श्रीशुक उवाच ।
अथ तस्मात्परतस्त्रयोदशलक्षयोजनान्तरतो
यत्तद्विष्णोः परमं पदमभिवदन्ति यत्र ह महा-
भागवतो ध्रुव औत्तानपादिरग्निनेन्द्रेण प्रजापतिना
कश्यपेन धर्मेण च समकालयुग्भिः सबहुमानं
दक्षिणतः क्रियमाण इदानीमपि कल्पजीविना-
माजीव्य उपास्ते तस्येहानुभाव उपवर्णितः ॥ १॥
स हि सर्वेषां ज्योतिर्गणानां ग्रहनक्षत्रादीना-
मनिमिषेणाव्यक्तरंहसा भगवता कालेन
भ्राम्यमाणानां स्थाणुरिवावष्टम्भ ईश्वरेण विहितः
शश्वदवभासते ॥ २॥
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Śrī Śuka continued : Now, at a height of thirteen lakh Yojanas beyond the Great Bear, lies (in the form of the pole-star) what they call the highest abode* of Lord Viṣṇu, where indeed resides the great devotee of the Lord, Dhruva, son of Uttānapāda, who is being circumambulated clockwise with great reverence even to this day by Agni (the god of fire), Indra (the chief of the gods), Kaśyapa, a lord of created beings, and Dharma (the god of virtue)—all moving synchronously (in the form of stars)—and who is the mainstay (resort) of (all) those who live (even) at the time of Pralaya (when all the three worlds perish). His glory has (already) been described in (Book Four of) this (holy) book (). (1)
Indeed he shines eternally (in the form of a star), fixed as he is by God, like a post holding together all the multitudes of luminaries, including planets and lunar mansions, that are being made to revolve by the ever-vigilant and all-powerful Time of incomprehensible speed. (2) (1-2)
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यथा मेढीस्तम्भ आक्रमणपशवः संयोजिता-
स्त्रिभिस्त्रिभिः सवनैर्यथास्थानं मण्डलानि
चरन्त्येवं भगणा ग्रहादय एतस्मिन्नन्तर्बहिर्योगेन
कालचक्र आयोजिता ध्रुवमेवावलम्ब्य
वायुनोदीर्यमाणा आकल्पान्तं परिचङ्क्रमन्ति
नभसि यथा मेघाः श्येनादयो वायुवशाः
कर्मसारथयः परिवर्तन्ते एवं ज्योतिर्गणाः
प्रकृतिपुरुषसंयोगानुगृहीताः कर्मनिर्मित-
गतयो भुवि न पतन्ति ॥ ३॥
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Just as (pairs of) oxen, trampling corn (in order to thresh it) while (remaining) tied to a post in the middle of a threshing-floor, walk round in their respective spheres, in three circles (gradually receding from that post), so the hosts of luminaries including the planets—fastened as they are to the aforesaid wheel (revolving movement) of Time either in the inner circle (remote from the earth) or in the outer one (nearer the earth) and propelled by the wind (called Pravaha and referred to in passage 8 of Discourse XXI)—revolve round the pole-star as the pivot till the end of a Kalpa (the life-time of the three worlds) in three courses (northward, southward and along the equator). (And just) as clouds and birds such as the hawk move about in the sky, suspended in the air and helped by their destiny (which keeps them floating in the air and prevents them from falling down), so the hosts of luminaries (which are no other than particular Jivas appearing in those form)—brought into existence by the union of matter and Spirit (occasioned by the destiny responsible for their assuming such forms) and reaping the fruit yielded by their (past) actions—(move about in the air and) do not fall to the ground. (3) (3)
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केचनैतज्ज्योतिरनीकं शिशुमारसंस्थानेन भगवतो
वासुदेवस्य योगधारणायामनुवर्णयन्ति ॥ ४॥
यस्य पुच्छाग्रेऽवाक्शिरसः कुण्डलीभूतदेहस्य
ध्रुव उपकल्पितस्तस्य लाङ्गूले प्रजापतिरग्निरिन्द्रो
धर्म इति पुच्छमूले धाता विधाता च कट्यां
सप्तर्षयः तस्य दक्षिणावर्तकुण्डलीभूतशरीरस्य
यान्युदगयनानि दक्षिणपार्श्वे तु नक्षत्राण्युप-
कल्पयन्ति दक्षिणायनानि तु सव्ये यथा
शिशुमारस्य कुण्डलाभोगसन्निवेशस्य
पार्श्वयोरुभयोरप्यवयवाः समसङ्ख्या भवन्ति
पृष्ठे त्वजवीथी आकाशगङ्गा चोदरतः ॥ ५॥
पुनर्वसुपुष्यौ दक्षिणवामयोः श्रोण्योरार्द्राऽऽश्लेषे
च दक्षिणवामयोः पश्चिमयोः पादयोरभिजि-
दुत्तराषाढे दक्षिणवामयोर्नासिकयोर्यथासङ्ख्यं
श्रवणपूर्वाषाढे दक्षिणवामयोर्लोचनयोर्धनिष्ठा
मूलं च दक्षिणवामयोः कर्णयोर्मघादीन्यष्ट
नक्षत्राणि दक्षिणायनानि वामपार्श्ववङ्क्रिषु
युञ्जीत तथैव मृगशीर्षादीन्युदगयनानि
दक्षिणपार्श्ववङ्क्रिषु प्रातिलोम्येन प्रयुञ्जीत
शतभिषा ज्येष्ठे स्कन्धयोर्दक्षिणवामयोर्न्यसेत् ॥ ६॥
उत्तराहनावगस्तिरधराहनौ यमो मुखेषु चाङ्गारकः
शनैश्चर उपस्थे बृहस्पतिः ककुदि वक्षस्यादित्यो
हृदये नारायणो मनसि चन्द्रो नाभ्यामुशना
स्तनयोरश्विनौ बुधः प्राणापानयो राहुर्गले केतवः
सर्वाङ्गेषु रोमसु सर्वे तारागणाः ॥ ७॥
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Some people declare the stellar sphere as capable of being meditated upon through deep concentration of mind as a form of Lord Vāsudeva, (existing) in the shape of a dolphin. (4)
At the end of the tail of this (divine) dolphin, whose body lies coiled with its head downwards, is allocated the pole-star; at its tail (below the end) are located one after another (the four stars representing) the Prajāpati (the sage Kaśyapa), Agni (the god of fire), Indra (the chief of the gods) and Dharma (the god of piety); at the root of its tail, (the stars representing the gods) Dhātā and Vidhātā; at the hip, the seven stars (of the Great Bear, representing the seven seers); on the right side of the dolphin, whose body lies coiled from left to right, they locate the (fourteen) constellations that mark the northern course (viz., from Abhijit to Punarvasu) and (the other fourteen, viz.,) those marking the southern course (i.e., from Puṣya to Uttarāṣāḍhā) on the left side, (even) as on both sides of a (common) dolphin whose body is disposed in concentric rings, the parts are equally divided. (To mention the limbs separately) at its back is placed the (group of constellations known by the name of) Ajavithi (consisting of Mūla, Pūrvāṣāḍhā and Uttarāṣāḍhā) and at its belly, the milky way. (5)
One should locate Punarvasu and Puṣya at the right and left loins, Ārdrā and Āśleṣā at the right and left hind legs, Abhijit and Uttarāṣāḍhā at the right and left nostrils, Śravaṇa and Pūrvāṣāḍhā at the right and left eyes. Dhaniṣṭhā and Mūla at the right and left ears respectively and the eight constellations from Maghā onwards, marking the southern course, at the ribs on the left side; and even so one should place the (other) eight, marking the northern course, (viz.,) Mṛgaśīrṣa and so on, at the ribs on the right side in the reverse order (i.e., from Pūrvābhādrapada back to Mṛgaśīrṣā), and locate (the remaining two, viz.,) Śatabhiṣā and Jyeṣṭhā at the right and left shoulders. (6)
(Again,) at the upper jaw should be placed (the star representing the sage) Agasti (Agastya) and (the star representing) Yama (the god of punishment) at the lower jaw, (the planet) Mars as the mouth, Saturn at the penis, Jupiter at the hump, the sun at the chest, (the star representing the divine sage) Nārāyaṇa at the heart, the moon in the mind, Venus at the navel, (the two stars representing the twin gods) Aświnīkumāras (the celestial physicians) at the breasts, Mercury in the outgoing and incoming breaths, (the planet) Rāhu at the neck, the Ketus (comets) all over the body and all the hosts of (other) stars in the hair (on the body). (7)
- In the region of the pole-star Lord Viṣṇu ever remains manifest. It is in this sense that it has been spoken of here as well as at other places as the highest abode of Lord Viṣṇu. It is surely different from the Lord's own realm, known by the name of Vaikuṇṭha, which lies beyond the material plane.
(4-7)
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एतदु हैव भगवतो विष्णोः सर्वदेवतामयं
रूपमहरहः सन्ध्यायां प्रयतो वाग्यतो
निरीक्षमाण उपतिष्ठेत नमो ज्योतिर्लोकाय
कालायनायानिमिषां पतये महापुरुषाया-
भिधीमहीति ॥ ८॥
ग्रहर्क्षतारामयमाधिदैविकं
पापापहं मन्त्रकृतां त्रिकालम् ।
नमस्यतः स्मरतो वा त्रिकालं
नश्येत तत्कालजमाशु पापम् ॥ ९॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे पारमहंस्यां संहितायां
पञ्चमस्कन्धे शिशुमारसंस्थावर्णनं नाम त्रयोविंशोऽध्यायः ॥ २३॥
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And actually fixing one's gaze on this very form of Lord Viṣṇu, representing all the gods, in the evening from day to day, one should wait with a concentrated mind upon the same with the following (prayer) silently:—"Hail to the Supreme Person, (manifesting Himself as) the wheel of Time—the backbone of the luminaries—the Ruler of all the gods! (Thus) do we meditate on Him." (8)
The form of Lord Viṣṇu (the Ruler of all the gods), consisting of the planets, lunar mansions and other stars, wipes out the sins of those who repeat the foregoing prayer thrice (in the morning and evening and at noon) everyday. (Nay,) the sin committed in the immediate past by him who bows to or even thinks of this form three times (a day) disappears at once. (9)
Thus ends the twenty-third discourse entitled "The disposition of the stellar sphere represented in the form of a dolphin" in Book Five of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Sarhhitā. (8-9)
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