Canto 7 - Chapter 7: (Prahrada's) teaching to the Daityas' sons

Discourse VII

(Prahrāda's) teaching to the Daityas' sons

Nārada resumed : Questioned thus by the Daityas' sons, the Asura (Prahrāda), that great devotee of the Lord, smilingly addressed them (as follows), calling to mind my teaching (to him). (1)

Prahrāda began : Our father (Hiranyakaśipu) having left for Mount Mandara to practise austerities (and having been eaten away by white ants), Indra and the other gods launched a great military campaign against the Dānavas, saying: "Fortunately (for us) the evil one (Hiranyakaśipu), the scourge of the world, has been eaten away by his own sin as a serpent by ants." (2-3)
Perceiving their mighty undertaking and being struck by the gods, the terror-stricken Asura generals, who were all anxious to save their life, hastily fled in every direction, paying no heed to their wife and children, friends and relations, houses, animals and other household goods. (4-5)
Desirous of victory, the gods looted the king's residence; while Indra (the ruler of the gods) even seized the queen, my mother. (6)
Nārada (the celestial sage), who came there by chance, saw her being taken on the road, trembling with fear and crying like a female osprey. (7)
He peremptorily said, "You should not take this innocent lady, O lord of divinities ! Leave, leave, O blessed one, the good woman, who is another's wedded wife." (8)

Indra replied : There is in her womb (in the form of an embryo) the formidable seed of Hiranyakaśipu (the enemy of the gods). Let her (therefore) stay (in my captivity) till (the time of) delivery. I shall let her go when I have achieved my object (by killing the new-born babe). (9)

Nārada said : He (the child in her womb) is not only (absolutely) sinless but a great devotee of the Lord and eminent by his own qualities. This mighty servant of Lord Viṣṇu will not meet his death at your hands. (10)
Thus addressed (by Nārada) and accepting the advice of the celestial sage, Indra left her (my mother) and going round her (as a mark of respect) out of devotion to me (the beloved of the eternal Lord), returned to heaven. (11)

Then the sage took our mother with due honour to his own hermitage and, comforting her, said, "Stay here, my daughter, till the return of your husband." (12)
She too signified her assent in the words "So be it !" and lived near the celestial sage, free from all fear, so long as my father (the ruler of the Daityas) did not cease from his terrible austerities. (13)
For the well-being of her embryo (myself) and in order to deliver it at the desired moment (after the return of her husband) the virtuous and pregnant lady waited upon the sage in that hermitage with supreme devotion. (14)

In order to assuage her grief and for my sake too the compassionate and powerful sage imparted (to her instruction in) both the essence of religion (in the shape of Devotion to the Lord) and pure wisdom (discrimination between the Self and non-Self). (15)
That teaching, however, disappeared from the mind of my mother due to (the inordinate) length of time (that has since elapsed) and because of her womanly nature. Its memory has not (however) left me, the favoured of the sage, even to this moment. (16)
That devotion and wisdom can take root in you too if you give credence to my words. Through faith such sense as is proficient in uprooting the feeling of identification with the body etc. can appear even in women and children as it has dawned on me. (17)
Through the agency of Time, which is by its very nature capable of bringing about transformation, the six well-known states of being commencing with birth (viz., birth, existence, growth, ripeness, decay and destruction) are seen in relation to the body (so long as it is connected with a soul) and not in relation to the soul, just as they are observed in the fruits of a tree (so long as they exist on the tree, and not in the tree itself, which stands comparatively longer). (18)
The Spirit is eternal, free from decay, taintless, one (without a second), the knowing subject, the ground (of everything), changeless, self-seeing (self-effulgent), the cause (of the universe), all-pervading, unattached and having no sheath (of Māyā). (19)
With the help of these twelve transcendent characteristics of the Self a wise man should give up the false notion of 'I' and 'mine'—sprung from ignorance—with reference to the body and persons and things connected with the body. (20)
Just as a goldsmith acquainted with the process (smelting etc.), of extracting gold from its ore is able through those processes to find gold in the ore existing in gold mines, so is a man well-versed in the science of the Spirit able to discover the (true) nature of Brahma in the bodies (of the various Jivas)—which are so many fields (as it were)—through the (diverse) processes of ascertaining the true nature of the Self. (21)

(Out of the total number of categories into which the entire creation has been ultimately resolved) by teachers (of the science of the Spirit, the sage Kapila and others) eight (viz., Prakṛti or primordial Matter, the Mahat-tattva or the principle of cosmic intelligence, the ego and the five subtle elements) have been declared to be the causes; three (viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) are as a matter of fact only modes of Prakṛti (and therefore not distinct from it); sixteen (viz., the five senses of perception, the five organs of action, the mind and the five gross elements) are modifications and the Spirit is spoken of as one because of its connection with all (as their witness). (22)
Of course, the body, (which is) a concatenation of all (these), is of two kinds—mobile (animate) and immobile (inanimate). It is here (in the body) that discarding everything else as 'not this', the Spirit, should be sought for by men coolly reflecting on the creation, continued existence and dissolution of the universe with a mind purified (rendered acute) through reasoning (both) on the lines of Anvaya (the all-pervasiveness of the Spirit) and Vyatireka (the distinctness of the Spirit from everything else). (23-24)
Wakefulness, dream and deep sleep—these are the (three) functions of the intellect. (And) he alone by whom they are (directly) cognized is the transcendent Spirit, the witness (of all material phenomena). (25)
By means of these modifications of the intellect, (which are) products of the three Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas respectively) and the result of actions, and which are rejected (as attributes of Matter) one should ascertain the essential character of the Spirit (which is connected with these states) through its association with the intellect (as the very ground of the latter), even as one comes to know (the presence of) the air through the (different) odours (that are borne through it). (26)
In fact, metempsychosis, which is perpetuated by the (three) Guṇas (modes of Prakṛti) and actions prompted by them, is brought about through the intellect. Though rooted in ignorance and (therefore) unreal, it is postulated as a dream. (27)

Therefore, the (very) seed (in the form of nescience) of actions prompted by the three Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas and Taṁas) ought to be burnt by you. This is (what they call) Yoga (the highest achievement), which stops the functioning of the intellect. (28)
Of the thousands of devices helpful to it, this alone has been recommended by the Lord, viz., the practice of virtues through which love may be duly and easily developed for the almighty Lord. (29)
This can be accomplished by serving one's preceptor and by offering (to him) with devotion all that is got by one, nay, through the fellowship of pious devotees and worship of God, through reverence for stories of the Lord; by celebrating His virtues and exploits, through contemplation on His lotus-feet and through the sight and worship of His images and so on. (30-31)
(Nay,) one should (as far as possible) duly gratify (the various) living beings with their objects of desire under the belief that the almighty Lord Śrī Hari is present in all created beings. (32)
In this way devotion to the all-powerful Lord Vāsudeva is practised by those who have subdued the six senses (including the mind, the internal sense)—devotion through which one fully develops love (for Him). (33)

When, on hearing (accounts) of His (brilliant) achievements, incomparable virtues and heroic deeds wrought through His (various) forms assumed for sport, the devotee sings loudly with an open throat and in a voice choked with tears, shouts and dances, his hair standing on end due to excessive delight, nay, when he, like one possessed by an evil spirit, now laughs, now weeps, now sits in meditation, now greets the people and now, devoid of shame, exclaims: "O Hari ! O Lord of the universe !! O Nārāyaṇa !!!" with his mind fixed on the Lord (his very Self) and heaving a sigh every now and then, all his bonds get loosened at that time and his ignorance and latent desires are burnt; and his mind and body being attuned to Him through contemplation on His pastimes, the man attains to Lord Viṣṇu (who is above sense-perception) by recourse to the highest device of Devotion. (34—36)
The wise recognize (mental) communion with Lord Viṣṇu as a (sure) means in this world of putting a stop to the cycle of birth and death in the case of an embodied soul of impure mind and they (further) recognize it as identical with the bliss of absorption into Brahma. Therefore, worship that Ruler of your heart in (the very lotus of) your heart. (37)
What extraordinary exertion, O demon boys, is involved in the worship of Śrī Hari, one's own Self and friend, (nay) present in one's own heart like the space there? What is to be gained through efforts for the acquisition of objects of senses, such efforts being common to all embodied creatures ? (38)
Riches, wife, animals, sons and other relations, houses, land, elephants, treasury and luxuries (of various kinds)—(nay,) all kinds of wealth and enjoyments are momentary and fleeting. What delight can they afford to a mortal? (39)
Similarly the well-known (ethereal) worlds earned by means of sacrifices are (also) perishable and excelled by other (higher) worlds and are not free from impurities either (because exciting envy in the minds of others). Therefore, with a view to Self-Realization, worship, with absolute devotion, the supreme Lord, in whom no fault is seen or (even) heard of. (40)

(Besides) a man accounting himself wise (also) invariably obtains results which are quite the opposite of the object aiming at which he performs actions in this world time and again. (41)
The aim of a man given to action here is to secure happiness and freedom from misery. But he who was (formerly) filled with joy due to desirelessness ever reaps misery through desire (afterwards). (42)
The very body for which the Jiva (an embodied soul) hankers after enjoyments through actions performed from interested motives actually belongs to others (in that it is sure to be devoured by dogs and jackals, crows and vultures, if left uncared for after death) and (is something that) hugs the soul and (having served it for a fixed time) departs (leaves it). (43)
How much more so are one's progeny, wife, house, wealth and so on or (in the case of a sovereign) one's kingdom, treasury, elephants, ministers, servants and friends, that are connected with the Jīva only indirectly (through the body) and are treated as one's own (and not the very self) ! (44)
Of what avail can these trifling things—which are sure to disappear with the body and are (veritable) evils, though appearing as something worth seeking—be to the soul, the very ocean of eternal bliss ? (45)
(Just) consider what interest (enjoyment) can there be in this world, O demon boys, to the embodied soul, suffering through its (past) actions in all the stages commencing from conception (till death)? (46)
With the body as its (obedient) servant the embodied soul undertakes actions (of various kinds, both good and evil) and with (the aforesaid) actions moulds a (future) body (and the circle goes on from birth to birth) inasmuch as both (actions as well as the body) proceed from ignorance. (47)
Therefore, worship through desirelessness the desireless and almighty Śrī Hari, your very Self, on whom (our) riches, enjoyments and pious acts depend. (48)
Lord Śrī Hari is the (very) Self, Ruler, beloved friend and Inner Controller of all living beings (whose bodies have been) fashioned by gross elements evolved (in their turn) by Himself. (49)
Taking shelter under the feet of Lord Viṣṇu (the Bestower of Liberation), a god, demon, human being or Yakṣa and even a Gandharva (a celestial musician) bids fair to become blessed as I. (50)

Neither birth as a member of the twice-born classes, god or Ṛṣi nor character nor versatility nor charity nor austerity nor the performance of sacrifices nor purity (of mind and body) nor sacred vows are conducive to the pleasure of Lord Mukunda, O Asura boys ! Śrī Hari is propitiated through unalloyed Devotion (alone). All else is empty show. (51-52)
Therefore, practise devotion, O Dānavas, to the almighty Lord Śrī Hari, the Soul of all created beings, by treating every creature as though it were your very self. (53)
For there are (many) Daityas, Yakṣas and ogres, womenfolk, Śūdras (members of the labouring and artisan classes), cowherds, birds, beasts and those living by sin that have attained immortality (through Devotion). (54)
Exclusive devotion to Lord Govinda (the Protector of cows)—which is the same as beholding Him in every creature—this alone has been declared to be the highest interest (goal) of man in this world. (55)

Thus ends the seventh discourse, entitled " (Prahrāda's) Teaching to the Daityas' sons", forming part of the Narrative of Prahrāda, in Book Seven of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Sāṃhitā.