Canto 5 - Chapter 3: The descent of Lord Rṣabha ...

Discourse III

The descent of Lord Rṣabha

Śrī Śuka began again : Desirous of obtaining progeny, king Nābhi alongwith (his wife) queen Merudevi, who had no issue, worshipped with a concentrated mind Lord Viṣṇu (the Deity presiding over sacrifices). (1)
The Lord, who is possessed of a (most) charming personality, is difficult to attain even when (all) the means (of propitiating Him)—such as the materials, place and time (of worship), the prayers (muttered in the course of worship), the priests conducting the worship, the fees paid to them and (the due observance of) the procedure (laid down for the worship)—are fully employed. Yet, while Nābhi was (thus) reverently (engaged in) worshipping Him with a pure (devout) heart and while the rites known by the name of Pravargya (which serve as a prelude to the performance of a Soma sacrifice) were proceeding, the heart of the Lord was seized with a longing to accomplish the desired object of His servant because of His affection for His devotees, and He revealed before him His most independent captivating form, which ravished the soul by its limbs, which were (individually most) pleasing to the mind and eyes. (2)
The Lord actually appeared with two pairs of arms, was clad in tawny silk and had the splendid Śrīvatsa mark on His bosom. He was distinguished by His peerless conch, lotus, wreath of sylvan flowers, discus, the Kaustubha gem, mace and so on and adorned with a crown, ear-rings, bracelets, girdle, necklace, armlets, anklets and other (such) ornaments of the body, all made of radiant jewels. Seeing the all-effulgent Supreme Person, the priests officiating at the sacrifice as well as the directors of the sacrifice and the sacrificer (himself) waited upon Him, their heads bent low, with water to wash His hands with (as a mark of respect), receiving Him with the same high regard as penniless people would receive a rich treasure. (3)

The priests said : (Though self-perfect in everyway,) be pleased, O most adorable One, to accept again and again (by Your own grace) the homage offered by us, Your servants. (Incapable of extolling You,) we have been taught by worthy souls only to repeat the word 'Namah' (Obeisance to You). (As a matter of fact,) what man whose mind is engrossed in the phenomenal world (which is a modification of the modes of Prakṛti) and who is (therefore) powerless can hope to determine Your essential character with the help of the names and colours and forms of this material universe (which cannot even touch the fringe of Your being)—You who are the Supreme Lord transcending (both) Prakṛti (Matter) and Puruṣa (Spirit). (4)
The utmost he can do is to recount a part of Your multitudinous excellent virtues, which drive away the sins of all mankind and are most auspicious (by nature). (5)
On the other hand, O Supreme One, You are propitiated in everyway through worship offered even with prayers lovingly uttered by your servants in a faltering voice, water, undefiled young leaves, (particularly) leaves of the holy basil plant and sprouts of panic grass. (6)

Otherwise we do not perceive any gain worth the name to You even through this sacrifice—cumbrous with elaborate details—(being carried on) here inasmuch as You are the very embodiment of all the (four) objects of human pursuit perennially and directly flowing in an abundant degree from Your own Self and not conflicting with each other. In our case, however, who seek blessing (of various kinds), O Lord, this (sacrifice) should only prove to be a means of propitiating You (and thereby fetching the desired boon). (7-8)
That is why, out of abundant compassion for us, ignorant as we are of our highest good, O Supreme Person, who are greater than the greatest. You have appeared here of Your own accord, like one expecting homage, with intent to reveal to us Your own glory known by the name of final beatitude as well as to bestow (on us) our desired blessings—even though You have not been (properly) worshipped—just as a sage would approach ignorant people of his own accord. (9)
Now that You—the foremost of those who grant boons (to their votaries)—have manifested Yourself before the eyes of Your own devotees at the sacrificial performance of this royal sage (Nābhi), this itself constitutes a (unique) benediction, O most adorable one. (10)
O Lord, Your hosts of virtues are incessantly recounted (even) by sages revelling in the Self—who have burnt all their sins with the fire of wisdom fanned by detachment (dispassion) and who have (as a consequence) imbibed Your nature—inasmuch as the uttering of Your praises is the (only) source of the highest blessings for them (since they too are not easily graced with Your sight). (11)
Therefore, while stumbling, sneezing, falling down and yawning, when placed in a sad plight and so on even in (high) fever and while dying—when we are powerless to remember You—let Your name descriptive of Your virtues and dispelling (all) our sins somehow appear on our tongue. (12)

Moreover, this royal sage (Nābhi), who is desirous of (obtaining) progeny, has resorted to You—competent as You are to grant (all) desired boons, including (an abode in) heaven and (even) release (from the toils of birth and death)—with the hope of (having) a son like You, and regarding progeny as the (highest) object of human pursuit, even as a pauper would approach Kubera (the god of riches) with the hope of obtaining husk. (13)
Who is there on this earth that has not waited on the feet of exalted souls and (yet) who has not been worsted by Your invincible and inscrutable Māyā, whose understanding has (accordingly) not been clouded by that Māyā and whose nature has not been obscured by the vehemence of poison in the shape of pleasures of sense? (14)
Be pleased to ignore, by (Your) undifferentiating outlook towards all, O God of gods, the disrespect shown by us ignorant people to You, the Supreme Deity, in the sense that You, O Lord of unlimited activity, have been duly (respectfully) called here by us, who are so stupid as to look upon progeny as the (highest) object of human pursuit. (15)

Śrī Śuka resumed : While He was thus being extolled through a hymn couched in prose, and when those priests (the adored of king Nābhi, the ruler of an entire subdivision of Jambūdwīpa) bowed at His feet, Lord Viṣṇu (the foremost of the gods) graciously spoke the following words. (16)

The Lord said : Oh, sages, (you have indeed placed Me in a difficult predicament in that) you, whose speech is infallible, have asked Me the rare boon that a son like Me may be born to this royal sage; (for you know) I alone am My compeer, matchless as I am. Nonetheless the words of Brāhmaṇas should not prove false either, inasmuch as it is My own mouth that is represented by the Brāhmaṇa race (the adored of all the other twice-born classes). (17)
Therefore, not finding My equal (anywhere), I shall descend (on earth) through Nābhi (the son of Āgnīdhra), exhibiting a part of My own. (18)

Śrī Śuka went on : Having thus addressed the consort of queen Merudevi within her hearing, the Lord disappeared (then and there). (19)
Propitiated by great seers at that very sacrifice, O Parikṣit (who had been restored to life by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, manifestation of Lord Viṣṇu—vide I. xii. 7—10), the Lord descended (on earth) in the gynaecium of king Nābhi in a divine form (consisting of Sattva unmixed with Rajas and Tamas) with a view to obliging that monarch and (also) with intent to teach to the world (by personal example) the sacred vows observed by sages that have no covering on their body except the atmosphere, lead an ascetic life and are pledged to perpetual celibacy (lit., have directed the flow of their generative fluid upwards). (20)

Thus ends the third discourse entitled "The descent of Lord Rṣabha", forming part of the narrative of king Nābhi, in Book Five of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārṣa-Sarhhitā.