Canto 6 - Chapter 5: Narada subjected to an execration (by Daksa)

Discourse V

Nārada subjected to an execration (by Dakṣa)

Śrī Śuka resumed : Indeed energized by Lord Viṣṇu's Māyā (creative power), the aforesaid Dakṣa (a lord of created beings) begot through Pāñcajanī ten thousand sons, known as the Haryaswas. (1)
Alike in conduct and disposition, all those sons of Dakṣa, O king (Parikṣit), proceeded in a westerly direction (to practise austerities) when commanded by their father to beget offspring. (2)
There they reached a most extensive and holy lake called Nārāyaṇasara, situated in the area where the river Sindhu (the modern Indus) falls into the sea, and resorted to by sages and Siddhas (a class of demigods endowed with mystic powers from their very birth). (3)
By merely bathing therein they not only had their mind thoroughly cleansed of all impurities (in the shape of likes and dislikes and so on) but also developed an inclination to follow the path of ascetics of the highest order (the path of Renunciation and Self-Knowledge). Yet they practised severe austerities alone, bound as they were by the command of their father. Nārada (the celestial sage), it is said, saw them intent on increasing the population (of the world) and forthwith said, "O Haryaswas, without having seen the end of the earth how will you actually (be able to) beget progeny? Though protectors (of men), alas ! you are ignorant ! (4—6)
Similarly, without fully knowing the country inhabited by a single person, the hole with no visible outlet, the woman assuming different forms (at will) and even so the man who is the husband of a harlot, the river running both ways (both forward and backward), the wonderful house built of twenty-five materials, the swan, at one place, which has a strange story to tell, and something exceptionally sharp and strong (as though made of razors and adamant), independent and revolving, and without having understood the command of your omniscient father, suitable for you, how will you proceed with (the work of) creation?" (7—9)

Śrī Śuka continued : Hearing these enigmatic words of Nārada (the celestial sage), the Haryas was themselves presently pondered over them with their own intellect, which was endowed with innate quickness of perception. (10)
(They said to themselves): "The earth (referred to by the celestial sage) is (no other than) the field (in the shape of the subtle body, yielding the crop of merit and sin, happiness and misery etc., and) known as the Jīva (because conditioning it), which has existed from remote antiquity and serves as a fetter for the soul. Without seeing its extinction what is to be gained through useless actions (actions not conducive to Liberation)? (11)
The Lord is the sole (almighty) Ruler (of the country in the shape of this universe), the witness of all the three states of the mind (the waking state, the dream state and the state of deep sleep) and hence known as the fourth or transcendent principle, who is supported by (none else than) His own Self and is higher than (the cause of) all. Without seeing Him who is eternally free from birth (and death), what purpose can be achieved by man through useless activities (which are not dedicated to Him)? (12)
What is to be achieved in this world through useless acts (serving as a means for the attainment of heavenly bliss and other enjoyments of a transitory nature) by him who has not realized the self-effulgent Brahma, on attaining which a man does not return (to this mortal plane) any more than one who has reached the heaven-like subterranean regions returns to the earth (in the same life). (13)
The intellect of a Jīva, which is imbued with the three Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) and which takes the shape of the various objects of senses (colour, taste and so on) is like a wanton woman appearing in various (attractive) guises and possessed of (many alluring) qualities. What can be gained in this world through useless (feverish) activities by him who has not risen above such a diversified intellect (and attained discrimination)? (14)
(Again,) what is to be gained here through useless (indiscriminate) acts by the man who does not recognize himself as having fallen from his greatness through identification with such an intellect and follows, like the husband of an unchaste woman, its courses (in the shape of joy and sorrow and so on)? (15)
What can be achieved through useless actions by the man who is so forgetful (under the sway of Māyā) that he fails to recognize the frightfulness of (the river of) Māyā, that (alternately) brings about (both) creation and destruction (thus flowing both forward and backward) and acquires (great) impetuosity (in the shape of an unusual outburst of anger, pride and other undesirable impulses) near the ghats and banks of its stream (in the shape of meditation, worship and other spiritual practices). (16)
The Puruṣa (the Lord dwelling in the body of every human being as the Inner Controller) is the wonderful mirror (ground and illuminator) of the twenty-five categories (constituting the human personality, viz., the soul, the Unmanifest or primordial matter, the Mahat-tattva or the principle of cosmic intelligence, the ego, the five subtle elements, the mind and the ten Indriyas and the five gross elements). Without knowing Him as presiding over the (aforesaid) collection* of causes and effects, what is to be gained here through useless actions (that are done with the consciousness that the doer is a free agent, and which, therefore, tend to veil one's true nature). (17)
Ignoring (refraining from the study of and refusing to follow) the body of teachings establishing the existence of God, which not only distinguishes Spirit from matter (even as a swan, according to the traditional belief, instinctively separates milk from water where the two are mixed), but further enables one to perceive the true nature of bondage and liberation, what can be achieved here through useless actions (that tend to direct one's mind towards the external world)? (18)
(Again,) what will be gained here through useless actions (whose fruit is swept away by the ravages of Time) by him who has no knowledge of the wheel of Time, which is (ever) revolving, sharp-edged and independent and destroys the whole creation (and who resorts to various activities under the belief that their fruit is eternal). (19)
How can he who does not know the precepts of his (second) father, the Śāstra (which invests him with a second body in the shape of the sacred thread and whose advice is as salutary as that of a father—precepts that turn him away from worldly activity—and who has faith in the path of worldly activity (which has reference to the three Guṇas, i.e., the world of matter), proceed to act in conformity with such precepts ?" (20)
Thus resolved, O king (Parikṣit), the Haryāśwas, who were (all) of one mind, went round the sage (from left to right, as a mark of respect) and took to the path (leading to God-Realization) which does not bring one back to the mortal plane.(21)
Having fixed his undivided mind on the lotus-feet of Lord Viṣṇu (the Controller of the senses) as revealed in the notes of the gamut, which stand as a symbol of the (all-pervading) Brahma (and lead to its realization), the sage (Nārada) went about the spheres.(22)

• According to the Sāṅkhya system of philosophy, which recognizes the twenty-five categories enumerated in the above verse, Prakṛti or primordial matter is the cause of all causes. From Prakṛti follows the Mahat-tattva, which in its turn brings forth the ego and the ego gives rise to the five subtle elements, the mind and the ten Indriyas (the five senses of perception and the five organs of action); and from the five subtle elements are evolved the five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether). Thus it will appear that while Prakṛti is an uncaused cause, the Mahat-tattva, the ego and the subtle elements are both causes and effects—causes in relation to their effects and effects in relation to their causes. The remaining sixteen (besides the Puruṣa or soul), viz., the mind, the ten Indriyas and the five gross elements are mere effects inasmuch as they are causes of no other category; while the Puruṣa or soul is neither a cause nor an effect. This is summed up in the following verse of Iśvara Kṛṣṇa's popular manual on the Sāṅkhya system, known by the name of Sāṅkhya-Kārikā:—

It is in this sense that the human body has been spoken of in the above verse as a collection of causes and effects.

Having heard of the straying of his virtuous sons (from the path of worldly activity) at the instigation of Nārada, Dakṣa fell a sorrowing and felt (much) distressed. (Indeed) it is a source of grief to have good children. (23)
Fully consoled by Brahmā (who was not born of a mother's womb), Dakṣa begot through Pāñcajanī (his wife) a thousand sons more, known as the Śabalāśwas. (24)
Expressly enjoined by (their) father to beget children, they made a firm resolve to practise austerities and repaired to (the lake) Nārāyaṇasara, where their elder brothers had achieved their object (in the shape of God-Realization or divine love). (25)
Their mind thoroughly cleansed of (all) impurities through a mere bath in that lake, they practised great austerity there, muttering the most sacred syllable 'OM' (a symbol or appellation of the highest Reality). (26)
Living for some months on water (alone) and subsisting for several months on (nothing but) air, they worshipped Bhagavān Viṣṇu (the Lord of all sacred texts), repeating the following sacred formula : (27)
"We make obeisance to Lord Nārāyaṇa (the goal of all the Jivas), denoted by the mystical syllable OM, the highest Person the Supreme Spirit, appearing in a form made up of Sattva unmixed with Rajas and Tamas, the purest of the pure." (28)
The sage Nārada, O Parikṣit (a King of kings), approached those (other) princes also, who were thus intent on renewing the creation, and addressed to them enigmatic words similar to those addressed (to their elder brothers) before:—(29)
"Duly hear from me as I tell you, O sons of Dakṣa, the following precept. (Try to) discover the path trodden by your (elder) brothers, for whom you cherish such (great) affection. (30)
A brother who knows his duty (towards his brothers) and follows the exalted path of his brothers, and who is followed (everywhere) by his virtue rejoices (in the realm of the Maruts) along with the Maruts (the forty-nine wind-gods, who are all excessively fond of their brothers)". (31)
Saying this much, the sage Nārada, whose sight never fails to bring its reward, withdrew; and they too followed the path of their brothers alone, O noble one ! (32)
Having taken to the noble and agreeable path leading to (the realization of) the Supreme—a path which can be reached only by those whose thought is turned onward (away from the world)—they, like the bygone nights, do not return even to this day. (33)
Seeing many an evil portent at this time, the Prajāpati (Dakṣa) heard of the ruination of his sons at the hands of the sage Nārada as before. (34)
Overpowered with grief for his sons, he got angry with Nārada; and, on meeting with the sage, addressed him (as follows), his lips quivering through rage. (35)

Dakṣa said : Ah, appearing in the garb of a holy man, O wicked one, you have done a (great) disservice to our youngsters—who were (all) virtuous—in that you showed them the path of a mendicant. (36)
You have ruined their interests, O sinful one, in both the worlds (here as well as hereafter), while they had not yet been exonerated from their threefold* obligations, nor had they pondered over the futility of (worldly) activities (and were thus unqualified† for taking to the path of renunciation). (37)
Mercilessly unsettling in this way the mind of youngsters (intent on promoting the righteous cause of creation), you have tarnished the fair name of the Lord, and (yet) you shamelessly move in the midst (count as one) of His attendants ! (38)
Barring you—who have trampled (our) love and actually shown enmity (even) to us, who are not enemies—the votaries of the Lord are undoubtedly ever anxious to shower their grace on (all) living beings. (39)
Vairāgya (freedom from attachment to the world) cannot be engendered in the mind of the people in this way by you, who have assumed the guise of an ascetic without true wisdom, even though you regard (Vairāgya as conducive to quietism and) quietism as a means of cutting asunder the bonds of attachment. (40)
(For) a man cannot realize the bitterness (painful consequences) of the pleasures of sense without tasting them. (Therefore) he whose mind has been unsettled by others would not feel disgusted with the world so fully as he might of his own accord (through such realization). (41)
We (quietly) put up with the wrong which you did to us, householders, vowed to the performance of rituals and intent on achieving heavenly bliss, even though the wrong was such as could not be easily forgotten. (42)
(Yet) inasmuch as you have done an offence against us for a second time. O fool responsible for breaking the continuity of our race, therefore, you will have no halt as you wander through the spheres. (43)

Śrī Śuka went on : The sage Nārada, who was esteemed (even) by the virtuous, accepted the curse (pronounced by Dakṣa) with the words "Very well !" That he who is himself powerful (enough to retaliate by uttering a counter-curse), should put up with another's offence, this alone entitles a man to the title of a pious soul. (44)

Thus ends the fifth discourse, entitled "Nārada subjected to an execration", in Book Six of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Sarhhitā.
* Every member of twice-born classes is born, so declare the Vedas, with a debt to the Ṛṣis, the manes and the gods. It is (1)
by studying the Vedas with a vow of strict celibacy in the prime of his life, (2)
by marrying and begetting children after finishing his studies and (3)
by performing sacrifices that he discharges these three debts :—

† We read in the Manusmṛti that a member of the twice-born classes should set his mind on Liberation only after he has discharged the aforementioned threefold debt, and that he who strives for Mokṣa without having discharged these three debts falls in the scale of spiritual evolution