Canto 10 - Chapter 87: A Song of Praise uttered by the Vedas (in their living form)

Discourse LXXXVII

A Song of Praise uttered by the Vedas (in their living form)

Parikṣit submitted : How can the Śruti texts, dealing as they do with the (three) Guṇas (material phenomena), refer directly to Brahma (the Absolute), which is indefinable and beyond the (three) Guṇas and transcends (both) the Cause (the Unmanifest) as well as the effect (the visible universe) ? (1)

Śrī Śuka replied: The almighty Lord evolved the intellect, senses, mind and the vital airs of the (innumerable) Jivas (embodied souls) for their enjoyment (of sense-delights), acts of being born and so on, for enjoying the delights of the various worlds and for final beatitude (in the shape of cessation of all speculation). (It is with the help of these that one can determine the real import of the Śruti texts, which as a matter of fact deal with Brahma alone). (2)
This indeed is the well-known secret of the Vedas relating to Brahma, treasured up by Sanaka and others (more ancient even than the ancient). Whosoever cherishes it (even now) will be shorn of identification with body etc., and attain blessedness. (3)
On this subject I shall narrate to you a story connected with the (divine sage) Nārāyaṇa, and shall also reproduce (as follows) the dialogue between (the celestial sage) Nārada and the sage Nārāyaṇa. (4)

Going about the worlds, on one occasion, (the sage) Nārada, beloved of the Lord, went to the hermitage of (the sage) Nārāyaṇa in order to see the immortal seer, who has from the (very) beginning of the Kalpa (cycle) betaken Himself in this (land of) Bhāratavarṣa, for the prosperity and spiritual well-being of men, to (a life of) asceticism, coupled with piety, Self-Knowledge and dispassion. (5-6)
Bending low (with reverence), O jewel among the Kurus, Nārada put this very question to the divine sage, who was seated there (in His hermitage) surrounded by sages inhabiting the village of Kalāpa. (7)
In the midst of (other) Rṣis, who were (all) listening, the divine Sage (Nārāyaṇa) actually gave to him the following reply, which embodied (the gist of) a discussion bearing on (the topic of) Brahma, held among the ancient Rṣis (Sanaka and others) of Janaloka (the fifth heaven). (8)

The divine Sage said : O Nārada (son of Brahmā, the self-born), of yore there took place a meeting, for exchange of views regarding (the true nature of) Brahma, in Janaloka, of sages born of Brahmā's mind and dwelling in that sphere, who were all lifelong celibates (lit., who had directed the flow of their generative fluid upwards). (9)
On one occasion when you (O Nārada!) had departed to Śvetadwipa to see Lord Aniruddha (the Ruler of that island, a form of Lord Viṣṇu), there ensued (among the Rṣis of that sphere) a masterly and thorough discussion concerning Brahma (the Absolute), about which the Vedas (too) remain silent. There (in that assembly) arose the same question which you have (just) put to me. (10)
Though equal in point of learning, askesis (self-abnegation) and practice of virtue, and although friends, foes and neutrals were alike to them, they treated one (of themselves, viz., Sanandana) as an expounder (of truths), while the rest remained inclined to listen. (11)

• Another name of Badankāśrama, where the famous shrine of Badnnatha is now situated.

Sanandana said : At the end of Pralaya (the period of Dissolution of the universe) the deities presiding over the Śruti texts ( and sprung up from His very first breath) awakened the Supreme, who had been lying asleep (as it were all the time) alongwith His (innumerable) potencies (Prakṛti, Puruṣa, Time and so on), having swallowed this universe evolved by Himself—through (the following) hymns indicating His true character in the same way as bards depending for their subsistence on an emperor call on him, while he is (still) asleep, at daybreak and awaken him with songs of praise celebrating his exploits that contribute to his excellent fame. (12-13)

The Śrutis prayed : Manifest Your glory, reveal Your exalted nature, O unconquered Lord ! Root out the nescience, which has no beginning, of (all) the Jivas invested with an immobile or mobile body—nescience which has assumed the (three) Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) for an evil purpose (viz., obscuring the blissful nature of the Jivas and there by throwing them into bondage), possessed as You are of all divine attributes by virtue of Your own essential nature, O Awakener of all the powers in those souls ! The Veda is able to describe You (only) when during the period of creation You sport in conjunction with Your Māyā (beginningless divine energy) or exist in Your absolute state. (14)
The wise recognize this known (seen and heard of) universe, to be (no other than) Brahma (Yourself), because it is Brahma (alone) that remains (when all else is dissolved) and because it is from and into Brahma (the material cause)—which remains unchanged—that the universe (Its evolute) emanates and returns (even) as the earthenware are evolved out of and disappear into clay. Hence (because of Its being the material Cause of and, therefore, comprising the entire universe) the Vedic texts have concluded as referring to You whatever is contemplated with the mind (that is, the import of words,) and uttered with the tongue (viz, the names). How could the feet of men placed anywhere (on earth) be regarded as not placed on the earth (itself) ? (15)

Therefore, O Lord of Māyā (consisting of the three Guṇas), the wise have taken a plunge into the ocean of nectar in the shape of Your stories—that wash away the impurities of all men (who sing them)—and (thereby) shed their (threefold) sufferings. What wonder, then, that they should get rid of their afflictions, who, having conquered by dint of their Self-Realization the tendencies (evil) of their mind (in the shape of attraction and repulsion etc.) as well as the effects of Time (such as old age), O Supreme, contemplate on Your essential character consisting of eternal consciousness and bliss. (16)
People live (justify their existence only) if they are obedient to You (follow Your commandments) or else they (simply) breathe like bellows. You are that (creative principle) by whose grace (interpenetrated by which) Mahattattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence), Ahaṅkāra (the cosmic ego) etc., (though insentient) have brought into being this egg-like universe (including this microcosm); (nay,) it is You who animate (all) the (five) sheaths (with which the soul is invested), assuming the shape of those sheaths and permeating them (as their material Cause), although (as a matter of fact) You are the ultimate Substance underlying all (phenomena), beyond the gross as well as the subtle, that which remains (after everything else has disappeared) as the Reality. (17)

Out of the (many) paths (leading to God-realization) chalked out by the seers (of old), men of gross vision (lit., having their eyes blinded with gravel) contemplate on (Brahma as presiding over the spiritual centre called Maṇipūraka located in) the abdomen; while the sons of the sage Aruṇa (who are possessed of a subtler vision) contemplate on (Brahma as manifested in the centre known as the Anāhata Cakra located in) the cavity of the heart, the organ from which the veins and arteries branch out (in various directions). Thence proceeds upwards, O infinite Lord, the artery known as Suṣumnā (the supreme effulgent channel leading to You) to (the crown of) the head (the seat of the spiritual centre known as the Sahasrāra). Reaching this path men do not fall again into the jaws of death here. (18)
Entering as it were the diverse types of living organisms evolved by Yourself, though (as a matter of fact) You already existed in them as their (material) Cause, and assuming those forms, You shine (through them) as high or low like fire (which, though undifferentiated in itself, assumes diverse shapes according to the shape of the fire-wood). Therefore, men of unclouded judgment, who do not expect any (worldly or other-worldly) reward for their actions, recognize Your true nature as the one immutable, undifferentiated and uniform Substance in those unreal forms. (19)

The Vedas speak of the Puruṣa (the individual soul) dwelling in these bodies shaped (as a result of its own deeds) by itself—though, as a matter of fact, it is not limited by anything which is of the nature of a cause or an effect—as a part made as it were out of You, the Wielder of all potencies. Having thus determined the nature of the Puruṣa, the wise on this earth, full of faith, adore Your feet, at which (all) acts enjoined by the Vedas are offered and which (as a result of such offering) put an end to rebirth (for all time). (20)
Some, who have got over their fatigue (caused by revolving on the whirligig of births and deaths) by diving into the ocean of nectar-like stories relating to You—who have assumed personal forms for the purpose of revealing the truth about Your own Self, which is (so) difficult to realize—and who have renounced their home as a result of their fellowship with devotees revelling like swans in the lotus of Your feet, do not aspire even for emancipation, O Lord ! (21)
This human body (which is like a nest* for the soul, that has been compared to a bride flitting from one body to another in the course of its mundane existence), when it follows the track leading to You, behaves as our own self, benefactor and loved one. People (however) do not find as much delight in You—who are (ever) favourably inclined towards them and are their (true) well-wisher and loved one, nay, their very Self—and kill their soul by pampering this body and those connected with it (which are all unreal and) by cleaving to which they are thrown into wretched wombs (like those of dogs and swine) and revolve in this mundane existence, which is full of great fear. Oh, what a pity! (22)
By thinking of You Your enemies too have realized the same truth which ascetics that have controlled their breath, mind and senses and rigidly practised Yoga contemplate in their heart. The women (cowherdesses of Vṛndavana) who set their mind on Your (delicate, long and) stout arms resembling the body of Śeṣa (taking You to be a finite being), and even we, who look upon You as equally present everywhere and hold fast to Your lotus-feet, are equal in Your eyes. (23)

Alas! what individual of posterior birth and death can possibly know You, who are anterior to all and from whom came forth Brahmā (the first sage), after whom appeared the two classes of gods (viz., those presiding over the Indriyas, mind etc., and those presiding over the heavenly regions). When, withdrawing everything (into Yourself at the end of creation), You repose (as now), there exist at that time neither the gross phenomena (ether etc.) nor the subtle (such as the Mahat-tattva and Ahankāra) nor the product of both (viz., the psychophysical organism) nor the flux of time nor anything else nor the scriptural texts (by means of which You could be known). (24)
They who posit (as the Vaiśeṣikas do) the coming into existence of that which did not exist before (viz., of this world as an evolute of Matter), or who affirm (as the Naiyāyikas do) the cessation (known by the name of Liberation) of that which exists (viz., suffering of twenty-one kinds), as well as they who admit (as the Naiyāyikas or Sāṅkhyas do) of diversity in the soul or who declare (as the Mīmāṃsakas do) the fruit of actions (in the shape of enjoyment here as well as hereafter) to be real inculcate all this on the ground of misconception (alone). Since the conception of diversity with regard to the soul based on texts such as "The soul is composed of the three Guṇas (modes of Prakṛti)" is caused by ignorance about You, the latter cannot exist in You, who are above such ignorance, Knowledge being Your (very) essence. (25)

• Etymologically the body has been spoken of as a 'Kulāya' because it gets dissolved into the earth after death (श्री लोके)

All this(objective) universe, consisting of the three Guṇas (modes of Prakṛti)—which is a projection of the mind (alone)—including the Jiva (which is referred to as the self), though unreal, appears as real (because of its) being superimposed on You. The knowers of the Self (however) recognize this entire universe (both subjective and objective) to be real because of its (being a projection of) their (very) self. Just as those in quest of gold do not reject its modification (in the shape of gold ornaments) because of its being gold itself, so is this universe (both in its subjective and objective aspects) concluded (by such knowers of the Ātmā) to be their very self inasmuch as it is evolved and interpenetrated (too) by the Ātmā (26)
They alone who worship You as the Indweller of all created beings take no account, and set their foot on the head of, Death. You keep bound (on the other hand) with the word of God (in the form of the Vedas) as (so many) beasts (with a rope) even the so-called wise (to their respective duties). Indeed they who have cultivated love for You (are able to) purify themselves as well as others; (but) not so they who have turned their face away from You. (27)
Though devoid of organs (of sense etc., in Your formless aspect). You wield the powers of all the organs, self-dependent as You are (and hence requiring no such instruments). As the rulers of subcontinents bear tribute to the suzerain Lord of the entire globe and (at the same time) unreservedly enjoy the tribute collected from their own people, so do Brahmā and others (the creators of the universe) as well as the (other) divinities (guardians of the various spheres, and those presiding over the ten Indriyas and mind etc.) united as they are with Māyā (which has no beginning), bear tribute to You and gladly partake of the oblations offered by human beings (through the sacrificial fire). Afraid of You, they do that work to which they have been appointed (by You). (This is the form of tribute they bear to You). (28)
When, O Lord who are eternally free, the desire to sport with Māyā (which has no beginning) appears in You, who are beyond that Māyā, (the countless) species of mobile and immobile creatures, endowed with a subtle body made up of the latencies of their Karmas and brought into existence by Your very look, come into being. To You, who are untainted like the sky and bear resemblance to the void (in point of subtleness) and are supreme (in every respect), none is kindred or alien (so that the disparity among created beings is traceable to the divergence of their Karma and not to any partiality in You). (29)

If the Jivas (embodied beings) are (held to be) infinite (in number), everlasting and all-pervading, their subordination (to another's will) cannot be maintained (because of their equality with one another as well as with Yourself) any more than Your control over them, which could be possible (only) in the opposite case (i.e., if they were held to be limited in number, short-lived and finite), O eternal Lord ! (For) that (Brahma alone) could be the ruler (of the Jiva), as whose evolute it has come into being and which is inseparable from it as its material cause and is equally present in all, nay, which is (practically) unknown to those who claim to know it, since whatever comes to be known is known imperfectly only. (30)
The birth (coming into being at a particular point of time) of Prakṛti (primordial Matter) or of Puruṣa (Spirit) does not stand to reason inasmuch as both of them are (declared in the scriptures as) birthless or without beginning. Living beings (on the other hand) come into existence (only) when the two (viz., Prakṛti and Puruṣa, matter and spirit) come to be united (mistaken for one another), (just) as bubbles appear on (the surface of) water through the interaction of air and water. (Since the birth of the Jivas in this way is only apparent and not real,) that is why they get merged in You (the final Cause) with (all) their several names and attributes (in the state of Liberation) even as rivers disappear into the sea or (during dreamless sleep) just as all (kinds of) nectars of flowers get dissolved into (what is ultimately known by the name of) honey. (31)

Perceiving the misapprehension (in the shape of self-identification with the body etc.), implanted by Māyā (Your deluding potency), in these human beings, men of sound judgment develop intense devotion—that grows every moment to You, who are capable of putting a stop to their transmigration. How can the fear of birth (even) haunt those that worship You, since Your frown in the shape of (the wheel of) Time (as represented by a twelvemonth) with its threefold rim (as consisting of the three parts of the year, viz., winter, summer and the rainy season) inspires terror (again and again) into (the mind of) those (alone) who do not resort to You as their asylum. (32)
They who endeavour to break the most restless steed of their mind—unsubdued (even) by those who have controlled their senses and breath (too)—neglecting the feet of their preceptor, and taking (great) pains over other devices (for mind-control), remain beset with a hundred and one calamities in this world like merchants that have not secured a pilot (for their vessel) in the sea, O birthless Lord ! (33)

What is to be gained by men though kinsfolk, progeny, (their own) body, wife, wealth, houses, land, (nay,) their (very) life and chariots etc., while You, the (real) Self of the man seeking shelter in You, the embodiment of all blessings, are there (by his side)? Indeed what object in this inherently perishable world, intrinsically shorn of all substance, can (really) gratify those who are unaware of this (aforementioned) truth (viz., Your being the sole embodiment of real happiness) and are striving for the (false) pleasure of married life? (34)
Sages who are destitute of (all) pride and treasure Your-lotus feet in their heart and the water washing whose feet is (accordingly) capable of destroying the (entire) sin (of those who sip it or sprinkle it on their head and eyes etc.) yet resort to the numerous holy lakes and rivers and places of pilgrimage on (the surface of) the earth (since it is there that they secure the company of exalted souls). For, they who set their mind (but) once on You, their (very) Self, the embodiment of everlasting bliss, no longer remain attached to their household, which drains the very best in men (in the shape of their judgment, fortitude, forbearance, peace of mind and so on). (35)

If it is argued that this (objective) universe is real in that it has evolved from the Real (God), this proposition is surely disproved by critical examination. The fact of an effect following the nature of its cause varies in certain cases (as for example a son is found to be different from his father); while in some (other) cases the evolute of a real substance is known to be false (just as the perception of a serpent following from a real substance, viz., a rope is false). (It may be objected here that it is not the rope alone but the rope coupled with ignorance which is responsible for its being mistaken for a snake. Our reply to this objection is that) the world (too) is a product of both (viz., Brahma and Avidya); hence it is not real. (If the world is held to be real because it serves our purpose and discharges some function too, our reply is that) for explaining worldly transactions the illusory nature of the universe is (on the other hand) more welcome (to us); for worldly transactions will be carried on by blindly following past traditions. Your word (in the shape of Vedic texts declaring the reward of ritual acts as real) deludes by its manifold powers of expressing, indicating or suggesting a meaning (only) those dull-witted persons who have been blinded by their excessive faith in (Vedic) rituals. (36)
Since this (phenomenal world) neither existed in the beginning (i.e., before creation) nor will it survive after dissolution, hence it is concluded that during the intervening period (too) it falsely appears in You, the absolute Existence. Therefore it is likened (by us, the Vedas) to the ways of the diverse manifestations (e.g., an earthen jar, ear-ring etc.) of material substances (like earth, gold and steel). Therefore, ignorant are they who recognize this unreal world, a (mere) play of fancy, to be real. (37)

(Ever) since under the influence of Māyā (Your deluding potency) the Jiva (soul) embraces ignorance (which has no beginning) it identifies itself with a body, senses and so on (Products of the three Guṇas) and then, acquiring the characteristics of these (viz., the body etc.) undergoes transmigration, its (conscious and blissful) divine nature being obscured. You, on the other hand, (ever) keep that ignorance away (even) as a serpent casts off the slough, retaining Your divinity and possessed of infinite power, and shine in Your eightfold* glory. (38)
If strivers (outwardly engaged in subduing their senses, mind etc.) do not tear the roots of passion planted in their heart, You remain difficult of access to such vile persons, though (ever) present in their heart (even) like a gem about the neck of a man, though forgotten by him. And for Yogis (passing by this name but) given to the gratification of their senses, O Lord, there is misery from both sides, viz., from Death (on the one hand) that has not turned his back (on him, here) and (after death, on the other) from You, whose truth remains unrealized (by him). (39)

• The eightfold lory denotes here the eight Siddhis or supernatural powers enumerated in the works on Yoga, viz., Animā, Laghimā, Mahimā, Prapī, Prakāmya, Iśitva, Vaśitva and Kamāvasāyitva.

He who has come to know You (in reality) no longer feels the impact of joys and sorrows that follow from good and evil acts (committed in past lives and) coming in relief by Your will (prone as You are to requite them according to their merit or demerit); nor does he recognize in that state the commandments (of the Vedas, which are no longer binding on him inasmuch as he has risen above them by virtue of his being no longer identified with his psycho-physical organism), intended as they are (only) for those identified with their body. (This is but natural;) for, ushered (into the heart) through the ears (even) by men (who have not realized Your truth) day after day with the help of teachings handed down from age to age to all, O Lord with (sixfold) divine properties, You are (eventually) attained by them in the form of final beatitude. (40)
Even Brahmā and others (the rulers of the heavenly regions) could not reach Your limit (farthest end), nor even You, because of Your being limitless—You, in whom, indeed, driven by time, float together, like particles of dust in the air, multitudes of cosmic eggs alongwith their (seven) sheaths (viz., earth and so on, each of which is ten times as large as the one enclosed by it)! That is why we, Śruts, finding our end (goal) in You, become fruitful in You, (describing You indirectly as we do) by negating everything other than You (including ourselves). (41)

The Lord (the divine Sage Nārāyaṇa) continued : Having heard in this way the aforesaid exposition regarding the Self (in the shape of the eulogy uttered by the Vedas in their living form) and realized the (true) nature of the Self, and (thereby) achieved their end (as it were), Sanaka and others (the celebrated mind-born sons of Brahmā, who were already accomplished of their purpose) now paid their homage to Sanandana (their preceptor for the time being). (42)
In this way was churned out by the exalted souls (Sanaka and others)—who are the earliest born (among the entire creation) and course through the air (unconcerned as they are with everything)—the essence of all the Vedas (their earlier portion, consisting of the Saṃhitās and their exegesis, the Brāhmaṇas), the Purāṇas and the Upaniṣads (the later portion and the crown of the Vedas). (43)
Cherishing with faith, O Nārada (son of Brahmā), this exposition relating to the Self—(which is) capable of burning out (all) the desires of men—perambulate you at will the globe (as well as the other spheres typified by it). (44)

Śrī Śuka went on : Receiving thus with reverence what was imparted by the divine Seer (Nārāyaṇa), the sage (Nārada)—who had (full) control over his self, who was (fully) accomplished of his purpose, (nay,) who (ever) bears in mind the teachings of the scriptures and observes the heroic vow of perpetual celibacy, submitted (to Him), O king! (as follows):—(45)

Nārada prayed : Hail to the celebrated Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa of stainless glory (in You), who assumes charming forms for putting an end to the (repeated) birth of all created beings. (46)

Bowing low in this way to the Sage Nārāyaṇa (the most ancient seer) as well as to His high-souled disciples, Nārada proceeded from that place to the hermitage of my father, the sage Dwaipāyaṇa, (who was) directly present there (at that time). (47)
Welcomed by the divine sage (Vyasa) and having taken his seat, Nārada reproduced to him the aforesaid hymn (chanted by the Vedas in living form) as heard from the lips of the sage Nārāyaṇa. (48)
In this way has this hymn (sung by the Vedas) been reproduced by me, O Parikṣit, describing how the mind (as well as the Veda) could penetrate Brahma even though the latter was indefinable and untouched by the three Gunas (modes of Prakṛti), which (precisely) was the question that had been put to us by you. (49)
One should constantly meditate on Sri Hari, the Dispeller of (all) fears, who in His absolute state keeps Maya (the prime cause) at a distance; who plans this universe and continues at the beginning, middle and end of it; who is the Ruler of both the Unmanifest (Prakṛti) and the Jiva (embodied soul); who, having created this universe and entered it forthwith alongwith the Jiva, evolves bodies (for the Jivas) and controls (maintains) them; and having attained to whom the Jiva sheds ignorance (that has no beginning) in the same way as a man fast asleep loses consciousness of his body. (50)

Thus ends the eighty-seventh discourse intitled "A Song of Praise uttered by the Vedas (in their living form)," forming the theme of a dialogue between Nārada and the divine Sage Nārāyaṇa, in the latter half of Book Ten of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhitā.