॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
॥ षष्ठोऽध्यायः - ६ ॥
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Discourse VI
Prahrāda's teaching to the demon boys (Preamble)
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प्रह्लाद उवाच ।
कौमार आचरेत्प्राज्ञो धर्मान् भागवतानिह ।
दुर्लभं मानुषं जन्म तदप्यध्रुवमर्थदम् ॥ १॥
यथा हि पुरुषस्येह विष्णोः पादोपसर्पणम् ।
यदेष सर्वभूतानां प्रिय आत्मेश्वरः सुहृत् ॥ २॥
सुखमैन्द्रियकं दैत्या देहयोगेन देहिनाम् ।
सर्वत्र लभ्यते दैवाद्यथा दुःखमयत्नतः ॥ ३॥
तत्प्रयासो न कर्तव्यो यत आयुर्व्ययः परम् ।
न तथा विन्दते क्षेमं मुकुन्दचरणाम्बुजम् ॥ ४॥
ततो यतेत कुशलः क्षेमाय भयमाश्रितः ।
शरीरं पौरुषं यावन्न विपद्येत पुष्कलम् ॥ ५॥
पुंसो वर्षशतं ह्यायुस्तदर्धं चाजितात्मनः ।
निष्फलं यदसौ रात्र्यां शेतेऽन्धं प्रापितस्तमः ॥ ६॥
मुग्धस्य बाल्ये कौमारे क्रीडतो याति विंशतिः ।
जरया ग्रस्तदेहस्य यात्यकल्पस्य विंशतिः ॥ ७॥
दुरापूरेण कामेन मोहेन च बलीयसा ।
शेषं गृहेषु सक्तस्य प्रमत्तस्यापयाति हि ॥ ८॥
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Prahrāda said: In this (human) life a wise man should practise virtues conducive to God-Realization in his very childhood; (for) birth as a human being alone bestows on us our desired object, (viz., lasting happiness), and (yet) such birth is obtained with (great) difficulty and is transient too. (1)
The only course advisable for a man in this world is to betake himself to the feet of Lord Viṣṇu; for He is the ruler and the beloved friend, nay, the very Self of all created beings. (2)
Like suffering, sensual pleasure (too), O Daityas, is obtained by embodied beings in every birth by force of destiny without any effort through (mere) connection with a body. (3)
No effort for (the acquisition of) such pleasure should (therefore) be made; (for) from such effort follows mere waste of (one's) life. (Moreover,) in that way one does not attain to the lotus-feet of Lord Viṣṇu (the Bestower of Liberation), the Source of supreme bliss. (4)
Therefore, having fallen into (the whirlpool of) transmigration (the root of all fear), a clever man should strive for (the attainment of) blessedness while the human body is yet sound and does not perish. (5)
Indeed a hundred years is reckoned to be the (full) length of a man's life. Half of it (viz., fifty years) is of no use to a man who has not been able to subdue his mind; for, consigned to blinding ignorance (in the form of sleep) he remains lying down (in idleness) during the night. (6)
(Out of the remaining fifty years) twenty elapse in (the form of) infancy, when the fellow remains steeped in ignorance, and in (the form of) boyhood, when he remains absorbed in play; and (another) twenty years roll by in (utter) helplessness, when his body is in the grip of senility. (7)
The rest (of his life) actually passes away in (gross) negligence, when the man remains attached to his home through desire which cannot be easily sated and through overwhelming infatuation. (8) (1-8)
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को गृहेषु पुमान् सक्तमात्मानमजितेन्द्रियः ।
स्नेहपाशैर्दृढैर्बद्धमुत्सहेत विमोचितुम् ॥ ९॥
को न्वर्थतृष्णां विसृजेत्प्राणेभ्योऽपि य ईप्सितः ।
यं क्रीणात्यसुभिः प्रेष्ठैस्तस्करः सेवको वणिक् ॥ १०॥
कथं प्रियाया अनुकम्पितायाः
सङ्गं रहस्यं रुचिरांश्च मन्त्रान् ।
सुहृत्सु तत्स्नेहसितः शिशूनां
कलाक्षराणामनुरक्तचित्तः ॥ ११॥
पुत्रान् स्मरंस्ता दुहितॄर्हृदय्या
भ्रातॄन् स्वसॄर्वा पितरौ च दीनौ ।
गृहान् मनोज्ञोरुपरिच्छदांश्च
वृत्तीश्च कुल्याः पशुभृत्यवर्गान् ॥ १२॥
त्यजेत कोशस्कृदिवेहमानः
कर्माणि लोभादवितृप्तकामः ।
औपस्थ्यजैह्व्यं बहु मन्यमानः
कथं विरज्येत दुरन्तमोहः ॥ १३॥
कुटुम्बपोषाय वियन्निजायु-
र्न बुध्यतेऽर्थं विहतं प्रमत्तः ।
सर्वत्र तापत्रयदुःखितात्मा
निर्विद्यते न स्वकुटुम्बरामः ॥ १४॥
वित्तेषु नित्याभिनिविष्टचेता
विद्वांश्च दोषं परवित्तहर्तुः ।
प्रेत्येह चाथाप्यजितेन्द्रियस्त-
दशान्तकामो हरते कुटुम्बी ॥ १५॥
विद्वानपीत्थं दनुजाः कुटुम्बं
पुष्णन् स्वलोकाय न कल्पते वै ।
यः स्वीयपारक्यविभिन्नभाव-
स्तमः प्रपद्येत यथा विमूढः ॥ १६॥
यतो न कश्चित्क्व च कुत्रचिद्वा
दीनः स्वमात्मानमलं समर्थः ।
विमोचितुं कामदृशां विहार-
क्रीडामृगो यन्निगडो विसर्गः ॥ १७॥
ततो विदूरात्परिहृत्य दैत्या
दैत्येषु सङ्गं विषयात्मकेषु ।
उपेत नारायणमादिदेवं
स मुक्तसङ्गैरिषितोऽपवर्गः ॥ १८॥
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What man whose senses have not (yet) been conquered can hope to liberate his own self, attached to his home and bound with the powerful cords of affection ? (9)
Who indeed can give up the thirst for wealth, which is coveted more than life itself and which a thief as well as a servant and a merchant purchases even in exchange for his most beloved life? (10)
With his mind attached to his relatives and bound by the affection of lisping children, how can a man forgo the private company and sweet friendly counsel of his sympathetic wife? (11)
Remembering his sons and those beloved daughters (living at their father-in-law's place), brothers and sisters as well as his helpless (decrepit) parents, and dwellings provided with abundant articles of attractive furniture, hereditary vocations, animals and servants, how can he renounce them ? (Nay,) pursuing actions (of different categories) out of greed (for rewards of various kinds) like a silk-worm (which builds a nest in which it gets imprisoned due to its leaving no outlet from it) and thinking highly of the pleasures relating to sex and the palate, how can he feel disgusted with them, his desires remaining (still) unsated and his infatuation knowing no bounds? (12-13)
Fond of his family, the careless fellow does not perceive his life wearing away in the endeavour to maintain his family nor his (real) purpose (in the shape of God-Realization) frustrated; and even though his mind remains afflicted by the three kinds of agony everywhere, he never gets sick of them. (14)
Though knowing the sin attaching here as well as hereafter to the man misappropriating others' wealth, the householder whose mind is ever intent on (accumulating) riches nevertheless takes away others' wealth, his senses being uncontrolled and his desires unsatisfied. (15)
Indeed he who has a differential outlook, regarding this as his own and that as belonging to another, is not able to realize the Self while maintaining his family in the aforesaid manner, O scions of Danu, even though he may be learned (in the scriptures). (On the other hand,) he is likely to enter the dark region (of hell) even like a deluded person. (16)
Since none who is extremely passionate and a (veritable) toydeer for the diversion of lustful women, in whom are forged fetters in the form of offspring, is ever and anywhere capable of liberating his soul, therefore, avoiding from a respectable distance, O Daityas, the company of the Daityas, who have set their mind on the objects of senses, take refuge in Lord Nārāyaṇa, the most ancient Deity; (for) He (alone) is the final beatitude sought for (even) by those who have given up attachment (for everything). (17-18) (9-18)
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न ह्यच्युतं प्रीणयतो बह्वायासोऽसुरात्मजाः ।
आत्मत्वात्सर्वभूतानां सिद्धत्वादिह सर्वतः ॥ १९॥
परावरेषु भूतेषु ब्रह्मान्तस्थावरादिषु ।
भौतिकेषु विकारेषु भूतेष्वथ महत्सु च ॥ २०॥
गुणेषु गुणसाम्ये च गुणव्यतिकरे तथा ।
एक एव परो ह्यात्मा भगवानीश्वरोऽव्ययः ॥ २१॥
प्रत्यगात्मस्वरूपेण दृश्यरूपेण च स्वयम् ।
व्याप्यव्यापकनिर्देश्यो ह्यनिर्देश्योऽविकल्पितः ॥ २२॥
केवलानुभवानन्दस्वरूपः परमेश्वरः ।
माययान्तर्हितैश्वर्य ईयते गुणसर्गया ॥ २३॥
तस्मात्सर्वेषु भूतेषु दयां कुरुत सौहृदम् ।
आसुरं भावमुन्मुच्य यया तुष्यत्यधोक्षजः ॥ २४॥
तुष्टे च तत्र किमलभ्यमनन्त आद्ये
किं तैर्गुणव्यतिकरादिह ये स्वसिद्धाः ।
धर्मादयः किमगुणेन च काङ्क्षितेन
सारञ्जुषां चरणयोरुपगायतां नः ॥ २५॥
धर्मार्थकाम इति योऽभिहितस्त्रिवर्ग
ईक्षा त्रयी नयदमौ विविधा च वार्ता ।
मन्ये तदेतदखिलं निगमस्य सत्यं
स्वात्मार्पणं स्वसुहृदः परमस्य पुंसः ॥ २६॥
ज्ञानं तदेतदमलं दुरवापमाह
नारायणो नरसखः किल नारदाय ।
एकान्तिनां भगवतस्तदकिञ्चनानां
पादारविन्दरजसाऽऽप्लुतदेहिनां स्यात् ॥ २७॥
श्रुतमेतन्मया पूर्वं ज्ञानं विज्ञानसंयुतम् ।
धर्मं भागवतं शुद्धं नारदाद्देवदर्शनात् ॥ २८॥
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Indeed there is not much exertion to him who is engaged in propitiating the immortal Lord, O children of the Asuras, He being the very Self of all created beings and present everywhere in this world. (19)
In (all) created beings, high and low, commencing from the immobile creation (the vegetable kingdom) and culminating in Brahmā (the creator), nay, in (all) material products as well as in the (five) gross elements, in the (three) Guṇas (modes of Prakṛti), in Prakṛti (Primordial Matter, which is nothing but a state of equilibrium of the three Guṇas) as well as in the Mahat-tattva etc., (which constitute a mixture of the three Guṇas in uneven proportions) exists the one and only one transcendent Spirit, the almighty and imperishable God. (20-21)
Though really indescribable and undifferentiated Himself, He can be hinted at as all-pervading in the form of the subject and as pervaded in the form of the objective universe. (22)
The supreme Lord consisting of absolute consciousness and bliss, He is realized as having His divinity concealed by Māyā (His deluding potency), which gives rise to the material creation. (23)
Therefore, giving up the demoniac disposition, show compassion and friendliness to all created beings, whereby is pleased Lord Viṣṇu (who is beyond sense-perception). (24)
When that infinite Being, the Cause of all, is pleased, what is there that cannot be attained? And what is the use of our worrying over religious merit etc., which are attained in this world of their own accord (without any effort) through modification of the three Guṇas (in the form of destiny moulded by one's past actions); and what is the use of hankering after final beatitude (which lies beyond the three Guṇas) to us who enjoy the nectar of His (lotus) feet and are (ever) singing His praises? (25)
The triad which has been spoken of (in the Vedas) as the three objects of human pursuit—viz., religious merit, worldly riches and sensuous enjoyment—as well as the science of Self-Realization, the science of rituals, logic and political science and the diverse means of earning one's livelihood—all this subject-matter of the Veda I regard as true, (only) if it enables one to offer one's self to the supreme Person, one's Inner Controller. (26)
(The divine sage) Nārāyaṇa, the (eternal) Companion (and Brother) of (the sage) Nara (His divine Counterpart), it is said, taught this well-known and pure wisdom—which cannot be easily attained—to (the sage) Nārada. It can (however) be (easily) attained by (all) embodied beings who have bathed themselves in the dust of the lotus-feet of those exclusively devoted to the Lord, and claiming nothing as their own. (27)
This knowledge with the immediate apprehension of truth as well as the pure (innocent) cult of Devotion to the Lord was received by me in the past through hearing from the mouth of the sage Nārada, who has seen the Lord (with his own eyes). (28) (19-28)
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दैत्यपुत्रा ऊचुः ।
प्रह्लाद त्वं वयं चापि नर्तेन्यं विद्महे गुरुम् ।
एताभ्यां गुरुपुत्राभ्यां बालानामपि हीश्वरौ ॥ २९॥
बालस्यान्तःपुरस्थस्य महत्सङ्गो दुरन्वयः ।
छिन्धि नः संशयं सौम्य स्याच्चेद्विश्रम्भकारणम् ॥ ३०॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे पारमहंस्यां
संहितायां सप्तमस्कन्धे प्रह्लादचरिते षष्ठोऽध्यायः ॥ ६॥
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The sons of the Daityas said : Prahrāda, you as well as we know no other teacher except these two sons of Śukra (the preceptor of the Daityas) and indeed these two have been our masters ever since we were mere infants. (29)
(And) association with an exalted soul (like Nārada) was (most) difficult when you were an infant (shut up) within (the four walls of) the gynaecium. Resolve our doubt, O gentle one, if there is any (valid) ground for giving credence to your words. (30)
Thus ends the sixth discourse, forming part of the Narrative of Prahrāda in Book Seven of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārṣa-Sarhhitā. (29-30)
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