन्मात्रेषु यथोद्भवम् ।
भूतादिनामून्युत्कृष्य महत्यात्मनि सन्दधे ॥ १७॥
तं सर्वगुणविन्यासं जीवे मायामये न्यधात् ।
तं चानुशयमात्मस्थमसावनुशयी पुमान् ।
ज्ञानवैराग्यवीर्येण स्वरूपस्थोऽजहात्प्रभुः ॥ १८॥
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His mind having been transformed into pure Sattva (Sattva unmixed with Rajas and Tamas) through worship of the Lord, he attained wisdom, coupled with dispassion and sharpened by that devotion, which had been supplemented by constant and perfect remembrance of the same Lord; and through such wisdom he was able to tear off the veil of egotism (which conceals the true nature of the Jīva), the origin of all doubt (and misapprehension). (11)
Having got rid of his self-identification with the body and realized the true nature of the Self, and freed of all cravings he gave up (the pursuit of) even that wisdom by which he had been able to tear off the veil of egotism. For, so long as a striver does not take delight in the stories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (who had Gada for His elder brother), he will not cease to be led astray by the (minor) achievements of Yoga (concentration of mind). (12)
Having thus irrevocably fixed his mind on the Supreme Spirit and become one with the Infinite, that great hero cast off his body at the (proper) time. (13)
Closely pressing the anus with his heels and slowly forcing up the breath (from the Mūlādhāra or the mystical circle situated in the space between the generative organ and the anus), he held it (first) at the navel and (then) at other places, such as the heart, the chest, the throat and the space between the eyebrows. (14)
Directing the breath higher up by stages to the crown of the head and free from (all cravings), he merged the air of his body in the cosmic air, the solid part of the body in the earth, the fire in the cosmic fire, the appertures (in which the various senses are located) in ether and the liquid part of his body in water—each in its own source. He (then) merged earth in water, water in fire, fire in the air, and the air in ether. (15-16)
He (further) merged the mind in the senses (by which it is drawn in the life of varied experience) and the senses in the subtle elements from which they severally proceed; and carrying these (the above-mentioned ether as well as the senses and the mind as merged in the subtle elements) higher still (by the ego and withdrawing them into the same), merged them along with the ego in the Mahat-tattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence). (17)
He merged the Mahat-tattva (the ground of all its evolutes) in the Jiva (the embodied soul), conditioned by Māyā; and established in his true Self (Brahma), by force of wisdom and dispassion the mighty Pṛthu, who was till now a Jiva conditioned by Māyā, cast off the condition (of Jivahood) attaching to the Self. (18) (11-18)
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अर्चिर्नाम महाराज्ञी तत्पत्न्यनुगता वनम् ।
सुकुमार्यतदर्हा च यत्पद्भ्यां स्पर्शनं भुवः ॥ १९॥
अतीव भर्तुर्व्रतधर्मनिष्ठया
शुश्रूषया चार्षदेहयात्रया ।
नाविन्दतार्तिं परिकर्शितापि सा
प्रेयस्करस्पर्शनमाननिर्वृतिः ॥ २०॥
देहं विपन्नाखिलचेतनादिकं
पत्युः पृथिव्या दयितस्य चात्मनः ।
आलक्ष्य किञ्चिच्च विलप्य सा सती
चितामथारोपयदद्रिसानुनि ॥ २१॥
विधाय कृत्यं ह्रदिनीजलाप्लुता
दत्त्वोदकं भर्तुरुदारकर्मणः ।
नत्वा दिविस्थांस्त्रिदशांस्त्रिः परीत्य
विवेश वह्निं ध्यायती भर्तृपादौ ॥ २२॥
विलोक्यानुगतां साध्वीं पृथुं वीरवरं पतिम् ।
तुष्टुवुर्वरदा देवैर्देवपत्न्यः सहस्रशः ॥ २३॥
कुर्वत्यः कुसुमासारं तस्मिन् मन्दरसानुनि ।
नदत्स्वमरतूर्येषु गृणन्ति स्म परस्परम् ॥ २४॥
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The great queen Arci, his consort, had followed him to the forest, though (very) delicate and unfit even to tread on the rough soil with her feet. (19)
Though exceedingly emaciated through devoted participation in the austerities (reposing on the bare ground and so on) and sacred duties of her husband, her (personal) services to the latter and by nourishing her body with the food (bulbs, roots and fruits etc.) taken by Rṣis (hermits), she did not feel miserable (all the same), gratified as she was by the touch of the hand of her beloved spouse and the attention received from him. (20)
Finding the body of the sovereign of the entire globe and her own beloved lord bereft of consciousness and all other signs (of life), that virtuous lady wept for a while and then placed it on a pyre on the ridge of the hill. (21)
Having performed the rites (suited to the occasion), she bathed in the waters of a stream; and after offering water (through her hollowed palms) to (the spirit of) her husband, who had performed noble deeds, and bowing to the divinities who stood in the heavens (witnessing the scene from their aerial cars), she thrice went round the (funeral) fire clockwise (as a mark of respect to her departed husband) and entered into it, contemplating on the feet of her lord. (22)
Seeing the pious lady follow her husband, Pṛthu, the foremost among heroes, goddesses and gods, capable of conferring boons (on their votaries) applauded her in their thousands. (23)
Raining down flowers on that peak of Mount Mandara, they spoke to one another (as follows) in the midst of a flourish of celestial trumpets. (24) (19-24)
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देव्य ऊचुः ।
अहो इयं वधूर्धन्या या चैवं भूभुजां पतिम् ।
सर्वात्मना पतिं भेजे यज्ञेशं श्रीर्वधूरिव ॥ २५॥
सैषा नूनं व्रजत्यूर्ध्वमनु वैन्यं पतिं सती ।
पश्यतास्मानतीत्यार्चिर्दुर्विभाव्येन कर्मणा ॥ २६॥
तेषां दुरापं किं त्वन्यन्मर्त्यानां भगवत्पदम् ।
भुवि लोलायुषो ये वै नैष्कर्म्यं साधयन्त्युत ॥ २७॥
स वञ्चितो बतात्मध्रुक् कृच्छ्रेण महता भुवि ।
लब्ध्वापवर्ग्यं मानुष्यं विषयेषु विषज्जते ॥ २८॥
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The goddesses said : Oh, blessed is this wife, who thus waited upon her husband (Pṛthu), the king of kings, with all her being even as Śrī (the goddess of beauty and prosperity), the Consort of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, waits upon Him, the Lord of sacrifices. (25)
Following her husband, the son of Vena, that virtuous lady will surely ascend to Vaikuṇṭha. See how by virtue of her remarkable deed, which cannot easily be conceived of, she is passing beyond us (the heavenly region) ! (26)
What other position could be beyond the reach of those mortals who, though their span of life on this earth is so uncertain, attain spiritual wisdom, which indeed leads to God-Realization ? (27)
Alas ! he has been (badly) deceived and is proving his own enemy, who, having attained with great difficulty the human state, capable of yielding (the fruit of) liberation, becomes a slave to the pleasures of sense. (28) (25-28)
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मैत्रेय उवाच ।
स्तुवतीष्वमरस्त्रीषु पतिलोकं गता वधूः ।
यं वा आत्मविदां धुर्यो वैन्यः प्रापाच्युताश्रयः ॥ २९॥
इत्थम्भूतानुभावोऽसौ पृथुः स भगवत्तमः ।
कीर्तितं तस्य चरितमुद्दामचरितस्य ते ॥ ३०॥
य इदं सुमहत्पुण्यं श्रद्धयावहितः पठेत् ।
श्रावयेच्छृणुयाद्वापि स पृथोः पदवीमियात् ॥ ३१॥
ब्राह्मणो ब्रह्मवर्चस्वी राजन्यो जगतीपतिः ।
वैश्यः पठन् विट्पतिः स्याच्छूद्रः सत्तमतामियात् ॥ ३२॥
त्रिकृत्व इदमाकर्ण्य नरो नार्यथवाऽऽदृता ।
अप्रजः सुप्रजतमो निर्धनो धनवत्तमः ॥ ३३॥
अस्पष्टकीर्तिः सुयशा मूर्खो भवति पण्डितः ।
इदं स्वस्त्ययनं पुंसाममङ्गल्यनिवारणम् ॥ ३४॥
धन्यं यशस्यमायुष्यं स्वर्ग्यं कलिमलापहम् ।
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाणां सम्यक् सिद्धिमभीप्सुभिः ।
श्रद्धयैतदनुश्राव्यं चतुर्णां कारणं परम् ॥ ३५॥
विजयाभिमुखो राजा श्रुत्वैतदभियाति यान् ।
बलिं तस्मै हरन्त्यग्रे राजानः पृथवे यथा ॥ ३६॥
मुक्तान्यसङ्गो भगवत्यमलां भक्तिमुद्वहन् ।
वैन्यस्य चरितं पुण्यं शृणुयाच्छ्रावयेत्पठेत् ॥ ३७॥
वैचित्रवीर्याभिहितं महन्माहात्म्यसूचकम् ।
अस्मिन् कृतमतिर्मर्त्यः पार्थवीं गतिमाप्नुयात् ॥ ३८॥
अनुदिनमिदमादरेण शृण्वन्
पृथुचरितं प्रथयन् विमुक्तसङ्गः ।
भगवति भवसिन्धुपोतपादे
स च निपुणां लभते रतिं मनुष्यः ॥ ३९॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे पारमहंस्यां
संहितायां चतुर्थस्कन्धे त्रयोविंशोऽध्यायः ॥ २३॥
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Maitreya went on : While the wives of the gods were (thus) praising her, Arci (the consort of Pṛthu) reached the abode of her lord—the realm to which Vena's son, the foremost among the knowers of the Self, who had his mind (ever) fixed on the immortal Lord Viṣṇu, had attained. (29)
Such was the glory of the most powerful king Pṛthu. I have (thus) told you the story of that king of remarkable deeds. (30)
Whoever reads with reverence and concentration of mind this story, yielding extraordinary merit, listens to it or narrates it bids fair to attain to the (exalted) state of Pṛthu (viz., the divine abode of Lord Viṣṇu). (31)
A Brāhmaṇa (one belonging to the priestly class), reading it, should attain pre-eminence in sacred knowledge, a Kṣatriya (a member of the warrior class) should become the ruler of the (whole) world; a Vaiśya should become a chief of his clan and a Śūdra (one belonging to the artisan and labouring classes) should (by listening to it) acquire pre-eminence (among his own class). (32)
A man or a woman thrice listening to it with reverence is blessed with best children, if issueless and becomes the wealthiest if destitute. (33)
An obscure person attains good reputation and a dunce turns out to be a learned man. It is a source of good fortune to men and wards off inauspiciousness. (34)
Besides bringing wealth, reputation, longevity and heavenly bliss, it wipes out the impurities of the Kali age. By those who are particularly keen to acquire religious merit, wealth, enjoyment and liberation, the story should be listened to with reverence, being the best means of achieving these four (purposes of life). (35)
The kings against whom a monarch, out to conquer (lands), marches after listening to this narrative bring tributes before him even as they did before Pṛthu. (36)
Free from attachment to everything else and cherishing unalloyed devotion to the Lord, one should listen to, narrate or read the sacred story of Pṛthu (the son of Vena). (37)
I have told you, O Vidura (son of Vicitravīrya), this narrative revealing the Lord's glory. A man fixing his thought thereon should attain to the goal reached by Pṛthu. (38)
A man who, devoid of all attachment, daily listens to or narrates with reverence this story of Pṛthu develops unflinching devotion to the Lord, whose feet serve as a bark to take one across the ocean of mundane existence. (39)
Thus ends the twenty-third discourse in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārhsa-Sarhhitā. (29-39)
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