EKAM SAT

K.R.Paramahamsa

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 Bhishma-Gita
Sanat-Sujata-Gita
Sanatkumara-Gita
Bharatha-Gita

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 Table of Contents

Page No

Preface 7

1. Bhishma-Gita 9

2. Sanat-Sujata-Gita 93

3. Sanatkumara-Gita 121

4. Bharatha-Gita 139

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 Preface

The Gita literature in Sanskrit is the spontaneous outpouring of the sages and
seers that have realized the Self. It is the expression of their direct experience of the
Divine – the Self, the Brahman, the Atman in whatever way IT is apprehended in their
supreme consciousness. It is, therefore, no surprise that every Gita sets realization of the
Self as its ideal. All of them point to one Truth, the only Truth – Ekam Sat.

The Bhagavad-Gita is the most widely known classic of Sanatana-dharma,

translated and commented upon by hundreds of spiritual seekers in almost every language
in the world. The Hindu monks who are the torch-bearers of the Sanatana-dharma have
either translated and / or commented upon a few of the other Gitas in English. It may be
that most of the Gitas remain to be given free translation and brief commentary in
English for an easy understanding of their spirit, for the benefit of aspirants not knowing
Sanskrit.

We bring out a series of volumes titled Ekam Sat containing free translation in
English of each verse of all the available Gitas other than the Bhagavad-Gita, with brief
commentary wherever necessary. The idea is that the translation is true reflection of the
spirit of the verse (sloka) in Sanskrit as far as practicable, and the commentary is
consistent with the central thought of the Gita. The division of each Gita into chapters
may be arbitrary, but indicative of the subject handled therein. Ekam Sat 1 & 2 of the
series have already been published.

Ekam Sat 3, the third volume of the series, contains a detailed exposition of the
Bhishma-Gita, Sanat-Sujata-Gita, Sanatkumara-Gita & Bharatha-Gita. The translation
into English of each sloka (verse) of the four Gitas is rendered corresponding to the idea
of the verse in Sanskrit of the Gita concerned. Explanatory paragraphs are added,
wherever considered necessary, to elaborate the essence of the content of the verse from
the point of view of Monism.

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Bhishma-Gita

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 Table of Contents
Page No

Introduction 13

1. Hymn to Mahadeva 15

2. Hymn to Mahavisnu 51

3. Hymn to Narayana 83

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 Introduction

The Bhishma-Gita consists of three Hymns - the Hymn to Mahadeva (Iswara), the
Hymn to Mahavisnu and the Hymn to Narayana. The Hymn to Mahadeva is in sections
14 & 17, and the Hymn to Mahavisnu is in section 149 of the Anusasana Parva, while the
Hymn to Narayana is in sections 65 to 68 of the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharat.

In the world of classical literature, the Mahabharat is unique in many respects. As

an epic, it is the greatest in all literatures. It is considered the mightiest single human
endeavor of literary creation of any culture in human history. The effort to conceive the
mind that conceived it is itself considered great education. The epic is the stupendous
ocean of all-embracing knowledge. It is a wonderful production bench-marking the high
state of Indian civilization long before the Christian era.

The components of Mahabharat such as the Bhagavad-Gita, the Hymn to

Mahadeva, the Hymn to Mahavisnu, the Hymn to Narayana, etc are what seek to
enlighten the human beings. They are the crux of the Vedanta philosophy. They
constitute the basic component of the philosophy of Advaita, and Monism.

The Hymn to Mahadeva and the Hymn to Mahavisnu are similar, rather identical
to a considerable extent, as both of them are the Hymns to the Supreme Brahman. This is
basically the reason why the same names adoring Mahadeva are repeated in the Hymn to
Mahavisnu and vice-versa at several places. The Hymn to Narayana is re-affirmation of
the glory of the Brahman, though brief. The author of these Hymns must have kept
always in view of the Oneness of the Supreme Brahman. The advocacy of supremacy of
Iswara or Visnu was only parochial, prevalent at the time the Mahabharat was composed.
This epic has sought to dispel the notions of such supremacy of personal gods in a
sectarian way.

It is significant that Bhishma chose Krisna, being the embodiment of Mahavisnu,

to recite the Hymn to Mahadeva while he himself recited the Hymns to Mahavisnu and
Narayana. This approach enhances the catholicity of out-look of the author of the Hymns
in the Mahabharat, though the epic basically relates to Vaishnava literature.

Both the Hymns to Mahadeva and to Mahavisnu contain 1000 names, many of
them repeated in each. Both the Hymns contain same names in adoration. But each of
the names in both the Hymns has its own inner significance. Though, etymologically, the
names appear to be repeated, each has its own ontological import. This requires greater
and deeper understanding of the Vedanta philosophy for appreciation.

The Hymn to Mahavisnu is quite popular as Visnu-Sahasranama and an important

component of Vaishnava devotional literature. The commentaries by Parasara Bhatta and
Shankara on this Hymn are exhaustive and very illuminating as to the ontological import
of the names of adoration.

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 1. Hymn to Mahadeva

Yudhishthira said:

Oh son of the river Ganga! Thou hast heard all the names of Maheswara, the Lord
of the universe. Do thou tell us, oh grandsire, all the names that are applied unto Him
who is called Isa and Sambhu? Do thou tell us all those names that are applied unto Him
who is called Vabhru (vast), Him that has the universe for His form, Him that is the
illustrious preceptor of all the deities and the asuras, that is called Swayambhu (self-
created) and that is the cause of the origin and dissolution of the universe? Do thou tell us
also of the puissance of Mahadeva?

Bhishma said:

I am quite incompetent to recite of virtues of Mahadeva of the highest

intelligence. He pervades all things in the universe, and yet is not seen anywhere. He is
the creator of the universal self. All the deities from Brahma downwards adore and
worship Him. He transcends both Prakrti and Purusa. He is indestructible and the
Supreme Brahman. He is both existent and non-existent. Agitating both Prakrti and
Purusa by means of His energy, He created the universal lord of creatures – Brahma.
Who is there competent to tell the virtues of that God of gods that is endued with
supreme intelligence?

Only Narayana, that bearer of the discus and the mace can comprehend
Mahadeva. He is without deterioration. He is the foremost of all beings in attributes. He
is Visnu as He pervades the universe. He is irresistible. He is possessed of supreme
Energy. He is omniscient because of Yoga. It is in consequence of the devotion of the
high-souled Krisna to Mahadeva whom he gratified.

In every new Yuga has Krisna, by penances, gratified Mahadeva. Only Krisna has
seen with his eyes the great puissance of the high-souled Mahadeva – that original cause
of the universe. Oh Bharata! I do not behold anyone superior to Mahadeva. To expound
the names of that God of gods fully and without creating the desire of hearing more, only
Krisna is competent. Verily, only he is able to discourse on the puissance, in its entirety,
of the Supreme Deity.

Addressing Vasudeva, Bhishma continued.

Thou art the Master of all the deities and the asuras. Thou art illustrious. Thou art
Visnu in consequence of thy pervading the universe. It behoveth thee to discourse on
these subjects connected with Siva of universal form about which Yudhishthira has asked
me. In days of yore, the Rishi Tandin, sprung from Brahma, recited in Brahma’s region
and before Brahma himself the thousand names of Mahadeva. Do thou recite those names
before this conclave of the ascetics? Do thou discourse on the high blessedness of Him
who is immutable, ever blissful, Hotri, universal Protector and Creator of the universe?

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 Vasudeva said:

All the deities are incompetent to understand the course of Mahadeva’s acts truly
and in all their details. He is the end which all righteous people attain. The very Adityas
who are endued with subtle sight are unable to behold His abode. How can one that is
merely a man comprehend Sambhu whom the senses cannot comprehend, for Sambhu
dwells in the firmament of the heart and cannot be seen, but by the internal vision that
yoga supplies. I shall, therefore, truly recite to you some of the attributes of that
illustrious slayer of asuras who is regarded as the lord of all sacrifices and vows.

Vasudeva continued:

This hymn (stated to have been composed by the Rishi Tandin) relates to Him
who is the Veda of the Vedas, and the most ancient of all ancient objects; to Him who is
the energy of all energies, and the penance of all penances; to Him who is the most
tranquil of all creatures endued with tranquility, and who is the splendour of all
splendours; to Him who is looked upon as the most restrained of all creatures that are
restrained, and Him who is the intelligence of all creatures endued with intelligence; to
Him who is looked upon as the deity of all deities, and the Rishi of all Rishis; to Him who
is regarded as the sacrifice of all sacrifices and the most auspicious of all things fraught
with auspiciousness; to Him who is the Rudra of all Rudras and the effulgence of all
things endued with effulgence; to Him who is the Yogi of all yogis, and the cause of all
causes; to Him from whom all the worlds start into existence, and unto whom all the
worlds return when they cease to exist; to Him who is the Soul of all existent creatures,
and who is called Hara of immeasurable energy. Hear me recite those thousand names of
the great Sarva. Hearing those names, Oh foremost of all men, thou shalt be crowned
with fruition in respect of all thy wishes.

Aum!

Thou art Immobile,

Thou art Fixed,
Thou art Puissant,
Thou art Terrible,
Thou art Foremost,
Thou art boon-giving,
Thou art Superior,
Thou art the Soul of all creatures,
Thou art celebrated over all creatures,
Thou art all things,
Thou art the Creator of all,
Thou art bhava,
(Bhava implies that form from which all things flow and into which all things
merge when the universal dissolution takes place. It may also imply mere existence
without reference to any attribute by which it is capable of being described or
comprehended.)

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 Thou art the bearer of matted locks on Thy head,
Thou wearest animal skins for Thy vestments,
Thou wearest a crest of matted air on Thy head like the peacock,
Thou art he that is the whole universe for Thy limbs,
(The Sanskrit word Virat signifies infinitude.)

Thou art the Creator of all things,

Thou art Hara in consequence of Thy being the destroyer of all things,
Thou art he that has eyes resembling those of the gazelle,
Thou art the destroyer of all creatures,
Thou art the supreme enjoyer of all things,
Thou art Pravritti whence all actions flow,
Thou art Nivritti or abstention from acts,
Thou art observant of fasts and vows,
Thou art Eternal,
Thou art Unchangeable,
Thou art he that resides in crematoria,
Thou art the possessor of the six well-known attributes of Lordship and the rest,
(The six attributes are infinite treasures, strength, glory, splendor, knowledge and
renunciation. These attributes relate to Bhagavan, an epithet of the God-head. Bhagavan
is also the Personal God of the devotee.)

Thou residest in the heart of every creature,

Thou art he that enjoys all things with senses,
Thou art the grinder of all sinful creatures,
Thou art he that deserves the salutations of all,
Thou art of great feats,
Thou art he that has penances for his wealth,
Thou createst all the elements at Thy will,
Thou concealest Thy real nature by putting on the guise of a lunatic,
Thou art the Master of all the worlds and of all living creatures,
Thou art of immeasurable form,
Thou art of vast body,
Thou art of the form of Righteousness,
Thou art of great fame,
Thou art of high Soul,
Thou art the soul of all creatures,
Thou hast the universe for Thy form,
Thou art of vast jaws (for Thou swallowest the universe when the time comes for
the dissolution of all things),
Thou art the protector of all the lokas (the worlds),
Thou art the soul residing in the inner heart and as such devoid of ahamkara
originating from ignorance, and is one and undivided,
(The allegory is to Mahadeva being the Pratyag Soul free from ignorance.)

Thou art anandam (bliss),

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 Thou art he whose car (vehicle) is borne by mules,
Thou art he that protects Jiva from the thunderbolt of rebirth,
Thou art adorable,
Thou art obtained by purity, self-restraint and vows,
Thou art again the refuge of all kinds of vows and observances including purity
and self-restraint,
(The word niyama in the text refers to purity, both internal and external,
contentedness with whatever is had, penance, Vedic studies, meditation on the Deity,
etc.)

Thou art the celestial artificer that is conversant with every art,
Thou art self-created (for no one has created Thee),
Thou art the beginning of all creatures and things,
Thou art Hiranyagarbha, the Creator of all things,
Thou art inexhaustible puissance and felicity,
(The word nidhi implies the largest number that can be named in arithmetical
notation. Hence it implies the possessor of inexhaustible felicity and gladness.)

Thou hast a hundred eyes,

(The word sahasraksha connotes either Indra or possessor of innumerable eyes in
consequence of Mahadeva being identical with the universe.)

Thou hast eyes of vast power,

(The word visalaksha connotes one whose eyes are of vast power, because the
past as well as the future are seen by them even as the present.)

Thou art Soma,

(Soma implies either the Moon or the libations poured into the sacrificial fire.)

Thou art he that causes all righteous creatures to assume shapes of glory for
shining in the firmament,
(All righteous persons become luminaries in the firmament. It is Mahadeva that
makes them so for the reason that He is the giver of glorious forms to those that deserve
them.)

Thou art Chandramas (Moon),

Thou art Surya,
Thou art the planet Saturn,
Thou art the descending node (of the Moon),
Thou art the ascending node,
Thou art Mangala (Mars), and
Thou art Brihaspati (Jupiter) and Sukra (Venus),
Thou art the Budha (Mercury),
(Many of these names need comments to be intelligible. Ketu is no planet. Hindu
astronomers call the descending node of the Moon by that name. Similarly, Rahu is the
ascending node of the Moon. Graha is that which seizes, and Grahapati is Mangala, so

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called for its malevolence. Varah is Brihaspati or Jupiter who is the counter-self of Sukra
or Venus. In Hindu mythology, Sukra is a male person, the preceptor of the daityas and
asuras. Atri is Budha or Mercury.)

Thou art the worshipper of Atri’s wife,

(Atri’s wife gave birth to Durvasas through a boon of Mahadeva.)

Thou art He that shot his shaft in wrath at sacrifice when sacrifice fled away from
him in the form of a deer,
(Daksha’s sacrifice sought to fly away from Siva, but the latter pursued it and shot
His shaft at it for destroying it outright.)

Thou art sinless,

Thou art possessed of penances that have conferred upon Thee the power of
creating the universe,
Thou art possessed of penances that have rendered Thee capable of destroying the
universe,
Thou art high-minded (in consequence of Thy great liberality towards Thy
devotees),
Thou fulfillest the wishes of all who resign themselves to Thee,
Thou art the maker of the year (for it is Thou who settest the wheel of Time
revolving, by assuming the form of the Sun and the planets),
Thou art Mantra (in the form of Pranava and other sacred words and syllables),
Thou art the authority for all acts (in the form of the Vedas and the scriptures),
Thou art the highest Penance,
Thou art devoted to yoga,
Thou art He that merges himself in the Brahman (by yoga-abstraction),
Thou art the great seed (being the cause of causes),
Thou art the displayer of what is un-manifest in the manifest form, in which the
universe exits,
Thou art possessed of infinite might,
Thou art he, whose seed is gold,
Thou art omniscient (being as Thou art all things and the great knower),
Thou art the cause of all things,
Thou art he that has the seed of action (that is, ignorance and desire) for the
means of sojourning from this world to the other and the other to this,
(The Jiva carries the seed of acts, that is, ignorance and desire with it. As a
consequence, the Jiva travels from one world into another without end. This seed is,
therefore, the means of locomotion of the Jiva. Mahadeva is Jiva. The soul is the rider
and the body is the vehicle that carries the soul.)

Thou hast ten arms,

Thou hast wink-less eyes (for Thou seest at all times),
Thou hast a blue throat (in consequence of Thy bearing in Thy throat the poison
that arose upon churning the ocean and which, if not so borne, was capable of destroying
the universe),

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 Thou art the Lord of Uma,
Thou art the origin of all the infinite forms that occur in the universe,
Thou art he, whose superiority is due to him,
Thou art a hero in might (in consequence of Thy having achieved such grand feats
as the quick destruction of the triple city of the asuras),
Thou art inert matter (which cannot move unless co-existing with the Soul),
Thou art all the tattvas (subjects of enquiry as counted in the Sankhya
philosophy),
Thou art the ordainer and ruler of the tattvas,
Thou art the chief of those beings that wait upon Thee, and called Ganas,
(The Ganas are mighty beings that wait upon Mahadeva. Ganapati is Ganesa, the
eldest son of Mahadeva.)

Thou coverest infinite space,

(The word in the text is digvasas, meaning nude. The Puranas say that for
stupefying the wives of certain ascetics, Mahadeva became nude on one occasion. The
real meaning appears to be that He is capable of covering, and does actually cover even
infinite space. In the sense of nude, the word means one that has empty space for one’s
cover or vestments.)

Thou art Kama, the god of desire,

Thou art conversant with mantras (in the sense of Knowledge) being Thy
penance,
(This implies that, with Mahadeva, penance is Knowledge instead of being mere
physical austerities.)

Thou art the highest Mantra (for Thou art that philosophy which consists in the
ascertainment of the nature and attributes of the Soul and its differences
from the Non-soul),
Thou art the cause of the universe (since all that exists has sprung from Thy Soul),
Thou art universal destroyer (for all that ceases to exist becomes merged unto
Thee who art the un-manifest Brahman),
Thou bearest in one of Thy hands the calabash, in another thou holdest the bow;
in another hand thou bearest shafts and in another thou bearest a skull,
Thou bearest the thunderbolt,
Thou art armed with the hundred-killer,
(It may be a weapon of the kind of a rocket.)

Thou art armed with the sword,

Thou wieldest the battle-axe,
Thou art armed with the Sula (trident),
Thou art adorable,
Thou hast the sacrificial ladle in one of Thy hands,
Thou art of beautiful form,
Thou art endued with abundant energy,
Thou givest, in the most liberal measure, all that tends to adorn those that are

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 devoted to Thee,
Thou wearest a turban on Thy head,
Thou art of beautiful face,
Thou art he that swells with splendour and puissance,
Thou art he that is humble and modest,
Thou art exceedingly tall,
Thou art he that has the senses for Thy rays,
(The word Harikesa means one having the senses for one’s rays. It means one that
displays all objects before the soul through the senses. The meaning is that Mahadeva is
he through whose puissance the mind succeeds in acquiring knowledge through the
senses.)

Thou art the greatest of preceptors,

Thou art the Supreme Brahman (being a state of Pure Felicitous Existence),
(The word kris signifies bhu or existence. The syllable na signifies nivritti. Hence
Krisna means ananda-tanmatra - the state of pure felicitous existence.)

Thou art he who took the shape of a jackal (for consoling the brahmana who,
when insulted by a wealthy vaisya, had resolved to commit suicide),
Thou art he whose objects are all crowned with fruition (of themselves and
without waiting for the puissance derivable from penances),
Thou art one who bears a bald head (as the sign of the mendicant order),
Thou art one who does good to all creatures,
Thou art unborn,
Thou hast innumerable forms,
Thou bearest all kinds of fragrance on thy person,
Thou art he whose matted locks on the head sucked up the river Ganga when it
had first fallen from heaven (although they again gave out the water at the
earnest solicitation of the King Bhagiratha),
Thou art the giver of sovereignty and lordship,
Thou art a brahmacharin without having ever fallen away from the rigid vow of
continence,
Thou art distinguished for Thy sexual continence,
Thou always liest on Thy back,
Thou hast Thy abode in Puissance,
(The word nabhah means space implying puissance. That Nabhah is the abode of
Mahadeva.)

Thou hast three matted locks on Thy head,

Thou art he that is clad in rags,
Thou art Rudra (in consequence of Thy fierceness),
Thou art the celestial generalissimo,
Thou art all-pervading,
Thou art he that moves about during the day,
Thou art he that moves about in the night,

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 (The deities are said to move about during the day, while the asuras are said to
move about during the night. What is, therefore, implied is that Thou art the deities as
well as their foes, the asuras.)

Thou art of fierce wrath,

Thou art possessed of dazzling effulgence (born of Vedic study and penance),
Thou art the slayer of the mighty Asura who had come in the form of an infuriate
elephant for destroying Thy sacred city of Varanasi,
Thou art the slayer of such daityas as become the oppressors of the universe,
Thou art Kala (or Time) which is the universal destroyer,
Thou art the supreme ordainer of the universe,
Thou art a mine of excellent accomplishments,
Thou art of the forms of the lion and the tiger,
Thou art he that is clad in the skin of an elephant,
Thou art the yogi, who deceives Time by transcending its irresistible influence,
Thou art the original sound,
(Sound, when manifested, is perceptible. Though un-manifest and lying in eternal
space, it is believed to have its existence, as it is eternal. The un-manifest Brahman is
generally considered the primal un-manifest sound. )

Thou art the fruition of all desires,

Thou art he that is adored in four ways,
(The four ways are said to be visva, taijasa, prajna and sivadhyana. )

Thou art a night-wanderer (like Betala and others),

Thou art he that wanders in the company of spirits,
Thou art he that wanders in the company of ghostly beings,
Thou art the Supreme Lord of even Indra and the other celestials,
Thou art he that has multiplied himself infinitely in the form of all existent and
non-existent things,
Thou art the upholder of both mahat and all the innumerable combinations of the
five primal elements,
Thou art the primeval ignorance or tamas that is known by the name of Rahu,
Thou art without measure and hence infinite,
Thou art the supreme end that is attained by the emancipate,
Thou art fond of dancing,
Thou art he that is always engaged in dancing,
Thou art he that causes others to dance,
Thou art the friend of the universe,
Thou art he, whose aspect is calm and mild,
Thou art endued with penances puissant enough to create and destroy the
universe,
Thou art he that binds all creatures with the bonds of Thy illusion,
Thou art he that transcends destruction,
Thou art he that dwells on the mount Kailasa,
Thou transcendent all bonds and art unattached in respect of all things like space,

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 Thou art possessed of a thousand arms,
Thou art victory,
Thou art that perseverance, which is the cause of success or victory,
Thou art without idleness or procrastination that interferes with persevering
activity,
Thou art dauntless,
Thou art fear,
Thou art he that puts a stop to Bali’s sacrifice, or
Thou art he called Buddha who preached against all sacrifices,
Thou fulfillest the desires of all Thy devotees,
Thou art the destroyer of Daksha’s sacrifice,
Thou art amiable,
Thou art slightly amiable,
Thou art exceedingly fierce and robbest all creatures of their energy,
Thou art the slayer of the asura Bala,
Thou art always cheerful,
Thou art of the form of wealth which is coveted by all,
Thou hast never been vanquished,
(The allegory is to the defeat of Mahadeva at the hands of Krisna in the city of
Bana. His defeat was due to Mahadeva’s kindness for Krisna, even as Krisna broke his
vow of never taking up arms in the battle of Kurukshetra, for honouring his worshipper
Bhishma who had vowed that he would compel Krisna to take up arms.)

Thou art the most adorable,

Thou art he that utters deep roars (in the form of ocean),
Thou art that which is so deep that no one can measure it (Thou art of the
form of space),
Thou art he, whose puissance and the might of whose companions and of the bull
have never been measured by anybody,
Thou art the tree of the world (whose roots extend upwards and branches hang
downwards),
Thou art the banyan,
Thou art he that sleeps on a banyan leaf when the universe after dissolution
becomes one infinite expanse of water,
(The Hindu mythology says that when the universal destruction comes and all
becomes a mighty expanse of water, there appears a banyan tree under whose shade the
immortal Rishi Markandeya sees a child who is Mahavisnu.)

Thou art he that shows compassion to all worshippers assuming, as Thou likest,
the form of Hari, Hara, Ganesa, Arka, Agni or Wind,
Thou art possessed of teeth that are exceedingly sharp (since Thou art competent
to chew innumerable worlds even as one munches nuts and swallows
them speedily),
Thou art of vast dimensions in respect of Thy forms,
Thou art possessed of a mouth that is vast enough to swallow the universe at once,
Thou art he whose troops are adored everywhere, or

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 Thou art he at whose approach all the asura troops fled in all directions,
Thou art he that dispelled all the fears of the deities when the Prince of elephants
had to be captured,
Thou art the seed of the universe,
Thou art he that has for his vehicle the same bull that forms again the symbol on
his banner in battle,
Thou hast Agni for Thy soul,
Thou art Surya, who has green steeds yoked onto his car (vehicle),
Thou art the friend of Jiva,
Thou art he that is conversant with the proper time for the accomplishment of all
religious acts,
Thou art he unto whom Visnu paid His adorations (for obtaining His celebrated
discus),
Thou art the Sacrifice (being in the form of Visnu),
Thou art the ocean,
Thou art the Barabanala Mare’s head that ranges within the ocean, ceaselessly
vomiting fire and drinking the saline waters as if they were sacrificial butter,
Thou art Wind, the friend of Agni,
Thou art of tranquil soul like the ocean when at rest, and unstirred by the mildest
breeze,
Thou art Agni that drinks the libations of clarified butter poured in sacrifices with
the aid of mantras,
Thou art he, whom it is difficult to approach,
Thou art he, whose effulgence spreads over the infinite universe,
Thou art ever skilful in battle,
Thou art well conversant with the time when one should engage in battle so that
victory may be achieved,
Thou art that science which treats of the motions of heavenly bodies, or
Thou art Time itself,
Thou art of the form of success or victory,
Thou art he whose body is Time (for Thy body is never subject to destruction),
Thou art a house-holder for Thou wearest a tuft of hair on Thy head,
Thou art a sanyasin for Thy head is bald,
Thou wearest matted locks on Thy head (being, as Thou art, a forest dweller),
(By these three names what is indicated is that Mahadeva is a house-holder, a
sanyasin and a forest dweller, belonging to each of these ashramas.)

Thou art distinguished by Thy fiery rays (for, the effulgent path by which the
righteous proceed is identical with Thine),
Thou art he that appears in the firmament in the heart encased in the body of
every creature,
(The Brahman, being the subtlest, is experienced in the firmament of one’s own
heart. Mahadeva, being identical with the Brahman, is displayed in the heart that is
within the physical casing of every creature. As such Mahadeva may be said to appear in
His effulgence within everyone’s body.)

24
 Thou art he that enters into the brain of every creature,
Thou bearest the wrinkles of age,
Thou bearest the bamboo flute, and also the tambour,
Thou bearest the musical instrument called tali,
Thou hast the wooden vessel used for husking grain,
Thou art he that covers that illusion, which covers Yama,
(The word kalakatankatah means thus: Kala is Yama. He is covered with the
illusion of the Supreme Deity. This all-covering illusion, again, has the Supreme Deity
for its cover. What is meant is that Thou art that Supreme Deity.)

Thou art an astrologer inasmuch as Thy understanding is always directed towards

the motion of the wheel of Time which is made up of the luminaries in the
firmament,
Thou art Jiva, whose understanding is directed to things that are the result of the
attributes of sattva, rajas and tamas,
Thou art that in which all things merge when dissolution overtakes them,
Thou art stable and fixed, there being nothing in Thee that is subject to change or
mutation of any kind,
Thou art the Lord of all creatures,
Thy arms extend all over the universe,
Thou art displayed in innumerable forms that are but fractions of Thyself,
Thou pervadest all things,
(The words vibhaga and sarvaga are indicative of Thou being the universe as
vyashti and samashti.)

Thou art he that has no mouth (for, Thou enjoyest not the objects of Thy own
creation),
Thou art he that frees Thy creatures from the bonds of the world,
Thou art easily attainable,
(The word susaranab recorded in some editions is indicative of ‘Thou art he that
well protects the universe’.)

Thou art he that manifested himself with the golden mail,

(The allegory is to the golden mail being the illusion of the Supreme Deity in
consequence of which the universe has become manifest.)

Thou art he that appears in the phallic emblem,

Thou art he that wanders in the forests in quest of fowls and animals,
Thou art he that wanders over the Earth,
Thou art he that is omnipresent,
Thou art the blare that is produced by all the trumpets blown in the three worlds,
Thou art he that has all creatures for his relatives (Pasupati),
Thou art of the form of a snake (for, Thou art identical with the mighty Naga
named Sesha),
Thou art he that lives in mountain caves (like Jaigishavya) or any other yogi,
Thou art identical with Guha (the celestial generalissimo),

25
 Thou wearest garlands of flowers,
Thou art he that enjoys happiness that springs from the possession of worldly
objects,
(The word tarangavit literally means being conversant with waves. It means one
that is acquainted with the pleasures that arise from the enjoyment of worldly things, for
such pleasures may be likened to waves which appear and disappear on the surface of the
sea, or ocean of Eternity.)

Thou art he, from whom all creatures have derived their three states of birth,
existence and destruction,
Thou art he that upholds all things that exist or occur in the three stages of time
viz., the past, the present and the future,
Thou art he that frees creatures from the effects of all acts belonging to previous
lives as well as those accomplished in the present life and from all the
bonds due to ignorance and desire,
Thou art he that is the binder of asuras’ chiefs,
(The reference to the binder of asuras’ chief is to the Supreme Deity’s form of
Visnu in which he had bound Bali, the chief of the asuras. The plural form has reference
to successive kalpas.)

Thou art he that is the slayer of foes in battle,

Thou art that which is attainable by knowledge alone,
Thou art Durvasas,
Thou art he that is waited upon and adored by all the righteous,
Thou art he that causes the fall of even Brahma and the others,
Thou art he that gives unto all creatures the just share of joy and grief that each
deserves according to its own acts,
Thou art he that is incomparable,
Thou art well conversant with the shares that are given and appropriated in
sacrifices, or
Thou art he that is well conversant with the ritual of sacrifices,
Thou residest in every place,
Thou wanderest everywhere,
Thou art he that has mean vestments, or
Thou art he that has no vestments, for no vestments can cover Thy vast limbs,
Thou art Vasava,
Thou art immortal,
Thou art identical with the Himavat Mountains,
Thou art the maker of pure gold,
Thou art without acts,
Thou upholdest in Thee the fruits of all acts,
Thou art the foremost of all creatures that are regarded as upholders,
(Those that uphold others are, for example, the elephants that stand at the
different points of the compass, the snake Shesha, etc. What is meant here is that ‘Thou
art the best of all these or all such things’.)

26
 Thou art he that has bloody eyes,
Thou art he that has eyes whose vision extends over the infinite universe,
Thou art he that has a car (vehicle) whose wheels are ever victorious,
Thou art he that is possessed of vast learning,
Thou art he that accepts Thy devotees for Thy servants,
Thou art he that restrains and subjugates Thy senses,
Thou art he that acts,
Thou wearest clothes, whose warp and woof is made of snakes,
Thou art supreme, or
Thou art Visnu who is the foremost of the celestials,
Thou art he that is the lowest of the celestials (meaning Agni),
(It means that ‘Thou art all the celestials’.)

Thou art he that is well-grown,

Thou ownest the musical instrument called Kahala,
Thou art the giver of every wish,
Thou art the embodiment of grace in all the three stages of time, viz., the past, the
present and the future,
Thou art possessed with might that is always well spent,
Thou art he that had assumed the form of Balarama (the elder brother of Krisna),
Thou art the foremost of all coveted things (being emancipation or the highest of
all ends to which creatures attain),
Thou art the giver of all things,
Thy face is turned towards all directions,
Thou art he from whom diverse creatures have sprung (even as all forms have
sprung from space, or are modifications of that primal element),
Thou art he that falls into the pit called body,
(The body is, as it were, a pit into which the soul falls, determined by desire and
ignorance.)

Thou art he that is helpless (falling into the pit constituted by the body),
Thou canst not transcend the sorrow that is Thy portion (because of body
configuration),
Thou residest in the firmament of the heart,
Thou art exceedingly fierce in form,
Thou art the Deity called Ansu,
Thou art the companion of Ansu and art called Aditya,
Thou art possessed of innumerable rays,
Thou art endued with dazzling effulgence,
Thou hast the speed of the Wind,
(The word vasu indicates the wind, for it means that which establishes all things
into itself)

Thou art possessed of the speed of the mind,

Thou art Nisachara as Thou enjoyest all things, being invested with ignorance,

27
 (Nisachara is one, acting through nisa or avidya. The word, therefore, means one
that enjoys all objects, implying that Jiva is invested with ignorance.)

Thou dwellest in every body,

Thou dwellest with prosperity as Thy companion,
Thou art he that imparts knowledge and instruction,
Thou art he that imparts instruction in utter silence,
Thou art he that observes the vow of taciturnity, or
Thou instructest in silence,
Thou art he that passes out of the body, looking at the soul,
(The soul of the seeker realizes the Supreme Soul if it transcends the mind-body
consciousness through yoga.)

Thou art he that is well adored,

Thou art the giver of thousands (for, the lord of all the treasures derived those
treasures of his, from Thee),
Thou art the prince of birds (being Garuda, the son of Vinata and Kasyapa),
Thou art the friend that renders aid,
Thou art possessed of exceeding effulgence, or
Thy splendour is like that of a million suns arisen together,
Thou art the Master of all created beings,
Thou art he that provokes the appetites,
Thou art the deity of desire,
Thou art of the form of lovely women that are coveted by all,
Thou art the tree of the world,
Thou art the lord of treasures,
Thou art the giver of fame,
Thou art the Deity that distributes unto all creatures the fruits (in the form of joy
and grief) of their acts,
Thou art those fruits which Thou distributest,
Thou art the most ancient (having existed from a time when there was no other
existent thing),
Thou art competent to cover with a single footstep of Thine all the three worlds,
Thou art Vamana (the dwarf) who deceived the asura chief Bali (depriving him
of his sovereignty, and restored it unto Indra),
Thou art the yogi crowned with success (like Sanatkumara and others),
Thou art a great Rishi (like Vasistha and others),
Thou art one whose objects are always crowned with success (like Rishabha or
Dattatreya),
Thou art a sanyasin (like Yajnavalka and others),
Thou art he that is adorned with the marks of the mendicant order,
Thou art he that is without such marks,
Thou art he that transcends the usages of the mendicant order,
Thou art he that assures all creatures from every sort of fear,
Thou art without any passions (so that glory and humiliation are alike to Thee),
Thou art he that is called the celestial generalissimo,

28
 Thou art that Visakha, who took his rise from the body of the celestial
Generalissimo when Indra hurled his thunderbolt at him,
Thou art conversant with the sixty tattvas (subject-titles of enquiry) in the
universe,
Thou art the lord of senses (for these achieve their respective functions guided by
Thee),
Thou art he that is armed with the thunderbolt (and that rives the mountains),
Thou art infinite,
Thou art the stupefier of daitya ranks in the field of battle,
Thou art he that moves his car (vehicle) in circles among his own ranks and that
of his foes, and who comes back safe and sound after devastating them,
Thou art he that is conversant with the lowest depth of the world’s ocean (in
consequence of Thy knowledge of the Brahman),
Thou art he called Madhu (who had founded the clan in which Krisna took his
birth),
Thou hast eyes whose colour resembles that of honey,
Thou art he that has taken birth after Brihaspati,
(Brihaspati is the word applied to the first priest. The deities first got their priest
for assisting them at sacrifices. Human beings then got theirs. Those born after Brihaspati
are known as Brihaspatyas.)

Thou art he that does the acts which Adhyaryus have to do in sacrifices,
Thou art he that is always adored by persons whatever their modes of life,
Thou art devoted to the Brahman,
Thou wanderest amongst the habitations of men in the world (in consequence of
Thy being a mendicant),
Thou art he that pervades all beings,
Thou art he that is conversant with truth,
Thou knowest and guidest every heart,
Thou art he that overspreads the whole universe,
Thou art he that collects or stores the good and bad acts of all creatures so as to
award them the fruits thereof,
Thou art he that lives during even the night that follows the universal dissolution,
(The night here refers to the resulting darkness in the event of dissolution of the
universe.)

Thou art the protector wielding the bow called Pinaka,

Thou residest in even the daityas that are the marks, at which Thou shootest Thy
arrows,
Thou art the author of prosperity,
Thou art the mighty ape Hanuman that aided Visnu, in the incarnation of Rama in
his expedition against Ravana,
Thou art the lord of those Ganas that are Thy associates,
Thou art each member of those diverse Ganas,
Thou art he that gladdens all creatures,
Thou art the enhancer of the joys of all, or

29
 Thou art he that takes away the joys previously conferred,
(The word nandivardhanah may also mean he that takes away the joys previously
conferred.)

Thou takest away the sovereignty and prosperity of even such high beings as
Indra and others,
Thou art the universal slayer in the form of Death,
Thou art he that resides in the four and sixty Kalas,
Thou art very great,
Thou art the Grandsire,
Thou art the supreme phallic emblem that is adored by both deities and asuras,
Thou art of agreeable and beautiful features,
Thou art he that presides over the variety of evidence and tendencies of action
and non-action,
Thou art the lord of vision,
Thou art the lord of yoga (in consequence of Thy withdrawing all the senses into
the heart, and combing them together in that place),
Thou art he that upholds the Krita and the other ages (by causing them to run
ceaselessly),
Thou art the lord of seeds (in consequence of Thy being the giver of the fruits of
all acts, good and bad),
Thou art the original cause of such seeds,
Thou actest in the ways that have been pointed out in the scriptures beginning
with those that treat of the Soul,
Thou art he in who reside might and the other attributes,
Thou art the Mahabharata and other histories of the kind,
Thou art the treatises called Mimamsa,
Thou art Gautama (the founder of the science of dialectics),
Thou art the author of the great treatise on Grammar that has been named after
the Moon,
Thou art he that chastises his foes,
Thou art he whom none can chastise,
Thou art he that is sincere in respect of all his religious acts and observances,
Thou art he that has become obedient to those that are devoted to Thee,
Thou art he that is capable of reducing others to subjection,
Thou art he that foments quarrels among the deities and the asuras,
Thou art he that has created the four and ten worlds (beginning with Bhu),
Thou art the protector and cherisher of all beings commencing from Brahma and
ending with the lowest forms of vegetable life (like grass and straw),
Thou art the creator of even the five original elements,
Thou art he that never enjoys anything, or
Thou art always un-attached,
Thou art free from deterioration,
Thou art the highest form of felicity,
Thou art a deity proud of its might,
Thou art Sakra,

30
Thou art the chastisement that is spoken of in treatises on morality and is inflicted
on offenders,
Thou art of the form of that tyranny, which prevails over the world,
Thou art of pure Soul,
Thou art stainless (being above faults of every kind),
Thou art worthy of adoration,
Thou art the world that appears and disappears ceaselessly,
Thou art he whose grace is of the largest measure,
Thou art he that has good dreams,
Thou art a mirror in which the universe is reflected,
Thou art he that has subjugated all internal and external foes,
Thou art the maker of the Veda,
Thou art the maker of those declarations that are contained in the Tantras and the
Puranas and that are embodied in language that is human,
(The language of the Veda is divine. The language of other scriptures is human.)

Thou art possessed of great learning,

Thou art the grinder of foes in battle,
Thou art he that resides in the awful clouds that appear at the time of the universal
dissolution,
Thou art most terrible (in consequence of dissolution of the universe that Thou
bringest about),
Thou art he that succeeds in bringing all persons and all things into Thy
subjugation,
Thou art the great Destroyer,
Thou art he that has fire for his energy,
Thou art he, whose energy is mightier than fire,
Thou art the yuga-fire that consumes all things,
Thou art he that is capable of being gratified by means of sacrificial libations,
Thou art water and other liquids poured into sacrifices with the aid of mantras,
Thou art in the form of the Deity of Righteousness, the distributor of the fruits
that attach to acts, good and bad,
Thou art the giver of felicity,
Thou art always endued with effulgence,
Thou art of the form of fire,
Thou art of the complexion of the emerald,
Thou art always present in the phallic emblem,
Thou art the source of blessedness,
Thou art incapable of being baffled by anything in the prosecution of your
objects,
Thou art the giver of blessings,
Thou art of the form of blessedness,
Thou art he unto who is given a share of sacrificial offerings,
Thou art he that distributes unto each his share of that is offered in sacrifices,
Thou art endued with great speed,
Thou art he that is dissociated from all things,

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 Thou art he that is possessed of the mightiest limb,
Thou art he that is employed in the act of generation,
Thou art of a dark complexion (being of the form of Visnu),
Thou art of a white complexion (being of the form of Samva, the son of Krisna),
Thou art the senses of all embodied creatures,
Thou art possessed of vast feet,
Thou hast vast hands,
Thou art of vast body,
Thou art endued with wide extending fame,
Thou hast a vast head,
(This refers to the crown of the head.)

Thou art of vast measurements,

Thou art of vast vision,
Thou art the home of the darkness of ignorance,
Thou art the destroyer of the Destroyer,
Thou art possessed of vast ears,
Thou hast vast lips,
Thou art he that has vast cheeks,
Thou hast a vast nose,
Thou art of a vast throat,
Thou hast a vast neck,
Thou art he that tears the bond of body, or
Thou art he that effects Emancipation,
Thou hast a vast chest,
Thou hast a vast bosom,
Thou art the inner soul which resides in all creatures,
Thou hast a deer on Thy lap,
Thou art he, from whom innumerable worlds hang like fruits hanging down from
a tree,
Thou art he that stretches his lips at the time of the universal dissolution for
swallowing the universe,
Thou art the ocean of milk,
Thou hast vast nails,
(The word mahanakha refers to the incarnation of Lord Narasimha that slayed
Hiranyakasipu, the father of Prahlada.)

Thou hast vast jaws,

(The word maharoman refers to the form of the mighty Boar that the Supreme
Deity assumed for raising the submerged Earth on its tusks.)

Thou hast a vast bristle,

Thou hast hair of infinite length,
Thou hast a vast stomach,
Thou hast matted locks of vast length,
Thou art ever cheerful,

32
 Thou art of the form of grace,
Thou art of the form of belief,
Thou art he that has mountains for his bow (or weapons in battle),
Thou art he that is full of affection to all creatures like a parent towards its
offspring,
Thou art he that has no affection,
Thou art unvanquished,
Thou art exceedingly devoted to (spiritual) contemplation,
Thou art of the form of the tree of the world,
Thou art he that is indicated by the tree of the world,
(This is explained in the sense of no one being able to enquire after the Brahman
unless one has a body, however subtle, with the necessary senses and understanding. It
may also mean that the tree of the world furnishes evidence of the existence of the
Supreme Deity.)

Thou art never satiated, when eating,

(The Supreme Brahman is of the form of Fire. Fire is never satiated with the
quantity offered to it for consumption.)

Thou art he that has the wind for Thy vehicle for going from place to place,
(Wind is what carries fire. This allegory is in consequence of the identity of
the Supreme Brahman with Fire.)

Thou art he that ranges over hills and hillocks,

Thou art he that has his residence on the mountains of Meru,
Thou art the chief of the celestials,
Thou hast the Atharvans for Thy head,
Thou hast the Samans for Thy mouth,
Thou hast the thousand Richs for Thy immeasurable eyes,
Thou hast the Yajushes for Thy feet and hands,
Thou art the Upanisads,
Thou art the entire body of rituals occurring in the scriptures,
Thou art all that is mobile,
Thou art he whose solicitations are never unfulfilled,
Thou art he that is always inclined to grace,
Thou art he that is of beautiful form,
Thou art of the form of the good that one does to another,
Thou art that which is dear,
Thou art he that always advances towards Thy devotees (in proportion as they
advance toward Thee),
Thou art gold and the other precious metals that are held dear by all,
Thy effulgence is like that of burnished gold,
Thou art of the navel of all that exists,
Thou art he that makes the fruits of sacrifices grow (for the benefit of Thy
devotees that perform sacrifices to Thy glory),
Thou art of the form of that faith and devotion which the righteous have in

33
 respect of sacrifices,
Thou art the artificer of the universe,
Thou art all that is immobile,
Thou art the two and ten stages of life through which a person passes,
(The ten stages begin with residence in the mother’s womb and end with death as
the tenth. Heaven is the eleventh and liberation is the twelfth.)

Thou art he that causes fright,

(The intermediate stages between the first and the tenth are believed to cause
fright to a human being, while alive.)

Thou art the beginning of all things,

Thou art he that unites jiva with the Supreme Brahman through yoga,
Thou art identifiable with that yoga, which causes such a union between Jiva and
the Supreme Brahman,
Thou art un-manifest,
(The Supreme Brahman is considered the deepest stupefaction.)

Thou art the presiding deity of the fourth age,

(This is in consequence of the presumed identity with lust, wrath, cupidity and
other evil passions that are sourced in that deity. Kali is considered the presiding deity of
that age causing sinfulness. It is, therefore, a malevolent one. But this stage of the age is
considered highly propitious to liberation. Those who succeed in living righteously in the
stage of this age quickly attain to heaven if it is their object, or to liberation if they strive
for it.)

Thou art eternal Time,

(The Supreme Brahman is the substratum of the ceaseless succession of creation
and destruction that goes on in the cosmos.)

Thou art of the form of Tortoise,

(This implies that the Supreme Brahman assumes the form of the constellation
called the Great Bear and, moving onward in space, causes the lapse of Time. This
constellation is known in the ancient Hindu astronomy by the name Sisumara because of
its resemblance to the form of a tortoise.)

Thou art worshipped by the Destroyer himself,

Thou livest in the midst of Thy associates,
Thou admittest Thy devotees as members of Thy Gana,
Thou hast Brahma himself for the driver of Thy car (vehicle),
Thou sleepest on ashes,
(The word bhasma, meaning ashes, literally signifies anything that dispels, tears
off all bonds and cures every disease. Ashes are used by ascetics for rubbing their bodies
as a mark of having overcome every sin and cut off every bond, and freed themselves
from all diseases.)

34
 Thou protectest the universe with ashes,
(According to mythology, Mahadeva gave ashes to His devotees for protecting
them from sin.)

Thou art he whose body is made of ashes,

(This has reference to the story of the Rishi Mankanaka. Beholding vegetable
juice issuing from his body, he began to dance in joy. The whole universe began to dance
with him, overpowered by a sympathetic influence of his ecstatic joy. With a view to
protecting the universe, Mahadeva showed Himself to Mankanaka and, pressing his
fingers, brought out a quantity of ashes, thus showing that his body was made of ashes.)

Thou art the tree that grants the fruition of all wishes,
Thou art of the form of those that constitute Thy Gana,
Thou art the protector of the four and ten regions,
Thou transcendest all regions,
Thou art full,
Thou art adored by all creatures,
Thou art white (being pure and unstained),
Thou art he that has body, speech and mind perfectly stainless,
Thou art he that has attained to that purity of existence called Emancipation,
Thou art he that is incapable of being stained by impurity of any kind,
Thou art he that has been attained to by the great preceptors of the yore,
Thou residest in the form of righteousness or duty in the four modes of life,
(This has reference to the four ashramas of life.)

Thou art that righteousness, which is of the form of rites and sacrifices,
Thou art of the form of that skill, which is possessed by the celestial artificer of
the universe,
Thou art he that is adored in the primeval form of the universe,
Thou art of vast arms,
Thy lips are of coppery hue,
Thou art of the form of the vast waters that are contained in the ocean,
Thou art exceedingly stable and fixed (being of the form of mountains and hills),
Thou art Kapila,
Thou art brown,
Thou art all the hues whose mixture produces white,
Thou art the period of life,
Thou art ancient,
Thou art recent,
Thou art a Gandharva,
Thou art the mother of the celestials in the form of Aditi, or
Thou art the mother of all things in the form of the Earth,
Thou art Garuda, the prince of birds, born of Vinata and Kasyapa, otherwise
called Tarkshya,
Thou art capable of being comprehended with ease,
Thou art of excellent and agreeable speech,

35
 Thou art he that is armed with the battle-axe,
Thou art he that is desirous of victory,
Thou art he that assists others in the accomplishment of their designs,
(The word anukari literally means an accessory. In the form of Krisna, the
Supreme Deity sought to aid Arjuna in vanquishing Bhishma.)

Thou art an excellent friend,

(Krisna is an excellent friend of Arjuna and Pandavas.)

Thou art he that bears a veena made of two hollow gourds,

Thou art of terrible wrath (which Thou displayest at the time of the universal
dissolution),
Thou ownest for Thy offspring, beings higher than men and deities (meaning
Brahma and Visnu),
Thou art of the form of that Visnu who floats on the waters after the universal
dissolution,
Thou devourest all things with great ferocity,
Thou art he that procreates offspring,
Thou art family and race, continuing from generation to generation,
Thou art the blare that a bamboo flute gives out,
Thou art faultless,
Thou art he every limb of whose body is beautiful,
Thou art full of illusion,
Thou dost good to others without expecting any return,
Thou art Wind,
Thou art Fire,
Thou art the bonds of the worlds which bind Jiva,
Thou art the creator of those bonds,
Thou art the tearer of such bonds,
Thou art he that dwells with even the daityas,
(The daityas are considered the foes of all sacrifices.)

Thou dwellest with those that are the foes of all acts and that have abandoned all
acts,
Thou art of large teeth, and of mighty weapons,
Thou art he that has been greatly censured,
Thou art he that stupefied the Rishis dwelling in the Daruka forest,
Thou art he that did good unto even Thy detractors (that is, those Rishis residing
in the Daruka forest),
Thou art he that dispels all fears (and who, dispelling all the fears of those Rishis,
gave them emancipation),
Thou art he that has no wealth,
(This is an allegory to the inability of Mahadeva to procure even His necessary
wearing apparel.)

Thou art the lord of the celestials,

36
 Thou art the greatest of the gods,
(This is an allegory to Mahadeva being adored by Indra and others that are
considered the highest of the celestials.)

Thou art an object of adoration with even Visnu,

Thou art the slayer of those that are the foes of the deities,
Thou art he that resides in the nethermost region in the form of the snake Sesha,
(In Hindu mythology, the Earth is described as being supported in empty space by
a mighty snake called Sesha. Mahadeva is that Sesha, also known as Ananta.)

Thou art invisible but capable of being comprehended, even as the wind, though
invisible, is perceived by everybody,
Thou art he, whose knowledge extends to the roots of everything and unto whom
all things, even in their inner nature, are known,
Thou art the object that is enjoyed by him that enjoys it,
Thou art he among the eleven Rudras, who is called Ajaikapat,
Thou art the sovereign of the entire universe,
Thou art of the form of all Jivas in the universe,
(This is in consequence of the Supreme Brahman considered containing Prakrti
consisting of its three attributes of sattva, rajas and tamas.)

Thou art he that is not subject to those three attributes,

Thou art he that transcends all attributes and is the state of pure existence,
incapable of being described in any language,
Thou art the prince of physicians called Dhanwantari,
Thou art a comet,
(This is an allegory to the calamities that flow from Mahadeva to the sinful.)

Thou art the celestial generalissimo called Skanda,

Thou art the king of the Yakshas called Kubera who is Thy inseparable associate
and who is the lord of all treasures in the world,
Thou art Dhatri,
Thou art Sakra,
Thou art Visnu,
Thou art Mitra,
Thou art Tashtri, the celestial artificer,
Thou art the Pole Star,
Thou art he that upholds all things,
Thou art he called Prabhava amongst the Vasus,
Thou art the wind which is capable of going everywhere,
(This refers to the Sutra-atman that connects all things in the universe, in the
nature of an invisible thread.)

Thou art Aryaman,

Thou art Savitri,
Thou art Ravi,

37
 Thou art Ushangu, the ancient king of great celebrity,
Thou art he that protects all creatures in diverse ways,
Thou art Mandhatri,
(Mandhatri is considered competent to gratify all creatures.)

Thou art he, from whom all creatures start into life,
Thou art he that exists in diverse form,
Thou art he that causes the diverse hues to exist in the universe,
Thou art he that upholds all desires and all attributes (as they flow from Thee),
Thou art he that has the lotus on the navel,
(Brahma is said to have been born within the primeval lotus that arose from the
navel of Mahavisnu.)

Thou art he within whose womb are innumerable mighty creatures,

Thou art of face as beautiful as the moon,
Thou art wind,
Thou art fire,
Thou art possessed of exceeding might,
Thou art endued with tranquility of soul,
Thou art old,
Thou art he that is known with the aid of righteousness,
Thou art Lakshmi,
Thou art the maker of the field of those actions (by which persons adore the
supreme Deity),
Thou art he that lives in the field of action,
Thou art the soul of the field of action,
Thou art the medicine, or
Thou art the provoker of the attributes of sovereignty, and others,
(The word Kuru is an abbreviation for the word Kurukshetra, meaning the field of
action. It also means the actual field, so called, on which King Kuru performed his
penances. It is considered so sacred that its very dust cleanses a person of all sins.)

Thou art all things,

(According to the scriptures, all things become one in the Supreme Brahman.)

Thou art the lord of all creatures endued with life-breaths,

Thou art the god of all gods,
Thou art he that is attached to felicity,
Thou art Sat (in the form of cause),
Thou art Asat (in the form of effect),
Thou art he that possesses the best of all things,
Thou art he that resides on the mountains of Kailasa,
Thou art he that returns to the mountains of Himavat,
Thou washest away all things beside Thee like a mighty current washing away
trees and other objects standing in its way,
Thou art the maker of Pushkara and other large lakes of natural water,

38
 Thou art possessed of knowledge of infinite kinds,
Thou art the giver of infinite blessings,
Thou art a merchant,
Thou art a carpenter,
Thou art the tree (of the world that supplies the timber for Thy axe),
Thou art the tree called Vakula (mimusops elengi, linn),
Thou art the sandal-wood tree,
Thou art the tree called Chcchada (alstonia scholaris, syn echitis, scholaris, roxb),
Thou art he, whose neck is very strong,
Thou art he, whose shoulder-joint is vast,
Thou art not restless (but endued with steadiness in all Thy acts and in respect of
all Thy faculties),
Thou art the principal herbs and plants with their produce (in the form of rice and
wheat, and the other varieties of grain),
Thou art he that grants success upon others in respect to the objects, upon which
they bestow their heart,
Thou art all the correct conclusions in respect of both the Veda and Grammar,
Thou art he that utters leonine roars,
Thou art endued with leonine fangs,
Thou ridest on the back of a lion for performing Thy journeys,
Thou ownest a vehicle that is drawn by a lion,
Thou art he called the Truth of truth – the Soul of true existence,
Thou art he whose dish or plate is constituted by the Destroyer of the universe,
(People eat off plates of silver or gold or of other metals. Mahadeva has for his
plate Kala or Destroyer of the universe.)

Thou art always engaged in seeking the good of the worlds,

Thou art he that rescues all creatures from distress (and leads them to the felicity
of emancipation),
Thou art the bird called Saranga,
Thou art a new (young) swan,
Thou art he that is displayed in beauty in consequence of the crest Thou bearest
on the head (like the peacock),
Thou art he that protects the place where assemblies of the wise sit for dispensing
justice,
Thou art the abode of all creatures,
Thou art the cherisher of all creatures,
Thou art day and night (the constituent elements of eternity),
Thou art he that is without fault and, therefore, never censured,
Thou art the upholder of all creatures,
Thou art the refuge of all creatures,
Thou art without birth,
Thou art existent,
Thou art ever-fruitful,
Thou art endued with dharana, dhyana and Samadhi,
Thou art the steed Ucchaisravas,

39
 Thou art the giver of food,
Thou art he that upholds the life-breaths of living creatures,
Thou art endued with patience,
Thou art possessed of intelligence,
Thou art endued with exertion and cleverness,
Thou art honoured by all,
Thou art the giver of the fruits of righteousness and sin,
Thou art the cherisher of the senses,
Thou art the lord of all the luminaries,
Thou art collection of all objects,
Thou art he whose vestments are made of cowhides,
Thou art he that dispels the grief of his devotees,
Thou hast a golden arm,
Thou art he that protects the bodies of yogis, who seek to enter their own selves,
Thou art he that has reduced to nothingness all his foes,
(Mahadeva is the foremost of sadhakas or worshippers engaged in acquiring a
particular object, for he has reduced to nothingness all his foes in the form of all passions,
good and evil.)

Thou art he the measure of whose bliss is very great,

Thou art he that achieved victory over the deity of irresistible desire,
Thou art he that has subjugated his senses,
Thou art the note called gandhara in the musical octave,
Thou art he that has an excellent and beautiful home (on the delightful mountains
of Kailasa),
Thou art he that is ever attached to penances,
Thou art of the form of cheerfulness and contentment,
Thou art he called vast or infinite,
Thou art he in whose honour the foremost of hymns has been composed,
Thou art he whose dancing is characterized by vast strides and large leaps,
Thou art he that is adored with reverence by the diverse groups of apsaras,
Thou art he that owns a vast standard (bearing the device of the bull),
Thou art the mountains of Meru,
Thou art he that roves among all the summits of that great mountain range,
Thou art so mobile that it is very difficult to seize Thee,
Thou art capable of being explained by preceptors to disciples, though Thou art
incapable of being described in words,
Thou art of the form of that instruction, which preceptors impart to disciples,
Thou art he that can perceive all agreeable scents simultaneously,
Thou art of the form of the poached gates of towns and palaces,
Thou art of the form of the moats and ditches that surround fortified towns and
give victory to the besieged garrison,
Thou art the Wind,
Thou art of the form of fortified cities and towns encompassed by walls and
moats,
Thou art the prince of all winged creatures (of the form of Garuda),

40
 Thou art he that multiplies the creation, with union by the opposite sexes,
Thou art the first of all, in respect of virtues and knowledge,
Thou art superior to even him, who is the first of all in virtues and knowledge,
Thou transcendest all virtue and knowledge,
Thou art eternal and immutable, as also dependent on Thyself,
Thou art the master and protector of the deities and asuras,
Thou art the master and protector of all creatures,
Thou art he that wears a coat of mail,
Thou art he whose arms are competent to grind all foes,
Thou art an object of adoration with even the Suparvan in heaven,
(The Suparvan in heaven is otherwise called Mahan.)

Thou art he that grants the power of bearing or upholding all things,
(Mahadeva is He that makes creatures competent to bear all things such as grief
and joy, and also bear the influence of all physical objects without life being destroyed.)

Thou art capable of bearing all things,

Thou art fixed and steady,
Thou art white or pure,
Thou bearest the trident that is capable to destroy (all things),
Thou art the grantor of bodies or physical forms unto those that constantly
revolve in the universe of birth and death (samsara),
Thou art more valuable than wealth,
Thou art the conduct or way of the righteous (in the form of goodness and
courtesy),
Thou art he that had torn the head of Brahma after due deliberation,
Thou art he that is marked with all those auspicious marks stated in palmistry,
phrenology and other branches of knowledge which treat the physical
frame as the indicator of mind,
Thou art that wooden bar called aksha of a chariot and, therefore, art Thou he that
is attached to the chariot represented by the body,
Thou art attached to all things as the all-pervading consciousness,
Thou art endowed with very great might, or
Thou art a hero of heroes,
Thou art the Veda,
Thou art the Smritis, the Itihasas, the Puranas and other scriptures,
Thou art the illustrious deity of every sacred shrine,
Thou art he that has the Earth for his car (chariot),
Thou art the inert elements that enter into the composition of every creature,
Thou art he that imparts life into every combination of those inert elements,
Thou art the Pranava and other sacred mantras that instill life into dead matter,
Thou art he that casts tranquil glances,
Thou art exceedingly harsh by Thy being the destroyer of all things,
Thou art he in who are innumerable precious attributes and possessions,
Thou hast a body that is red,
Thou art he that has all the vast oceans as so many ponds filled for Thy drinking,

41
 (The word nipana means a shallow pond or ditch where cattle drink. The very
oceans are in the nature of nipanas for Mahadeva.)

Thou art the root of the tree of the world,

Thou art exceedingly beautiful, and shinest with surpassing grandeur,
Thou art of the form of ambrosia or nectar,
Thou art both cause and effect,
Thou art an ocean of penances (being a great yogi),
Thou art he that is desirous of ascending to the highest state of existence,
Thou art he that has already attained to that state,
Thou art he that is distinguished for the purity of his conduct, acts and
observances,
Thou art he that is possessed of great fame by virtue of the righteousness of his
behavior,
Thou art the ornament of armies (as Thou art of the form of prowess and
courage),
Thou art he that is adorned with celestial ornaments,
Thou art Yoga,
Thou art he from whom flow eternal Time measured by yugas and kalpas,
Thou art he that conveys all creatures from place,
(This has reference to the incarnation of Trivikrama, the dwarf suddenly
expanding his form till, with two steps, he covered heaven and earth, and demanded
space for his third step.)

Thou art of the form of righteousness and sin, and their intermixture (as displayed
in the successive yugas),
Thou art great and formless,
Thou art he that slew the mighty Asura that had approached Varanasi in the form
of an infuriated elephant of vast proportions,
Thou art of the form of death,
Thou givest to all creatures such fruition of their wishes as accords with their
merits,
Thou art approachable,
Thou art conversant with all things that are beyond the ken of the senses,
Thou art conversant with the tattvas,
Thou art he that incessantly shines in beauty,
Thou wearest garlands that stretch from Thy neck down to the feet,
Thou art that Hara that has the Moon for his beautiful eye,
Thou art the ocean of salt of vast expanse,
Thou art the first three Yugas – Krita, Treta and Dwapara,
Thou art he, whose appearance is always of advantage to others,
Thou art he that has three eyes in the form of the scriptures, the preceptor and
meditation,
Thou art he whose forms are exceedingly subtle,
Thou art he whose ears are bored for wearing jewelled kundalas,
Thou art the bearer of matted locks,

42
Thou art the point which indicates the nasal sound,
Thou art the two dots – Visarga,
Thou art possessed of an excellent face,
Thou art the shaft that is shot by the warrior for destruction of his foe,
Thou art all the weapons that are used by warriors,
Thou art endued with patience capable of bearing all things,
Thou art he whose knowledge has risen from the cessation of all physical and
mental functions (that is, who has possessed the knowledge of Yoga),
Thou art he that has become displayed as Truth (in consequence of the cessation
of all other faculties),
Thou art that note which, arising from the region called gandhara, is exceedingly
sonorous to the ear,
Thou art he that is armed with the mighty bow (called Pinaka),
Thou art he that is the understanding and the desires that exist in all creatures,
besides being the supreme upholder of all beings,
Thou art he, from whom all acts flow,
Thou art that wind which rises at the time of universal dissolution capable of
churning the entire universe even as the staff in the hands of the dairy-maid
churns curd in the pot,
Thou art he that is full,
Thou art he that sees all things,
Thou art the sound that arises from slapping one palm against another,
Thou art he the palm of whose hand serves as the dish or plate whence to take his
food,
Thou art he that is possessed of an adamantine body,
Thou art exceedingly great,
Thou art of the form of an umbrella,
Thou art he that has an excellent umbrella,
Thou art well-known to be identical with all creatures,
Thou art he that, having put forth three feet, covered the entire universe with two
and wanted space for the third,
Thou art he whose head is bald,
Thou art he whose form is exceedingly ugly and fierce,
Thou art he that has undergone infinite modifications and become all things in the
universe,
Thou art he that wears the well-known insignia of an ascetic, the stick,
Thou art he that has a kunda,
Thou art he that is incapable of being attained to by means of acts,
Thou art he that is identical with the lion,
Thou art of the form of all the points of the compass,
Thou art he that is armed with the thunder,
Thou art he that has a hundred tongues,
Thou art he that has a ‘thousand feet and thousand heads’,
Thou art the lord and the chief of the celestials,
Thou art he that is made up of all the gods,
Thou art the great Master or preceptor,

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 Thou art he that has thousand arms,
Thou art he that is competent to obtain the fruition of every wish,
Thou art he, whose protection is sought by everyone,
Thou art he that is the creator of all the worlds,
Thou art he that is the great cleanser of all from every kind of sin (in the form of
shrines and sacred waters),
Thou art he that has three great mantras (Vija, Sakti and Kilakani),
Thou art the youngest son of Aditi and Kasyapa,
(The youngest son of Aditi and Kasyapa was Upendra who, in the form of the
dwarf, beguiled the asura Bali of his lordship of the three worlds, and restored it to the
chief of the celestials.)

Thou art both black and tawny,

(This refers to the form of Mahadeva known as Hari-Hara.)

Thou art the maker of the Brahmana’s rod,

(The thin bamboo rod in the hand of the Brahmana symbolizes the Brahmana’s
might in the form of his curse. It is mightier than the thunderbolt of Indra. The
thunderbolt scorches only the exiting objects on which it falls. The Brahmana’s rod blasts
even unborn generations. The might of the rod is derived from Mahadeva.)

Thou art armed with the hundred-killer, the noose and the dart,
Thou art he that took his birth within the primeval lotus,
Thou art he that is endued with a vast womb (abdomen),
Thou art he that has the Veda in his womb (abdomen),
Thou art he that takes his rise from that infinite waste of water which succeeds
the dissolution of the universe,
Thou art he that is endued with rays of effulgent light,
Thou art the creator of the Veda,
Thou art he that studies the Veda,
Thou art he that is conversant with the meaning of the Veda,
Thou art devoted to the Brahman,
Thou art the refuge of all persons devoted to the Brahman,
Thou art of infinite forms,
Thou art the bearer of innumerable bodies,
Thou art endued with irresistible prowess,
Thou art the soul or nature that transcends the three universal attributes of sattva,
rajas and tamas,
Thou art the lord of all Jivas,
Thou art endued with the speed of the wind,
Thou art possessed of the fleetness of the mind,
Thou art always smeared of sandal-paste,
Thou art the end of the stalk of the primeval lotus,
(Mythology says that Brahma, after his birth within the primeval lotus, became
desirous of seeing the end of the stalk of that lotus. He went on and on, without

44
succeeding, to find what he sought. The meaning, therefore, by implication, is that
Mahadeva is infinite.)

Thou art he that brought the celestial cow Surabhi down (from a superior station
to an inferior one by denouncing a curse upon her),
(Mythology records that once Brahma asked Surabhi to bear evidence before
Visnu to the statement that Brahma had seen the foremost part of Siva. Surabhi, having
given false evidence out of fear for Brahma, was cursed by Siva that her offspring would
eat unholy substances.)

Thou art that Brahma, who was unable to see Thy end,
Thou art adorned with a large wreath of karnikara flowers,
Thou art adorned with a diadem of blue gems,
Thou art the wielder of the bow called Pinaka,
Thou art the master of that knowledge, which treats of the Brahman,
Thou art he that has subjugated his senses with the aid of his knowledge of the
Brahman,
Thou art he that bears Ganga on his head,
(Falling from the celestial regions, the river Ganga (the Ganges) was considered
held by Mahadeva on his head, among his matted locks. At the earnest solicitation of
King Bhagiratha, he gave her out so that, flowing along the surface of the earth, she met
the ocean, first passing over the spot where the ashes of Bhagiratha’s ancestors, the sixty
thousand sons of King Sagara of the solar race, lay.)

Thou art the husband of Uma, the daughter of Himavat,

Thou art mighty (because of Thy having assumed the form of the vast Boar for
raising the submerged Earth),
Thou art he that protects the universe by assuming diverse incarnations,
Thou art worthy of adoration,
Thou art that primeval Being with the equine head that recited the Veda with a
thundering voice,
Thou art he, whose grace is very great,
Thou art the great subjugator,
Thou art he that has slain all his foes (in the form of passions),
Thou art both white and tawny (Thou being half male and half female),
This form is called Hara-Gauri or Ardhanaariswara,
Thou art possessed of a body, whose complexion is like that of gold,
Thou art he that is of the form of pure joy (being beyond the five sheaths),
Thou art of a restrained soul,
Thou art the foundation upon which rests that Ignorance (which is called
Pradhana and which, consisting of the three attributes of sattva, rajas and
tamas, is the cause whence the universe has sprung),
Thou art he whose faces are turned to every direction,
(Mahadeva is represented as possessed of five heads, four on four sides and one
above.)

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Thou art he that has three eyes (the Sun, the Moon and Fire),
Thou art he that is superior to all creatures,
Thou art the soul of all mobile beings,
Thou art of the form of the subtle soul, incapable of being perceived,
Thou art the giver of immortality (in the form of emancipation as the fruit of all
acts of righteousness, achieved by living beings without the desire thereof),
Thou art the preceptor (of even those that are the gods of the gods),
Thou art Vasu, the son of Aditi,
Thou art he that is endued with innumerable rays of light (who brings forth the
universe and who is of the form of Soma which is consumed in sacrifices),
Thou art Vyasa (the author of the Puranas and other sacred scriptures),
Thou art the creations of Vyasa’s brain (both abridged and unabridged, because
of Thy being identical with the Puranas and other sacred scriptures),
Thou art the sum-total of all Jivas,
Thou art the Season,
Thou art the Year,
Thou art the Month,
Thou art the Fortnight,
Thou art those sacred days that end these periods,
Thou art the Kalas,
Thou art the Kashthas,
Thou art the Lavas,
Thou art the Matras,
Thou art the Muhurtas, days and nights,
Thou art the Kshanas,
(These are all names for different portions of time.)

Thou art the soil, upon which the tree of the universe stands,
Thou art the seed of all creatures,
Thou art Mahatattva,
Thou art the sprout of Jiva,
Thou art Sat or Effect,
Thou art Asat or Cause,
Thou art manifest (being perceivable by the senses),
Thou art the Father,
Thou art the Mother,
Thou art the Grandfather,
Thou art the door to Heaven (because of Thy identity with penances),
Thou art the door of the generation of all creatures (because of Thy identity with
desire),
Thou art the door of Emancipation (because of Thy identity with the absence of
desire which alone can lead to the merging into the Brahman),
Thou art those acts of righteousness which lead to the felicity of heaven,
Thou art Nirvana (or that cessation of individual or separate existence which is
Emancipation),
Thou art the gladdener (who gives all kinds of joy to every creature),

46
 Thou art that region of Truth (to which they that are the foremost in righteousness
attain),
Thou art superior to even that region of Truth which is attainable by the
righteous,
Thou art he that is the creator of both the deities and the asuras,
Thou art he that is the refuge of both the deities and the asuras,
Thou art the preceptor of both the deities and the asuras, or
Thou art of the form of both Brihaspati and Sukra,
Thou art he that is ever victorious,
Thou art he that is ever worshipped by the deities and the asuras,
Thou art he that guides the deities and the asuras even as the Mahamatra guides
the elephant,
Thou art the refuge of all the deities and the asuras,
Thou art he that is the chief of both the deities and the asuras,
Thou art of the form of both Indra and Virochana,
Thou art he that is the leader in the battle of the deities and the asuras,
Thou art of the form of Kartikeya and Kesi (the leaders of the celestial and the
daitya armies),
Thou art he that transcends the senses and shines by himself,
Thou art of the form of the celestial Rishis like Narada and others,
Thou art the grantor of boons unto the deities and asuras (in the form of Brahma
and Rudra),
Thou art he that rules the hearts of the deities and the asuras,
Thou art he into whom the universe enters (when it is dissolved),
Thou art the refuge of even him, who is the ruler of the hearts of both the deities
and the asuras,
Thou art he, whose body is made up of all the deities,
(The Srutis declare that Fire is the head; the Sun and the Moon are the eyes, etc of
Mahadeva.)

Thou art he that has no being superior to Thee, of whom to think,

Thou art he that is the inner soul of the deities,
Thou art he that has sprung form his own self,
Thou art of the form of immobile things,
Thou art he that covers the three worlds with three steps of his,
Thou art possessed of great learning,
Thou art stainless,
Thou art he that is freed from the quality of rajas,
Thou art he that transcends destruction,
Thou art he in whose honour hymns should be sung,
Thou art the master of the irresistible elephant represented by Time,
Thou art of the form of that lord of tigers, worshipped in the country of the
Kalingas,
(In the country of the Kalingas (Orissa), Mahadeva has an image called
Vyaghreswara.)

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Thou art he that is called the lion among the deities (in consequence of the pre-
eminence of Thy prowess),
Thou art he that is the foremost of men,
Thou art endued with great wisdom,
Thou art he that takes first a share of the offerings in sacrifice,
Thou art imperceptible,
Thou art the sum-total of all the deities,
Thou art he in whom penances predominate,
Thou art always in excellent Yoga,
Thou art auspicious,
Thou art armed with the thunderbolt,
Thou art the source whence the weapons called Prasas have taken origin,
Thou art he whom Thy devotees attain in diverse ways,
Thou art Guha (the celestial generalissimo),
Thou art the supreme limit of felicity,
Thou art identical with Thy creation,
Thou art he that rescues the creatures from death (by granting them
Emancipation),
Thou art the cleanser of all including Brahma himself,
Thou art of the form of bulls and other horned animals,
Thou art he that is fond of mountain summits,
Thou art the planet Saturn,
Thou art Kubera, the chief of the Yakshas,
Thou art complete faultlessness,
Thou art he that inspires gladness,
Thou art all the celestials united together,
Thou art the cessation of all things,
Thou art all the duties that appertain to all the modes of life,
Thou art he that has an eye on his forehead,
Thou art he that sports with the universe as his marble ball,
Thou art of the form of deer,
Thou art endued with the energy that is of the form of knowledge and penance,
Thou art the lord of all immobile things (in the form of Himavat and Meru),
Thou art he that has subjugated his senses by various regulations and vows,
Thou art he whose objects have all been fulfilled,
Thou art identical with Emancipation,
Thou art different from him, whom we worship,
Thou hast truth of Thy penances,
Thou art of a pure heart,
Thou art he that presides over all vows and fasts (in consequence of Thy being
the giver of their fruits),
Thou art the highest (being of the nature of the turiya state of consciousness),
Thou art the Brahman,
Thou art the highest refuge of the devotees,
Thou art he that transcends all bonds (being emancipate),
Thou art freed from the linga body,

48
 Thou art endued with every kind of prosperity,
Thou art he that enhances the prosperity of Thy devotees,
Thou art that which incessantly undergoes change.

(The task of rendering these names into English is difficult. In the original, many
of these names are such that they are capable of more than one interpretation. Each name
would require a separate note for explaining different bearings. For example, the word
niyata literally means one who observes fasts and vows, restraining one’s senses. Hence
it means an ascetic. Mahadeva is an ascetic. Smasana is either a crematorium where the
dead are buried or burned, or it may mean Varanasi, the sacred city of Siva, where
creatures dying need not have to take rebirth. Siva is both a resident of crematoria and of
Varanasi.)

49
50
 2. Hymn to Mahavisnu
Vaisampayana said:

After having heard all the duties in their entirety, and all those sacred acts and
objects that cleanse human beings of their sins, Yudhishthira once more addressed the
son of Santanu in the following words.

Yudhishthira said:

Who may be said to be the one god in the world? Who may be said to be the one
object which is our sole refuge? Who is he by worshipping whom or hymning whose
praise human beings would get what is beneficial? What religion is that which, according
to thy judgment, is the foremost of all religions? What are those mantras by reciting
which a living creature becomes freed from the bonds of birth and life?

Bhishma said:

One should always, with alacrity and throwing away all languor, hymn the praises
of that Lord of the universe, that God of gods (Vasudeva), who is Infinite, and foremost
of all Beings, by uttering His thousand names. By always worshipping with reverence
and devotion that immutable Being, by meditation on Him, by hymning His praise and
bowing the head unto Him, and by performing sacrifices unto Him, indeed by always
praising Visnu, who is without beginning, and without end of destruction, who is the
Supreme Lord of all the worlds, and who is the Master and Controller of the universe,
one can succeed in transcending all sorrow. Verily, He is devoted to the brahmanas,
conversant with all duties and practices, the enhancer of the fame and achievement of all
persons, the master of all the worlds, exceedingly wonderful, and the prime cause of the
origin of all creatures. Even this, in my judgment, is the foremost religion of all religions,
that is, one should always worship and hymn the praises of the lotus-eyed Vasudeva with
devotion. He is the highest Energy. He is the highest Penance. He is the highest Brahma.
He is the highest refuge. He is the most holy of all holies, the most auspicious of all
auspicious objects. He is the God of all the gods and He is the immutable father of all
creatures. On the advent of the primal Yuga, all creatures spring from Him. On the
expiration, again of a Yuga, all things disappear in Him.

Hear, oh King, the thousand names, possessed of great efficacy in destroying sins,
of that foremost One in all the worlds, that Master of the universe, that is, Visnu. All
those names derived from His attributes, secret and well-known, of the high-souled
Vasudeva, were sung by Rishis, I shall recite to thee for the good of all. They are,

Aum!

He that enters all things in the cosmos, besides Himself,

He that covers (pervades) all things,
He unto whom sacrificial libations are poured,

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 He that is the lord of the past, the present and the future,
He that is the Creator (or Destroyer) of all existent things,
He that is the upholder of all existent things,
He that is the Existent,
He that is the Soul of all,
He that is the Originator of all things,
He that is of cleansed Soul,
(The word putatman in the text means ‘of cleansed soul’. This implies that
though He is the lord of all existent objects, yet He is dissociated from them.)

He that is the Supreme Soul,

He that is the highest Refuge of all emancipated persons,
He that is the Immutable,
He that lies enclosed in a case,
(The word purusha means one that lies in a pura or the nine-doored mansion, that
is, the body.)

He that is the Witness,

(The word sakshi means ‘witness’ and implies that He sees all things directly,
without any medium obstructing His vision.)

He that knows the material case (body), in which He resides,

(The word kshetrajna implies the chit lying within the body and it means one who
knows the body. However, the body, being inert, is not cognizant of the chit it holds.)

He that is the Indestructible,

He upon whom the mind rests during Yoga-abstraction,
(He is called Yoga because of the mind resting upon Him while it is in yoga
abstraction. Yoga, in other words, is union with the Divine in spirit.)

He that is the guide or leader of all persons conversant with Yoga,

He that is the Lord of both Pradhana (Prakrti) and Purusa,
(In Sankhya philosophy, Pradhana is another name for Prakrti, meaning Nature.
All things have sprung from the union of Prakrti and Purusa. Visnu transcends Prakrti
and Purusa.)

He that assumed a human form with a leonine head,

(He assumed the human form with a lion’s head for slaying the asura
Hiranyakasipu, the father of Prahlada.)

He that is of handsome features and equipments,

He that is of beautiful hair,
He that is the foremost of Purusas,
He that is the embodiment of all things,
(The word sarva implies the source of all existent and non-existent things and that
in which all existent and non-existent things become merged at the universal dissolution.)

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 He that is the Destroyer of all things,
He that transcends the three attributes of sattva, rajas and tamas, He that is the
Motionless,
He that is the Beginning of all things,
He that is the Receptacle, into which all things sink at the universal dissolution,
He that is the Immutable,
He that takes birth at his own will,
(The word sambhava signifies Him who takes birth at His own will. Acts cannot
touch Him. The birth of all other things is determined by their acts in previous lives.)

He that causes the acts of all living creatures to fructify (in the form of weal or
woe),
(The word bhavana signifies one who attaches to acts their respective fruits, that
is, one in consequence of whom the weal and woe of all features flow as due to acts.)

He that is the Upholder of all things,

He that is the Source, from which the primal elements have sprung,
He that is the Puissant One,
He in who is the unbounded Lordship over all things,
He that is the Self-born,
(The word svayambhu implies one whose birth has not been determined by
extraneous circumstances, or other influences than his one’s wish. On the other hand, the
birth of all other creatures is determined by forces extraneous to themselves.)

He that gives happiness to His worshippers,

He that is the presiding Genius (of golden form) in the midst of the solar disc,
(The word aditya may also mean the foremost one among the deities especially
called the Adityas. They are twelve in number.)

He that is the Lotus-eyed,

He that is the Loud-voiced,
He that is without beginning and without end,
He that upholds the universe (in the form of Ananta and others),
(The word dhata may also imply One who upholds everything in the universe by
multiplying Oneself infinitely.)

He that ordains all acts and their fruits,

He that is superior to the Grandsire Brahma,
(The word dhaturuttama may also signify One who, as Cit, is superior to all
elements like earth, water, etc. which constitute all that is not-Cit.)

He that is the Immeasurable,

(The word aprameya literally means immeasurable. Shankara explains it thus:
He has no such attributes such as sound. In consequence, He is not an object of direct
perception by the senses. Nor can He be an object of inference, as a result of there being

53
nothing to which belong the same attributes as His. His inconceivability is the foundation
of His immeasurableness.)

He that is the Lord of the senses, or

He that has curled locks,
(The word hrishikesa implies the lord of the senses, meaning one who has one’s
sense under complete control. It may also mean one who sways the senses of others, that
is, causes them to exercise their functions.)

He, from whose navel the primeval lotus sprang,

He that is the Lord of all the deities,
He that is the Artificer of the universe,
(Shankara proposes another meaning: He that is the form of the Sun or the Moon
and, as such the rays of light emanating from those luminaries and gladdening all
creatures are the hairs on His head.)

He that is the Mantra,

(Manu is another name for Mantra or sacred words having great efficacy.)

He that weakens or emaciates all things,

He that is vast,
He that is the Ancient one,
He that is enduring, or
He that is incapable of being seized (by either the senses or the mind),
He that is the Eternal One,
He that is Krisna,
(Krisna is one of the foremost names of the supreme God-head. It means one who
is always in joy. It is derived from kris which implies ‘to be’ and na meaning final
liberation or cessation of existence. The compound probably means one in whom every
attribute has been extinguished. As such there is absence of change, of sorrow, etc.
There is the eternal and highest joy.)

He that is the Red-eyed,

(Lohitaksha is red-eyed in view of His eyes being of the hue of polished copper.)

He that kills all creatures at the time of universal dissolution,

(Pratardana, according to Shankara, means the killer of all creatures)

He that is Vast for knowledge and puissance and other attributes of the kind,
(Prabhuta is one who is great or vast as a result of knowledge, puissance, energy,
renunciation, etc.)

He that resides in three parts (above, middle, and below) of every creature,
He that cleanses, is auspicious, and high,
(The words Pavitram, Mangalam and Param are taken as one name, although
each of them has a separate meaning.)

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 He that urges (controls) all creatures in respect of all their acts,
He that causes the life-breaths to act,
(The word Pranada is interpreted variously. It may mean He that causes the life-
breaths to operate. It is He that connects the life-breaths, meaning that He sets them a-
going when threatened with extinction. As such, He is the healer of diseases, too.)

He that causes all living creatures to live,

(Prana implies He who is the cause of the life of every living creature, being
Himself, as it were, the life-breath that inspires them.)

He that is the Eldest, the Foremost of all those that are regarded as the lords of all
creatures,
He that has gold in His abdomen,
(Hiranyagarbha signifies He that is identical with the Brahman.)

He that has the Earth for his abdomen,

(Bhugarbha is one who has the Earth for his abdomen, implying that all things on
Earth are His abdomen.)

He that is the Lord of Sri or Lakshmi,

He that is the Slayer of Madhu,
He that is the Omnipotent,
He that is endued with great prowess,
He that is armed with the bow,
He that is possessed of a mind capable of bearing the contents of all treatises,
He that roves through the universe riding on Garuda,
He that is well suited to the offerings made unto Him and that has the power to
enjoy them properly,
He that is the Unrivalled,
He that is incapable of being discomfited,
He that knows all acts that are done,
He that is identical with all acts,
He that rests on His own true self,
(The supreme God-head is the Atmavan, the Supreme Spirit. On the other hand,
other beings are said to be sariravan, indriyavan, etc in consequence of the possession of
such attributes as sarira, indriyas, etc. Visnu rests on His own true nature or essence
without requiring anything extraneous like the deities or human beings whereon to live or
exist.)

He that is the Lord of all the deities,

He that is the Refuge of all, the embodiment of the highest felicity,
He whose seed is the universe,
He that is the source of all things,
He that is the day,

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 (Ahah is the day. He is so called because of jiva being, as it were, awakened
when it goes to Him. As long as the jiva is away from Him, it is steeped in avidya or
nescience.)

He that is the Year,

(He is called samvatsara or the year as His essence is Time.)

He that is the Snake (owing to His being incapable of being seized),

(He is called Vyala, the huge and fierce snake that inspires dread.)

He that is the embodiment of Conviction,

He that sees all things,
He that is the Unborn,
He that is the Lord of all creatures,
He that has achieved success,
He that is Success itself, or
He that is Awareness itself,
He that is the beginning of all things (in consequence of His being the cause of all
things),
He that is beyond deterioration,
He that is Righteousness in the form of the bovine Bull and that great Boar that
raised the submerged Earth,
(The word vrishakapi is also explained as being He that showers blessings on His
worshippers and causes all His foes to tremble with fear.)

He that is of immeasurable soul,

He that stands aloof from all kinds of union,
He that is Pauaka (Fire) among the deities called Vasus, or
He that dwells in His worshippers,
He that is liberal Soul being freed from wrath, hatred, pride and other evil
passions,
He that is Truth, in consequence of His thorough impartiality,
He that has been measured by His worshippers,
He that is always equal, being above all change or modification,
He that never refuses to grant the wishes of His worshippers,
He whose eyes are like the petals of the lotus,
He whose acts are always characterized by Righteousness, or
He that is always engaged in granting the wishes of those that are devoted to Him,
He that is of the form of Righteousness,
He that destroys all creatures (or their pains),
He that is the Many-headed,
He that upholds the universe,
He that is the source of the universe,
He that is of pure or spotless fame,
He that is the Immortal One,
He that is Eternal and Fixed,

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 He that is possessed of beautiful limbs, or
He the ascension unto whom is the best of all acts,
He that has such knowledge having penance for its indication that He is able to
agitate Prakrti for evolving the universe out of it,
He that goes everywhere (in the sense of pervading all things as their cause),
He that is the Omniscient One,
He that blazes forth in unmodified effulgence,
He whose troops are everywhere (in the form of devoted associates), or
He at whose very sight the danava troops are scattered in all directions,
He that is coveted (or sought) by all, or
He that grinds all His foes,
He that is the Veda,
He that is conversant with the Veda,
He that is conversant with all the limbs (branches) of the Veda,
He that represents the limbs (branches) of the Veda (that is, all the subsidiary
sciences),
He that settles the interpretations of the Veda,
He that has no superior in wisdom,
He that is the master of all the worlds,
He that is the master of the deities,
He that is the supervisor of both righteousness and unrighteousness (for giving the
fruits thereof to those that seek the one or the other),
He that is both Effect and Cause, or
He whose life has not been determined by acts achieved on any previous occasion
in consequence of His transcending Prakrti,
He that is four-souled (in consequence of His four forms of Aniruddha,
Pradyumna, Sankarshana and Vasudeva),
He that is known by four forms (as above),
He that has four horns,
(The four horns appeared on Him when he had assumed a human form with a
lion’s head for slaying the asura chief Hiranyakasipu.)

He that has four arms,

(The four arms are for holding conch, discus, mace and lotus.)

He that blazes forth in effulgence,

He that is the giver of food and cherishes those that are good,
He that does not bear or put up with those that are wicked,
(It also means that He puts up with the occasional transgressions of His devotees.)

He that existed before the universe started into life,

He that is stainless,
He that is ever victorious,
He that vanquishes the very deities,
He that is the material cause of the universe,
He that repeatedly resides in material causes,

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 He that is the younger brother of Indra, or
He that transcends Indra in accomplishments and attributes,
He that took birth as a dwarf (in the form of Vamana),
He that is tall,
(This is an allegory to the vast universal form of His which He assumed at the
sacrifice of Bali for covering heaven, earth and the nether world with the three steps of
His.)

He whose acts are never futile,

He that cleanses, or
He that always protects those that worship Him, hear of Him and think of Him,
He that is endued with pre-eminent energy and strength,
He that transcends Indra in all attributes,
He that accepts all His worshippers,
He that is the Creation itself in consequence of His being the cause thereof,
He that upholds His self in the same form without being ever subject to birth,
growth or death,
He that sustains all creatures in their respective functions in the universe,
He that controls the hearts of all creatures,
He that deserves to be known by those who wish to achieve their highest good,
He that is the celestial physician in the form of Dhanwantari,
He that cures that foremost of all diseases, that is, the bonds that bind one to the
world,
He that is always engaged in Yoga,
He that slays great asuras for establishing righteousness,
He that is the lord of that Lakshmi who sprang from the ocean when it was
churned by the deities and the asuras, or
He that cherishes both the goddesses of prosperity and learning,
He that is honey (in consequence of the pleasure He gives to those that succeed in
having a taste of Him),
He that transcends the senses (or is invisible to those that turn away from Him),
He that is possessed of great powers of illusion (manifested in His beguiling
Mahadeva and the deities on many occasions),
He that puts forth great energy (in achieving mighty feats),
He that transcends all in might,
He that transcends all in intelligence,
He that transcends all in puissance,
He that transcends all in ability,
He that discovers the universe by the effulgence emanating from His body,
He whose body (form) is incapable of being ascertained by the eye (or any other
sense organ of knowledge),
He that is possessed of every beauty,
He whose soul is incapable of being comprehended by either deities or men,
He that held on His back, in the form of the vast Tortoise, the huge mountain,

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 (Mandara, the great mountain, was made the churning staff by the deities and the
asuras when they set themselves to churn the great ocean for obtaining therefrom all the
valuables hidden in its bosom),

He that held up the mountain of Govardhan in the woods of Brinda (for protecting
the denizens of that delightful place, who were special objects of His
kindness, from the wrath of Indra who poured incessant showers for days
together, with a view to drowning everything),
He that can shoot His shafts to a great distance, piercing through obstruction of
every kind,
He that raised the submerged Earth, having assumed the form of the mighty Boar,
He on whose bosom dwells the goddess of Prosperity, or
He that is identical with Kama, the lord of Rati,
He that is the refuge of those that are righteous,
He that is incapable of being won without thorough devotion, or
He that is incapable of being immured or restrained by anyone putting forth His
powers,
He that is the delight of the deities, or
He that is the embodiment of fullness of joy,
He that rescued the submerged Earth, or
He that understands the hymns addressed to Him by His devotees,
He that is the Master of all eloquent persons, or
He that dispels the calamities of all those who know Him,
He that is full of blazing effulgence,
He that suppresses the afflictions of His adorers, or
He that assumes the form of Yama, the universal Destroyer, for chastising all
persons that fall away from their duties,
He that assumed the form of a Swan for communicating the Vedas to Brahma, or
He that enters into the bodies of all persons,
He that has Garuda, the prince of the feathery denizens of the welkin, for His
vehicle,
He that is the foremost of snakes in consequence of His identity with Sesha or
Ananta (who upholds on his head the vast Earth), or
He that has the hood of the prince of snakes for His bed while He lies down to
sleep on the vast expanse of water after the dissolution of the universe,
He whose navel is as beautiful as gold,
He that underwent the severest austerities in the form of Narayana at Badari on
the breast of Himavat,
He whose navel resembles a lotus, or
He from whose navel sprang the primeval lotus, in which Brahma was born,
He that is the Lord of all creatures,
He that transcends death, or
He that wards off death from those that are devoted to him,
He that always casts a kind eye on His worshippers, or
He that sees all things in the universe,
He that destroys all things, or

59
 He that drenches with nectar all those that worship Him with single-minded
devotion,
He that is the Ordainer of all ordainers, or
He that unites all persons with the consequences of their acts,
He that Himself enjoys and endures the fruits of all acts, or
He that assumed the form of Rama, the son of Dasaratha,
He that is always of the same form, or
He that is exceedingly affectionate unto His worshippers,
He that is always moving, or
He that is of the form of kama that springs up in the heart of every creature,
He that is incapable of being endured by danavas and asuras,
He that rescued His wife Sita after slaying Ravana,
He that shows compassion even to members of low castes when they approach
Him with devotion,
(It is an allegory to His friendship, in the form of Rama, for Guha, the chief of the
Chandalas, inhabiting the country known by the name of Sringaverapura.)

He that chastises the wicked,

He that regulates the conduct of all persons by the dictates of the srutis and the
smritis,
He whose soul has true knowledge for its indication,
He that destroyed Ravana, the foe of the gods, having assumed the form of Rama
that was full of compassion and other amiable virtues,
He that destroys the foes of the deities,
He that slays those who obstruct of forbid the giving of presents unto deserving
persons,
He that is the instructor in all sciences and the father of all,
He that is the instructor of even Brahma,
He that is the abode or resting place of all creatures,
He that is the benefactor of those that are good and is free from the stain of
falsehood,
He whose prowess is incapable of being baffled,
He that never casts His eye on such acts as are not sanctioned or approved by the
scriptures,
He that casts His eye on such acts as are sanctioned or approved by the scriptures,
He whose eye never winks or sleeps,
He that wears the unfading garland of victory called Vaijayanti,
He that is the lord of speech and that is possessed of great liberality in so much
that He rescued the lowest of the low and the vilest of the vile by granting
them His grace,
He that leads persons desirous of Emancipation to the foremost of all conditions,
that is, Emancipation itself,
He that assumes the form of a mighty Fish and scudding through the vast expanse
of water that covers the Earth when the universal dissolution comes, and
dragging the boat tied to His horns, leads Manu and others to safety,
He that is the leader of all creatures,

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He that sports in the vast expanse of water which overwhelms all things at the
time of universal dissolution,
He whose words are the Veda and who rescued the Veda when it was submerged
in the water at the universal dissolution,
He that is the accomplisher of all functions in the universe,
He that assumes the form of the wind (air) for making all living creatures act or
exert themselves,
He whose motions are always beautiful,
He that wishes His creatures to glorify Him,
He that is endued with a thousand heads,
He that is the Soul of the universe and as such pervades all things,
He that has a thousand eyes and a thousand legs,
He that causes the wheel of the universe to revolve at His will,
He whose soul is freed from desire and who transcends those conditions that
invest Jiva and to which Jiva is liable,
He that is concealed from the view of all persons that are attached to the world, or
He that has covered the eyes of all persons with the bandage of nescience,
He that grinds those that turn away from Him,
He that sets the days a-going in consequence of His being identical with the Sun,
He that is the Destroyer of all-destroying Time itself,
He that conveys the libations poured into the sacred fire unto those for whom they
are intended,
He that bears the universe, placing it on only a minute fraction of His body,
He that has no beginning,
He that has no fixed habitation,
He that upholds the Earth in space (in the form of Sesha),
He that rescues the Earth in the form of the mighty Boar, or supports it as a subtle
pervader,
He that is exceedingly inclined to grace, insomuch that He grants happiness to
even foes like Sisupala,
He that has been freed from the attributes of rajas (passion) and tamas (darkness)
so that He is pure or stainless sattva by itself,
He that has obtained the fruition of all His wishes,
He that supports the universe,
He that feeds (enjoys) the universe,
He that is displayed in infinite puissance,
He that honours the deities, the pitris, and His own worshippers,
He that is honoured or adored by those that are themselves honoured or adored by
others,
He whose acts are all beautiful and enduring,
He that accomplishes the purposes of others,
He that is the benefactor of others,
He that withdraws all things (beings) unto Himself at the time of the universal
dissolution,
He that destroys the foes of the deities or of His own worshippers,
He that has the Waters for His home,

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He that is the sole Refuge of all creatures,
He that destroys the ignorance of all creatures,
He that is distinguished above all,
He that cherishes the righteous,
He that cleanses all the worlds,
He that crowns with fruition the desires of all creatures,
He whose wishes are always crowned with fruition,
He that gives success to all,
He that bestows success upon those that solicit Him for it,
He that presides over all sacred days,
He that overwhelms Indra himself with His own excellent attributes,
He that showers all objects of desire upon His worshippers,
He that walks over all the universe,
He that offers the excellent flight of steps constituted by Righteousness (unto
those that desire to ascend to the highest place),
He that has Righteousness in His abdomen,
He that protects Indra even as a mother protects the child in her womb,
He that nurtures (aggrandizes) His worshippers,
He that spreads Himself out for becoming the vast universe,
He that is aloof from all things (though pervading them),
He that is the receptacle (in the nature of the rivers joining the ocean) of srutis,
He that is possessed of excellent arms (that is, arms capable of upholding the
universe),
He that is incapable of being borne by any creature,
He that from whom arose the sound, called the Brahman (Veda),
He that is the Lord of all lords of the universe,
He that is the giver of wealth,
He that dwells in His own puissance,
He that is Multiform,
He that is of vast form,
He that resides in the form of Sacrifice in all animals,
He that causes all things to be displayed,
He that is endued with great might, energy and splendour,
He that displays Himself in visible forms to His worshippers,
He that scorches the unrighteous with His burning energy,
He that is enriched with the six-fold attributes (of affluence, etc),
He that imparted the Veda to Brahma,
He that is indicated by the syllable AUM,
He that is of the form of the samans, riks, and yajuses (of the Veda),
He that soothes His worshippers burning with the afflictions of the world, like the
rays of the moon cooling all living creatures of the world,
He that is endued with blazing effulgence like the sun,
He from whose mind has sprung the moon,
He that blazes forth in His own effulgence,
He that nourishes all creatures even like the luminary marked by the hare,
He that is the Master of the deities,

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 He that is the great medicine for the disease of worldly attachment,
He that is the great causeway of the universe,
He that is endued with knowledge and other attributes that are never futile, and
with prowess that is incapable of being baffled,
He that is solicited by all creatures at all times, that is, the past, the present and the
future,
He that rescues His worshippers by casting kind glances upon them,
He that sanctifies even those that are sacred,
He that merges the life-breath in the Soul,
He that assumes diverse forms for protecting both the emancipated and the un-
emancipated,
He that kills desires of those that are emancipated,
He that prevents evil desires from arising in the minds of His worshippers,
He that is the Principle of kama (the principle of desire or lust),
He that is the most agreeable,
He that is desired by all creatures,
He that grants the fruition of all desires,
He that has the ability to accomplishing all acts,
He that sets the four yugas to begin their course,
He that is endued with the diverse kinds of illusion (and, therefore, the cause from
which spring the different kinds of acts that distinguish the different yugas),
He that is the greatest of the eaters (in consequence of His swallowing all things
at the end of every kalpa),
He that is incapable of being seized (by those that are not His worshippers),
He that is manifest (being exceedingly vast),
He that subjugates thousands of foes (of the deities),
He that subjugates innumerable foes,
He that is desired (by even Brahma and Rudra),
He that is adored in sacrifices,
He that is distinguished above all,
He that is desired by those that are endued with wisdom and righteousness,
He that has ornament of (peacock’s) feathers on His headgear,
He that stupefies all creatures with His illusion,
He that showers His grace on all His worshippers,
He that kills the wrath of the righteous,
He that fills the unrighteous with wrath,
He that is the accomplisher of all acts,
He that holds the universe on His arms,
He that upholds the Earth,
He that transcends the six well-known modifications,
(The modifications are inception in mother’s womb, birth, growth, maturity,
decline and dissolution.)

He that is endued with great celebrity (in consequence of His feats),

He that causes all living creatures to live (in consequence of His
being the all-pervading Soul),

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He that gives life,
He that is the younger brother of Vasava (Indra) (in the form of Upendra or the
dwarf),
He that is the receptacle of all the waters in the universe,
He that covers all creatures (in consequence of His being the material cause of
everything),
He that is ever vigilant (being always above error),
He that is established in His own glory,
He that flows in the form of nectar,
He that dries up all things,
He that upholds the path of righteousness,
He that bears the burden of the universe,
He that gives desirable boons unto those that solicit them,
He that causes the winds to blow,
He that is the son of Vasudeva,
He that covers the universe with His illusions and sports in the midst of it,
He that is endued with extraordinary lustre,
He that is the originating cause of the deities,
He that pierces all hostile towns,
He that transcends all sorrow and grief (resulting from infatuation, hunger, thirst,
birth and death),
He that leads us safely across the ocean of life or the world,
He that dispels from the hearts of all His worshippers the fear of rebirth,
He that is possessed of infinite courage and prowess,
He that is an offspring of Sura’s race,
He that is the Master of all living creatures,
He that is inclined to show His grace unto all,
He that has come on earth for hundreds of times (for rescuing the good,
destroying the wicked and establishing righteousness),
He that holds a lotus in one of His hands,
He whose eyes resemble the petals of the lotus,
He from whose navel sprang the primeval lotus,
He that is seated upon a lotus,
He that is endued with eyes resembling the petals of the lotus,
He that is adored by worshippers as One seated within the lotus of their heart,
He that assumes the form of embodied Jiva (through His own illusion),
He that is endued with puissance of every kind,
He that grows in the form of the five primal elements,
He that is the Ancient Soul,
He that is endued with vast eyes,
He that has Garuda sitting on the standard of His car (vehicle),
He that is incomparable,
He that is the Sarabha (the lion-killing animal),
He that illumines the body-mind complex with consciousness,
He that strikes the wicked with terror,
He that knows everything that occurs in Time,

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He that accepts, in the forms of the deities, the butter poured into the sacrificial
fire,
He that is known by all kinds of evidence or proof,
He upon whose breast sits Prosperity always,
He that is victorious in every battle,
He that is above (beyond) destruction,
He that assumes a red form,
He that becomes wrathful unto the enemies of His worshippers,
He that is an object of search with the righteous,
He that is at the root of all things,
He that has the mark of the string around his abdomen (for, Yasoda bound Him
with a cord while He was Krisna),
He that bears or forgives all injuries,
He that upholds the Earth in the form of its mountains,
He that is the foremost of all objects of worship,
He that is endued with great speed,
He that swallows vast quantities of food,
He that caused the creation to start into life,
He that always agitates both Prakrti and Purusa,
He that shines with resplendence,
He that sports in joy,
He that has puissance in his stomach,
He that is the Supreme Master of all,
He that is the Material, out of which the universe has been made,
He that is the cause or Agent, who has made the universe,
He that is independent of all things,
He that ordains variety in the universe,
He that is incapable of being comprehended,
He that renders Himself invisible by the screen of illusion,
He that is cit divested of all attributes,
He, on whom all things rest,
He in whom all things reside when the universal dissolution comes,
He that assigns the foremost place to those that worship Him,
He that is durable,
He that is endued with the highest puissance,
He that has been glorified in the Vedanta,
He that is contented,
He that is always full,
He whose glance is auspicious,
He that fills all yogis with delight,
He that is the end of all creatures (for, it is in Him that all things merge at the
universal dissolution),
He that is the faultless Path,
He that, in the form of Jiva, leads to Emancipation,
He that leads (Jiva to Emancipation),
He that has none to lead Him,

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He that is endued with great might,
He that is the foremost of all beings possessed of might,
He that upholds,
He that is the foremost of all beings conversant with duty and religion,
He that joins, at the time of creation, the disunited elements for forming all
objects,
He that resides in all bodies,
He that causes all creatures to act in the form of Kshetrajna,
He that creates all creatures after destroying them at the universal dissolution,
He unto whom every one bows with reverence,
He that is extended over the entire universe,
He that owns the primeval golden egg as His abdomen (as the female uterus)
whence everything proceeds,
He that destroys the foes of the deities,
He that overspreads all things (being the material cause whence they spring),
He that spreads sweet perfumes,
He that disregards the pleasures of the senses,
He that is identifiable with the seasons,
He at whose sight alone all worshippers succeed in obtaining the great object of
their wish,
He that weakens all creatures,
He that dwells in the firmament of the heart, depending upon His own glory and
puissance,
He that is capable of being known everywhere (in consequence of His
omnipresence),
He that inspires everyone with dread,
He in whom all creatures dwell,
He that is clever in accomplishing all acts,
He that constitutes the rest of all creatures (being, as He is, the embodiment of
Emancipation),
He that grants liberation to all beings as the ultimate end,
He that is endued with competence greater than that of other beings,
He in whom the whole universe is spread out,
He that is Himself immobile and in whom all things rest for ever,
He that is an object of proof,
He that is the Indestructible and unchanging seed,
He that is sought by all (in consequence of His being happiness),
He that has no desire (in consequence of His desire having been gratified),
He that is the Great Cause (which covers the universe),
He that has all sorts of things to enjoy,
He that has great wealth wherewith to secure all objects of desire,
He that is above despair,
He that exists in the form of Renunciation,
He that is without birth,
He that is the stake, unto which Righteousness is tethered,
He that is the great embodiment of sacrifice,

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 He that is the navel of the starry-wheel that revolves in the firmament,
(Visnu is supposed to be in the constellation called Sisumara or the Northern
Bear. The stars, without changing their places per se, seem to revolve round this point,
within the constellation.)

He that is the Moon among the constellations,

He that is competent to achieve every feat,
He that stays in His own self when all things disappear,
He that cherishes the desire for Creation,
He that is the embodiment of all sacrifices,
He that is adored in all sacrifices and religious rites,
He that is the most adorable of the deities present in the sacrifices that men
perform,
He that is the embodiment of all such sacrifices in which animals are offered
according to the ordinance,
He that is adored by persons before they take any food,
(In Hinduism, one is to offer food to Deity before one partakes of it.)

He that is the Refuge of those that seek emancipation,

He that beholds the acts and omissions of all creatures,
He who’s Soul transcends all attributes,
He that is possessed of omniscience,
He that is identical with knowledge that is un-acquired, unlimited, and capable of
accomplishing everything,
He that is observant of excellent vows (chief amongst which is the granting of
favour unto one that solicits it with a pure heart),
He that has a face always full of delight,
He that is exceedingly subtle,
He that utters the most agreeable sounds (in the form of the Veda or as Krisna
playing on the lute),
He that gives happiness (to all His worshippers),
He that does good to others without expecting any return,
He that fills all creatures with delight,
He that has subdued wrath,
He that has mighty arms (so mighty that He had slain, as if in sport, the mightiest
of asuras),
He that tears those that are unrighteous,
He that causes those persons, who are destitute of knowledge of the soul, to be
steeped in the deep sleep of His illusion,
He that relies on Himself (being entirely independent of all persons and things),
He that overspreads the entire universe,
He that exists in infinite forms,
He that is engaged in vocations infinite in number,
He that lives in everything,
He that is full of affection towards all His worshippers,
He that is the universal father,

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He that holds, in the form of the vast ocean, all jewels and gems in His abdomen,
He that is the Lord of all treasure,
He that is the protector of righteousness,
He that accomplishes all the duties of righteousness,
He that is the substratum of righteousness,
He that is the Existent for all time,
He that is the Non-existent (in the form of the universe, for the manifested
universe is the result of illusion),
He that is destructible (in the form of the universe),
He that is indestructible as cit,
He that is, in the form of Jiva, destitute of true knowledge,
He that is, in the form of the Sun, endued with a thousand rays,
He that ordains (even all such great and mighty creatures as Sesha, Garuda, etc),
He that has created all the Sastras,
He that exists, in the form of the Sun, as the centre of innumerable rays of light,
He that dwells in all creatures,
He that is possessed of great prowess,
He that is the Master of even Yama and others of similar puissance,
He that is the oldest of the deities (existing as He does from the beginning),
He that exists in His own glory, casting off all conditions,
He that is the Lord of even all the deities,
He that is the ruler of even him that upholds the deities (that is, Indra),
He that transcends birth and destruction,
He that tended and protected kine (in the form of Krisna),
He that nourishes all creatures,
He that is approachable by knowledge alone,
He that is Ancient,
He that upholds the elements which constitute the body,
He that enjoys and endures (weal and woe, in the form of Jiva),
He that assumed the form of a vast Boar, or
He that, in the form of Rama, was the lord of a large monkey hoard,
He that gave plentiful presents unto all in a grand sacrifice performed by Him,
He that drinks Soma in every sacrifice,
He that drinks nectar,
He that, in the form of Soma (Moon), nourishes all the herbs and plants,
He that conquers foes in a trice when even they are infinite in number,
He that is of universal form and is the foremost of all existent entities,
He that is the chastiser,
He that is victorious over all,
He whose purposes are incapable of being baffled,
He that deserves gifts,
He that gives what His creatures do not have and who protects what they have,
He that holds the life-breaths,
He that beholds all His creatures as objects of direct vision, or
He that never beholds anything beside His own Self,
He that gives emancipation,

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 He whose footsteps (three in number) covered Heaven, Earth and the Nether
regions,
He who is the receptacle of all the waters,
He that transcends all space, time, and all things,
He that lies on the vast expanse of waters after the universal dissolution,
He that causes the destruction of all things,
He that is without birth,
He that is exceedingly adorable,
He that appears in His own nature,
He that has conquered all foes (in the form of wrath and other evil passions),
He that delights those that meditate on Him,
He that is joy,
He that fills others with delight,
He that swells with all causes of delight,
He that has truth and other virtues for His indications,
He whose foot-steps are in the three worlds,
He that is the first of the Rishis (being conversant with the entire Veda), or
He that is identical with the preceptor Kapila,
He that is the knower of the Universe,
He that is Master of the Earth,
He that has feet,
He that is the guardian of the deities,
He that has large horns,
(This is an allusion to the piscatorial form in which He saved Manu on the
occasion of the universal deluge by scudding through the waters, with Manu’s boat tied
to His horns.)

He that exhausts all acts by causing their doers to enjoy or endure their fruits,
He that grinds the Destroyer himself,
He that is the great Boar,
He that is understood or apprehended by the aid of the Vedanta,
He that has beautiful troops (in the form of His worshippers),
He that is adorned with golden armlets,
He that is concealed (being knowledge contained in the Upanisads only),
He that is deep (in knowledge and puissance),
He that is difficult of access,
He that transcends both word and thought,
He that is armed with the discus and the mace,
He that is the Ordainer,
He that is the Cause (in the form of helper of the universe),
He that has never been vanquished,
He that is the Island-born Krsna (Maharshi Vyasa),
He that is enduring (in consequence of His transcending decay), He that mows all
things and is Himself above deterioration,
He that is the Varuna (the deity of the waters),
He that is the son of Varuna (in the form of Vasista or Agastya),

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 He that is Immovable as a tree,
He that is displayed in His own true form in the lotus of the heart,
He that creates, preserves, and destroys by only a fiat of the mind,
He that is possessed of the six-fold attributes,
He that destroys the six-fold attributes (at the universal dissolution),
He that is felicity (in consequence of His swelling with all kinds of prosperity),
He that is adorned with the triumphal garland (called Vaijayanta),
He that is adorned with the plough (in allusion to His incarnation as Baladeva),
He that took birth from the womb of Aditi (in the form of the dwarf that beguiled
Bali),
He that is endued with effulgence like unto the Sun,
He that endures all pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain,
etc),
He that is the fore-most Refuge of all things,
He that is armed with the best of bows (called Saranga),
He that was divested of His battle-axe (by Rama of Bhrigu’s race),
(Rama of Bhrigu’s race (Parasu-Rama) went to Mahadeva for acquiring the
science of arms. While dwelling in Siva’s retreat, he had a quarrel with Kartikeya or
Kumaraswami, the son of Siva. Rama worsted his preceptor’s son in battle, at which his
preceptor, gratified with him, made him a present of his own battle-axe, wherewith the
regenerate Rama exterminated the Kshatriyas twenty one times.)

He that is fierce,
He that is the giver of all objects of desire,
He that is so tall as to touch the very heavens with his head (an allusion to the
form He assumed at Bali’s sacrifice),
He whose vision extends over the entire universe,
He that is Vyasa (who compiled the Veda sakhas into different groups),
He that is the Master of speech or all learning,
He that has started into existence without the intervention of genital organs,
He that is hymned with the three (foremost samans),
(Brihat, Radhantara and Vamadeva are the three samans (hymns) from Samaveda
collectively known as the Devavratam. The Lord is praised in these three samans.)

He that is the singer of the samans,

He that is the Samaveda itself,
He that is the Extinction of all worldly attachments (in consequence of His being
the embodiment of Renunciation),
He that is the Medicine,
He that is the Physician (who applies the medicine),
He that has ordained the fourth or last mode (stage) of life called Renunciation
(for enabling His creatures to attain to emancipation),
He that causes the passions of His worshippers to be quieted (with a view to give
them tranquility of soul),
He that is contented (in consequence of His utter dissociation with all worldly
objects),

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He that is the Refuge of devotion and tranquility of Soul,
He that is possessed of beautiful limbs,
He that is the giver of tranquility of soul,
He that is the Creator,
He that sports in joy on the bosom of the Earth,
He that sleeps (in yoga) lying on the body of the prince of snakes, Sesha, after the
universal dissolution,
He that is the Benefactor of kine,
He that took a human form for relieving the earth of the weight of its population,
He that is the Master of the universe,
He that is the Protector of the universe,
He that is endued with eyes like those of the bull,
He that cherishes righteousness with love,
He that is the un-returning hero,
He whose soul has been withdrawn from all attachments,
He that reduces, to a subtle form, the universe at the time of universal dissolution,
He that does good to His afflicted worshippers,
He whose name, as soon as heard, cleanses the hearer of all his sins,
He that has the auspicious whorl on His breast,
He that in whom dwells the goddess of Prosperity for ever,
He that was chosen by Lakshmi (the goddess of Prosperity) as her Lord,
He that is the foremost one of all beings endued with prosperity,
He that gives prosperity unto His worshippers,
He that is the Master of prosperity,
He that always lives with those that are endued with prosperity,
He that is the receptacle of all kinds of prosperity,
He that gives prosperity unto all persons of righteous acts according to the
measure of their righteousness,
He that holds the goddess of Prosperity on his bosom,
He that bestows prosperity upon those that hear of, praise, and meditate on Him,
He that is the embodiment of that condition, which represents the attainment of
unattainable happiness,
He that is possessed of every kind of beauty,
He that is the Refuge of the three worlds,
He that is possessed of beautiful eyes,
He that is possessed of beautiful limbs,
He that is possessed of a hundred sources of delight,
He that represents the highest delight,
He that is the Master of all the luminaries in the firmament (for it is He that
maintains them in their places and orbits),
He that has subjugated His mind,
He whose soul is not swayed by any superior being,
He that is always of generous acts,
He whose doubts have all been dispelled (for, He is said to behold the whole
universe as an amlaka in the His palm,
He that transcends all creatures,

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He whose vision extends in all directions:
He that has no Master,
He that at all times transcends all changes,
He that (in the form of Rama) had to lie down on that bare ground,
He that adorns the Earth (by His incarnations),
He that is puissance’s self,
He that transcends all grief,
He that dispels the sorrow of all His worshippers as soon as they remember Him,
He that is possessed of effulgence,
He that is worshipped by all,
He that is like the water-pot containing all things within Him,
He that is of pure soul,
He that cleanses all as soon as they hear of Him,
He that is free and unrestrained,
He whose car (vehicle) never turns away from battles,
He that is possessed of great wealth,
He whose prowess is incapable of being measured,
He that is the slayer of the asura named Kalanemi,
He that is the hero,
He that has taken birth in the clan of Sura (that is Krisna),
He that is the Lord of all the deities,
He that is the soul of the three worlds,
He that is the Master of the three worlds,
He that has the solar and lunar rays for his hair,
He that is the slayer of Kesi,
He that destroys all things (at the universal dissolution),
He that is the Deity, from whom the fruition of all desires is sought,
He that grants the wishes of all,
He that has desires (ever fulfilled),
He that has a handsome form,
He that is endued (endowed) with thorough knowledge of srutis and smritis,
He that is possessed of a form that is indescribable by attributes,
He whose brightest rays overwhelm heaven,
He that is all-pervasive, being eternal,
He that has no end,
He that (in the form of Arjuna or Nara) acquired vast wealth on the occasion of
his campaign of conquest,
He that is the foremost object of silent recitation, of sacrifice, of Veda, and of all
religious acts,
He that is the creator of penances and the like,
He that is of the form of the Brahman,
He that is the augmenter of penances,
He that is conversant with Brahma,
He that is of the form of brahmana,
He that has, for His limbs, him that is called Brahma,
He that knows all the Veda and everything in the universe,

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 He that is always fond of brahmanas, and of whom the brahmanas also are fond,
He whose footsteps cover vast areas,
He whose feats are mighty,
He that is possessed of vast energy,
He that is identical with Vasuki, the king of the snakes,
He that is the foremost of all sacrifices,
He that is Japa, the first of sacrifices,
He that is the foremost of all offerings made in sacrifices,
(Many of these words beginning with Mahat represent Krsna’s own words as
spoken to Arjuna in Bhagavad-Gita such as, ‘I am the foremost of sacrifices; I am the
foremost of sacrificers,’ etc.)

He that is hymned by all,

He that loves to be hymned (by his worshippers),
He that is Himself the hymns uttered by His worshippers,
He that is the very form of hymns,
He that is the very act of hymning,
He that is the person that hymns,
He that is fond of battling (with everything that is evil),
He that is full in every respect,
He that fills others with every kind of affluence,
He that destroys all sins as soon as He is remembered (hymned),
He whose acts are all righteous,
He that transcends all kinds of disease,
He that is endued with the speed of the mind,
He that is the creator and promulgator of all kinds of learning,
He whose vital seed is gold,
He that is giver of wealth (being identical with Kubera, the Lord of treasures),
He that takes away all the wealth of the asuras,
He that is the son of Vasudeva,
He, in whom all creatures dwell,
He whose mind dwells in all things, in thorough identity with them,
He that takes away the sins of all who seek refuge in Him,
He that is attainable by the righteous,
He whose acts are always good,
He that is the one entity in the universe,
He that displays Himself in diverse forms,
He that is the refuge of all those that are conversant with truth,
He that has the greatest of heroes for his troops,
(This has reference to Hanuman and others among the apes that Rama led against
Ravana.)

He that is the foremost of the Yadavas,

He that is the abode of the righteous,
He that sports in joy (in the woods of Brinda) on the banks of Yamuna,
He in whom all created things dwell,

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He that is the Deity that overwhelms the universe with its maya (illusion),
He in whom all foremost of beings become merged (when they achieve their
emancipation),
He whose hunger is never gratified,
He that humbles the pride of all,
He that fills the righteous with just pride,
He that swells with joy,
He that is incapable of being seized,
He that has never been vanquished,
He that is of universal form,
He that is of vast form,
He whose form blazes forth with energy and effulgence,
He that is without form (that is, Awareness),
He that is of diverse forms,
He that is un-manifest,
He that is of hundred (countless) forms,
He that is of hundred (countless) faces,
He that is One,
He that is many (through illusion),
He that is the sacrifice, in which Soma is offered,
He that is full of felicity,
He that forms the one grand topic of investigation,
He from whom is this all,
He that is called Tat,
He that is the highest Refuge,
He that confines Jiva within material causes,
He that is coveted by all,
He that took birth in the clan of Madhu,
He that is exceedingly affectionate towards His worshippers,
He that is of golden complexion,
He whose limbs are like gold (in hue),
He that is possessed of beautiful lips,
He whose person is decked with angadas made with sandal paste,
He that is the slayer of heroes (among asuras),
He that has no equal,
He that is like cipher,
(This is in consequence of no attributes being affirmable of Him.)

He that stands in need of no blessings (in view of His fullness),

He that never swerves from his own nature, puissance and knowledge,
He that is mobile in the form of wind,
He that never identifies Himself with anything that is Not-soul,
He that confers honours on His worshippers,
He that is honoured by all,
He that is the Lord of the three worlds,
He that upholds the three worlds,

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 He that is possessed of intelligence and memory capable of holding in His mind
the contents of all treatises,
He that took birth in a sacrifice,
He that is worthy of the highest praise,
He whose intelligence and memory are never futile,
He that upholds the Earth,
He that pours forth heat in the form of the Sun,
He that is the bearer of great beauty of limbs,
He that is the foremost of all the bearers of weapons,
He that accepts the flowery and leafy offerings made to Him by His worshippers,
He that has subdued all His passions, and grinds all His foes,
He that has none to walk before Him,
He that has four horns,
He that is the elder brother of Gada,
He that has four forms,
(The four forms relate to Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.)

He that has four arms,

He from whom the four Purusas have sprung,
He that is the refuge of the four modes of life and the four orders of men,
(The modes of life refer to the stages of life; the orders of men refer to their
castes, as stated in Dharma-Sastra.)

He that is of four souls,

(The reference is to mind, understanding, consciousness and memory.)

He from who spring the four objects of life,

(The reference is to righteousness, wealth, pleasure and emancipation,)

He that is conversant with the four Vedas,

He that has displayed only a fraction of His puissance,
He that sets the wheel of the world to revolve round and round,
He whose soul is dissociated from all worldly attachments,
He that is incapable of being vanquished,
He that cannot be transcended,
He that is exceedingly difficult of being attained,
He that is difficult of being approached,
He that is difficult of access,
He that is difficult of being brought into the heart (even by yoga),
He that slays even the most powerful foes,
He that has beautiful limbs,
He that takes the essence of all things in the universe,
He that holds the most beautiful warp and woof,
(The allegory is to the universe being a fabric woven by Visnu.)

He that weaves with ever-extending warp and woof,

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 He whose acts are glorious as those of Indra,
He whose acts are great,
He that has no acts undone,
He that has composed all the Veda-sakhas and scriptures,
He whose birth is high,
He that is exceedingly handsome,
He whose heart is full of commiseration,
He that has precious gems in His navel,
He that has excellent knowledge for His eye,
He that is worthy of worship by Brahma and other foremost ones in the universe,
He that is giver of food,
He that assumed horns at the time of the universal dissolution,
He that has always subjugated His foes most wonderfully,
He that knows all things,
He that is ever victorious over those that are of irresistible prowess,
He whose limbs are like gold,
He that is incapable of being agitated,
(The reference is to no agitation to Visnu by wrath, aversion or any passion
whatsoever.)

He that is Master of all those who are masters of all speech and learning,
He that is the deepest lake,
He that is the deepest pit,
He that transcends the influence of Time,
He, in whom the primal elements are established,
He that gladdens the Earth,
He that grants boons which are as agreeable as the kunda flowers,
He that gave away the Earth unto Kasyapa (in His incarnation as Parasu-Rama),
He that extinguishes the three kinds of misery (as stated in the Sankhya
philosophy), like a rain-charged cloud cooling the heat of the earth by its
downpour,
He that cleanses all creatures,
He that has none to urge Him,
He that drank nectar,
He that has an undying body,
He that is possessed of omniscience,
He that has face and eyes turned towards every direction,
He that is easily won (with such gifts as flowers, leaves),
He that has performed excellent vows,
He that is crowned with success by Himself,
He that is victorious over all foes,
He that scorches all foes,
He that is ever-growing and tall banyan tree that overtops all others,
He that, in the form of food, nourishes all creatures,
He that is sacred fig tree, or
He that is not durable,

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 (This is in consequence of His being all perishable forms in the universe even as
He is all the imperishable forms that exist.)

He that is the slayer of Chanura, the wrestler,

He that is endued with a thousand rays,
He that has seven tongues,
(This has reference to the tongues of the forms of Kali, Karali, etc.)

He that has seven flames,

(This is in consequence of His being identical with the deity of Fire.)

He that has seven horses for bearing His vehicle,

He that owns the steed called Sapta,
He that is formless,
He that is sinless,
He that is inconceivable,
He that dispels all fears,
He that destroys all fears,
He that is extremely subtle,
He that is huge,
He that is consciousness (spirit), devoid of matter,
He that is gross,
He that is emaciated,
He that is adipose,
He that is endued with attributes,
He that transcends all attributes,
He that is unseizable,
He that suffers Himself to be easily seized (by His worshippers),
He that has an excellent face,
He that has for His descendents the people of all the regions of the world,
He that extends the creation consisting of the five-fold primal elements,
He that bears heavy weights (in the form of Ananta),
He that has been declared by the Veda,
He that is devoted to yoga,
He that is the lord of all yogis,
He that is the giver of all wishes,
He that affords an asylum to those that seek it,
He that sets yogis to practise yoga after their return to life upon the conclusion of
their life of felicity in heaven,
He that invests yogis with puissance even after the exhaustion of their merits,
He that has goodly leaves,
(This has reference to the Sakhas or Skhandas of the Vedas, Himself being the
Tree of the Creation.)

He that causes the winds to blow,

He that is armed with the bow (in the form of Rama),

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He that is conversant with the science of arms,
He that is the rod of chastisement,
He that is chastiser,
He that executes all sentences of chastisement,
He that has never been vanquished,
He that is competent in all acts,
He that sets all persons to their respective duties,
He that has none to set Him to any work,
He that has no Yama to slay Him,
He that is endued with heroism and prowess,
He that has the attribute of sattva (goodness),
He that is identical with Truth,
He that is devoted to Truth and Righteousness,
He that is sought by those who are resolved to achieve emancipation,
He towards whom the universe proceeds when the dissolution comes,
He that deserves to have all objects which His worshippers present unto Him,
He that is worthy of being adored (with hymns, flowers and other offerings of
reverence),
He that does good to all,
He that enhances the delights of all,
He whose track is through the firmament,
He that blazes forth in His own effulgence,
He that is endued with great beauty,
He that eats the offerings made on the sacrificial fire,
He that dwells everywhere and is endued with supreme puissance,
He that sucks the moisture of the earth in the form of the sun,
He that has diverse desires,
He that brings forth all things,
He that is the parent of the universe,
He that has the Sun for His eye,
He that is Infinite,
He that accepts all sacrificial offerings,
He that enjoys Prakrti in the form of Mind,
He that is giver of felicity,
He that has taken repeated births (for the protection of righteousness and the
righteous),
He that is the First-born of all existent things,
He that transcends despair (in consequence of the fruition of all His wishes),
He that forgives the righteous when they trip,
He that is the foundation, upon which the universe rests,
He that is the most wonderful,
He that is existent from the beginning of Time (eternal),
He that has existed from before the birth of Brahma and others,
He that is of tawny hue,
He that discovers or illumines all existing things by His rays,
He that assumed the form of the great Boar,

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He that exists even when all things are dissolved,
He that is the giver of all blessings,
He that creates blessings,
He that is identifiable with all blessings,
He that enjoys blessings,
He that is able to scatter blessings,
He that is without wrath,
He that lies ensconced in folds (in the form of Sesha),
He that is adorned with ear-rings,
He that is armed with the discuss,
He that is endued with great prowess,
He whose sway is regulated by the high precepts of the srutis and the smritis,
He that is incapable of being described by the aid of speech,
He whom the Vedantins have striven to express with the aid of speech,
He that is the dew which cools those who are afflicted with the three kinds of
grief,
He that lives in all bodies, endued with the capacity of dispelling darkness,
He that is divested of wrath,
He that is well-skilled in accomplishing all acts by thought, word and deed,
He that can accomplish all acts within the shortest period of time,
He that destroys the wicked,
He that is the foremost of all forgiving persons,
He that is the foremost of all persons endued with knowledge,
He that transcends all fear,
He whose names and feats, heard and recited, lead to righteousness and merit,
He that rescues the righteous from the tempestuous ocean of the world,
He that destroys the wicked,
He that is Righteousness,
He that dispels all evil dreams,
He that destroys all bad paths while leading His worshippers to the good path of
emancipation,
He that protects the universe by staying in the attribute of sattva,
He that walks along the good path,
He that is Life,
He that exists overspreading the universe,
He that is of infinite forms,
He that is endued with infinite prosperity,
He that has subdued wrath,
He that destroys the fears of the righteous,
He that gives just fruits, on every side, to sentient beings according to their
thoughts and acts,
He that is immeasurable Soul,
He that bestows diverse kinds of fruits on deserving persons for their diverse acts,
He that sets diverse commands (on gods and men),
He that attaches to every act its proper fruit,
He that has no beginning,

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He that is the receptacle of all causes, as well as of the earth,
He that has the goddess of Prosperity ever by his side,
He that is the foremost of all heroes,
He that is adorned with beautiful armlets,
He that produces all creatures,
He that is the original cause of the birth of all creatures,
He that is the terror of all the wicked asuras,
He that is endowed with terrible prowess,
He that is the receptacle and abode of the five primal elements,
He that gulps down His throat all creatures at the time of the universal dissolution,
He that smiles in the form of flowers,
He that is always wakeful,
He that stays at the head of all creatures,
He whose conduct consists of those acts which the righteous do,
He that revives the dead (such as Parikshit),
He that is the initial syllable Aum,
He that has ordained all righteous acts,
He that displays the truth about the Supreme Soul,
He that is the abode of the five life-breaths and the senses,
He that is the food which supports the life of living creatures,
He that causes all living creatures to live with the aid of the life-breath called
prana,
He that is the great topic of every system of philosophy,
He that is the One Soul in the universe,
He that transcends birth, decrepitude and death,
He that rescues the universe in consequence of the sacred syllables Bhuh, Bhuvah,
Suvah, and others with which homa offerings are made,
He that is the great rescuer,
He that is the sire of all,
He that is the sire of even Brahma,
He that is of the form of Sacrifice,
He that is the Lord of all sacrifices,
(This is an allegory to Visnu being the great deity that is adored in all sacrifices.)

He that is the sacrificer,

He that has sacrifices for his limbs,
He that upholds all sacrifices,
He that protects sacrifices,
He that has created sacrifices,
He that is the foremost of all performers of sacrifices,
He that enjoys the rewards of all sacrifices,
He that causes the accomplishment of all sacrifices,
He that completes all sacrifices by accepting the full libation at the end,
He that is identical with such sacrifices as are performed without desire of fruit,
He that is the food which sustains all living creatures,
He that is also the consumer of that food,

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 He that is Himself the cause of His existence,
He that is self-born,
He that penetrated through the solid earth,
He that sings the samans,
He that is the delighter of Devaki,
He that is the creator of all,
He that is the lord of the Earth,
He that is the destroyer of the sins of His worshippers,
He that bears the conch (Panchajanya) in His hand,
He that bears the sword of knowledge and spiritual illumination,
He that sets the cycle of the yugas to revolve without end,
He that invests Himself with consciousness and senses,
He that is endued with the mace of the most solid understanding,
He that is armed with a circular wheel,
He that is incapable of being agitated,
He that is armed with all kinds of weapons,
Aum! Salutations to Him!

Bhishma said:

Even thus have I recited to thee, without any exception, the thousand excellent
names of the high-souled Kesava whose glory should always be sung!

The man who hymns the praises of that foremost of beings by reciting His
thousand names with devotion succeeds in quickly crossing all difficulties.

That mortal who takes refuge in Vasudeva, and who becomes devoted to Him,
becomes freed of all sins and attains to the eternal Brahman.

That man who, with devotion and faith, recites this hymn succeeds in acquiring
felicity of soul, forgiveness of disposition, prosperity, intelligence, memory and fame.

Those persons that worship and adore the Lord of the universe, the Deity that is
unborn and possessed of blazing effulgence, who is the source or cause of the universe,
who knows no change or deterioration have never to meet with any discomfiture.

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82
 3. Hymn to Narayana
Sanjaya said:
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………..

Listen, O king, with attention, and having listened, let it go to thy heart. Nothing
(in this world) is the result of incantation, nothing the result of illusion of any
king…………………………………………………...

Listen again, O King, to what you have asked me, that is, the true cause, O chief
of the Bharatas, of the victory of the Pandavas! I will tell you what I have heard, O
chastiser of foes. Duryodhana had asked the grandsire this very question. Beholding his
brothers, all mighty car-warriors, vanquished in battle, your son Duryodhana, O Kaurava,
with heart confounded with grief, repairing with humility during the night to the
grandsire possessed of great wisdom, asked him this question. Listen to me, O monarch,
about it all!

Duryodhana said:

Drona and you, Salya, Kripa, Drona’s son, Kritavarman the son of Hridika,
Sudakshina the ruler of the Kamvojas, Bhurisravas, Vikarna, and Bhagadatta, of
exceeding prowess, are all regarded as mighty car-warriors. All of these, again, are high-
born, and prepared to throw away their lives in battle. It is my opinion that these are a
match, for even the three worlds (united together) cannot bear your prowess. A doubt has
arisen in my mind. Explain it to me who enquires of you. Who it is, relying on whom
the Pandavas are vanquishing us repeatedly?

Bhishma said:

Listen, O King, to the words that I will speak unto you, O you of Kuru’s race!
Frequently were you addressed by me to the same effect, but you did not do what I had
said. Let peace be made with the Pandavas, O best of the Bharatas! I regard this to be
beneficial both to the world and you, O Lord!

Enjoy this earth, O King, with your brothers and be happy, gratifying all your
well-wishers and delighting your kinsfolk. Although I had cried myself hoarse before,
you did not listen to me, O Sire! You had always disregarded the sons of Pandu. The
effect of all that has now overtaken you! Listen also, O King, from me as I speak of it, O
Lord, to the reason why the Pandavas, whose achievements tire them not, are un-slayable.

There is not, was not, will not be, the being in all the worlds who would or will be
able to vanquish the sons of Pandu who are all protected by the wielder of Saranga.
Listen truly, O you that are conversant with morality, to that ancient history which was
recited to me by sages of souls under control.

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 In days of yore, all the celestials and the Rishis, united together, waited
reverentially on the Grandsire (Brahma) upon the mountains of Gandhamadana. And the
Lord of all creatures, seated at his ease in their midst, beheld an excellent car stationed in
the firmament, blazing with effulgence. Having ascertained (everything about it) by
meditation, joining his hands with restrained heart, Brahma, with delighted soul, made his
salutations to the highest Divine Being. And the Rishis and the celestials, beholding in
the firmament (the form thus) displayed, all stood up with joined hands, their eyes fixed
on that wonder of wonders.

Worshipping Him duly, Brahma, the foremost of all conversant with the
Brahman, the Creator of the universe, acquainted with the highest morality, uttered these
high words:

Aum!

Thou art the Glory of the universe for Thy form,

Thou art the Lord of the universe,
Thou whose protection extends through the whole universe,
Thou that has the universe for Thy work,
Thou that has Thy soul under control,
Thou art the Supreme Master of the universe,
Thou art Vasudeva.
Therefore, I seek refuge in Thee that art the soul of Yoga and the highest Divinity.
Victory to Thee that art the Supreme God of the universe,
Victory to Thee that art ever employed in the good of the worlds,
Victory to Thee that art the Lord of Yoga.

Having the lotus springing from Thy navel, and having large expansive eyes,
Victory to Thee that art Lord of lords of the universe.

O Lord of the past, the present and the future,

Victory to Thee that art the embodiment of gentleness,
Victory to Thee that art the Sun of suns, and
Thee that art the receptacle of untold attributes,
Victory to Thee that art the refuge of all things,

Thou art Narayana.

Thou art incapable of being understood.
Victory to Thee that art the wielder of the bow called Saranga,
Victory to Thee that art endued with every attribute.

O Thou that hast the universe for Thy form,

O Thou that art ever hale,
O Lord of the Universe,
O Thou of mighty arms,
Victory to Thee that art always ready for benefiting the worlds,

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O great Snake!
O huge Boar!
O first Cause!
O Thou of tawny locks! Victory to Thee that art Almighty!

O Thou of yellow robes,

O Lord of the cardinal, and the subsidiary points of the compass,
O Thou that hast the universe for Thy abode,
O Thou that art Infinite,
O Thou that hast no decay,
O Thou that art the Manifest,
O Thou that art the Un-manifest,
O Thou that art the immeasurable Space,
O Thou that hast all thy senses under control,
O Thou that always achievest what is good,
O Thou that art immeasurable,
O Thou that alone knowest Thy own nature,
Victory to Thee that art deep,

O Thou that art the giver of all wishes,

O Thou that art without end,
O Thou that art known as the Brahman,
O Thou that art Eternal,
O Thou that art the Creator of all creatures,
O Thou that art ever successful,
O Thou whose acts always display wisdom,
O Thou that art conversant with morality,
O Thou that givest victory,
O Thou of mysterious Self,
O Thou that art the Soul of all Yoga,
O Thou that art the Cause of everything that hath sprung into existence,
O Thou that art the knowledge of the selves of all beings,
O Lord of the worlds! Victory to Thee that art the creator of all beings!

O Thou that hath Thyself for Thy origin,

O Thou that art highly blessed,
O Thou that art the Destroyer of everything,
O Thou that art the inspirer of all mental thoughts,
Victory to Thee that art dear to all conversant with the Brahman!

O Thou that art busy in creation and destruction,

O Controller of all wishes,
O Supreme Lore,
O Thou that art the Cause of Amrita,
O Thou that art All-existent,
O Thou that art the first that appears at the end of the Yuga,

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 O Thou that art the giver of victory,
O Divine Lord of the lords of all creatures,
O Thou that hast the lotus springing from thy navel,
O Thou of mighty strength,
O Thou that art sprung from Thyself,
O Thou that art the great elements in their primeval state,
O Thou that art the soul of all (religious) rites,
Victory to Thee that givest all.

The goddess Earth represents Thy two feet, the cardinal and the subsidiary
directions Thy arms, and the heavens Thy head. I am Thy form, the celestials constitute
Thy limbs, and the Sun and the Moon are Thy two eyes. Ascetic austerities and Truth
born of morality and (religious) rites constitute Thy strength. Fire is Thy energy, the
wind is Thy breath, and the waters have sprung from Thy sweat. The twins Aswins
constitute Thy ears, and the goddess Saraswati is Thy tongue. The Vedas are Thy
Knowledge, and upon Thee rests this Universe.

O Lord of Yoga and Yogis! We do not know Thy extent, Thy measure, Thy
energy, Thy prowess, Thy might and Thy origin.

O God! O Visnu! Filled with devotion in Thee, and depending upon Thee with
vows and observances, we ever worship Thee as the highest Lord, the God of gods. The
Rishis, the gods, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Rakshasas, the Pannagas, the
Pisachas, human beings, beasts, birds and reptiles were all created by me on earth
through Thy grace.

O Thou having the lotus springing from Thy navel,

O Thou of large expansive eyes,
O Krisna,
O Dispeller of all woe,
Thou art the Refuge of all creatures, and
Thou art their Guide,
Thou hast the universe for Thy mouth,
Through Thy grace, O Lord of the gods, the gods are ever happy.
Through Thy grace the Earth hath always been freed from terrors.

Therefore, O Thou of large eyes, take birth in the race of Yadu. For the sake of
establishing righteousness, for slaying the sons of Diti and for upholding the universe do
what I have said.

O Lord! O Vasudeva! That which is Thy supreme mystery, which, O Lord, has
been sung by me through Thy grace.

Having created the divine Sankarshana out of Thy own Self by Thyself, Thou
didst then, O Krisna, create Thyself as Pradyumna born of Thyself. From Pradyumna
Thou didst then create Aniruddha who is known as the eternal Visnu. And it was

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Aniruddha who created me as Brahma, the upholder of the Universe. Created out of
Vasudeva’s Essence, I have, therefore, been created by Thee.

Dividing Thyself into portions, take birth, O Lord, among human beings. And
slaughtering the asuras there for happiness of all the worlds, and establishing
righteousness, and winning renown, Thou wilt again truly attain to Yoga (Divinity).

The regenerate Rishis on earth and the gods, O Thou of infinite prowess, devoted
to Thee, sing of Thy wondrous Self, under those names that belong to Thee.

O Thou of excellent arms! All classes of creatures rest on Thee, having taken
refuge in Thee, Thou being the giver of boons. The regenerate ones sing of Thee as the
world’s bridge, having no beginning, middle and end, and as possessed of unlimited
Yoga.

Bhishma said:

Then that illustrious Deity, the Lord of the worlds, replied unto Brahma in a soft
deep voice, saying:

Through Yoga, O sire, all that is wished by thee is known to me. It will be even
as thou wishest.

And saying this, He disappeared then and there.

Then the gods, Rishis and the Gandharvas, filled with great wonder and curiosity,
all asked the Grandsire, saying:

Who is that One, O Lord, that was worshipped by thy illustrious self with such
humility, and praised in such high words? We desire to hear.

Thus addressed, the illustrious Grandsire replied unto saying:

He who is called TAT,

He who is Supreme,
He who is existent at present and who will be for all time,
He who is the highest Self,
He who is the Soul of beings, and
He who is the great Lord,
I was talking with His ever-cheerful Self, ye bulls among gods.

The Lord of the universe was solicited by me, for the good of the universe, to take
His birth among mankind in the family of Vasudeva. I said unto Him, ‘for the slaughter
of the asuras, take Thy birth in the world of men. Those daityas and rakshasas, of fierce
form and great strength that were slain in battle, have been born among men. Indeed, the
illustrious and mighty Lore, taking birth in the human womb, will live on the earth,

87
accompanied by Nara. Those ancient and the best of Rishis, that is, Nara and Narayana,
when born together in the world of men, will not be known (as such) by fools.

He, from whose Self, I, Brahma, the lord of the whole universe, have sprung, that
Vasudeva, that Supreme God of all the worlds, is worthy of your adoration. Endued with
great energy, and bearing the conch, the discus and the mace, he should never be
disregarded as a man, ye best of deities.

He is the Supreme Mystery, the Supreme Refuge, the Supreme Brahman and the
Supreme Glory. He is without decay, Un-manifest, and Eternal. He it is who hath been
sung as Purusa, though none can comprehend Him. The divine Artificer hath sung of
Him as the Supreme Energy, the Supreme Felicity and the Supreme Truth. Therefore, the
Lord Vasudeva of immeasurable prowess should never be disregarded as a man, by all
the asuras and the gods with Indra at their head.

That person of foolish understanding is called a wretch, who, from disregard,

speaketh of Hrishikesa as only a man. People speak of Him as one labouring under
darkness who disregardeth Vasudeva, that Yogi of illustrious Soul, for his entering into a
human form. People speak of Him as one labouring under darkness, who knoweth not
that Divine personage, that Soul of the mobile and the immobile creation, that One
bearing the auspicious wheel (on his breast), that One of dazzling effulgence, that One
from whose navel hath sprung the (primeval) lotus.

He, who disregardeth that wearer of the diadem and the Kaustubha gem, that
dispeller of fears of His friends, that high-souled One, sinketh in this darkness. Having
known all these truths duly, that Lord of the worlds, that is, Vasudeva, should be adored
by every one, ye the best of gods.

Bhishma continued:

Having said these words unto those gods and Rishis in days of yore, the illustrious
Grandsire, dismissing them all, repaired to his own abode. And the gods and the
Gandharvas, and the munis and the apsaras also, having listened to those words spoken
by Brahma, were filled with delight and repaired to heaven. Even this was heard by me,
O sire, from Rishis of cultured souls, talking in their assembly, of Vasudeva, that ancient
One.

O thou that art well-versed in scriptures, I heard this from Rama, the son of
Jamadagni, Markandeya of great wisdom, Vyasa and Narada also. Having learnt all this
and heard of the illustrious Vasudeva as the Eternal Lord, the Supreme God of all the
worlds, and the great Master, from who hath sprung Brahma himself, the Father of the
universe, why should not that Vasudeva be adored and worshipped by men?

Forbidden wert thou before, O sire, by sages of cultured souls (who said unto
thee) ‘never go to war with that Vasudeva armed with bow, as also with the Pandavas’.

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This, from folly, thou couldst not apprehend. I regard thee, therefore, as a wicked
rakshasa. Thou art, besides, enveloped in darkness.

It is for this, O King, that I say unto thee that this One is Eternal and Unfading,
Pervading the whole universe, Unchanging, the Ruler, Creator and Upholder of all, and
the truly Existent. He it is who upholdeth the three worlds. He is the Supreme Lord of
all mobile and immobile creatures, He is the great Master, He is Warrior, He is Victory,
He is Victor, and He is the Lord of all nature. O King, He is full of goodness and
divested of all the qualities of darkness and passion.

There, where Krisna is, righteousness is; and there is victory where righteousness
is. It is by the Yoga of His Supreme Excellence and the Yoga of His Self that the sons of
Pandu, O King, are supported. Victory, therefore, will surely be theirs.

He it is that always imparteth to the Pandavas the understanding endued with

righteousness, and strength in battle; and He it is that always protecteth them from
danger. He is the Eternal God, pervading all beings, and ever blessed.

He, of whom thou hadst asked me, is known by the name of Vasudeva. He it is
whom brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaisyas and sudras, having distinctive features of their
own, humbly serve and worship with restrained hearts, while performing their own
duties. He it is who, towards the close of the Dwapara-yuga and the beginning of the
Kali -yuga, is sung of, with Sankarshana, by believers with devotion. It is that Vasudeva
that createth yuga after yuga, the worlds of the gods and the mortals, all cities girt by the
sea, and the region of human habitation.

Duryodhana said:

In all the worlds, Vasudeva is spoken of as the Supreme Being. I desire, O

grandsire, to know His origin and glory.

Bhishma said:

Vasudeva is the Supreme Being. He is the God of all gods. None superior to him
of eyes like lotus-petals is to be seen, O bull of Bharata’s race!

Markandeya speaketh of Govinda as the most Wonderful and the most High, as
the All-being, as the All-soul, as the Highest soul, and as the Supreme Being. Water, Air
and Fire were created by Him. That Divine Master and Lord of all the worlds created this
Earth. That Supreme Being of illustrious Soul laid himself down on the waters. And that
Divine Being, made up of all kinds of energy, slept thereon in Yoga.

From His mouth, He created Fire; and from His breath, the Wind. Of unfading
glory, He created from His mouth Speech and the Vedas. It is thus that He created first
the worlds, and also the gods along with the diverse classes of Rishis. And He created
decay and death also of all creatures, as well as birth and growth.

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 He is Righteousness, and of righteous soul. He is the giver of boons and the giver
of all (our) wishes. He is the Actor and Action, and He is Himself the Divine Master. He
first made the past, the present and the future; He is the Creator of the universe. He is of
illustrious Soul; He is the Master possessed of unfading glory.

He created Sankarshana, the first-born of all creatures. He created the divine

Sesha who is known as Ananta and who upholdeth all creatures and the earth with its
mountains. Of Supreme Energy, He it is whom the regenerate ones know by yoga-
meditation.

Sprung from the secretions of his ear, the great asura known by the name Madhu,
fierce and of fierce deeds, entertaining a fierce intent and about to destroy Brahma, was
slain by that Supreme Being. O sire! In consequence of Madhu’s slaughter, the gods, the
danavas, the human beings and the Rishis call Janardana, the slayer of Madhu.

He is the great Boar. He is the great Lion. And He is the three-stepped Lord. He
is the mother and the father of all living creatures. There never was, nor be, any superior
to Him of eyes like lotus-petals.

From His mouth, He created the brahmanas, from His two arms the kshatriyas,
from His thighs the vaisyas and from His feet the sudras. One, waiting dutifully on Him,
observant of vows with ascetic austerities on days of the full-moon and the new-moon, is
sure to obtain the Divine Kesava, that Refuge of all embodied creatures, that Essence of
the Brahman and of Yoga.

Kesava is the higher Energy, the Grandsire of all the worlds. Him, O King, the
sages call Hrishikesa (the lord of the senses). He, should all know, is the Preceptor, the
Father and the Master.

Inexhaustible regions (of blessedness) are won by him with whom Krisna is
gratified. He who, in a place of fear, seeketh the protection of Kesava, and he who
frequently readeth this description, becometh happy and endued with prosperity. Those
men who attain to Krisna are never beguiled. Janardana always saveth those that are sunk
in great terrors. Knowing this truly, O Bharata, Yudhishthira, with his whole soul, O
King, hath sought the shelter of the highly blessed Kesava, the Lord of Yoga, and the
Lord of the Earth.

Bhishma continued:

Hear from me, O King, this hymn that was uttered by Brahma himself. This
hymn was, in days of yore, communicated by regenerate Rishis and the gods (to men) on
earth.

Narada described Him as the Master and the Lord of the God of gods, and all the
Sadhyas and the celestials, and as one acquainted with the nature of the Creator of the
worlds.

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 Markandeya spoke of Him as the Past, the Present and the Future, the Sacrifice of
sacrifices and the Austerity of austerities.

The illustrious Bhrigu said of Him that ‘Thou art the God of the gods, and that
Thine is the ancient form of Visnu’.

Dwaipayana said of Him that ’Thou art Vasudeva of the Vasus, the establisher of
Sakra and the God of gods and all creatures’.

In days of yore, on the occasion of procreating creatures, the sages spoke of Him
as Daksha, the Father of Creation.

Angiras said that ‘Thou art the Creator of all beings’.

Devala said of Him that the ‘Un-manifest is all Thy body, and the Manifest is in
Thy mind, and that the gods are all the result of Thy breath. With Thy head is pervaded
the heavens, and Thy two arms support the earth. In Thy stomach are the three worlds,
and Thou art the Eternal Being’.

Men exalted by asceticism know Him thus: ‘Thou art the Sat of Sat, with Rishis
gratified with sight of Self. With royal sages of liberal minds, never retreating from
battle, and having morality for their highest end, Thou, O slayer of Madhu, art, the sole
refuse’.

Even thus is that illustrious and Supreme Being, Hari, adored and worshipped by
Sanatkumara and other ascetics endued with yoga. The truth about Kesava, O sire, is
now narrated to thee, both in brief and in detail. Turn thy heart in love to Kesava.

Sanjaya continued:

Hearing this sacred story, thy son, O great King, began to regard highly both
Kesava and these mighty car-warriors, that is, the sons of Pandu. Then, O Monarch,
Bhishma, the son of Santanu, once more addressed thy son, saying:

Thou hast now heard truly, O King, about the glory of the high-souled Kesava and
of Nara, about which thou hadst asked me. Thou hast also heard about the object for
which both Nara and Narayana have taken their births among men. Thou hast also been
told the reason why those heroes are invincible and have never been vanquished in battle,
and why also, O King, the sons of Pandu are incapable of being slain in battle, by
anybody.

Krisna beareth great love for the illustrious sons of Pandu. It is for this, O King
of kings, that I say, ‘let peace be made with the Pandavas.’ Restraining thy passions,
enjoy thou the earth with thy mighty brothers (around thee). By disregarding the divine
Nara and Narayana, thou shalt certainly be destroyed.

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 Having said these words, thy sire became silent, O Monarch, and dismissing the
King, entered his tent. And the King also came back to his (own) tent, having
worshipped the illustrious grandsire. And then, O bull of Bharata’s race, he laid himself
down on his white bed for passing the night in sleep.

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Sanat-Sujata-Gita

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 Table of Contents
Page No

Introduction 97

The Brahman 98

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96
 Introduction
The Sanat-Sujata-Gita is in the nature of a dialogue between the Rishi Sanat-
Sujata and Dhritarashtra, contained in chapters 41 to 46 of Udyoga-Parva of the
Mahabharata.

In the world of classical literature, the Mahabharata is unique in many respects.

As an epic, it is the greatest in all literatures. It is considered the mightiest single human
endeavour of literary creation of any culture in human history. The effort to conceive the
mind that conceived it is itself considered great education. It is the stupendous ocean of
all-embracing knowledge. It is a wonderful production bench-marking the high state of
Indian civilization long before the Christian era.

The Sanat-Sujata-Gita is an exposition of the concept of the Brahman as

propounded in the Vedanta in its entirety. It is, like the Bhagavad-Gita, one of the
numerous episodes of the Mahabharata. It has had the high distinction of being
commented on by Shankara. It purports to be a dialogue between Sanat-Sujata on the one
side and Dhritarashtra on the other. Sanat-Sujata, from whom it takes its name, is said to
be identical with Sanatkumara frequently related to in the literature of the Upanisads.

The content of the Sanat-Sujata-Gita is a forceful exposition of Monism, of the

God-head being One, Indivisible, Immutable, Eternal and All-pervading, attainable only
by knowledge of the Self.

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 The Brahman
Dhritarashtra said:

If there is anything still left unsaid by you, O Vidura, say it then, as I am ready to
listen to you. The discourse is, indeed, charming.

Vidura said:

O Dhritarashtra, O you of the Bharata race! That ancient and immortal Rishi
Sanat-sujata who, the foremost of all intelligent persons, leading a life of perpetual
celibacy, has said that Death does not exist, will clear you of all the doubts in your mind,
both expressed and unexpressed.

Rishi Sanat-Sujata is no other than Sanatkumara, according to Shankara. The

doubts expressed or unexpressed relate to subjects freely discussed by all, or those that
may not.

Dhritarashtra said:

Do you not know what that immortal Rishi will say to me? O Vidura, do you say
it, if indeed, you have that degree of wisdom.

Vidura said:

I am born in the sudra order and, therefore, do not venture to say more than what
I have already said. The understanding, however, of that Rishi, leading a life of celibacy,
is regarded by me to be infinite. He, that is a brahmana by birth, by discoursing on even
the profoundest mysteries, never incurs the censure of the gods. It is for this alone that I
do not discourse to you, upon the subject.

The knowledge of the Rishi is infinite in the sense that it is never-failing.

Sanatkumara is, incidentally, the teacher of Narada in the famous dialogue in
Khandogya-upanisad.

Dhritarashtra said:

Tell me, O Vidura, how with this body of mine, I can meet with that ancient and
immortal one?

Then Vidura began to think of that Rishi of rigid vows. And knowing that he was
thought of, the Rishi showed himself there. Vidura then received him with the rites
prescribed by ordinance. And when, having rested a while, the Rishi was seated at his
ease, Vidura addressed him, saying:

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 O illustrious one! There is a doubt in Dhritarashtra’s mind which is incapable of
being explained away by me. It behooves you, therefore, to expound it, so that listening
to your discourse, this chief of men may tide over all his sorrows. To that extent, he may
bear the gain and loss, what is agreeable and what is disagreeable, decrepitude and death,
fright and jealousy, hunger and thirst, pride and prosperity, dislike, sleep, lust and wrath,
and decrease and increase, with equanimity.

The ‘gain and loss’ refers to what results from a general dissatisfaction with
everything.

Then Dhritarashtra bowed (respected) and questioned Sanat-Sujata in a secluded

place (free from the presence of ignorant and vulgar people), desirous of obtaining the
highest knowledge of the Self:

O Sanat-Sujata! I hear that you are of the opinion that there is no death. Again it
is said that the gods and the asuras practise ascetic austerities in order to avoid death. Of
these two opinions, then, which is true?

Sanat-Sujata said:

Some say that freedom from death is attainable by particular acts (prescribed in
the Vedas). Others opine that there is no death. O Kshatriya! Both have been truths
since creation. The learned are of the opinion that death results from ignorance. I say
that ignorance is Death. So, the absence of ignorance, that is, knowledge is immortality.
It is from ignorance that the asuras became subject to defeat and death. It is from the
absence of ignorance that the gods have attained to the nature of the Brahman. Death
does not devour creatures like a tiger; its form is unascertainable. Besides, some
(deluded by worldly objects) imagine Yama to be Death. This is, however, due to the
weakness of the mind.

(Shankara suggests that asuras (demons) might mean creatures attached to

worldly objects and gods might mean those pleased in their own self. The ‘defeat and
death’ of asuras is an allegory to the story in the Khandogya-upanisad)

The pursuit of the Brahman or Self-knowledge is immortality. That imaginary

god Yama holds his sway in the region of the Pitris, being the source of bliss to the
virtuous, and of woe to the sinful. It is at his command that death in the form of wrath,
ignorance and covetousness occurs among men. Swayed by pride, men always walk in
unrighteous path. None amongst them succeeds in attaining to his real nature. The being
who pursues desires is destroyed (in pursuing) after the desires. With their understanding
clouded, and themselves swayed by their passions, such beings cast off their bodies and
repeatedly fall into hell (the cycle of life and death). They are always followed by their
senses. It is for this that ignorance receives the name of death.

Those men that desire the fruits of action, when the time comes for enjoying those
fruits, proceed to heaven, casting off their bodies. Hence they cannot avoid death.

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 Embodied creatures, from inability to attain the knowledge of the Brahman and
from their connection with earthly enjoyments, are obliged to sojourn in a cycle of re-
births, up and down and around. The natural inclination of man towards pursuits that are
unreal is alone the cause of the senses being led to error. The soul (mind) that is
constantly affected by the pursuit of unreal objects, remembering only that with which it
is always engaged, adores only earthly enjoyments that surround it. The desire of
enjoyments first kills men. Lust and wrath soon follow behind it. Thus, the desire for
enjoyment, lust and wrath lead foolish men to death.

Those that have conquered their souls (minds), however, succeed, by self-
restraint, to escape death. He that has conquered his mind conquers the senses, regarding
them as of no value, by the aid of self-knowledge. Ignorance, assuming the form of
Yama, cannot devour that learned man who controls his desires in this manner. That man
who follows his desires is destroyed along with his desires. He that can renounce desires
can certainly drive away all kinds of woe.

Desire is, indeed, ignorance and darkness, and hell in respect of all creatures. For,
swayed that way, they lose their senses. As intoxicated men walking along a street reel
towards ruts and holes, men under the influence of desire, misled by deluding joys, run
towards destruction.

What can death do to a person whose soul (mind) has not been misled by desire?
To him, death has no terror, like a tiger made of straw.

Therefore, O Kshatriya, if the existence of desire which is ignorance, is to be

destroyed, not even the slightest wish is either to be thought of or pursued. That soul,
which is in your body, associated as it is with wrath and covetousness, and filled with
ignorance, is indeed death. Knowing that death arises in this way, he that relies on
knowledge entertains no fear of death. Even as the body is destroyed when brought
under the influence of death, death itself is destroyed when it is brought under the
influence of knowledge.

Dhritarashtra said:

The Vedas declare the emancipating capacity of those highly sacred and eternal
regions obtainable by the regenerate classes of men, by prayers and sacrifices. Knowing
this, why should not a learned person have recourse to religious acts?

The question that Dhritarashtra asks is fair and straight. When the Rishi has
applauded knowledge and its efficacy in procuring emancipation, the King asks, if
knowledge is of such efficacy, what then is the value of prayers and sacrifices as ordained
in the Veda? The Vedantic Idea of emancipation is not peace or bliss enjoyed by a
conscious individual, but freedom from the obligation of re-birth resulting from karma.
Mere karma, as such, implies pain and misery, and the Supreme Soul is without action
and attributes. The emancipation that is the subject of this dialogue is freedom from this
action (karma).

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 Sanat-Sujata said:

Indeed, he that is without knowledge proceeds thither by the path indicated by

you. The Vedas also declare that thither are both bliss and emancipation. But he, that
regards the material body to be self, if he succeeds in renouncing desire, at once attains
emancipation (the Brahman). If, however, one seeks emancipation without renouncing
desire, one must have to proceed along the (prescribed) route of action, taking care to
destroy the chances of one’s retracing routes that one has once passed over.

The Rishi answers that karma or action does, indeed, lead to the emancipate state.
The materialist, by renouncing desire, attains to the state of emancipation. What it means
is that, by renouncing desire, both actions and attributes are lost. The state, therefore, of
such a soul is one of inaction, or perfect quietude and the absence of attributes which is
exactly the nature of the Supreme Soul. If, again, emancipation is sought without
extinguishing desire by the aid of prayers and sacrifices, it is to be attained by
‘extinguishing path by a path’. It means that the seeker is to proceed along a definite or
ordained route, taking care that the route he once passes over is not re-trodden. Action
such as prayers and sacrifices, no doubt, leads to regions of bliss and emancipation, but
that state is only transitory. For, when the merit is extinguished, and the body falling off,
he has to re-commence action. If permanent emancipation is to be attained, the
obligation of re-commencing action has to be got rid of. It means that the path once
passed over is not re-trodden, and getting rid of the paths which keep one away from the
Brahman, for emancipation.

Dhritarashtra said:

Who is it that constrains that Unborn and Ancient One (primeval Self)? Is it He
all this severally? If, again, it is He that is this entire Universe in consequence of His
having entered everything (without desire as He is) what can be His action, or His
happiness (very purpose of existence)? O learned sage, tell me all this truly.

The Rishi has said that the ordinary soul, by a certain process such as renunciation
of desire, attains to the state of the Supreme Soul. But the King infers it vice versa and
asks: If it is the Supreme Soul that becomes the ordinary soul, who is it that urges the
Supreme Soul to become so? And if this entire universe be indeed that Soul, in
consequence of the latter pervading and entering into everything, then divested of desire
as the Supreme Soul is, where is the possibility of Its action or work being the direct
consequence of desire? If it is answered that the universe is the Supreme Soul’s sport,
then, as every sport is ascribable to some motive of happiness, what can be the happiness
of the Supreme Soul, which is supposed to be without desire?

(Shankara explains the dilemma of the King ontologically: Having shown that
true death is heedlessness, and having shown that heedlessness in its forms of anger, etc
is the cause of all evil, and having also shown further that heaven, etc are really not
man’s highest goal, the author has only implied the unity of the Supreme Self and the
individual self. On that arises a doubt which is stated in the passage.)

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 Sanat-Sujata said:

There is great objection (to contravening the Vedic texts such as ‘I am the
Brahman’) in completely identifying (as here) the two that are different. Creatures always
spring from the union of conditions (with what in Its Essence is without conditions). This
view does not detract from the supremacy of the Unborn and the Ancient one. As for
men, they also originate in the union of conditions. All this that appears is nothing but
that everlasting Supreme Soul. Indeed, the universe is created by the Supreme Soul itself
undergoing transformation. The Vedas attribute this power (of self-transformation) to the
Supreme Soul. For the identity, again, of the power and its possessor, both the Vedas and
others are the authority.

The Rishi explains that the ordinary soul and the Supreme Soul are not identical.
As such, their identity cannot be admitted. As regards embodied beings, they flow
continually from the union of the Supreme Soul with the conditions of space, time, etc.
While the Supreme Soul is totally Unconditioned, there is this much of identity between
the Supreme Soul and the ordinary soul in that the embodied beings arise and perish and
arise, continually because of the union between the Supreme Soul and the conditions
resulting in their creation. In consequence of this activity, the superiority of the Supreme
Soul is not lost. The favourite analogy for explaining the connection of the Supreme Soul
with the universe is derived from the connection of space absolute and unconditioned,
and space as confined by the limits of a vessel. The latter has a name, is moved when the
vessel is moved, and is limited in space. On the other hand, the space of which the
vessel’s space is only a part is absolute and unconditioned, immovable and unlimited.

(Shankara says: The question of Dhritarashtra having suggested a difference

between two principles one of which constrains, and the other of which is constrained,
the answer is ‘such a difference ought not to be alleged, as it involves danger
(objection)’. Then the question arises, ‘how is the difference, which does appear, to be
explained’. The reply is, ‘it is due to the beginning-less principle—delusion or
ignorance’. The next sentence shows that the universe as it appears is also a result of
delusion.)

Dhritarashtra said:

In this world, some practise virtue, and some renounce action or karma (adopting
what is called sannyasa Yoga). (In respect of those that practise virtue) I ask, is virtue
competent to destroy vice, or is it itself destroyed by vice?

Sanat-Sujata said:

The fruits of virtue and of (perfect) inaction are both serviceable for procuring
emancipation. Indeed, both are sure means for the attainment of emancipation. The man
that is wise achieves success by knowledge (inaction). On the other hand, the materialist
acquires merit (by action) and (as the consequence thereof) emancipation. He has also
(in course of his pursuit) to incur sin. Having obtained again fruits of both virtue and

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vice which are transitory (heaven having its end, as also hell in respect of the virtuous
and the sinful), the man of action becomes once more addicted to action as the
consequence of his own previous virtues and vices. The man of action, however, who
possesses intelligence, destroys his sins by his virtuous acts. Virtue, therefore, is strong,
and hence the success of the man of action.

Dhritarashtra said:

Tell me, according to their gradation, of those eternal regions that are said to be
attainable, as the fruits of their own virtuous acts, by regenerate persons, engaged in the
practice of virtue. Speak to me of others’ regions also of a similar kind. O learned sire! I
do not wish to hear of actions (towards which man’s heart naturally inclines, however
interdicted or sinful they may be).

Sanat-Sujata said:

Those regenerate persons that take pride in their yoga practices, like strong men in
their own strength, departing hence, become glorious in heaven. Those regenerate
persons that proudly exert in performing sacrifices and other Vedic rites, as the fruit of
that knowledge which is theirs, in consequence of those acts, freed from this world,
proceed to that region which is the abode of the deities (which is free from the three-fold
source of pain, namely, physical, mental and such as is caused by super-human agency).
There are others, again, conversant with the Vedas, who are of the opinion that the
performance of the sacrifices and rites (ordained by the Vedas) is obligatory (their non-
performance being sinful).

Wedded to external forms, though seeking the development of the inner self (for
they practise these rites for only virtue’s sake, and not for the accomplishment of
particular aims), these persons should not be regarded very highly (although some respect
should be theirs).

Wherever, again, food and drink worthy of a brahmana are abundant, like grass
and reeds in a place during the rainy season, there should the yogi seek his livelihood
(without afflicting the householder of scanty means). By no means should he afflict his
own self by hunger and thirst. In a place, where there may be both inconvenience and
danger to one to disclose one’s superiority, he that does not proclaim his superiority is
better than he that does. The food offered by that person who is not pained at the sight of
another disclosing his superiority, and who never eats without offering the prescribed
share to brahmanas and guests is approved by the righteous. As a dog oftentimes
devours its own evacuations to its injury, so those Yogis devour their own vomits, who
procure their livelihood by disclosing their pre-eminence.

The wise know him for a brahmana, who, living in the midst of kindred, wishes
his religious practices to remain always unknown to them. What else a brahmana
deserves to know other than the Supreme Soul, that is unconditioned, without attributes,
unchangeable, one and alone, and without duality of any kind?

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 In consequence of such practices, a Kshatriya can know the Supreme Soul and
behold it in his own soul. He that regards the soul to be the acting and feeling self is like
the thief who robs the soul of its attributes.

A brahmana should be without exertion, should never accept gifts, should win the
respect of the righteous, should be quiet, and, though conversant with the Vedas, should
seem to be otherwise, for then only may he attain to knowledge and know the Brahman.
They that are poor in earthly but rich in heavenly wealth and sacrifices, become
unconquerable and fearless, and they should be regarded as embodiments of the
Brahman.

That person, even in this world, who (by performing sacrifices) succeeds in
meeting with the gods that bestow all kinds of desirable objects (on performers of
sacrifices), is not equal to him that knows the Brahman, for the performer of sacrifices
has to undergo exertions (while he that knows the Brahman attains to Him without such
exertions). He is said to be really honoured, who, destitute of actions, is honoured by the
deities. He should never regard himself as honoured who is honoured by others. One
should not, therefore, grieve when one is not honoured by others.

People act according to their nature just as they open and shut their eyelids; and it
is only the learned that pay respect to others. The man that is respected should think so.
They that are foolish, apt to sin and adept in deceit never pay respect to those that are
worthy or respect. On the other hand, they always show disrespect to such persons.

The world’s esteem and asceticism (practices of mauna) can never exist together.
Know that this world is for those that are candidates for esteem, while the other world is
for those that are devoted to asceticism. Here, in this world, O Kshatriya, happiness (the
world’s esteem) resides in worldly prosperity. The latter, however, is an impediment (to
heavenly bliss). Heavenly prosperity, on the other hand, is unattainable by one that is
without true wisdom.

The righteous say that there are various kinds of gates, all difficult of being
guarded, for gaining access to heavenly bliss. These are truth, uprightness, modesty, self-
control, purity of mind and conduct, and knowledge (of the Vedas). These six are
destructive of vanity and ignorance.

Dhritarashtra said:

What is the object of asceticism (mauna)? Of the two kinds of mauna (that is, the
restraining of speech and meditation), which is approved by you? O learned one! Tell me
the true aspect of mauna. Can a person of learning attain to a state of quietude and
emancipation (moksha) by that mauna? O Muni! How is asceticism (mauna) to be
practised here?

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 (Shankara says of mauna as the fruit of the destruction of the consciousness of
anything other than the self. This is clarified as ‘the conviction in the mind that one is the
self—the Supreme Brahman—and that there is nothing else existing but oneself’.)

Sanat-Sujata said:

Since the Supreme Soul cannot be penetrated by both the Vedas and the mind, it
is for this that the Soul itself is called mauna. That from which both the Vedic syllable
Aum and this one (ordinary sounds) have arisen, that One, O King, is displayed as the
Word.

(Shankara takes the whole expression to mean Jyothirmaya, consisting of light

(effulgence). Neelakantha considers this to be the substance of the answer to the
questions being that the use of taciturnity (mauna) is to attain the seat which is not to be
grasped even by the mind, and that taciturnity includes both restraint of mind and of the
external senses. By means of such restraint, the external and internal worlds cease to be
perceived as existing, and the highest goal is attained.)

Dhritarashtra said:

Is he that knows both the Rig and the Yajur Vedas, or is he that knows the Sama
Veda, sullied by sins or not, when he commits sins?

This question is naturally an off-shoot of the preceding observation by Sanat-

sujata which, in effect, is that the Vedas cannot grasp the Brahman fully, but they are of
use towards a rudimentary comprehension thereof.

Sanat-Sujata said:

I tell you truly that the man that has not restrained his senses is not rescued from
his sinful acts by either the Sama or the Rig, or the Yajur Veda. The Vedas never rescue
from sin the deceitful person, living by deceit. On the other hand, like new fledged birds
forsaking their nest, the Vedas forsake such a person at the end.

Dhritarashtra said:

O you that has restrained your senses! If, indeed, the Vedas are not competent to
rescue a person without the aid of virtue, why then is this delusion of the brahmanas, that
the Vedas are always destructive of sins?

Sanat-Sujata said:

O magnanimous one! This universe has sprung from that Supreme Soul by the
union of conditions respecting name, form and other attributes. The Vedas also, pointing
it out duly, declare that the Supreme Soul and the universe are different, and not wholly
identical. It is for attaining to that Supreme Soul that asceticism and sacrifices are

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ordained, and it is by these two that the man of learning earns virtue. Destroying sin by
virtue, his soul is enlightened by knowledge.

The man of knowledge, by the aid of knowledge, attains to the Supreme Soul.
Otherwise, he that is covetous of the four objects of human pursuit, taking with him all
that he does here, enjoys their fruits hereafter, and (as those fruits) are not everlasting,
comes back to the region of action (when the enjoyment is over).

Indeed, the fruits of ascetic austerities performed in this world have to be enjoyed
in the other world (as regards those persons who have not obtained mastery of their
souls). As regards those brahmanas employed in ascetic practices (who have the mastery
of their souls), even these regions are capable of yielding fruits.

Dhritarashtra said:

O Sanat-Sujata! How can ascetic austerities which are all of the same kind be
sometimes successful and sometimes unsuccessful? Tell me this in order that I may
know it!

Sanat-Sujata said:

Asceticism (tapas) which is not stained by (desire and other) faults is said to be
capable of procuring emancipation, and is, therefore, successful, while asceticism stained
by vanity and want of true devotion is regarded unsuccessful. All your enquiries, O
Kshatriya, touch the very root of asceticism. It is by asceticism that they, that are
learned, know the Brahman and win immortality.

Dhritarashtra said:

I have listened to what you have said about asceticism unstained by faults, and by
which I have succeeded in knowing an eternal mystery. Tell me now, O Sanat-sujata,
about asceticism that is stained by faults!

Sanat-Sujata said:

O King! The twelve, including anger, as also the thirteen kinds of wickedness are
the faults of asceticism that is stained. Anger, lust, avarice, ignorance of right and wrong,
discontent, cruelty, malice, vanity, grief, love of pleasure, envy and speaking ill of others
are generally the faults of human beings. These twelve should always be avoided by
men. Any one amongst these can singly effect the destruction of men.

O Bull among men! Indeed, every one of these waits for an opportunity in respect
of men, like a hunter expectant of opportunities in respect of deer.

Assertion of one’s own superiority, desire of enjoying others’ wives, humiliating

others from excess of pride, wrathfulness, fickleness and refusing to maintain those

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worthy of being maintained--these six acts of wickedness are always practised by sinful
men defying all dangers here and hereafter.

He that regards the gratification of lust to be one of life’s aims, he that is

exceedingly proud, he that grieves having given away, he that never spends money, he
that persecutes his subjects by exacting hateful taxes, he that delights in the humiliation
of others and he that hates his own wives--these seven categories of men are also called
wicked.

Righteousness, truth (abstention from injury and truthfulness of speech), self-

restraint, asceticism, delight in the happiness of others, modesty, forbearance, love of
others, sacrifices, gifts, perseverance, knowledge of the scriptures--these twelve virtues
constitute the practices of brahmanas. He that succeeds in acquiring these twelve virtues
becomes competent to sway the entire earth. He that is endued with three, two or even
one of these should be regarded of heavenly prosperity. Self-restraint, renunciation and
knowledge of the Self lead to emancipation. Those brahmanas that are endued with
wisdom say that these are the attributes in which truth predominates.

Self-restraint has eighteen defects; if (any one of them) is committed, it is an

obstacle (to self-restraint). They are stated thus: Untruthfulness, backbiting, thirst (for
objects of sense), antipathy (to all beings), darkness (ignorance), repining (discontent
even when one obtains much), hatred of people, haughtiness, quarrelsomeness, injuring
living creatures, reviling others, garrulity, vexation (of oneself by brooding, or thinking
ill of others without cause), want of endurance, want of courage (restraint of senses in the
presence of their objects), imperfection (of piety, knowledge and indifference to worldly
objects), sinful conduct and slaughter. These eighteen faults constitute what is called
mada or pride.

Renunciation is of six kinds. The contraries of these six again are faults, called
mada. (The faults, therefore, that go by the name of mada are eighteen and six). The six
kinds of renunciation are all commendable. The third one is difficult of practice, but by
that all sorrow is overcome. Indeed, if that kind of renunciation be accomplished in
practice, he that accomplishes it overcomes all the pairs of opposites in the world.

The six kinds of renunciation are all commendable. They are these: The first is
never experiencing joy on occasions of prosperity. The second is the offering of gifts at
Vedic ceremonies and at ceremonies as laid down in the smritis. (This is also interpreted
as offerings to gods, offerings to the manes, or sacrifices, etc and works of charity such as
digging of wells and tanks).

That which is called the third, O King, is the abandonment of desire or

withdrawing from the world. Indeed, it is in consequence of this third kind of
renunciation of desire, which is evidenced by the abandonment of all objects of
enjoyment (without enjoying them). It is not their abandonment neither after acquisition,
nor by abandonment only after one has become incompetent to enjoy from loss of
appetite.

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 The fourth kind of renunciation consists in this: One should not grieve, nor suffer
his self to be afflicted by grief when one’s actions fail, notwithstanding one’s possession
of all the virtues and all kinds of wealth. Or, when anything disagreeable happens, one
shall not feel any pain.

The fifth kind of renunciation consists in not soliciting even one’s sons, wives,
and others that may all be very dear. The sixth kind consists in giving away to a
deserving person who solicits, which act of gifting is always productive of merit.

By these acts, again, one acquires the knowledge of the Self. As regards this last
attribute, it involves eight qualities. These are truthfulness, meditation (concentration),
distinction of subject and object (absorbed contemplation), capacity for drawing
inferences (reflection), withdrawal from the world (indifference to worldly objects),
never taking what belongs to others (not stealing), the practices of brahmacharya vows
(abstinence) and non-acceptance (of gifts).

So also the attribute of mada (the opposite of dama or self-restraint) has faults
which have all been indicated (in the scriptures). These faults should be avoided. I have
spoken (to you) of renunciation and self-knowledge. And, as self-Knowledge has eight
virtues, so the want of it has eight faults. Those faults should be avoided.

O Bharata! He that is liberated from the five senses (the five classes of sensuous
objects), mind, and also from (thoughts regarding) the past and the future becomes happy.
O King! Let your soul be devoted to truth; all the worlds are established on truth; indeed,
self-control, renunciation and self-knowledge are said to have truth for their foremost
attribute. Avoiding (these) faults, one should practise asceticism here.

The Ordainer has ordained that truth alone should be the vow of the righteous.
Asceticism that is dissociated from these faults and endued with these virtues becomes
the source of great prosperity. I have now briefly told you about that sin-destroying and
sacred subject which you had asked me, and which is capable of liberating a person from
birth, death and decrepitude.

Dhritarashtra said:

With Akhyana (Puranas) as their fifth, the Vedas declare the Supreme Soul to be
this universe consisting of mobile and immobile things. Others regard four God-heads;
and others three; others again regard two; and others only one; and others regard the
Brahman alone as the sole existent object (there being nothing else possessing separate
existence). Amongst these, which should I know to be really possessed of the knowledge
of the Brahman?

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 Sanat-Sujata said:

There is but one Brahman which is Truth’s self. It is from ignorance of that One,
that god-heads have been conceived to be diverse. But who is there, O King, that has
attained to Truth’s self or the Brahman?

Man regards himself wise without knowing that One Object of knowledge and,
from desire of happiness, is engaged in study and the practices of charity and sacrifices.
Men have deviated from Truth (the Brahman) and entertain purposes corresponding (with
their state) and, relying on the truth of Vedic texts thereof, perform sacrifices. Some
perform (or attain the object of) sacrifices by the mind (meditation), some by works
(recitation of particular prayers or Japa) and some by acts (actual consummation of the
Jatishtoma and other costly rites). The person, however, who seeks the Brahman through
Truth, obtains his desired object even at home.

When, however, one’s purposes become abortive (through absence of knowledge

of the Self), one should adopt vows of silence, and such-like called Dikshavrata.
(Indeed, the word Diksha comes from the root Diksha, meaning the observance of vows.)
As for those that have knowledge of the Self, Truth is the highest object of pursuit.

The fruits of knowledge are visible; asceticism yields fruits hereafter. A

brahmana who (without knowledge and asceticism) has only read much, should only be
known as a great reader. Therefore, O Kshatriya, never think that one can be a brahmana
(Brahman-knowing) by only reading the scriptures. He who does not deviate from Truth,
on the other hand, should be known to be possessed of the knowledge of the Brahman.

O Kshatriya! The verses that were recited by Atharvan to a conclave of great

sages, in days of old, are known by the name of Chhandas. They are not to be regarded
as acquainted with the Chhandas, who have only read through the Vedas, without having
attained to the knowledge of Him who is known through the Vedas.

The Chhandas, O best of men, become the means of attaining the Brahman
independently and without the necessity of anything foreign. They cannot be regarded as
acquainted with the Chhandas, who are acquainted only with the modes of sacrifice
enjoined in the Vedas. On the other hand, having waited upon those that are acquainted
with the Vedas, have not the righteous attained to the Object that is knowable by the
Vedas? There is none who has truly caught the sense of the Vedas, or there may be very
few who have, O King, caught the sense. He that has only read the Vedas does not know
the Object knowable by them. He that is, however, established in Truth, knows the
Object knowable by the Vedas.

Amongst those faculties which lead to perception of the body as the acting agent,
there is none by which true Knowledge may be acquired. By the mind alone one cannot
acquire the knowledge of the Self and Not-Self. Indeed, he that knows the Self also
knows what is Not-self. On the other hand, he that knows only what is Not-self, does not
know Truth. Again, he that knows the ‘proofs’ knows also that which is sought to be

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proved. But what that Object in its nature is (which is sought to be proved) is not known
to either the Vedas or those that are acquainted with the Vedas.

For all that, however, those brahmanas that are (truly) acquainted with the Vedas
succeed in obtaining knowledge of the Object knowable (by) through the Vedas. As the
small digit of the moon, which cannot be perceived by itself, is pointed out as being at the
tip of a branch of a tree pointing towards the moon, so the Vedas are of use as pointing
towards the Brahman, though inaccurately and imperfectly. (This is called sakhakandra-
nyaya).

Know him to be a brahmana (possessing knowledge of the Brahman) who clears

the doubts of others, having himself mastered all his own doubts, and who is possessed of
the knowledge of the Self.

One cannot find what the Soul is by seeking in the East, the South, the West, the
North, or in the subsidiary directions or horizontally. Very rarely can It be found in him
who regards this body to be the Self. Beyond the conception of even the Vedas, the man
of Yoga-meditation alone can behold the Supreme Self. Completely restraining all your
senses and mind, you see that the Brahman resides in your own soul.

He is not Muni who lives only in the woods (having retired from the world). He
is, however, a Muni, who knows his true nature, and is self-restrained. In consequence of
one’s being able to expand (analyse) every object (Vyakarana), one is said to be endued
with the highest knowledge (Vaiyakarana); and, indeed, the science itself is called
Vyakarana owing to its being able to expound every object to its very root (which is the
Brahman).

Max Muller explains in other words thus: In the science of the Soul, the analyzer
is he who analyses objects, not words merely. As the true analysis of objects reduces
them all to the Brahman, and as the sage understands this and makes the analysis
accordingly, so he is rightly called an analyzer.

The man who beholds directly all the regions as present before his eyes is said to
be possessed of omniscience (universal knowledge). (This may mean that a man may
perceive all material things such as the worlds. But to be really omniscient, he must have
knowledge of the Truth, the Brahman.)

He that stays in Truth and knows the Brahman is said to be brahmana, and a
brahmana possesses omniscience (universal knowledge). A Kshatriya that practises such
virtues may also behold the Brahman. He may also attain to that high state by ascending
step by step, according to what is indicated in the Vedas. Knowing it for certain, I tell
you this.

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 Dhritarashtra said:

Excellent, O Sanat-Sujata, as this your discourse is, treating of the attainment of

the Brahman and the origin of the universe! I pray to you, O celebrated Rishi, to go on
telling me words such as these that are unconnected with the objects of worldly desire
and are, therefore, rare among men.

Sanat-Sujata said:

That Brahman about which you asked me with such joy is not to be attained
easily. After (the senses have been restrained and) the mind (withdrawn from worldly
objects) has been merged in the pure intellect, the state that succeeds is one of utter
absence of worldly thought. Even that is knowledge (leading to the attainment of the
Brahman). It is attainable only by those that have been brought up under preceptors (in
the state of brahmacharya).

Dhritarashtra said:

You say that the knowledge of the Brahman dwells of itself in the mind (soul),
being discovered only in brahmacharya; that is, dwelling in the mind, it requires for its
manifestation no efforts (such as are necessary for work) during the seeking (by means of
brahmacharya). How then is the immortality associated with the attainment of the
Brahman?

Sanat-Sujata said:

Though residing in and inherent to the mind (soul), the knowledge of the
Brahman is still un-manifest. It is by the aid of the pure intellect and brahmacharya that
that knowledge is made manifest. Indeed having attained to that knowledge, Yogis
forsake this world. It is always to be found among eminent preceptors.

Dhritarashtra said:

What should be the nature of that brahmacharya by which the knowledge of the
Brahman might be attained without much difficulty? O regenerate one! Tell me this.

Sanat-Sujata said:

They who, residing in the abodes of their preceptors and winning their good will
and friendship, practise brahmacharya austerities and become, even in this world, the
embodiments of the Brahman. When they cast off their bodies, they are united with the
Supreme Soul.

They that, in this world, desirous of obtaining the state of the Brahman, subdue all
desires, and endued as they are with righteousness, succeed in dissociating the soul from
the body like a blade projected from a clump of heath.

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 The body, O Bharata, is created by the father and the mother. The new birth,
however, that is due to the preceptor’s instruction is sacred, free from decrepitude, and
immortal. (The consciousness of being one with the Brahman is the new birth. That birth
is not merely delusive, and does not result in death).

He who discourses upon the Brahman and grants immortality, and he who wraps
all persons with the mantle of truth should be regarded as father and mother. Bearing in
mind the good he does, he should never be done any injury. (Immortality or final
emancipation is not to be achieved without knowledge, which can only be got from a
preceptor. And one is not perfect without that immortality; one is limited by the
conditions of human existence.)

A disciple must habitually pay obeisance to his preceptor with respect, purity of
body and mind and well-directed attention. (The necessity of having a guru is often
insisted even in the Upanisads). He must take to study seriously under his guidance. He
must not consider any service as mean. He must not harbour any anger. This is indeed
the first step of brahmacharya. The practices of that disciple who acquires knowledge by
observing the duties ordained for one of his class (category) are also regarded as the first
step of brahmacharya.

A disciple should, with his very life and all his possessions, in thought, word and
deed do all that is agreeable to the preceptor. This is regarded as the second step of
brahmacharya. He should behave towards the wife and the son of his preceptor in the
same way as he does towards him. This is part of the second step itself.

Bearing in mind what the preceptor has done to him and understanding what has
been taught, the disciple should think, with a delighted heart, that ‘I have been taught and
made great by him’. This is the third step of brahmacharya.

A wise disciple shall not move to the next stage of life without making an
appropriate gift to his preceptor. At the same time, he shall not say or even think in his
mind, ‘I make this gift’. This is the fourth step of brahmacharya.

A disciple, thus, attains a quarter of knowledge of the Brahman, the object of

brahmacharya, by aid of time, the second quarter though the preceptor’s protections, the
third by the power of his own understanding, and the fourth by discussion.

The learned have said that brahmacharya is constituted by twelve virtues,

namely, knowledge, truth, self-restraint, sacred learning, freedom from animosity towards
living beings, modesty, endurance, freedom from censoriousness, sacrifice, gift, courage
and quiescence. The yoga-practices are its angas; perseverance in yoga-meditation is its
strength. A disciple is crowned with success in brahmacharya, in consequence of the
preceptor’s aid and the understanding of the sense (core) of the Veda.

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 Whatever wealth a disciple, thus engaged, may earn should all be given to the
preceptor. It is thus the preceptor obtains his highly praise-worthy livelihood. The
disciple should similarly behave towards the son of the preceptor.

Thus stationed in brahmacharya, the disciple thrives by all means in this world,
and obtains numerous progeny and fame. Men of all walks of life shower wealth on him.
Many people may go to his abode for practising brahmacharya.

It is through brahmacharya of this kind that the celestials attained to their

divinity, and the sages, highly blessed and of great wisdom, have attained to the region of
the Brahman. It is by this that the Gandharvas and the Apsaras acquired such personal
beauty. It is through brahmacharya that the Sun rises to make the day. All those that
practise it derive great happiness in consequence of being able to have whatever they
desire.

He, O King, who devotes to the practice of ascetic austerities, betakes himself to
brahmacharya in its entirety and thereby purifies his body. He is truly wise. For, by this
way, he becomes child-like, free from all evil passions and triumphs over death at last.

O Kshatriya! Men, however pure, obtain, by work, only worlds that are
perishable. He that is blessed with Knowledge attains, by the aid of that Knowledge, to
the everlasting Brahman. There is no way other than Knowledge leading to
emancipation.

Dhritarashtra said:

The existence of the Brahman, you say, a wise man perceives in his own soul.
Now, is the Brahman white, red, black, blue or purple? Tell me what is the true form and
colour of the Omnipresent and Eternal Brahman?

Sanat-Sujata said:

Indeed, the Brahman, as perceived, may appear as white, red, black, brown or
bright. But neither on the earth, nor in the sky, nor in the water of the ocean is there
anything like IT. (‘Water’ is said by some commentators to mean the five elements of
which the body is composed. In the Svetasvatara-Upanisad, it signifies mind. Ocean, as
such, means world or samsara).

Neither in the stars, nor in lightning, nor in the clouds, is It’s form to be seen. Nor
is It visible in the atmosphere, nor in the deities, nor in the moon, nor in the sun. Neither
in the riks, nor among the yajus, nor among the atharvans, nor in the pure samans, is It to
be found. O King! Verily, It is not to be found in Rathantara or Brihadratha (Brihat-
saman), or in great sacrifices.

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 Incapable of being compassed and lying beyond the reach of the limited intellect,
even the universal Destroyer, after the dissolution, is himself lost in It. Incapable of
being gazed at, It is subtle as edge of the razor, while being grosser than mountains.

It is the basis upon which everything is founded. It is unchangeable. It is this

visible universe. It is vast and It is delightful. Creatures have all sprung from It and are
to return to It. Free from all kinds of duality, It is manifest as the universe and all-
pervading. Men of learning say that It is without any change, except in the language used
to describe It. They are emancipated that are acquainted with That in which this universe
is established.

Sanat-Sujata continued:

Sorrow, anger, covetousness, lust, ignorance, laziness, malice, self-importance,

continuous desire of gain, affection, jealousy and evil speech, O Monarch, are grave
faults that are destructive of men’s lives. Each of these waits for opportunities to seize
mankind. Afflicted by them, men lose their senses and commit sinful acts. He that is
covetous, he that is fierce, he that is harsh of speech, he that is garrulous, he that is given
to nursing anger, and he that is boastful are of wicked disposition. On obtaining wealth,
they cannot treat others with courtesy.

He that regards sensual gratification as the end of life, he that is self-conceited, he

that boasts having made a gift, he that never spends, he that is weak in mind, he that is
given to self-admiration, and he that hates his own wife are counted as wicked men of
sinful habits.

Righteousness, truth, asceticism, self-restraint, contentment, modesty,

renunciation, love of others, gift, acquaintance with the scriptures, patience and
forgiveness are the twelve practices of a brahmana. He that does not fall off from these
twelve may sway the entire earth. He that is endued with three, or two, or even one of
these does never regard anything as his own to the exclusion of others.

Self-restraint, renunciation and knowledge lead to emancipation. These are the

attributes of brahmanas, endued with wisdom and regarding the Brahman as the highest
of all objects of attainment. True or false, it is not laudable for a brahmana to speak ill of
others; they that do this have hell for their abode.

Mada has eighteen faults which have not yet been enumerated by me. They are
ill-will towards others, throwing obstacles in the way of virtuous acts, detraction,
falsehood in speech, lust, anger, dependence, speaking ill of others, finding out the faults
of others for report, waste of wealth, quarrel, insolence, cruelty to living creatures,
malice, ignorance, disregard of those that are worthy of regard, loss of the senses of right
and wrong, and always seeking to injure others. A wise man, therefore, should not give
way to mada, for the accompaniments of mada are censurable.

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 Friendship is said to possess six indications; first, friends delight in the prosperity
of friends, and, second, are distressed at their adversity. Third, if anyone asks for
anything which is dear to his heart, but should not be asked for, a true friend surely gives
away even that. Fourth, a true friend who is of a righteous disposition, when asked, can
give away his very prosperity, his beloved sons, and even his own wife. Fifth, a friend
should not dwell in the house of a friend, on whom he may have bestowed everything,
but should enjoy what he earns himself. Sixth, a friend stops not to sacrifice his own
good (for his friend).

The man of wealth who seeks to acquire those good qualities, and who becomes
charitable and righteous, restrains his five senses from their respective objects. Such
restraint of the senses is asceticism. When it grows in degree, it is capable of winning
regions of bliss hereafter (unlike Knowledge which leads to attainment even here).

They that have fallen off from patience (and are incapable, therefore, of attaining
to Knowledge) acquire such asceticism in consequence of the purpose they entertain, that
is, the attainment of bliss in the high regions hereafter. In consequence of his ability to
grasp that Truth (the Brahman) from which sacrifices flow, the Yogi is capable of
performing sacrifices by the mind. Another performs sacrifices by words (Japa), and
another by work.

Truth (the Brahman) resides in him who knows the Brahman as vested with
attributes. IT dwells more completely in him who knows the Brahman as divested of
attributes.

Listen now to something else from me! This high and celebrated philosophy
should be taught (to disciples). All other systems are only a farrago of words.

The whole of this (universe) is established in this Yoga-philosophy. They that are
acquainted with it are not subjected to death. O King! One cannot, by work, however
well-accomplished, attain to Truth (the Brahman). The man that is destitute of
Knowledge, even if he pours homa libations or performs sacrifices, can never, by work,
attain to immortality (emancipation). Nor does he enjoy great happiness at the end. (For,
he has got to undergo migration from one life to another as the result of the action).

Restraining all the external senses, and alone, one should seek the Brahman.
Giving up work, one should not exert mentally. One should also (while thus engaged)
avoid experiencing joy at praise, or anger at blame.

O Kshatriya! By conducting oneself in this way, according to the successive steps

indicated in the Vedas, one may, even here, attain to the Brahman. This, O learned one,
is all that I tell you.

(This discourse is, for the most part, a repetition of what has earlier been said.
But Shankara makes a general statement of the object of this discourse, and what follows
next, thus:The course of study of the science of the Brahman, in which knowledge is be

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principal thing, and concentration of mind, etc are subsidiary, has been described. Now
is described the course of study in which concentration of mind is principal, and
knowledge subsidiary. The first mode consists in understanding the meaning of the word
‘You’ by means of concentration of mind, and then identifying it with the Brahman by
means of a study of the Upanisads; the second, in first intellectually understanding the
identity of the individual self and the Brahman, by such study of the Upanisads, and then
realizing the identity to consciousness by contemplation, etc. In both modes, the fruit is
the same and the means are the same; and to show this, the merits and defects, already
stated, are here again re-iterated.)

Sanat-Sujata continued:

The primary (pure) Seed (of the universe), called Mahayasas, is destitute of
accidents, is pure (free from ignorance and other traits) Knowledge, and blazes with
effulgence. It leads the senses, and it is in consequence of that Seed that Surya (the sun)
shines.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). It is
in consequence of that Seed (which is Joy’s self) that the Brahman becomes capable of
creation and it is through it that the Brahman increases in expansion. It is that Seed
which entering into luminous bodies gives light and heat. Without deriving its light and
heat from any other thing, it is self-luminous, and is an object of terror to all luminous
bodies.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
body composed of the five gross elements, that are themselves sprung from the five
subtler ones is upheld (realized) in consciousness by both the individual creature (endued
with life) and the Soul (Iswara). (These two, during sleep and the universal dissolution,
are deprived of consciousness). The Brahman, on the other hand, never bereft of
consciousness, upholds both these two, and also the earth and the heaven.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
perfect is raised out of the Perfect. It (being raised) out of the Perfect is called the
Perfect. The perfect is withdrawn from the Perfect, and the Perfect alone remains.

What is meant is that the individual self is part of the Supreme Self. What is
considered Perfect is what is not limited by space, time, etc. As being part of the Perfect
in its Essence, the individual soul is also perfect. When the individual self is withdrawn
from the whole aggregate of the body, senses, etc presided over by the self, it still appears
to be the pure Self only.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
Seed upholds the two gods, the earth and the heaven, the directions and the whole
universe. It is from that Seed those directions (points of the compass) and waters spring.
Even the vast seas have derived their origin from it.

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 The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
body is like a car destined to destruction. Its acts, however, are undying. (The body is
perishable, but action done by the self while in the body leaves its effect, in the form of
samskaras.) Tied to the wheels of that car (which are represented by the acts of past
lives), the senses, as steeds, lead, through the region of consciousness.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
form of that One cannot be displayed by any comparison. None ever beholds Him by the
eye. They, who know Him by knowledge and by the faculties such as the mind and the
heart, become immortal (a direct consciousness in self of its unity or identity with the
Supreme Self).

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
stream of illusion is terrible. Guarded by the gods, it has twelve collections. (The twelve
collections relate to the five organs of action, the five senses of perception, the mind and
the understanding). Drinking of its waters and beholding many sweet things (fruits of
action) in its midst, men swim along to and fro. This stream flows from that Seed.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness).
Destined to sojourn to and fro, the creature-soul, having reflected, enjoys (in the other
world) only part of the fruits of its acts. It is Iswara pervading everything in the universe
that has ordained sacrifices.

(Shankara explains the concept thus: There may be a difficulty to understand if

action performed here is to have part of its fruit in the next world (life), as the fruit is far
removed in time from the action. The answer is, ‘the Lord, the Supreme Being, can
effect this; and taking His existence into account, there is no more difficulty. The Lord
has arranged things so that each being receives part of this food in the next world (life),
which is the fruit of its own action’. Then the question arises, ‘do these beings always
continue taking the honey (fruits of action) and migrating (from life to life), or are they
ever released? The answer is, ‘those, verily, who have knowledge are possessed of
wings, those who are not possessed of knowledge are devoid of wings’.) (Those
possessed of knowledge get released from the cycle of life and death.)

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness).
Souls divested of knowledge, coming to the Aswatha of golden leaves (for beneficial and
pleasant experiences, and possessions such as wife, son, etc, attractive at first sight), there
become possessed of wings (possessed of the knowledge of the Brahman), and fly away
happily (obtaining final emancipation). (The ‘selfs’ are compared to birds in the famous
passage in Mundaka-Upanisad.)

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). It is
from that Seed that both the consumer and the consumed (called Agni and Soma) have
sprung, and it is in it that the living organisms with the senses rest. Everything should be
regarded to have sprung from it. That Seed called in the Vedas TAT, we are unable to
describe.

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 The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
vital air called Apana is swallowed up by the air called Prana; Prana is swallowed up by
the Moon, the Moon by the Sun, and the Sun by the Supreme Soul.

(According to Shankara, the author here explains the Yoga by which the Supreme
Self is to be attained. The Moon means the mind, the Sun the understanding, as they are
the respective deities of those organs. One swallowing the other ultimately results in one
remaining in the condition of being identified with the Brahman.)

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
Supreme Soul, endued with four legs (states), called respectively Waking, Dream, Deep
Sleep and Turiya, like unto a swan, treading above the unfathomable ocean of worldly
affairs, does not put forth one leg that is hidden deep. Unto him that beholds that leg
(Turiya) as put forth for the purpose of guiding the other three, both death and
emancipation are the same (as the whole of the material world is dissolved, when the self
is dissevered from the delusion which is the cause of it).

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). Of
the measure of the thumb, being the Inner-self, ever Full, and different from the
organism, coming in contact with the Vital airs, the Will, the Intellect, and the ten Senses,
it moves to and fro. That Supreme Controller, worthy of reverential hymns, and the
prime cause of everything, is manifest as Knowledge in creature-souls. Fools alone do
not behold Him.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness).
Among individuals there are those that have obtained mastery of their minds, and those
that have not. Yet in all men the Supreme Soul may be seen equally. Indeed, It resides
equally in him that is emancipate, and in him that is not, with only this difference that
they that are emancipate obtain honey flowing in a thick jet (attain to the Supreme
Brahman).

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness).
When one makes life’s sojourn, having attained to the knowledge of the Self and Not-
Self, then it matters little whether one’s agni-hotra is performed or not. (Yet one obtains
the fruit of it). O Monarch! The Supreme Soul has another name that is Pure
Knowledge. They that have restrained their minds alone attain to Him.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). Even
such is He. Illustrious and full, all living creatures are merged into Him. He who knows
that embodiment of Fullness attains to his object (emancipation) even here.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). That
which flies away stretching forth thousands of wings, even if endued with the speed of
the mind, must yet come back to the Central Spirit within the living organism (in which
the most distant things reside).

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 The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). His
form cannot be an object of sight. They that are of pure hearts alone can behold Him.
When one seeks the good of all, succeeds in controlling one’s mind, and never suffers
one’s heart to be affected by grief, then one is said to have purified one’s heart. Those
that can abandon the world and all its cares alone become immortal.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). Like
serpents concealing themselves in holes, there are persons who, following the dictates of
their senses, or by their own conduct, conceal their vices from scrutiny’s gaze. They that
are so deluded take to worldly life, appreciating nothing but the sensuous objects.

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). He
that is emancipate thinks thus: This transitory organism can never make me liable to joy
and grief and the other attributes inhering to it; nor can there be, in my case, anything like
death and birth: and, further, when the Brahman, which has no opposing force to contend
against and which is alike in all times and all places, constitutes the resting–place of both
realities and unrealities, how can emancipation be mine? It is I alone that am the origin
and the end of all causes and effects (existing in the form of the Self).

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). The
Brahman knowing person, who is equal unto the Brahman Itself, is neither glorified by
good acts nor defiled by bad ones. It is only in ordinary men that acts, good or bad,
produce different results. The person that knows the Brahman should be regarded as
identical with Amrita or the state called Kaivalya which is incapable of being affected by
either virtue or vice. One should, therefore, disposing one’s mind in the way indicated,
attain to that essence of sweetness (the Brahman).

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness).
Slander grieves not the heart of the person that knows the Brahman, nor the thought, ‘I
have not studied (the Veda)’, or ’I have not performed my agni-hotra’. The knowledge of
the Brahman soon imparts to him that wisdom which is obtained only by the restraint of
the mind (and awakening of the soul).

The Eternal One endued with divinity is beheld by yogis (in consciousness). He
that beholds his own self in everything has no longer to grieve for, they only have to
grieve, who are employed in diverse other occupations of the world. As one’s purposes
(appeasing thirst, etc.) may be served in a well, as in a large reservoir of vast expanse, so
the various purposes of the Vedas may all be derivable by him that knows the Soul.
Dwelling in the heart, and of the measure of the thumb, that illustrious One—the
embodiment of Fullness—is not an object of sight. Unborn, He moves, awake day and
night. He that knows Him becomes both learned and full of joy. I am called the mother
and the father. I am again the son. Of all that was, and of all that we will be, I am the
Soul.

O Bharata! I am the old grandsire; I am the father; and I am the son. You are
staying in my soul, yet you are not mine, nor am I yours! The Soul is the cause of my

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birth and procreation. I am the warp and woof of the universe. That upon which I rest is
indestructible. Unborn I move, awake day and night. It is I knowing whom one becomes
both learned and full of joy. Subtler than the subtle, of excellent eyes capable of looking
into both the past and the future, the Brahman is awake in every creature. They that
know Him know that Universal Father dwells in the heart of every created thing!

(According to Shankara, the reference to the pronoun ‘I’ is to what Sanat-Sujata

states as his own experiences, like Vamadeva and others, to corroborate what he has
already said.)

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Sanatkumar-Gita

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 Table of Contents

Page No

Introduction 125

Sanatkumara’s Sermon to Prthu 129

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 Introduction
The Sanatkumara-Gita is contained in chapter 22 of Skandha IV of Srimad
Bhagavata which belongs to the class of Hindu religious literature known as the Puranas.
The word ‘Purana’ in Sanskrit means ‘a narrative of ancient times’.

The Puranic literature was initially a branch of Vedic learning and not a separate
and diversified religious literature, though in later days it came to be identified, in some
cases, with sectarian religious literature. While the Vedic revelation is considered fixed
and unalterable, the Puranic literature is sought to embody, explain and popularize the
philosophy of the Veda cast in a form and against a background that is its own. The
Puranic literature is stated to have come into being from the 6th century B.C. to the 12th
century A.D. embodying the devotional teachings of numerous cults and sages, and also
information on a variety of scientific, occult, social and historical themes.

The Puranas are distinguished as Maha-puranas and Upa-puranas, both being

eighteen in number. Srimad Bhagavata is considered one of the Maha-puranas. The
topics that form the subject matter of a Maha-purana are primary creation, secondary
creation, means of sustenance, protection including Incarnations, epoch of Manus,
genealogy of royal and priestly lines from Bhahma down, dynastic history of
distinguished emperors, dissolution, purpose of all creative activity and ultimate support
or the substratum. Of the ten subjects, the last one, the Supreme Being Who is the final
stay of all, and to Which man’s devotion is to be unconditional and total, forms the one
theme with which the Bhagavata is primarily concerned. All other subjects are
subordinated to it. The object is to bring man into an adequate conception of His
excellences and to generate in him unconditioned devotion to the Lord.

The Pauranikas say that their accounts are traditions based on the intuition,
inspiration and revelation that have come to wise and realized sages. The immortal works
of literature and art that have survived several centuries are always considered the works
of intuition, inspiration and revelation. On the other hand, rationalists contend that the
contents of the Puranas are either imaginary or absurd and do not have historical validity.

In this regard, it may be said that history, as such, has no spiritual value as events
are only at the moment and are not in the next. Events become history to the extent they
are remembered and become a tradition. Historical facts become spiritual reality to the
extent they stimulate a myth and become a psychic verity. For example, the historicity of
Christ as such gives no spiritual significance to Christianity, but its Christ Myth does.
The events of the historical life of Christ as such have had no significance to posterity.
But when it is accepted that he was the expression of the Second Person of the Trinity,
that he was immaculately conceived, that he was the Redeemer of men, that his suffering
on the Cross was in atonement for man’s sins, that he rose from the dead, and that all who
take refuge in him will be saved by his blood – then Christ transcends history and
becomes a Myth and a Psychic Verity of universal significance. The above cited
statements are not open to historical proof; but they have been accepted by the psychic
being of the community. As such they have a value far transcending the events of the so

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called history. The same is the case with the Incarnations in the Hindu tradition. Their
validity lies in the fusion their traditions have achieved with the supra-historical
foundations of life.

It is not always necessary that the stimulations resulting in a Myth should occur in
the dimensions of space and time. They can be purely ideal, too. An ideal manifestation
in the psychic life of man can be based on the Cosmic Mind from whom events of
significance can take place in the external world. It is sheer ignorance if it is considered
that what is external and tangible to the senses alone is real, and what is mental or ideal is
always illusory or imaginary. A sensual impact is of a much inferior order to an ideal
impact of an enduring and powerful nature. So Myths that become spiritual verities need
not necessarily have any historical content. They may or may not have such content.
Even if they have, of what use are they that have led to these stimulations, as they are
dead and gone? Only ideas as powerful psychic verities remain. In fact, even a historical
personality, as a series of events, must cease to be as such, and take shape as a Myth
before he becomes a spiritual verity. Also, ideal stimulations of the Cosmic Mind without
any reference to history can become psychic verities of even greater potency. Such are
the deities worshipped by the Hindus like Vishnu, Siva, Sakti, etc. They never had
location in earthly space and time except as images used in worship. They are the
manifestations of the Supreme Being as Spiritual Verities before which what we call
material objects are mere shadows.

The Puranas are not at all to be read as history and geography, nor are they to be
regarded as fiction. They belong to an order different from both history and fiction. They
are the up-throw of a people’s mind struggling to express their quest for a meaning for
life and their findings in this respect. They represent the more enduring and enriched
reactions of the psyche of a race to the fleeting events of space and time. It is in their
cumulative spiritual effect and not in the validity of their individual statements that we
should seek the values they embody. They attempt to integrate philosophy, history and
traditions in a way to stimulating in man a keen sense of an omniscient, omnipotent and
all-loving spiritual Reality that can be communed with, prayed to and visualized in
various forms of spiritual glory. God in various forms and divine personages has become
concrete to the Hindu psyche. In so far as they are facts of memory in the minds of men,
they fulfill the role of history. In so far as the stimulations they generate are of spiritual
dimensions, they are linked with Eternal Verities that transcend history.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanisad states that the Brahman has two aspects – murta
(with form) and amurta (formless). The Purunas accept both the aspects, but concentrated
particularly on the murta aspect as it is more significant for a devotee. The amurta aspect
is the non-dual Absolute and the murta aspect is the Sakti or the manifesting power of the
amurta aspect in the absence of which the amurta aspect is indistinguishable from sunya.
In the same way, if the murta aspect alone is accepted without the amurta aspect with the
Infinite and the Absolute Being as its complement, the murta aspect will only become a
limited aspect indistinguishable from an exalted man. So the Puranas in general and
Bhagavata in particular accept the Supreme Being as both Murta and Amurta with a
greater stress on the murta aspect and call Him the Bhagawan. The Bhagawan here is

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Param-purusa, the Supreme Person, but not an individual. He has an Archetytal Form
which is a potential multi-form that can take any form in which He is invoked. An
anthropomorphic garb is put on Him, as man could think of Him only in terms of the
highest that he could conceive of and that He is, in himself, in an idealized state of
existence. So the Puranas depict the divine majesty of the Bhagawan through symbolic
and supra-human descriptions that account for many unearthly and unusual features.
When the details of these descriptions are analyzed in isolation, they look queer. But
when taken together as a whole, with a receptivity born of devotion, they make a
tremendous impact of divine consciousness on the mind of man. No literature in the
world has succeeded in making God a reality to man by such vivid and realistic
descriptions as the Puranas have done.

The questions of three-dimensional factuality, dates and location stated in the

Puranas are irrelevant matters. The true question is whether the thought-forms they
generate have sufficiently soaked into the psychic substratum of the worshippers and
remain potent enough to stimulate their whole being.

Srimad Bhagavata is also known as Vishnu Bhagavata. Its excellences are of such
a transcending nature that it has practically eliminated all the other Puranas from the
minds of men. It is the one book that is widely studied by all devotees and commented
upon by scholars of all schools of thought. Though it is a vaishnava-related Purana, and
therefore sectarian in a way, its sectarianism is not one of narrowness and exclusion, but
only its way of eliciting the undivided attention and devotion of men to the Deity in
focus. In the sublimity, fervour and comprehensiveness of the pattern of devotion it
inculcates, in the dignity, elevation and terseness of its Sanskrit diction, in the lyrical
beauty and wealth of its imagery, Srimad Bhagavata is unparalleled among the Puranas.

The purpose of the Bhagavata Purana is to produce a whole-hearted acceptance of

the Vishnu concept and evoke devotional responses of the highest order from the mind of
man. The synthesizing principle for the Bhagavata is bhakti or devotion of the highest
order considered the fifth value of life. Bhakti is not merely the purifying agency, a
means for a higher end; but it is the highest end itself, transcending liberation.

According to Prof. Hazra, the present text of the Bhagavata must have taken
shape in the early half of the 6th century A.D.

The Sanatkumara-Gita is in the nature of rendering the sermon by Sanatkumara to

Prthu, by Maitreya. The Gita depicts the majesty and oneness of the Supreme Soul and
the manner of realizing IT.

The Gitas that find place in Bhagavata such as the Uddhava-Gita, the Rudra-Gita,
the Bhikshu-Gita, the Sruti-Gita, the Hamsa-Gita, and the Sanatkumara-Gita propound
Monism as the essence of their philosophy.

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 Sanatkumara’s Sermon to Prthu

Maitreya said:

While people were thus extolling Prthu of mighty prowess, there

approached four sages, brilliant like the sun.

Attended upon by his servants, the King saw those lords of sages
descending from the heavens. They were recognized to be Sanaka and others, by
their lustre which absolved the worlds of sins.

Just as the lord of sense-organs (Jiva) rushes forth to the objects of senses,
Prthu, the son of Vena, along with the courtiers and attendants, immediately stood
up (and went forth to the sages), as if to recover his vital breaths which sprang
forth at their sight.

(It is believed in the Hindu tradition that when an elderly person arrives,
the vital breaths of the young immediately go forth to receive the elderly person.
The Young ones re-gain their vital breaths by standing immediately on seeing the
elderly by way of showing respect, and by bowing down before the elderly
person.)

When the sages accepted preliminary reception (arghya) and occupied the
seats (offered to them), the courteous King, who was hypnotized with their august
presence, bowed down his head out of modesty, and worshipped them with due
formalities.

(Arghya consists of respectfully offering water and other articles to gods

or venerable persons.)

(To purify himself) the King sprinkled the hair on his head with (the
sanctifying drops of) water with which he washed their feet. He, thereby,
observed the course of conduct of the virtuous, to show respect to them.

The King was endowed with deep faith and self-discipline, and was full of
joy. He addressed those elder brothers of Lord Siva, who occupied seats of gold,
and were looking like sacrificial fires in their respective altars.

Prthu said:

Oh! What meritorious deeds I must have performed that I have the
privilege of seeing you, the abodes of auspiciousness, who are very difficult to be
perceived even by masters of yoga!

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 What is very difficult to attain here and hereafter to a person unto whom
Brahmanas (like you), and gods Siva and Visnu along with their attendants are
gracious!

Just as Mahat and other principles (or Brahma, Manu and other makers of
the world), which are the causes of the universe, do not visualize the Omniscient
Atman (Soul), people do not at all see you even though you roam over the world
(to help them to attain their purusharthas).

Verily, blessed are those saintly householders who, though poor, have in
their homes materials for worship such as water, mat of (darbha) grass,
accommodation (cleaned floor), the master of the household and his dependants
ready (for receiving) the worthies.

(Unwelcome) like the trees which are haunted by poisonous serpents are
the homes which, though fully furnished with all kinds of riches, are not hallowed
by the holy water used for washing the feet of Visnu’s devotees.

Welcome is your arrival, Oh preeminent brahmanas, who, determined to

secure liberation, have been faithfully and with resolute mind, observing great
vows (like lifelong celibacy) since your very childhood. (It may also mean,
‘brahmanas whose course of observance of vows is followed by other ignorant
persons desirous of Liberation’).

O spiritual Masters! Is there any hope of good for us who regard the
(achievement of) objects of senses as the goal of life and who, by our own deeds,
have fallen into the samsara, the bed of miseries?

The etiquette of enquiring after welfare of the guests is not applicable (or
desirable) in the case of such great men like you who are absorbed in the bliss of
the Atman (Soul), and who are above the thoughts of welfare or otherwise.

You are the friends and well-wishers of the distressed. With full faith in
you, I, therefore, wish to enquire of you how one can speedily achieve Moksha
(Liberation) in this samsara.

It is obviously certain that the eternal Lord Narayana, who shines as the
soul of the self-knowing sages and who manifests Himself (in the heart of the
devotees), goes about the world, in the form of Siddhas (like you), for showering
His grace upon His votaries.

Maitreya said:

Having heard Prthu’s beautifully worded, logical, deeply significant, brief,

melodious speech, Sanatkumara slightly smiled, and verily replied with pleasure.

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Sanatkumara said:

With the welfare of all beings at your heart, a good enquiry has been made
by Your Majesty, even though you know its answer. O great King! For, such is
the nature of the righteous.

The meeting of the righteous is highly approved by both (the speakers and
the members of the audience); for, their dialogues and enquiries increase the
happiness of all.

O King! Your honour has definitely a constant and abiding love for
eulogizing the excellent attributes of the lotus-like feet of Lord Visnu (the enemy
of demon Madhu). Such constancy of love is difficult to be found in others. Such
love (if generated) completely shakes off the sticky dirt of inner passions and
desires in the heart (which is otherwise difficult to remove).

In the Sastras, which have made a thorough enquiry (about the good of
beings), it has been positively stated that perfect non-attachment to things other
than the soul (one’s own body), firm and constant love of the attribute-less
Brahman and the Self constitute the means to the final beatitude of men.

By attachment to the attribute-less Brahman and non-attachment to the

entire non-self material world (un-atman), intense faith in the Brahman being the
cause and the effect, performance of righteous duties towards the Lord, the desire
to know (the Truth), firm faith in the spiritual path of yoga, mediation about the
Lord of yoga, and constant listening to the holy stories of the Lord of hallowed
renown; by cessation of desire to associate with the tamasic people who take
pleasure in wealth and with the rajasic people who revel in the enjoyment of
sensual pleasure, and by non-attachment to the filthy lucre and to sense-
gratification which are highly valued by them; through love of seclusion for
enjoying the blissfulness of the self (atman) except on occasions when the drink
of the nectar of Hari’s excellent glories is available; by practising non-violence,
by following the course of conduct prescribed for the highest ascetic order called
the paramahamsas, by drinking the highest form of nectar in the form of Lord
Hari’s stories, by eschewing desires and by observing rules of self-discipline
called yama (abstention) and niyama (observance), by refraining from slandering
(and condemning other paths of God-realization prescribed in scriptures), by
desire-less-ness, and by endurance of opposite states (such as heat and cold,
pleasure and pain); and by devotion to Hari that blossoms for constantly
glorifying Lord Hari’s excellences which form the ornaments to the ears of His
devotees through faith and deep devotion (one attains to liberation).

Performance of righteous duties is two-fold. One is performance of the

five maha-yajnas and other round of religious duties for propitiating the Lord.
The other is performance of religious duties according to one’s own varna and
asrama (varna-asrama dharma). These duties relate to the initiated and the un-

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initiated. In respect of the initiated ones, they are to have faith in meditation as
part of adoration of the Lord, as stated in the scriptures.

As for yama (abstention), according to Patanjali, it is abstention from

injuries, falsehood, theft, incontinence and acceptance of gifts. As for niyama
(observance), it is cleanliness, contentment, renunciation, study of scriptures and
devotion to the Lord.

When his attachment and delight in the Brahman becomes firmly

established, a man seeks a spiritual preceptor. Just as fire ignited from arani (a
piece of wood of the sami tree used for kindling fire by friction) consumes its own
source (the piece of wood from which it arose), the man, by force of his
knowledge and non-attachment, burns down his subtle body consisting of five
subtle elements and enveloping his soul, in such a way as to render it un-
revivable.

What is sought to be stated is that firm faith in the Brahman leads to the
grace of the spiritual preceptor, and not the other way. With the force of
knowledge, renunciation and the love for or delight in the Brahman, a man burns
his karma, resulting from merit and demerit, which is the cause of his present
incarnation in body and the resulting samsara.

The five subtle elements referred to have two different connotations. The
first consists of the five klesas, namely, avidya (nescience), ahamkara (ego), raga
(attachment), dvesa (hatred) and abhinivesa (instinctive clinging to the worldly
life and the bodily enjoyment). The other consists of the five sheaths which, lying
one within the other, make the body enshrine the soul. They are annamaya,
manomaya, pranamaya, vijnanamaya and anandamaya kosas (sheaths).

When the screen or sheath (of the subtle body enveloping the soul) which,
till then intervened between the Supreme-Soul (Paramatman) and the soul, is
destroyed, the person becomes freed from all the attributes pertaining to the subtle
body which has been burnt down. (Thenceforth) he does not perceive (his
subjective states of pleasure, pain, etc) which are within him, nor objects (a pot, a
piece of cloth, etc) which are external to him, just as a man awakened from a
dream does not see the objects he perceived in his dream.

When the knowledge of the relation between the Supreme Soul and the
individual soul (the Jiva) disappears, the Jiva does not perceive any difference
within and without. While being in the samsara, there is a screen between the
Supreme Soul and the individual soul in the sense that there is a semblance of
identity of the individual soul, as in a dream. But when the subtle body is lost,
there is no more identity of the Jiva or the individual soul. Who is there then to
bother about liberation?

(The attributes referred to in the verse relate to love, hate, etc.)

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 (It is in the states of wakefulness and dream) this upadhi (conditioning) of
mind continues; man can perceive himself (the seer), the objects of senses and
what is beyond them both (ahamkara which establishes relation between them,
the seer and the seen), and not otherwise (as in sleep).

(For example), if, anywhere, (reflecting) condition, upadhi like water,

mirror or such other condition, is present, a man can see the difference between
himself (the object of reflection) and the other thing (his own reflection), and not
in the absence of the reflecting medium.

The limiting condition is like an inert body causing interruption between

the Jiva and the Supreme Soul whereby the individual soul (the Jiva) experiences
separateness from his true Self, the Supreme Soul. But a sage liberated sees no
such distinction between the two. This limiting condition (upadhi) is destroyed
for the sage by knowledge. When real knowledge dawns, the sage realizes the
Brahman in his soul.

The mind of those who brood over objects of worldly enjoyment is

distracted by their senses which are attracted to objects of worldly pleasure.
Thereby the intellect loses its power of thinking and discrimination, just as water
from a pool is (imperceptibly) sucked by the roots of a clump of grass.

As a consequence of the loss of the reasoning capacity, memory is lost.

The loss of memory results in loss of knowledge and wisdom. The wise call this
loss of wisdom as the covering of the Self through one’s own self.

In this world, there is no greater loss of one’s self-interest than one’s loss
of one’s own self, for, because of loss of one’s own self, every other thing in the
world becomes dear.

Constantly brooding over wealth and objects of senses leads to the loss of
all purusharthas (goals to be achieved in life). Having thus lost knowledge of the
Brahman and worldly knowledge, one enters (is born in) immobile yonis without
end.

A person who desires to cross the dense darkness (of samsara) should not
entertain attachment to anything whatever. For, that attachment is extremely
harmful to dharma, artha, kama and moksha (the four purusharthas).

Even among these objectives of life, moksha (liberation) is acknowledged

as the highest goal of life (as it transcends death). For, the remaining goals of life
are always subject to the fear of death.

For the Jiva of the higher order (like Brahma) and lower order like us who
are created after the equilibrium of the three gunas of Prakrti was disturbed
(resulting in creation), there is no security and happiness, as all their aspirations
and hopes (of attaining their objectives) are ruined by the all-powerful Time.

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 Therefore, O King, (you) realize that you are (the same as) the Lord (the
only existing Reality) – the Lord who manifests Himself and directly shines
everywhere in the Self as antaryamin (the inner controller) in the hearts of all
mobile and immobile Jiva who are covered (invested) with body, sense-organs,
vital airs, intellect and ego (ahamkara).

I take shelter with the Supreme Soul, eternally free, extremely pure, highly
enlightened, Reality Itself that has overpowered the Prakrti (primordial nature)
contaminated by karma (of various Jiva), and in Which appears this universe of
superior and inferior things (or of cause and effect) as maya, which disappears
owing to (the dawn of) discriminating wisdom like (the dispelling of) the
misapprehension of a garland of flowers as a (coiled) serpent.

You (therefore) take resort to Lord Vasudeva as your asylum through

devotion (and concentration) on the splendour of petal-like toes of His lotus-feet.
By such meditation, the saintly devotees easily cut the knot of their egotism
(ahamkara) formed in their hearts by karma that even recluses and ascetics who
have cleared their mind (of all worldly thoughts) and have controlled their senses
are unable to do so.

(The Sanskrit word used for asylum is a-ranam meaning ‘beyond fight’.
It, therefore, means that if one does not resort to Vasudeva, one will have to battle
with one’s sense-organs which, by their brute force, will defeat one.)

(The Sanskrit word used for splendour is vilasa meaning ‘beauty which
increases every moment’. It means that the devotee meditating on Vasudeva
experiences ever increasingly the grandeur of Vasudeva leading to liberation.)

There is a great trouble here to those who have not resorted to the Lord as
a boat for crossing the ocean of samsara which is infested with crocodiles in the
form of the six-fold. For they desire to cross it (samsara) by painful means
(practice of yoga). You should, therefore, make the adorable feet of Lord Hari as
a boat, and reach the other end of this impassable ocean of samsara easily, and
without any difficulty.

(The ‘six-fold’ relates to the six passions, namely, kama (desire), krodha
(anger), lobha (avarice), mada (conceit), moha (delusion) and matsara (jealousy),
or the mind and the five senses.)

Maitreya said:

The King, to whom the real nature of the Atman (Soul) was thus
expounded by Sanatkumara, the son of god Brahma, the knower of the Brahman,
praised him appropriately and enquired.

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The King said:

O venerable Brahmana! Lord Hari is compassionate to the afflicted. He

had formerly conferred His grace upon me. You all have now come to
consummate it.

Your venerable-selves, merciful as you are, have translated into reality the
blessing in its entirety. Everything that I possess, including my own self, belongs
to the saintly souls who have graciously returned it to me as a favour. What can I
give to you?

My life, wife, sons, houses with all their furnishings, kingdom, army, soil
and treasury, everything, are offered to you although they already belong to you.

And a person who is well-versed in the Veda and Sastras really deserves
to command an army, (to rule over) a kingdom, to direct military operations and
to govern the entire world.

A brahmana eats his own food, wears the clothes belonging to him and
offers his own belongings. It is through his (brahmana’s) grace that kshatriyas
and others enjoy their food.

You are past-masters in the Vedic lore. In your discourse about the Atman
(and other spiritual matters), you have succinctly and definitely explained to us
the nature of the Lord. Abounding in mercy as you are, may you forever be
pleased with your action of redeeming the afflicted? Who can return your
obligations except by folding his palms in reverence? (One becomes an object of
ridicule if one attempts to repay your kindness).

Maitreya said:

Those masters of atma-yoga (the yogic path of self-realization) were

worshipped by the first monarch Prthu. They appreciated his righteous character,
and rose to the heavens while people were looking on (agape).

Prthu (the son of Vena), the foremost among great souls, became firmly
established in his soul, owing to concentration achieved by their instruction in the
spiritual lore. He felt as if he had achieved all his desires in life.

It was as an offering to the Brahman that he performed all his actions at

the proper time, at the proper place, to the best of his ability, according to proper
formalities, and according to his means and property.

Thus, with concentrated mind, he consigned the fruit (of his deeds) to the
Brahman. He remained unattached by regarding his self as distinct and beyond
Prakrti, a mere witness to all actions.

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 Just as the sun (remains unattached to, and unsoiled by, the objects on
which it shines), the King, though leading the life of a householder and endowed
with imperial majesty and splendour, remained free from egotism (ahamkara),
and hence unattached to the objects of the senses.

While he was, in this way, doing his prescribed duties properly and in
time, with his heart fixed on his atman (self), he begot through his queen Arcis
five sons who were resembling and agreeable to him. They were Vijitasva,
Dhumrakesa, Haryaksa, Dravina and Vrka. But Prthu was a part of Lord Visnu.
For the protection of the created world, Prthu combined in him (and manifested)
powers of all lokapalas (protectors of worlds like Indra, Varuna), from time to
time, as was necessary (according to the exigencies of the situations). He bore
significantly the title Raja by delighting his subjects with his thoughts, words and
deeds, and pleasing Soma-like (saumya) qualities as if he was another king Soma
(the moon or the soma – juice which has raja as its epithet). Like the sun
(evaporating water from the earth and collecting it in clouds), he levied taxes from
his subjects only to give them back (for their welfare) and governed them (as the
sun gives light and heat).

By his majestic splendour, he was unassailable like Agni (Fire-god); he

was unconquerable like the great Indra; in forbearance, he was like the earth; and
he was like the heaven (svarga) in granting desired objects to his subjects.

Like the rain-god, he showered to the satisfaction (of his subjects) all that
they desired; like the (unfathomable) sea, he was too deep to be understood; and
in his firmness, he was like Meru, the king of mountains.

He was comparable to Yama-dharma, in dispensing punishment; in

marvelous-ness (in scenery, ores, etc), he was like the Himalayas. He had rich
treasure like Kubera (the god of wealth). He possessed immense un-divulged
treasures like Varuna.

In physical strength, force and energy and in his ability to move anywhere
he was like Vayu. In his irresistibility, he was comparable to god Siva.

He was a compeer of the god of Love in beauty; in spiritedness, he was

like a lion; in paternal affection, he was like Manu; while, in his lordship over
man, he was like god Brahma.

He was Brihaspati in his knowledge of the Veda, while in self-control he

was like Lord Hari Himself. He was comparable to himself in his devotion to
cows, brahmanas, preceptor, votaries of Hari, and in qualities like modesty,
humility, good nature and work for the benefit of others.

As his glory was loudly sung by people everywhere in the three worlds, he
reached the ears of women just as Rama entered the ears of the saintly people.

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Introduction 141

1. Bharata Imparts Spiritual Knowledge to Rahugana 143

2. Dialogue between Bharata and Rahugana 146

3. The Samsara 149

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 Introduction
The Bharata-Gita is contained in chapters 11 to 14 of Skandha V of Srimad
Bhagavata which belongs to the class of Hindu religious literature known as the Puranas.
The word ‘Purana’ in Sanskrit means ‘a narrative of ancient times’. A detailed
exposition of the Bhagavata Purana is made in the introduction to the Sanat-Sujata - Gita.

The Bharata-Gita is in the nature of imparting spiritual knowledge to Rahugana

by Bharata, and its exposition by Sri Suka of the philosophy of Bharata as to the manner
of overcoming the samsara for realization of the Supreme Soul.

The Gitas that find place in Bhagavata such as the Uddhava-Gita, the Rudra-Gita,
the Bhikshu-Gita, the Sruti-Gita, the Hamsa-Gita, the Sanatkumara-Gita, the Bharata-
Gita propound Monism as the essence of their philosophy.

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1. Bharata Imparts Spiritual Knowledge to Rahugana

The Brahmana said:

You are (really) ignorant. You (simply) give verbal expression to the
arguments (which are apparently similar to those) of the learned. You will not,
therefore, be (considered as) pre-eminent (in any way) among those who are
supremely wise; for, the sages never speak of mundane relation (the master-
servant relation) along with their investigation into (the nature of) Reality. You
regard the master-servant relation as real, but the sages do not recognize it as
such.

(Similarly,) the ritualistic way, karma-kanda, described in the Veda is also

not true. In the highly glittering flowery descriptions in the Vedic texts relating to
the detailed study of the minute rituals connected with the householder’s life, no
light is definitely thrown on the exposition of the Truth which is pure (that is, free
from the contamination of injury (himsa), etc) and good (devoid of passions like
love, hate) as a rule. (Persons who dedicate all their karma to God are eligible for
such exposition of Truth).

Not even the most authoritative Vedic (Upanisadic) texts can directly
impart the comprehension of the Truth to a person who, on the analogy of (the
unreal, evanescent and hence worthless pleasures enjoyed in) a dream, does not
conclude that the (dreamlike) pleasures in the householder’s life (and those in
heaven accruing from sacrifices) are by themselves worth casting off.

As long as the mind of a man is under the dominating influence of sattva,

rajas or tamas, it goes on producing unchecked merit or sin through his sense-
organs of perception and action.

The mind is a store-house of impressions unconsciously left by the good

or bad actions in the past life; it is attached to objects of pleasures; it is tossed
about by gunas; it is affected by passions; and it is the chief among sixteen
constituents (elements, sense-organs, etc) of the linga sarira (the subtle body). It
assumes different forms (man, beast, etc) under different names, and extends to
(causes) higher or lower forms of life in various kinds of physical bodies.

The mind, the limiting condition created (and imposed upon the soul) by
Maya, entices it (the Jiva) in the cycle of samsara. By embracing the soul
associated with it, it subjects the Jiva to pleasure, pain and other inevitable fruits
of karma (such as delusion) at the proper time (of fruition).

So long as the mind exists, this phenomenon of waking and dream states
manifests itself within the range of perception of the kshetrajna. It is hence that
they (the wise ones) say that the mind is the cause of the lower state – samsara

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(the product of gunas) and of the higher state – moksha (liberation), which is
beyond the range of all gunas.

If the mind is attached to the objects of senses (which are the products of
gunas), it leads the creature to misery (samsara). If it is free from and unattached
to them, it takes the Jiva to eternal happiness (moksha – liberation). Just as a
lamp, which emanates flames mixed with soot while it consumes its wick soaked
in ghee, later (after the consumption of ghee) betakes itself to its original state, the
mind, which is attached to the objects of senses and (consequent) activities,
resorts to various courses, and eventually returns to its true original self, when
unattached (to them).

The courses (of the activities) of the mind are eleven – five in relation to
the organs of action, five with reference to the senses of perception and its own
sense of I-ness. The wise say that the cognitive organs, the subtle elements and
the body are (respectively) the eleven grounds (receptacles) for these (courses), O
Warrior!

Smell, form, touch, taste and sound are the five objects of cognitive
organs. Evacuation (of bowels), copulation, locomotion, verbal expression and
manipulation are the functions of the motor organs. The eleventh is the body
associated with the I-ness

These eleven modifications (tendencies) of the mind multiply into

hundreds, thousands and millions with reference to objects, the nature of things,
the effect of previous experience, the un-manifested effect of karma (acts), the
agitating factor Time, etc. They owe their existence to the Kshetrajna (the
Supreme Soul) and not to each other or to their own self.

The Kshetrajna is beyond the changes. These vrttis do not proceed from
the Jiva, too. Nor do they spring from their mutual action and reaction, nor from
themselves. Hence all these are mithya –unreal though they are existent as
fleeting in time.

The Supreme Soul, pure and unaffected, stands as a witness to the

continuous stream of states of the mind which are sometimes manifest (in the
waking and dream states) and sometimes un-manifest (as in deep sleep). The
mind, a upadhi of the Jiva, is a creation of Maya, and of impure activity.

The Supreme Soul is all-pervading, the prime cause of the perfect (in all
respects), ever-present, self-luminous (not depending on anything for the proof of
its existence), devoid of birth (and death), the ruler of gods like Brahma,
Narayana (the abode of the world of beings), the venerable Lord (of six
excellences), Vasudeva (the receptacle of all beings) and Himself, the Inner-
dweller and Controller of all Jiva by His Maya.

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 Just as air, entering in the form of breath, controls both the mobile and the
immobile beings, so does the Supreme Lord Vasudeva, the all-pervading Soul,
enter this universe (as the Inner Controller).

O lord of men! A man continues to wander in the samsara so long as he

has not shaken off Maya by the dawn of knowledge, become free of attachments,
conquered the six enemies (passions like lust, anger, avarice, etc) and has not
realized his true self.

(He continues to wander) so long as he does not understand that the mind,
the conditioning environment of the soul, is the field of the miseries of samsara
(the cycle of birth and death), and the source of a continuous series of grieves,
delusions, diseases, passions such as avarice and hatred, and the creator of the
feeling of mine-ness.

Therefore, being very careful and armed with the missile in the form of the
feet of Lord Hari, who is the preceptor, kill this enemy (in the form of the mind)
of formidable power that has grown in strength through your negligence, and that,
though unreal in itself, is capable of deluding you about (the true nature of) your
soul.

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 2. Dialogue between Bharata and Rahugana

Rahugana said:

Salutations to you again and again! You, who are the prime cause of the
universe (God), who have assumed a human form (for the protection of the
world), and who, in the light of supremely blissful self-realization, have regarded
your body as insignificant! I bow to you, O master of yoga, who have concealed
your realization of the Eternal (Supreme Soul) in the guise of a depraved
brahmana.

The praise of the brahmana is apparently a eulogy of the antaryamin.

My vision (power of understanding) has been thoroughly poisoned

(perverted) by the bite of the serpent in the form of (my) false identification of the
self with this worthless body. Your words act like a nectarine medicine on me,
just as a palatable specific medicine (does) to a patient suffering from high fever,
or the ice-cold water (or the water of the Ganges) is soothing to a person scorched
by the heat of the summer.

I shall, therefore, refer my doubts to you later on. My mind is full of

curiosity. Now, be pleased to explain to me, in easily intelligible language,
couched in yogic terms, about the Soul.

O lord of yoga! My mind fails to grasp (in bewilderment, the significance

of) your statement that the (actual) act (of carrying a load) and its effect (the
resultant fatigue), though visible (directly), are limited to (and not contradicted in)
practical life (vyavahara), but they will not easily stand the test of philosophic
investigation.

The Brahmana replied:

That which has come to be known as ‘this person’ (the palanquin bearer)
is a modification of the earth which moves over the earth owing to some
(inexplicable) cause, O King! Above the feet of this (modification of the earth
called ‘this person’) are two ankles, two shanks, two knees, two thighs, the waist,
the chest, the neck and the two shoulders.

On the shoulder is the wooden palanquin wherein is seated, by

designation, ‘the king of Sauviras’, which is nothing but another modification of
the earth. You identify yourself with it (that modification of the earth). Being
blinded with arrogant pride, you feel that you are the king of the Sindhu country.

You are hard-hearted, as you have caught hold of these pitiable

(palanquin-bearers) who are already highly afflicted with hardships, and have

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forced them to labour without remuneration. Still you brag about as being ‘the
protector of the people’. Shamelessly insolent as you are, you will not look
respectable in the assemblies of the wise.

We know that all the mobile and the immobile creation is always born out
of and re-assimilated into the earth only. The difference in name is due to the
difference in its product or functions. Let it be investigated if there be any other
real cause or basis deducible from its effect and work (functions).

(The substance) that is denoted by the word ‘earth’ is unreal as (will be)
explained thus. The earth (in its ultimate analysis) disaggregates itself into atoms.
The atoms, the aggregate of which is the particular (element, the earth), are
hypothetical postulated by mind (of the theorists), through ignorance. (They do
not exist on their own independently.)

Similarly, know that, what is thin or fat, small or big, cause or effect,
sentient or in-sentient or that which has a second (all the duality) is brought about
by Maya in the name of substance (five elements), nature (the changeability of the
phenomenal world), samskaras (impressions unconsciously left on the subtle
body by past actions - vasanas), Time and destiny (karma).

Knowledge alone is pure (unsullied by passion or actions), absolutely real,

one (without any contradiction), devoid of any aspect of in-ness or out-ness,
perfect and full, direct (self-manifesting), unchangeable, and designated as
Bhagavan (the venerable possessor of six excellences such as lordship of the
universe). They (the sages) call it (Knowledge) by the term ‘Vasudeva’.

O Rahugana! This Knowledge (the Brahman) is not attained through

austere penance, Vedic sacrifices, charitable distribution of food, performance of
duties prescribed for a householder (such as honorary social service), the study of
the Veda or propitiation of (the presiding deities of) water and fire, and the sun.
(It is attainable only) by being sprinkled with the dust of the feet of the exalted
souls (while rendering service to the sages).

Here (in the congregation of these exalted persons) the discourses on the
excellent attributes of the Lord are always held. These prohibit all talk of vulgar
worldly topics. By listening daily to these (holy discourses), the pure mind of the
seeker of liberation is concentrated on Lord Vasudeva.

I was formerly a king called Bharata who, freeing himself from the
bondage of attachment to all things seen or heard (objects obtainable here and
hereafter), endeavoured for propitiation of the Lord, but was frustrated (in my
endeavour) through my attachment to a deer, and was, therefore, re-born as a
deer.

Owing to the efficacy of my devoted worship of Krisna, that memory (of

my previous birth) was not lost even in my birth as the deer, O Warrior! Hence,

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being unattached to and afraid of association with the society, I roam about
without disclosing my real physical identity.

Therefore, a man should, in this very world, completely cut off (the ties
of) delusion by the sword of knowledge obtained through the blessed company of
the great souls who are free from attachment. Having revived the memory
(consciousness of God) by recounting and hearing (meditating upon) the glories
of Hari, one reaches the end of this long road of samsara and attains to the Lord.

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 3. The Samsara

The Brahmana continued:

Like unto a company of merchants intent on acquisition of wealth, this

multitude of Jiva, desirous of and solely devoted to the attainment of pleasure, has
been put by Prakrti or Maya on the path (of pravrtti – active worldly life) which
is unending and very difficult to traverse. It (the multitude of Jiva) sets its eye
(attention) on the activities actuated and dominated by (the attributes of) sattva,
rajas and tamas. While wandering (in search of pleasure) in the forest of samsara
(worldly existence), it does not find any bliss.

In that forest, these six bandits (mind and the five sense-organs) perforce
rob the caravan, captained by an evil-minded leader, O King! Just as wolves
carry away the sheep, jackals (in the form of relatives), finding entry into their
camp, carry away careless members (devoid of spiritual outlook).

In the forest, impregnable with the dense growth of a mass of creepers,

grass, clumps of trees and bushes, the caravan was harassed by sharp stinging
gnats and mosquitoes. (In the householder’s life full of passions and actions, a
man is harassed by wicked people.) At some places they find the city of
Gandharvas in the sky. (The phenomenon is fictitious; so is one’s body). At other
places, they witness fleeting spirits in the form of fire brands.

O (King Rahugana!) With their intellect (mind) naturally anxious to find

some dwelling-place, water and wealth, the company of merchants ran here and
there in the jungle. And at some places, with eyes blinded with dust, they did not
distinguish the directions darkened with the dust whipped up by whirl-winds.

(Here the whirl-wind stands for a woman who raises erotic sentiments
which blind man to the existence of the deities presiding over the directions, who
stand witness to his actions).

With their ears acutely pained by the shrill cries of unseen crickets (back-
biting by evil-minded persons) and their minds agitated by the hooting of the owls
(harsh words, scolding directly addressed by enemies, persons in authority, etc),
they resorted to unholy trees (irreligious persons) when tormented with hunger.
At some places (when thirsty), they ran after the mirage (fruitless objects of
worldly pleasure).

The reference to ‘unholy trees’ is to the superstition that the shade of the
vibhitaka tree is inauspicious by day, that of the pippala tree by night and that of
the apple tree both by day and night. This is an allegory to approaching
irreligious persons for help.

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 At some places they went towards beds of dry rivers (only to get their
limbs bruised by falling, instead of getting water); being short of food, they
begged for it of one another. At some places, they approached the forest
conflagration only to get scorched; at other places, they found to their despair that
they were deprived of their life (-like wealth) by Yakshas.

The allegory is to the dry river-beds being the schools of non-believers

which lead to misery in the other world. The forest-fire is like the house-hold
where the Jiva is tormented with miseries. The Yakshas are like the servants of
the king (government) who squeeze out life-like wealth of men.

At some other places, they, deprived of their possessions by the local

village chiefs, expert in robbery became mentally despondent. Overcome with
grief and bewildered, they fainted. At some places, they entered an imaginary
city of Gandharvas (the company of loving near relatives) and felt overjoyed for a
while.

At some places, being desirous of scaling a mountain (attempting a great

undertaking) they proceeded with the soles of their feet pierced with thorns and
cut with gravel. And they sat down depressed in spirit. Tormented at every step
by the inner (gastric) fire (hunger) and with the (unbearable) responsibility of
maintaining) a large group, they got angry with themselves.

Sometimes, overcome by the boa-constrictor (sleep), they lay like the

dead, abandoned in a jungle and were not conscious of anything. Sometimes,
bitten by fierce venomous snakes, they became blind and fell into wells with their
openings hidden with overgrown grass and plants. They lay immersed in darkness
(misery and ignorance).

At times (when) they sought honey of low quality, they were harassed and
humiliated by bees. If they were successful in their attempt with great difficulty,
others robbed of them perforce. While they were engaged in fighting among
themselves, others carried off that booty.

The allegory is to one courting another man’s wife. In such attempt, one
is insulted and beaten up by the husband of that woman. Even if one is successful
temporarily, others seek to rob one of one’s booty.

And sometimes, (at some places), they sat down incapable of protecting
themselves against (warding off) cold, heat, storm and showers of rain; at some
other places, they sold (personal goods) among themselves, and became enemies
of each other by fraudulent money-dealings.

Now and then, destitute of wealth and devoid of beds, blankets, shelter
and conveyance, they begged of one another. Not getting the desired objects,
they cast a coveting glance at another man’s property and got insulted.

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 (Though) they developed hostile relations with each other by mutual
(fraudulent) monetary transactions, they entered into marital relations with each
other. Thus they proceeded along their path, famished, suffering great
difficulties, financial losses and other calamities (including feelings of hatred).

The caravan of merchants thus proceeded on its journey leaving behind

those that were dead at various places, and taking with them the new born babes.
Nobody has as yet returned to its starting place. Nor does anyone (howsoever
powerful) betake to yoga which lies at the terminus (of the road), O Warrior!

All those resolute and high minded warriors who have conquered the great
elephants guarding the eight directions and who, claiming the earth as their own,
have contracted hostility (with each other), shall lie dead on the battlefield. But
they do not attain to the place (the region of Visnu) where the recluse (the
sanyasin) who has been free from enmity, reaches.

At some places, it (the caravan, as it still continues to move without end,)

clings to the arms (tender shoots) of creepers (that is, the men rest on the tender
arms of women); it longs to listen to the indistinct chirping of birds which have
resorted to the caravan (listen to the sweet indistinct warbling of children clinging
to their mothers). And it feels strongly attached to them. Occasionally, at other
places, it is afraid of a multitude of lions and makes friends with cranes, herons
and vultures (being afraid of death, the people enter the fold of vile, cruel
heretics).

Being deceived by them, it (the caravan of merchants) tries to enter the

flock of swans (knowing the futility of the false faiths, people try to enter
brahmanic fold). But not liking their pious way of life (not finding the brahmanic
way of life to their liking), it approaches the monkeys (takes to the monkey-like
behaviour of depraved people). By the (amorous) sports natural to that species, it
(the caravan) gets its senses gratified (with sensual pleasures) and forgets the
(approaching) end of life, while looking at the faces of each other.

Amusing himself in the trees (worldly objects observed in life), he (a

member of the caravan) fondly loves his children and wife. Being powerless in
his own bondage, he becomes void of judgment owing to the lust for sexual
enjoyment. Some times falling into a valley due to inadvertence, he catches hold
of a creeper and remains in a hanging position, afraid of the elephant (below).
(Owing to the acts done in previous lives, he continues to live in fear of
impending death).

If, by a lucky chance, he, anyhow, overcomes this calamity, he again

enters the company of merchants (takes to the path of pravrtti or active worldly
life), O vanquisher of enemies! A person who is set on this path (pravrtti) by
Maya (the unborn) continues to wander in samsara. No such person has as yet
perceived the highest purushartha (Moksha or Liberation).

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 O Rahugana! Even you are also set on this track (by Maya). You lay
down your scepter (desist from violence to living beings) and make friends with
all beings. With your mind unattached to worldly pleasure and arming yourself
with the sword of knowledge sharpened by (dedicated) service to Hari, get to the
other end of this road (of samsara).

The King said:

Oh! The birth as a man is the most glorious of all births in species. Of
what use are other births, even in the heaven, where the association with high-
souled people like you, whose minds are purified by (singing and listening to) the
glories of Lord Hrshikesa (the Ruler of sense-organs – Visnu), is not available to
the full?

It is no wonder (at all) that pure devotion to Lord Hari is generated in the
hearts of those whose sins have been destroyed by the dust of your lotus-like feet
(when constantly served for a long time). For, my thoughtlessness and ignorance,
rooted as it were, in fallacious reasoning, have been completely removed by
association with you for a short time (a muhurta).

(As it is not known in what form the knower of the Brahman moves about
in the world, the King pays his respects to all). Salutations to the brahmanas
(knower of the Brahman), who are advanced in age, to those (who are) infants, to
the youthful ones, to all down to young boys! May (blundering) kings like me
receive blessings from the brahmanas who wander over the earth as avadhutas
(ascetics who have renounced all worldly attachment), giving no indication of
their greatness.

Sri Suka said:

O Parikshit (son of Uttara)! In this way, verily, (Bharata,) the son of a

brahmana sage, who was endowed with the highest glory, explained, out of very
great compassion, the real nature of the Self to (Rahugana,) the King of Sindhu,
even though the latter had insulted him. Rahugana respectfully bowed to the feet
of Bharata with great remorse. Bharata with his mind unperturbed by the senses
wandered over this earth.

Even the King of Sauvira (Rahugana), who realized the real nature of the
Supreme Self as taught by a saintly person (like Bharata), repudiated the false
notion of identifying the soul with the body, a notion superimposed on the mind
by nescience (avidya), O King! Such is, therefore, the greatness of those who
resort to the devotees of the glorious Lord.

The King Parikshit said:

O great devotee of the Lord! You who possess very wide and varied
knowledge have described the path of samsara of the individual souls in indirect
and allegorical language. It will not be easily comprehensible to people who are

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not of trained mind. Hence, the same (allegory) which is difficult to understand
be pointed out (explained) in an easily understandable way.

Sri Suka said:

Characterized and influenced by special attributes like sattva, auspicious,

inauspicious and mixed types of karma (actions) are being committed by the Jiva
(individual souls) who wrongly identify the body with the soul. The group of six
senses (five cognitive senses and the mind) acts as the portals or media of
experience of the beginning-less samsara, consisting of association with and
separation from the series of different bodies, created as a result of such karma.

Just as a caravan of merchants, intent on making money, loses its way to

find itself in wilderness, this company of Jiva (individual souls) has been set on
this difficult path (of samsara), hard to travel like a mountain pass, by Maya (the
deluding potency of the Lord) which functions under the Supreme Ruler Visnu. It
(the multitude of Jiva) finds itself in the wilderness of samsara, the most
inauspicious like a funeral ground. It (the multitude of Jiva) experiences the fruit
of their individual karma wrought by means of their bodies. Although all their
activities are obstructed by numerous difficulties and rendered fruitless, they do
not still betake themselves to the path of bees (votaries of the Lord) who resort to
the lotus-like feet of Lord Hari in the form of the preceptor – the feet which
remove all the afflictions and agonies of samsara. It is in the forest of samsara
that what are called the six senses (mind and the five cognitive senses) act as
veritable robbers in practice.

For, whatever little wealth, a person acquires through great hardship,

should be utilized for the sake of dharma. The wise say that this dharma,
characterized by the propitiation of the Supreme Person Himself, is conducive to
one’s beatitude in the other world.

But the wealth of a man of perverted intellect and uncontrolled senses,

which should have been used for the sake of this dharma (righteous conduct), is
wasted in householder’s life on vulgar pleasures of sight, touch, sound, taste and
smell (the five objects of sensual pleasures), even as the caravan of merchants
with an unworthy leader of uncontrolled mind is robbed of money.

And here (in the wilderness of samsara) the so-called members of the
family such as wife and children are nothing but wolves and jackals in action.
They carry the carefully-guarded wealth of the close-fisted householder, despite
his watchfulness and unwillingness (to part with his wealth), like a lamb well-
protected (in a pen).

For just as a field, the seeds (of weeds, grass, etc) in which are not burnt
down, again becomes densely over-grown with a thicket of shrubs, grass and
creepers, at the time of sowing, even though it is (regularly) ploughed annually, in
the same way, the householder’s life is a field of karma wherein the seeds of

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karma are never destroyed. This householder’s life is certainly like a box of
desires (in which seeds of karma are never completely annihilated, just as the
smell of camphor persists even after the exhaustion of camphor-tablets from the
camphor-box).

There (in the householder’s stage of life), his wealth, which is the very
external life-breath of man, is squeezed (sucked) by vile people comparable to
gnats and mosquitoes, and (food-grains) by locusts, birds, thieves, rats and others.
At times, wandering on this road (of samsara), his mind becomes eclipsed with
ignorance (avidya), lust or desires and actions. Hence, possessed of erroneous
views, he looks upon the human world, which is as unreal as the (optic illusion of)
the city of Gandharvas, to be factually real.

There (in the samsara), with a passionate desire for vicious habits of
drinking, eating, sexual intercourse and the like, he sometimes pursues mirage-
like (unreal) pleasures.

Sometimes, just as a man intensely longs for (the warmth of) fire, runs
after the fire-goblin, he, with his mind over-powered with the attribute of rajas
which is of the same colour as that of gold, ardently yearns to acquire gold which
is the abode of all evils, and is a kind of excreta of fire.

And again, with an earnest desire for dwelling-places, water, wealth and
other numerous amenities of life and means of livelihood, it (the multitude of the
Jiva) runs about here and there in the forest of samsara.

Sometimes (when) placed on her lap, by a bewitching young woman who

is like a whirlwind, his mind is instantly enveloped in ignorance, owing to the
force of rajas, and transgresses the boundaries of virtue. With his eyes filled with
the dust of lust, his mind is too much charged with passion to cognize (the
existence of) the presiding deities of the directions (who watch him).

Occasionally, he perceives spontaneously for a moment the unreality of

worldly objects. But as he identifies the soul with his body, he loses (his
consciousness) about the nature of the soul. With his memory (consciousness)
thus led astray, he intensely pursues those very sense-objects which are (illusory)
like mirage.

Sometimes, its (the company of the Jiva) ears and heart are intensely
troubled by the extremely harsh and fiercely vehement threats administered
directly, like hooting of the owls, by king’s officers, and indirectly (behind one’s
back) like the shrill cries of crickets by enemies.

When he has exhausted his fund of merit acquired in the previous life, he
is (in the process of) dying though physically alive. He runs after (for help, to)
those who are as good as dead though living, and whose wealth is not useful to
them either in this world (as they do not enjoy it themselves) or in the world
hereafter (as they do not use it for charity, and thereby earn merit), and who are
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comparable to poisonous trees and creepers like karaskara, kakatunda and to
wells full of poisonous water.

Sometimes, with his mind perverted owing to association with evil

persons, he takes to the path of heretics, which leads him to miseries here and
hereafter, like falling into the rocky bed of a waterless river.

When he cannot get food for himself even by harassing others, he

proceeds to devour even those blades of grass belonging to his father or sons, or
to ‘eat up’ his own father or sons.

Sometimes, he reaches home which is like a forest-conflagration – a home

devoid of enjoyable objects, full of a series of miseries. There, scorched with the
fire of deep anguish, he becomes extremely depressed in spirit.

To him, wealth is the dearest. It is veritable life itself. Sometimes he is

deprived of it by demon-like officers of the king who turn hostile (to him) through
change of time. When it happens, he swoons, or appears like a dead man devoid
of any symptom of life.

Sometimes, imagining, as real, the unreal appearance of his (deceased)

father, grandfather in fulfillment of his desire, he enjoys (a momentary) pleasure
as in a dream.

Sometimes, he desires to ascend (perform in a thorough manner) the

mountain of extensively detailed duties prescribed for the householder’s life. But,
with his mind distracted with worldly miseries, he sinks into despondency and
feels afflicted like one entering (and traversing) a tract full of thorns and sharp-
edged gravel.

Sometimes, his power and energy being sapped by the (gastric) fire (of
hunger raging) within his body, he gets angry with the members of his family.

Again, being seized (swallowed) by the boa-constrictor in the form of

sleep, and sunk in the blinding darkness (of ignorance), he remains asleep, as if in
desolate forest, and he is unconscious of anything else, like a dead body cast off
by the relatives.

Sometimes, his larger tooth in the form of his egotism is being broken by
venomous reptiles (wicked persons). He does not get sleep even for a moment.
His consciousness gets dimmer and dimmer as his heart is (deeply) agitated and
disturbed. And like a blind man, he falls in a dark, covered well (of ignorance
and misery).

Sometimes, (he is) on the look out for small drops of honey in the form of
sensual pleasure. While he is attempting to snatch away another man’s wife or
property, he is beaten to death by the (men of the) king or the husband (of the

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woman) or the master (of the property), and falls into the bottomless un-
surmountable hell.

Hence, sages say that karma of both forms (whether Vedic or non-Vedic)
performed in this (path of pravrtti) sows the seeds of future series of births (of the
doer).

If he (the Jiva) escapes the bondage (punishment meted out by the king,
the woman’s husband or the master of the property), one Devadatta wrests the
prize away from him, and from him Visnumitra (another) takes it away, and so on
endlessly. None retains permanently the objects of enjoyment.

And sometimes, incapable of warding off miserable conditions like biting

cold winds, and others caused by super-human agencies or by elements (or
created by beings), or pertaining to his body, he sinks despondently in unending
anxieties.

Sometimes, while transacting business with others, if he deceitfully takes

away a petty amount, say, twenty cowries or even less then that, he incurs the
enmity of others owing to deceitful dealing in money.

On this path (of pravrtti), there are these obstacles (financial losses,
difficulties, etc) and also other ones such as pleasure and pain, lust and hatred,
fear and pride, negligence and madness, delusion and greed, envy and jealousy,
insult, hunger and thirst, anxieties and diseases, repeated birth, old age, death and
others.

Sometimes, (when) embraced with the creeper-like (tender) arms of the

woman who is the Maya (deluding divine potency of the Lord) incarnate, he loses
his power of judgment and wisdom. He becomes anxious at heart to construct a
pleasure-house for her. His heart becomes transported by the (sweet) speech,
(affectionate) looks and (winsome) behaviour of his wife, sons, daughters, etc
who look to him for protection. Thus, being of uncontrolled mind, he goes to the
abysmal hell of blinding darkness.

Sometimes, he gets terrified in his heart at (the thought of) the discus (kala
– time, death) of the Supreme Ruler, Lord Visnu. (The discus is alternatively
designated as Time and consists of divisions beginning from the minutest point to
the period covering two parardha years (the life-span of god Brahma). With
inexorable velocity consisting of ages (childhood, youth, old age), this un-
winking (watchful) discus mows down all created beings from god Brahma down
to a clump of grass while they are (helplessly) looking on.) But disrespectfully
ignoring the Supreme Lord, the presiding deity of sacrifice whose weapon is this
eternal discus, Time, he, on the basis of un-authoritative canon of the heretics,
resorts to the deities of the heretics which are no better than kites, vultures, cranes
on the banyan trees (in extending protection against death) which are discarded in
the religion of the Aryans.

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 When he is devastatingly deceived by those heretics who are themselves
deluded, he (returns to and) stays within the Brahmanic fold.

He, however, does not like their pious way of life, and propitiation of the
glorious Lord of sacrifices with acts prescribed in the Veda and Smrtis after
performance of the thread investiture ceremony. As he is impure (and hence
ineligible) to perform duties enjoined by the Veda, he resorts to the sudra
community which, like the species of monkeys, indulges in copulation and
maintenance of the family.

Even in that community, he behaves as he likes, without any restraint.

The low-minded man forgets the limit of his (span of) life in vulgar gratification
of senses such as looking at the faces of each other (mutually by husband and
wife).

Sometimes, he enjoys himself in the householder’s life which, like trees,

yields pleasures pertaining to this world only. He is fond of children and wife,
and like a monkey, he delights in sexual enjoyment.

The allegory to a monkey is in the context of a monkey addicted to sexual

enjoyment becomes negligent of its own safety and is caught by the hunter while
indulging in that enjoyment on the trees. When once caught, it is unable to get
released.

Enjoying and suffering pleasures and pain on the path (of pravrtti), he
falls into the veritable dark vale of ailments and other calamities, and stays (there)
constantly in the fear of the elephant in the form of death.

Sometimes, when incapable of protecting him against innumerable

miseries such as heat and cold – miseries caused by supernatural agencies, the
elements or creatures or by his own body or mind – he sinks (sits) despondently
worrying over endless sense-objects.

Sometimes, entering into business transactions with others, he acquires

some wealth through fraudulent monetary dealings.

Sometimes, when his wealth is spent, he becomes destitute of (normal

necessities of life such as) a bed, a seat, food, etc. He then makes up his mind to
snatch away from others the objects which he covets, but has not succeeded to
acquire till then. As such, in due course, he becomes subject to insult and ridicule
by the public.

Although their mutual hostility is enhanced by their covetousness for

wealth, they enter into matrimonial relations or break them, according to the
tendencies resulting from actions of their previous lives.

On this path of samsara, if one is afflicted with innumerable sufferings

and obstacles and succumbs to calamities or death, one is definitely abandoned

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then and there. The others take with them the new-born children. They
sometimes weep, fall in a swoon, are afraid, quarrel, cry and are overjoyed, sing
and are bound down. They are avoided by saintly people and are thus denied
pious company. In this way, they continue to go ahead. This multitude of men
(the Jiva) has not yet returned to the starting point of this journey (God) which,
the sages say, is the terminus of the path (of samsara).

For, he who gets knowledge of and takes to the discipline of yoga does not
definitely return to the physical world or samsara. It is only the meditative
persons who have renounced all forms of violence (to all creatures) and are firmly
given to self-control (and consequent serenity), and who have detached their
minds (from worldly objects), that reach the Supreme (Self).

Even the royal sages, who have conquered the elephants guarding all
directions and perform sacrifices, do not attain to it. Asserting their claim to the
earth that it is their own and entering into hostilities for it (its possession), they lie
dead on the battlefield, leaving their bodies on the earth (claimed by them), and
depart. (These do not reach the other end of samsara).

Supporting themselves by catching hold of the creeper of karma and

getting out, with great difficulty, from the miserable hell, they are again present
on the way of samsara, and rejoin the caravan of men. Similar is the case of men
who have gone up to the heaven.(Thus do they sing of Bharata!)

Just as a fly cannot, even in its imagination, soar up along the path of
Garuda (high up in the sky), no other king in this world can even mentally follow
the path of the high-souled royal sage Bharata, the son of Rishabha.

Even while he was a youth, he longed to serve the Lord of hallowing

renown (supreme glory), and abandoned, like excreta, his wife and children,
friends and kingdom, so endearing to the heart, and (hence) so difficult to
renounce.

It is quite befitting on the part of the King (Bharata) that he did not long
for the (kingdom of the) earth, sons, relatives, wealth and wife, so difficult to
renounce. Nor did he wish for Sri (the Goddess of Fortune), coveted by great
gods, even though She waited for having a gracious look from him. For, in the
view of the great (souls) whose minds are devotedly attached to the service of
Visnu, even the Final Emancipation is of little account.

At the time of casting off his body as a deer, he (Bharata) nobly praised
the Lord thus: ‘Salutations to Lord Hari who is Himself the yajna (sacrifice)
personified, the defender of righteousness, punctilious observance of scriptural
injunctions, yoga incarnate, the head (the ultimate, chief principle) of the
Samkhyas, the controller of Prakrti (the personified Will or Maya of the
Almighty), and the shelter of all created beings’.

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 One who faithfully listens to, recites or praises the history of the royal
sage Bharata, whose spotless virtues and pure actions are appreciated and
eulogized by devotees of the Lord, secures good fortune, long life, riches, renown,
and attains to the heaven and Final Beatitude.

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