The Bhagavata Purana 3

by Bibek Debroy

  Chapter 11(20)

  ‘Uddhava said, “O lotus-eyed one! You are indeed the lord and the injunctions and prohibitions of the sacred texts are therefore your commands. They do talk about good and bad acts. They talk about the different types of varnas and ashramas, birth from pratiloma and anuloma marriages, the attributes of objects, place, age and time and heaven and hell. 1199 Without perceiving the differenece between good and bad, which have injunctions and prohibitions, how can men undersand your words? 1200 How can they ensure what is best for them? O lord! As your words, the Vedas are like eyes for ancestors, gods and men. They understand what is best, the end and the means. This insight about good and bad in the sacred texts did not evolve on its own, but comes from you. If one counters the differences in the sacred texts, there will be confusion.”

  ‘The illustrious one replied, “To ensure the best for men, I have spoken about three kinds of yoga—jnana, karma and bhakti. Other than these, no other path exists. Jnana yoga is for those who are disgusted with all karma and have given it up. Those whose minds are still not disgusted and who still desire, should resort to karma yoga. On its own, if devotion towards me is generated in a man, because he has heard about my accounts, even if he is not disgusted, nor excessively attached, he should obtain success through bhakti yoga. As long as one is not satisfied, or until devotion towards me has been generated by hearing about my accounts, one must perform karma. O Uddhava! If a person is established in his own dharma and worships me without desiring anything, he will not go to heaven or hell, unless he does something perverse. In this world, if a person performs his own dharma and is unblemished and pure, he obtains pure jnana. Bhakti is a matter of chance. The residents of heaven and the residents of hell desire to be born in this world, because that can ensure success for both jnana and bhakti. Those two worlds can’t ensure that success. A learned man should not crave for a destination in either heaven or hell. Nor should he desire to be born in this world. Attachment to the body leads to confusion. Knowing in advance that death is inevitable, he must unwaveringly act so as to achieve the goal of success, before death overtakes him. Men who are like death cut down a tree in which a bird has made its nest. Without being attached to its home, the bird goes elsewhere and finds peace. Knowing that the lifespan is being severed by the passage of nights and days, a person should tremble with fear. He must free himself of attachment and realize the supreme. Without any desire, he will find peace. He has easily obtained this human body, which is very difficult to obtain. It is like a well-designed boat and the guru is like a helmsman. I am like the favourable wind that propels it. After this, if a man does not cross the ocean of samsara, he is killing himself. When a person is disgusted with material pursuits, he must become detached and control his senses. Through practice, the yogi must fix his fickle mind in his atman. When the mind does not remain concentrated and starts to stray, he must not get distracted. He must use the techniques and the path to bring the atman under control. A person must retain control over where the mind is going. He must conquer his prana and conquer his senses. Using an intelligence that is full of sattva, he must bring the mind under the control of the atman. This is said to be the supreme yoga for controlling the mind, knowing and watching over the inclinations of the heart and repeatedly controlling them, like a horse. He must use samkhya to understand the nature of all material objects, their generation and their withdrawal. Observing the process of creation and destruction, the mind becomes serene. On the basis of what has been said, a man becomes disgusted and non-attached. Thinking about these, the mind gives up all wicked thoughts. Using the learning, a person examines the path of yoga, yama and the others. The mind must remember that I am the one to be worshipped. Nothing else is worthwhile. Because of being distracted, if a yogi commits a reprehensible act, he must burn that sin down through yoga. Nothing else should be done. 1201 Depending on a person’s respective status, a steady practice of what is good has been spoken about and niyama has been laid down. However, by its very nature, karma is impure. The norms of good and bad must be used by a person with the desire of giving up attachment. When devotion towards my accounts has been generated, a person develops disgust for all karma. Though he knows that all objects of desire give rise to unhappiness, he is unable to give them up. He must then happily worship me, filled with firm devotion and determination. Even if he pursues objects of desire, he must condemn them as being the cause of miseries. I have spoken about bhakti yoga, which a sage can use to completely worship me. This destroys all the desires in the heart and the heart becomes immersed in me. The bonds of the heart are severed and all the doubts are dispelled. When I am seen as the atman who exists everywhere, all karma is terminated. Thus, using bhakti yoga, a yogi is immersed in my atman. In general, in this world, neither jnana, nor non-attachment, is necessary for obtaining benefit. All the benefit that can be obtained through karma, austerities, jnana, non-attachment, yoga, donations and dharma can be obtained easily by my devotee through bhakti yoga. If he so desires, he can obtain heaven, emancipation, or my abode. Those who are my virtuous and persevering devotees are fixed in me and desire nothing else. I give them kaivalya and freedom from being born again. It has been said that indifference is the best and greatest method for obtaining benefit. Therefore, a person who is indifferent and not attached, develops devotion. Good and bad, which arise from the gunas, do not exist in those who are single-minded in their devotion to me. Those virtuous ones are impartial in their intelligence and obtain the supreme. This path has been propounded by me. If a person follows this, he obtains peace and my abode. The learned know this as the supreme brahman.”’

  Chapter 11(21)

  ‘The illustrious one said, “My path is that of bhakti, jnana and rituals I have spoken about. Those who are inferior forsake it and pursue the temporary goals of the senses and objects of desire. They become tied to samsara. Depending on a person’s state, there are steady practices that have been spoken of as being good. Deviation from these is bad. This is what has been determined about them. O unblemished one! Pure and impure, good and bad, auspicious and inauspicious, can coexist in the same object. 1202 These have been laid down so that the principles can be used to investigate the pursuit of dharma, everyday conduct and the sustenance of life. I have revealed these norms for those who have to uphold dharma. Beginning with Brahma and down to immobile objects, all embodied entities result from earth, water, fire, air and space, the five elements. All of them are united with the atman. Though they are equal, the Vedas give them different names and forms. O Uddhava! This is so that each can accomplish its own respective objective. O excellent one! For the sake of regulating karma, I have laid down good and bad for entities, depending on the place, the time and other aspects. There are places where there are no black antelopes. Devotion towards brahmanas is missing. Such places are inauspicious. Even if there are black antelopes, these are known as Souvira and Kikata. 1203 These desolate places are not clean. Depending on the task, the availability of objects, or because it is naturally that, a specific time period is said to be good. When there are impediments towards performing karma, that is said to be bad and one should not attempt karma then. The good or the bad of an object depends on which other object it is attached to, words, 1204 whether it has been cleaned, the passage of time and whether it is large or small. 1205 Depending on a person’s intelligence, prosperity, location and state, an impure object may be able to, or may not be able to, taint him. Grain, objects made out of wood, bones, thread, liquids, metals and hides can be purified, or not, through time, air, fire, water and earth, acting singly or jointly. When touched by an impure smell, a fragrant substance can remove that impure coating and make it regain its original nature. That substance is then considered to be a purifying agent. Bathing, donations, austerities and performing purifying acts, depending on age and status, are means of purifying oneself. After first remembering me, a dvija must perform these acts of purification. A mantra is pure when it is chanted by someone
who possesses proper knowledge. A karma is pure when it is offered to me. An act of dharma is pure when six things are considered. 1206 Anything contrary is adharma. Sometimes, something good may turn out to be bad. Sometimes, something the norms declare as bad may turn out to be good. These specific circumstances constrain the use of those principles to determine what is good and bad. For those who have already fallen down, the performance of a similar act is no longer a sin. Someone who is lying down on the ground cannot fall further down. In conjunction with one’s natural conduct, something may turn out to be good. 1207 Whatever course of action one refrains from, one is freed from that. This is dharma for men. It leads to well-being and removes grief, delusion and fear. If a man thinks of the good qualities of objects, he becomes attached to them. Desire results from that attachment. Among men, this desire leads to conflict. Conflict leads to intolerable rage and ignorance follows. This ignorance swiftly pervades a man’s intelligence. O virtuous one! Deprived of intelligence, a person is thought to be as empty as an animal. He thus deviates from what is good for him. He is like a person who has lost his consciousness or is dead. Absorbed in material objects, he does not know his atman or the supreme. His life is as futile as that of a tree. Though he breathes, he is no more than bellows. The fruits spoken about in the sacred texts do not bring benefit. They are only meant to entice attraction for the supreme. They have been spoken about with the intention of indicating the benefit, like making someone imbibe a bitter medicine. Because of birth, desire, attachment to life and attachment to relatives, the minds of mortals become attached and these act as constraints in their realizing their atmans. Ignorant people submit themselves and wander along a dangerous path, deviating from what is good for them. If a learned person has entered the darkness of ignorance, why should he again engage in those pursuits? Some who are inferior in intelligence are ignorant and do not understand the true intention 1208 and pursue the flowering fruits of the sacred texts. Those who actually know about the Vedas do not speak in that way. Those driven by desire are miserly and greedy. Their intelligence is such that they regard the flowers as the fruit. Enticed by the fire and blinded by the smoke, they do not obtain their own destinations. O dear one! They do not know me, present in all hearts and in this universe. They are content with their own lives and what has been spoken about in the sacred texts. It is as if their eyes are covered by mist. Those who are attached to material objects do not understand my views, which have been implicitly stated. Thus, they are attracted to violent sacrifices, as if these have been encouraged. Taking pleasure in violence, because they desire their own happiness, these deceitful 1209 people offer the animals that have thus been obtained at sacrifices dedicated to gods, ancestors and the lords of bhutas. In their dreams, they sketch out a world that is unreal, though it is pleasant to hear about. Because of the hope and resolution in their hearts, like a merchant, they give up their riches. 1210 Those who are full of sattva, rajas and tamas worship gods and others, Indra being the foremost, who are full of sattva, rajas and tamas. They do not worship me.‘Through sacrifices to the gods, we will enjoy ourselves in heaven. When that is over, we will again obtain large mansions and noble births in this world.’ The minds of men are agitated through such flowery words. They are proud and extremely greedy and my accounts are not attractive to them. The Vedas are about three subjects—the brahman, the atman and rituals. 1211 The rishis speak about things indirectly and the indirect method also appeals to me. It is extremely difficult to understand about the brahman in words, since the vital air of speech, the sense of speaking and the perception of the mind are involved. The brahman has no limits. It is fathomless and is as deep as the ocean. I am the lord, infinite in powers. I am the brahman. I manifest myself before creatures in the form of sound and can only be perceived indirectly, like the subtle fibre in the stalk of a lotus. Through its mouth, the spider takes out strands of web from its heart. Like that, the vital air manifests itself from space as sound and touches the mind and assumes a form. The lord is full of metres, full of amrita and there are thousands of different sounds, classified as consonants, vowels, sibilants and semi-vowels. Omkara was thus embellished in different ways, expanding through colourful expressions. There were chhandas, 1212 each containing four aksharas more than the previous one. The lord, infinite and limitless, creates this large expanse and again withdraws it into himself. The metres are gayatri, ushnik, anushtup, brihati, pankti, trishtup, jagati, atichchhanda, atyasti, atijagati and virat. 1213 What is prescribed? What is indicated? What is described? What is not recommended? What is the heart of the matter? Other than me, there is no one in the world who knows this. I am the one it has injunctions about worshipping. If there are injunctions about not worshipping me, that is also me. That is the meaning of all the Vedas. Resorting to speech, it differentiates me. Having differentiated because of maya, it negates me and is finally reduced to silence.”’

  Chapter 11(22)

  ‘Uddhava asked, “O lord! O lord of the universe! How many principles have the rishis enumerated? We have heard from you that there are twenty-eight—nine, eleven, five and three. 1214 Some learned ones speak of twenty-six, others mention twenty-five. Some say seven, nine or six. Others say eleven. Some speak of seventeen, others speak of sixteen or thirteen. O one with a long life! With what intention have rishis sung about these differing numbers of principles? You should explain this to us.”

  ‘The illustrious one replied, “Since everything is present everywhere, it is reasonable that brahmanas should speak in this way. They are under the grasp of my maya. That being the case, whatever they say cannot be contradicted. ‘What you have said is not true. Truth is what I have spoken.’ Since my powers that urge them are insurmountable, they cite reasons and argue in this way. That is how those differences and alternatives arise when they speak about the subject. When control over the mind and the senses has been obtained, all debate subsides. O bull among men! The principles enter one another. Depending on what the speaker perceives, he categorizes them as cause and effect. All the principles are seen to be present in one principle. A principle exists within its cause and also within its effect. The principles are everywhere. Each of the disputant enumerates, depending on whether the effect is included in the cause, or whether the cause is included in the effect. He speaks as he has ascertained. We accept the reasoning and the conclusion. A man who has been covered with ignorance right from the beginning is unable to realize his own atman on his own. Therefore, there must be someone else who knows about the truth, so that he can impart knowledge to him. The slightest difference does not exist between Purusha and Ishvara. 1215 The perception about these being different is pointless and such knowledge arises because of Prakriti’s gunas. Prakriti has an equilibrium of the gunas. The gunas are Prakriti’s attributes, not those of the atman. Sattva, rajas and tamas are the cause of creation, preservation and destruction. The transformation of sattva is said to be jnana, the transformation of rajas is said to be karma and the transformation of tamas is said to be ajnana. Time is disequilibrium in the gunas, while nature is Sutra. The nine principles enumerated by me are Purusha, Prakriti, Mahat, ahamkara, space, wind, fire, water and earth. The powers of perception are hearing, touch, sight, smell and taste. O dear one! The organs of action are tongue, hands, genitals, anus and legs. The mind is used for both perception and action. The attributes of the senses that perceive are sound, what is touched, the seen, what is smelt and form. The functions of the senses of action are movement, expression, excretion 1216 and artisanship. In the beginning, at the time of creation, Prakriti assumes the form of both cause and effect. Through sattva and the other gunas, it assumes that state, while the unmanifest Purusha is only a witness. Because of the glance of Purusha, Mahat and the elements are agitated and thus obtain vigour. They are brought together by Prakriti’s strength and create the cosmic egg. Those who say there are seven principles enumerate the five elements, space and the others, the jivatman and the atman. These are regarded as the
basis for the evolution of the body, the senses and the breath of life. Those who speak of six principles include the five elements and the supreme Purusha as the sixth. Uniting with those, he created this universe and entered it. Some say there are only four principles, with fire, water and earth having evolved from the atman. 1217 Just as something that has been born takes a form, this universe has also originated from these. There are some who enumerate seventeen principles—the five gross elements, the five senses, the five objects of the senses, the mind and the atman as the seventeenth. In that way, when sixteen principles are enumerated, the atman is also spoken of as the mind. When thirteen are mentioned, this includes the five elements, the five senses, the mind, the jivatman and the atman. Eleven includes the atman, the five gross elements and the five senses. Eight means Mahat, ahamkara, the mind and the five elements. When it is nine, Purusha is added to this list. In this way, the rishis differ in the number of principles they have enumerated. All of them are supported by reasoning and are true. Such embellishments are worthy of the learned.”