Source
Texts:
Liberation
from the Illusory Energy
Text
1
The honorable
king [Nimi] said: 'My lords, please tell us, we wish to
understand of the Supreme Lord Vishnu the illusory potency
[or mâyâ, see also 11.2:
48], which
is bewildering even the great mystics.
King
Nimi said - Now we wish to learn about the illusory potency
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, S'rî Vishnu,
which bewilders even great mystics. My lords, please speak
to us about this subject.
Text
2
Cherishing
the nectar of your words on the topics of Hari, am I, a mortal
tormented by the misery of samsâra,
not yet satiated with it being the antidote for that
pain.'
Although
I am drinking the nectar of your statements about the
glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, my thirst is
not yet satiated. Such nectarean descriptions of the Lord
and His devotees are the actual medicine for conditioned
souls like me, who are tormented by the threefold miseries
of material existence.
Text
3
S'rî
Antarîksha said: 'By the elements of the greater creation
evolved [conditioned] the Soul of All Creation, the
creatures high and low [see B.G. 13:
22
& 14:
18],
o mighty armed one, so that for the Original One His own
[parts and parcels] there was the [choice of]
accomplishing by sense-gratification and by self-realization
[see also 10.87:
2].
S'rî
Antarîksha said - O mighty-armed King, by activating
the material elements, the primeval Soul of all creation has
sent forth all living beings in higher and lower species so
that these conditioned souls can cultivate either sense
gratification or ultimate liberation, according to their
desire.
Text
4
Having
entered the living beings thus created by the five gross
elements and dividing Himself as the one [witness, the
spirit, the mind] to the ten [senses of perception and
action], engages He them with the modes.
The
Supersoul enters the material bodies of the created beings,
activates the mind and senses, and thus causes the
conditioned souls to approach the three modes of material
nature for sense gratification.
Text
5
The living
being, enlivened by the Supreme Soul, as the master [see
also B.G. 15:
8], by the
modes enjoying with the modes thus getting entangled in this,
thinks the created body to be his essence [compare
11.2:
37].
The
individual living being, the master of the material body,
uses his material senses, which have been activated by the
Supersoul, to try to enjoy sense objects composed of the
three modes of nature. Thus he misidentifies the created
material body with the unborn eternal self and becomes
entangled in the illusory energy of the Lord.
Text
6
By
the organs
of action
to his desires performing fruitive activities, does the
proprietor of the body reap the various fruits of labor,
wandering through the world in happiness and other emotions
[see B.G. 2.62].
Impelled
by deep-rooted material desires, the embodied living entity
engages his active sense organs in fruitive activities. He
then experiences the results of his material actions by
wandering throughout this world in so-called happiness and
distress.
Text
7
This way by his
karma getting to destinations involving a lot of things that
are not so good, experiences the living being helplessly birth
and death until the great deluge.
Thus
the conditioned living entity is forced to experience
repeated birth and death. Impelled by the reactions of his
own activities, he helplessly wanders from one inauspicious
situation to another, suffering from the moment of creation
until the time of cosmic annihilation.
Text
8
When the
dissolution of the material elements is at hand withdraws the
[Lord in the form of] Time Without a Beginning or an
End, the manifest universe consisting of the gross objects and
subtle modes [back] into the unmanifest [see also
3.29:
40-45,
3.26:
51].
When
the annihilation of the material elements is imminent, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of eternal time
withdraws the manifest cosmos, consisting of gross and
subtle features, and the entire universe vanishes into
nonmanifestation.
Text
9
Most
assuredly will there be a terrible drought on the earth lasting
for a hundred years during which the accumulated heat of the
sun will seriously scorch the three worlds.
As
cosmic annihilation approaches, a terrible drought takes
place on earth for one hundred years. For one hundred years
the heat of the sun gradually increases, and its blazing
heat begins to torment the three worlds.
Text
10
Beginning
from the lower regions [Pâtâla], will the
fire from the mouth of Sankarshana with its flames shooting
upwards, driven by the winds, burn all
directions.
Beginning
from Pâtâlaloka, a fire grows, emanating from
the mouth of Lord Sankarshana. Its flames shooting upward,
driven by great winds, it scorches everything in all
directions.
Text
11
Great masses of
clouds will rain for a hundred years with torrents massive as
elephant trunks because of which the universe will
submerge.
Hoards
of clouds called Samvartaka pour torrents of rain for one
hundred years. Flooding down in raindrops as long as the
trunk of an elephant, the deadly rainfall submerges the
entire universe in water.
Text
12
The Original
Personality of the Universal Form then relinquishing the
universe [as His body], o King, enters the subtle
unmanifest, just like a fire that ran out of fuel [see also
B.G. 8:
19,
3.32:
12-15].
Then
Vairâja Brahmâ, the soul of the universal form,
gives up his universal body, O King, and enters into the
subtle unmanifest nature, like a fire that has run out of
fuel.
Text
13
The
earth by the wind deprived of its aroma changes back into water
and the water by the same process deprived of its taste becomes
fire [again, see *].
Deprived
of its quality of aroma by the wind, the element earth is
transformed into water; and water, deprived of its taste by
that same wind, is merged into fire.
Text
14
Fire,
by darkness deprived of its form, inevitably turns into air and
the air, by the ether losing its touch, dissolves into the sky,
while the sky by the Supreme Soul of Time no longer being
tangible merges into the ego [of
not-knowing].
Fire,
deprived of its form by darkness, dissolves into the element
air. When the air loses its quality of touch by the
influence of space, the air merges into that space. When
space is deprived of its tangible quality by the Supreme
Soul in the form of time, space merges into false ego in the
mode of ignorance.
Text
15
The senses, the
mind and the intelligence along with the gods [representing
the emotions], o King, enter into the ego-element and the
I-awareness along with all its guna-qualities merges into the
Supreme Self [see also 3.6
and
3.26:
21-48].
My
dear King, the material senses and intelligence merge into
false ego in the mode of passion, from which they arose; and
the mind, along with the demigods, merges into false ego in
the mode of goodness. Then the total false ego, along with
all of its qualities, merges into the
mahat-tattva.
Text
16
With
us thus having described this illusory energy consisting of
three qualities, this agent of creation, maintenance and
dissolution of the Supreme Lord, what more would you like to
hear?'
I
have now described mâyâ, the illusory energy of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This illusory potency,
consisting of the three modes of material nature, is
empowered by the Lord for the creation, maintenance and
annihilation of the material universe. Now, what more do you
wish to hear?
Text
17
The
honorable king said: 'O great sage, please tell how persons
dull of intelligence with ease may overcome this material
energy of the Lord, so unsurpassable to those who are not
self-controlled.'
S'rî
Prabuddha said - Accepting the roles of male and female in
human society, the conditioned souls unite in sexual
relationships. Thus they constantly make material endeavors
to eliminate their unhappiness and unlimitedly increase
their pleasure. But one should see that they inevitably
achieve exactly the opposite result. In other words, their
happiness inevitably vanishes, and as they grow older their
material discomfort increases.
Text
18
S'rî
Prabuddha said: 'Of people living as husband and wife one
should see that the endeavoring in fruitive activities, in
order to lessen the distress and to gain in happiness, leads to
opposite results.
S'rî
Prabuddha said: Accepting the roles of male and female in
human society, the conditioned souls unite in sexual
relationships. Thus they constantly make material endeavors
to eliminate their unhappiness and unlimitedly increase
their pleasure. But one should see that they inevitably
achieve exactly the opposite result. In other words, their
happiness inevitably vanishes, and as they grow older their
material discomfort increases.
Text
19
What happiness
is gained with the unsteadiness of one's home, children,
relatives and domestic animals and with the hard to acquire
wealth, that constantly being in pain for, brings the death of
the soul?
Wealth
is a perpetual source of distress, it is most difficult to
acquire, and it is virtual death for the soul. What
satisfaction does one actually gain from his wealth?
Similarly, how can one gain ultimate or permanent happiness
from one's so-called home, children, relatives and domestic
animals, which are all maintained by one's hard-earned
money?
Text
20
One should
understand that the next world [heaven or 'a higher
planet'] this way settled from fruitive action is
impermanent and is characterized by ruination from [the
rivalry of] equals and superiors [B.G.
8:
16], just
as it is with moving in higher circles [in this
world].
One
cannot find permanent happiness even on the heavenly
planets, which one can attain in the next life by
ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices. Even in material
heaven the living entity is disturbed by rivalry with his
equals and envy of those superior to him. And since one's
residence in heaven is finished with the exhaustion of pious
fruitive activities, the denizens of heaven are afflicted by
fear, anticipating the destruction of their heavenly life.
Thus they resemble kings who, though enviously admired by
ordinary citizens, are constantly harassed by enemy kings
and who therefore never attain actual happiness.
Text
21
Therefore
should one, being inquisitive about the highest good, take
shelter of a spiritual master who resides in the supreme
tranquility of the Absolute Truth and is well versed in the
brahminical word [see e.g. 5.5:
10-13,
7.11:
13,
7.12:
1-16,
7.15:
25-26,
10.86:
57 & B.G.
4:
34].
Therefore
any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a
bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by
initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that
he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by
deliberation and is able to convince others of these
conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken
shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material
considerations, should be understood to be bona fide
spiritual masters.
Text
22
There, with the
guru as one's soul and deity, should one learn the
bhâgavata dharma [see 11.2:
34] by
which, without deceit being faithfully of service, the Supreme
Soul, the Lord bestowing His own Self, can be satisfied
[**].
Accepting
the bona fide spiritual master as one's life and soul and
worshipable deity, the disciple should learn from him the
process of pure devotional service. The Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Hari, the soul of all souls, is inclined to give
Himself to His pure devotees. Therefore, the disciple should
learn from the spiritual master to serve the Lord without
duplicity and in such a faithful and favorable way that the
Supreme Lord, being satisfied, will offer Himself to the
faithful disciple.
Text
23
To begin with
should the mind in every way be of detachment and should one
thus, as is suitable, with mercy, friendship and reverence for
all living beings be of association with the saintly
[compare 11.2:
46].
A
sincere disciple should learn to dissociate the mind from
everything material and positively cultivate association
with his spiritual master and other saintly devotees. He
should be merciful to those in an inferior position to him,
cultivate friendship with those on an equal level and meekly
serve those in a higher spiritual position. Thus he should
learn to deal properly with all living beings.
Text
24
One should be
of [inner and outer] cleanliness, penance, tolerance
and silence; scriptural study, simplicity, celibacy,
nonviolence and of equanimity when confronted with the duality
[see also yama
& niyama
and B.G. 12:
13-20].
To
serve the spiritual master the disciple should learn
cleanliness, austerity, tolerance, silence, study of Vedic
knowledge, simplicity, celibacy, nonviolence, and equanimity
in the face of material dualities such as heat and cold,
happiness and distress.
Text
25
In solitude
without a fixed residence, wearing rags left over, and
satisfied with anything, should one with the Controller
constantly envisioned, meditate for the True Self Omnipresent
[see also 2.2:
5,
7.13:
1-10]
One
should practice meditation by constantly seeing oneself to
be an eternal cognizant spirit soul and seeing the Lord to
be the absolute controller of everything. To increase one's
meditation, one should live in a secluded place and give up
false attachment to one's home and household paraphernalia.
Giving up the decorations of the temporary material body,
one should dress himself with scraps of cloth found in
rejected places, or with the bark of trees. In this way one
should learn to be satisfied in any material
situation.
Text
26
With
faith in the scripture related to the Supreme Lord and not
blaspheming other scriptures, should one with respect for the
truth, being of strict control with the mind, one's speech and
one's activities, be of inner peace and sense control as well
[see also B.G. 15:
15].
One
should have firm faith that he will achieve all success in
life by following those scriptures that describe the glories
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavân. At
the same time, one should avoid blaspheming other
scriptures. One should rigidly control his mind, speech and
bodily activities, always speak the truth, and bring the
mind and senses under full control.
Text
27-28
Hearing,
chanting and meditating the pastimes and transcendental
qualities of the Lord, of whose incarnations the activities are
all wonderful, must one do everything for His sake. With
whatever worship one performs, of whatever charity, penance,
japa,
piety, one is, must one that, including whatever one holds
dear, one's wife, one's sons, home and very life air, do as an
offering unto the Supreme [see also B.G.
9:
27].
One
should hear, glorify and meditate upon the wonderful
transcendental activities of the Lord. One should
specifically become absorbed in the appearance, activities,
qualities and holy names of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Thus inspired, one should perform all of one's
daily activities as an offering to the Lord. One should
perform sacrifice, charity and penance exclusively for the
Lord's satisfaction. Similarly, one should chant only those
mantras which glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And all one's religious activities should be performed as an
offering to the Lord. Whatever one finds pleasing or
enjoyable he should immediately offer to the Supreme Lord,
and even his wife, children, home and very life air he
should offer at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
Text
29
With
the service rendered ànd to both [the moving and
nonmoving] and to the humans, ànd to the ones fixed
in the saintly and to the greatest, should one thus be of
friendship and service to the people who accept Krishna as the
Lord of their soul.
One
who desires his ultimate self-interest should cultivate
friendship with those persons who have accepted Krishna as
the Lord of their life. One should further develop an
attitude of service toward all living beings. One should
especially try to help those in the human form of life and,
among them, especially those who accept the principles of
religious behavior. Among religious persons, one should
especially render service to the pure devotees of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Text
30
In
mutual discussion, in mutual attraction and in mutual
satisfaction, is there, through the glories of the Lord, in the
mutual cessation of material activities, the purification of
the [the
relating to] soul
[see also 3:
38].
One
should learn how to associate with the devotees of the Lord
by gathering with them to chant the glories of the Lord.
This process is most purifying. As devotees thus develop
their loving friendship, they feel mutual happiness and
satisfaction. And by thus encouraging one another they are
able to give up material sense gratification, which is the
cause of all suffering.
Text
31
Remembering
and reminding one another is one by the bhakti unto the Lord
who puts an end to the chain of sins, awakened and has one of
the devotion a body agitated with ecstasy [see also
11.2:
40].
The
devotees of the Lord constantly discuss the glories of the
Personality of Godhead among themselves. Thus they
constantly remember the Lord and remind one another of His
qualities and pastimes. In this way, by their devotion to
the principles of bhakti-yoga, the devotees please the
Personality of Godhead, who takes away from them everything
inauspicious. Being purified of all impediments, the
devotees awaken to pure love of Godhead, and thus, even
within this world, their spiritualized bodies exhibit
symptoms of transcendental ecstasy, such as standing of the
bodily hairs on end.
Text
32
Sometimes
one cries by the thought of Acyuta, sometimes one laughs, takes
great pleasure and speaks, acts wondrously, dances and sings
and sometimes is one, imitating the Unborn One getting silent,
freed from distress and attains one the Supreme [see also
10.35].
Having
achieved love of Godhead, the devotees sometimes cry out
loud, absorbed in thought of the infallible Lord. Sometimes
they laugh, feel great pleasure, speak out loud to the Lord,
dance or sing. Such devotees, having transcended material,
conditioned life, sometimes imitate the unborn Supreme by
acting out His pastimes. And sometimes, achieving His
personal audience, they remain peaceful and silent.
Text
33
Thus
learning the bhâgavata dharma and by the resulting bhakti
completely being devoted to Nârâyana, crosses one
easily over the mâyâ so difficult to overcome
[see also 1.1:
2].'
Thus
learning the science of devotional service and practically
engaging in the devotional service of the Lord, the devotee
comes to the stage of love of Godhead. And by complete
devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Nârâyana, the devotee easily crosses over the
illusory energy, mâyâ, which is extremely
difficult to cross.
Text
34
The
honorable king [Nimi] said: 'Please, all of you expert
knowers of the spiritual, be so kind as to describe to us the
transcendental situation of the Supersoul of the Absolute Truth
associated with the name of Nârâyana [see also
1.2:
11].'
King
Nimi inquired - Please explain to me the transcendental
situation of the Supreme Lord, Nârâyana, who is
Himself the Absolute Truth and the Supersoul of everyone.
You can explain this to me, because you are all most expert
in transcendental knowledge.
Text
35
S'rî
Pippalâyana said: 'Please o King, know the Supreme
[Personality of Godhead] to be that: the Causeless
Cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of this
universe, which in wakefulness, in the dream state and in deep
sleep, as well as external to them exists and by which the
bodies, the senses, the life airs and the minds being enlivened
act.
S'rî
Pippalâyana said - The Supreme Personality of Godhead
is the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of
this universe, yet He has no prior cause. He pervades the
various states of wakefulness, dreaming and unconscious deep
sleep and also exists beyond them. By entering the body of
every living being as the Supersoul, He enlivens the body,
senses, life airs and mental activities, and thus all the
subtle and gross organs of the body begin their functions.
My dear King, know that Personality of Godhead to be the
Supreme.
Text
36
This
can by mind, speech, sight, intelligence, life air nor the
senses be covered, just as a fire cannot by its own sparks; not
even the vedic word may express it as it denies that of the
Supreme Self - without which the scriptural restrictions would
have no ultimate purpose - could be but by evidence of indirect
expression [compare 10.87].
Neither
the mind nor the faculties of speech, sight, intelligence,
the life air or any of the senses are capable of penetrating
that Supreme Truth, any more than small sparks can affect
the original fire from which they are generated. Not even
the authoritative language of the Vedas can perfectly
describe the Supreme Truth, since the Vedas themselves
disclaim the possibility that the Truth can be expressed by
words. But through indirect reference the Vedic sound does
serve as evidence of the Supreme Truth, since without the
existence of that Supreme Truth the various restrictions
found in the Vedas would have no ultimate purpose.
Text
37
In
the beginning being One became the goodness, passion and
ignorance known as the threefold, that with the power to act,
the power of consciousness and the ego awareness thus is called
the individual living being [the jîva] assuming
the forms of spiritual knowledge [the gods], the
actions [the senses] and the fruits [of good and
bad results]; thus is it, possessing great varieties of
energy, the Supreme Brahman alone that is manifest beyond both
the gross and the subtle [forms it assumes, see also
mahat-tattva,
pradhâna,
4.29:
79,
B.G. 10:
42,
13:
13
& 7:
14].
Originally
one, the Absolute, Brahman, comes to be known as threefold,
manifesting itself as the three modes of material nature -
goodness, passion and ignorance. Brahman further expands its
potency, and thus the power to act and the power of
consciousness become manifest, along with the false ego,
which covers the identity of the conditioned living being.
Thus, by the expansion of the multipotencies of the
Absolute, the demigods, as the embodiment of knowledge,
become manifest, along with the material senses, their
objects, and the results of material activity, namely
happiness and distress. In this way the manifestation of the
material world takes place as the subtle cause and as the
material effect visible in the appearance of gross material
objects. Brahman, which is the source of all subtle and
gross manifestations, is simultaneously transcendental to
them, being absolute.
Text
38
This
Soul, never born, never dying, grows nor decays; it is the
knower of the times of living of the beings subject to change,
and that Soul, indeed constantly everywhere never disappearing,
is pure consciousness indeed just like the [one] life
air [prâna]
within is, by the force of the senses getting imagined as being
divided [see also B.G. 2:
23-30
and ***].
Brahman,
the eternal soul, was never born and will never die, nor
does it grow or decay. That spiritual soul is actually the
knower of the youth, middle age and death of the material
body. Thus the soul can be understood to be pure
consciousness, existing everywhere at all times and never
being destroyed. Just as the life air within the body,
although one, becomes manifest as many in contact with the
various material senses, the one soul appears to assume
various material designations in contact with the material
body.
Text
39
[With
beings] from eggs, from embryos, from plants and from the
indistinct of moisture follows the vital air the individual
soul [see also linga]
indeed from one [life form] to another; just as there,
apart from the mode of thinking when the senses and the ego are
all merged in deep sleep, is the unchanging [of the eternal
self] with the subsequent remembrance [upon awakening
see B.G. 2:
22].
The
spirit soul is born in many different species of life within
the material world. Some species are born from eggs, others
from embryos, others from the seeds of plants and trees, and
others from perspiration. But in all species of life the
prâna, or vital air, remains unchanging and follows
the spirit soul from one body to another. Similarly, the
spirit soul is eternally the same despite its material
condition of life. We have practical experience of this.
When we are absorbed in deep sleep without dreaming, the
material senses become inactive, and even the mind and false
ego are merged into a dormant condition. But although the
senses, mind and false ego are inactive, one remembers upon
waking that he, the soul, was peacefully sleeping.
Text
40
When
one desires the feet of the One With the Lotus-navel is the
dirt of the heart, sprouting from the fruitive action to the
modes of nature, cleansed away by the power of bhakti and is,
fully purified, directly the truth of the soul realized, just
as one with one's naked eye can see the sunshine [B.G:
2:
55
& 6:
20-23
and nyâyika].'
When
one seriously engages in the devotional service of the
Personality of Godhead, fixing the Lord's lotus feet within
one's heart as the only goal of life, one can destroy the
innumerable impure desires lodged within the heart as a
result of one's previous fruitive work within the three
modes of material nature. When the heart is thus purified
one can directly perceive both the Supreme Lord and one's
self as transcendental entities. Thus one becomes perfect in
spiritual understanding through direct experience, just as
one can directly experience the sunshine through normal,
healthy vision.
Text
41
The
honorable king said: 'Please explain to us the karma yoga by
which being refined a person in this life quickly gets rid of
his fruitive actions and, freed from karmic reactions, enjoys
the transcendental [see also B.G. 1-6
or 3.5].
King
Nimi said: O great sages, please speak to us about the
process of karma-yoga. Purified by this process of
dedicating one's practical work to the Supreme, a person can
very quickly free himself from all material activities, even
in this life, and thus enjoy pure life on the transcendental
platform.
Text
42
In
front of my father [Ikshvâku see also
9.6:
4]
I asked the sages [the kumâras]
a similar question in the past, but the sons of Brahmâ
didn't answer, please, for that reason, speak about
it.'
Once
in the past, in the presence of my father,
Mahârâja Ikshvâku, I placed a similar
question before four great sages who were sons of Lord
Brahmâ. But they did not answer my question. Please
explain the reason for this.
Text
43
S'rî
Âvirhotra replied: 'Karma, akarma and vikarma are,
because they originating from the Controller not being worldly,
are subject matter understood though the Vedas, something about
which even the great scholars are confused [see also B.G.
4.16-17
and 4.29:
26-27].
S'rî
Âvirhotra replied: Prescribed duties, nonperformance
of such duties, and forbidden activities are topics one can
properly understand through authorized study of the Vedic
literature. This difficult subject matter can never be
understood by mundane speculation. The authorized Vedic
literature is the sound incarnation of the Personality of
Godhead Himself, and thus Vedic knowledge is perfect. Even
the greatest learned scholars are bewildered in their
attempts to understand the science of action if they neglect
the authority of Vedic knowledge.
Text
44
In
covert terms do the Vedas, guiding the childlike to be freed
from the karma, indeed prescribe material activities just as
one prescribes a medicine [see also B.G.
3:
26,
see 5.5:
17
10.24:
17-18].
Childish
and foolish people are attached to materialistic, fruitive
activities, although the actual goal of life is to become
free from such activities. Therefore, the Vedic injunctions
indirectly lead one to the path of ultimate liberation by
first prescribing fruitive religious activities, just as a
father promises his child candy so that the child will take
his medicine.
Text
45
The
one who, not having subdued his senses, ignorantly not performs
what the Vedas prescribe, achieves, by his irreligion going
against the duty, death upon death [see also B.G.
3.8,
16:
23-24,
17:
5-6,
18:
7].
If
an ignorant person who has not conquered the material senses
does not adhere to the Vedic injunctions, certainly he will
engage in sinful and irreligious activities. Thus his reward
will be repeated birth and death.
Text
46
Certainly
will one, to what the Vedas prescribe without attachment
performing and offering to the Supreme Controller, achieve the
perfection that for stimulating the interest is formulated in
terms of fruitive results [karma-kânda
& B.G. 4.17-23].
By
executing without attachment the regulated activities
prescribed in the Vedas, offering the results of such work
to the Supreme Lord, one attains the perfection of freedom
from the bondage of material work. The material fruitive
results offered in the revealed scriptures are not the
actual goal of Vedic knowledge, but are meant for
stimulating the interest of the performer.
Text
47
One
who swiftly wants to cut through the knot [of
attachment] in the heart should worship Lord Kes'ava and as
well study the divinity as described in the supplementary vedic
literatures [the tantras,
see also B.G. 12:
6-7].
One
who desires to quickly cut the knot of false ego, which
binds the spirit soul, should worship the Supreme Lord,
Kes'ava, by the regulations found in Vedic literatures such
as the tantras.
Text
48
Having
obtained the mercy [the initiation] of the teacher of
example who shows him what is handed down by tradition, should
the devotee be of worship for the Supreme Personality in the
particular form of his preference [see also B.G.
3:
35,
7:
20].
Having
obtained the mercy of his spiritual master, who reveals to
the disciple the injunctions of Vedic scriptures, the
devotee should worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in
the particular personal form of the Lord the devotee finds
most attractive.
Text
49
Clean
in front of it seated controlling the breath and so on [see
ashthânga-yoga]
should he, purifying the body invoking the protection in
renunciation, worship the Lord [assigning parts of his body
to Him by marking with mantras, see also B.G.
5:
27-28
and 6.8:
4-6].
After
cleansing oneself, purifying the body by
prânâyâma, bhûta-s'uddhi and other
processes, and marking the body with sacred tilaka for
protection, one should sit in front of the Deity and worship
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Text
50-51
With
whatever ingredients available preparing oneself in the mind
and heart, the deity and all thereto, the items to be offered,
the ground and sprinkling the place to sit, should one, getting
ready the water for the sacrifice, with concentration put the
deity in its proper place having drawn sacred marks on its
heart and other parts and with the appropriate mantra be of
worship [4*].
The
devotee should gather whatever ingredients for worshiping
the Deity are available, make ready the offerings, the
ground, his mind and the Deity, sprinkle his sitting place
with water for purification and prepare the bathing water
and other paraphernalia. The devotee should then place the
Deity in His proper place, both physically and within his
own mind, concentrate his attention, and mark the Deity's
heart and other parts of the body with tilaka. Then he
should offer worship with the appropriate mantra.
Text
52-53
Worshiping
each particular deity and its limbs, special features [like
His cakra], and associates [like the
pañca-tattva]
with its own mantras [like e.g. the S'is'umâra-mantra
for the cakra given in 5.23:
8],
with water for its feet, scented water to welcome, fine
clothing, ornaments, fragrances, necklaces, unbroken
barleycorns [for applying tilaka] and with garlands,
incense, lamps and such offerings in all respects completing
the worship as enjoined, should one honoring by prayer bow down
to the Lord.
One
should worship the Deity along with each of the limbs of His
transcendental body, His weapons such as the Sudars'ana
cakra, His other bodily features and His personal
associates. One should worship each of these transcendental
aspects of the Lord by its own mantra and with offerings of
water to wash the feet, scented water, water to wash the
mouth, water for bathing, fine clothing and ornaments,
fragrant oils, valuable necklaces, unbroken barleycorns,
flower garlands, incense and lamps. Having thus completed
the worship in all its aspects in accordance with the
prescribed regulations, one should then honor the Deity of
Lord Hari with prayers and offer obeisances to Him by bowing
down.
Text
54
Absorbing
oneself in that [as a servant and not falsely identifying
himself] should one thus meditating fully be of worship for
the mûrti of the Lord and, taking the remnants on one's
head, put Him respectfully in His proper place.
The
worshiper should become fully absorbed in meditating upon
himself as an eternal servant of the Lord and should thus
perfectly worship the Deity, remembering that the Deity is
also situated within his heart. Then he should take the
remnants of the Deity's paraphernalia, such as flower
garlands, upon his head and respectfully put the Deity back
in His own place, thus concluding the worship.
Text
55
He
who thus worships the Controller, the Supreme Soul, present in
the fire, the sun, the water and so on, as also in the guest
and in one's own heart [see also 2.2:
8],
becomes without delay liberated indeed.
Thus
the worshiper of the Supreme Lord should recognize that the
Personality of Godhead is all-pervading and should worship
Him through His presence in fire, the sun, water and other
elements, in the heart of the guest one receives in one's
home, and also in one's own heart. In this way the worshiper
will very soon achieve liberation.
*:
When a quality is removed, an element becomes nondifferent from
the element originated earlier in the evolution of the universe
and thus merges, changes, dissolves into it: thus the
annihilation of the universe takes place.
**
S'rîla Rûpa Gosvâmî formulated four
preliminary requisites for advancement in
this: '[1]
Accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide
spiritual master, [2] becoming initiated by the
spiritual master and learning how to discharge devotional
service from him, [3] obeying the orders of the
spiritual master with faith and devotion, and [4]
following in the footsteps of great âcâryas
[teachers] under the direction of the spiritual
master.' (Bhakti-rasâmrita-sindhu 1.2.74)
*** S'rîla Madhvâcârya quotes to this, from
the Moksha-dharma section of Vyâsadeva's
Mahâbhârata, the Lord saying:
aham
hi jîva-samjño vai
mayi jîvah sanâtanah
maivam tvayânumantavyam
dristho jîvo mayeti ha
aham s'reyo vidhâsyâmi
yathâdhikâram îs'varah
'The
living entity, known as jîva, is not different from Me,
for he is My expansion. Thus the living entity is eternal, as I
am, and always exists within Me. But you should not
artificially think, 'Now I have seen the soul.' Rather, I, as
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, will bestow this
benediction upon you when you are actually
qualified.'
*4
Just as each prâkrita, impersonalist, materialistic
devotee is worshiping the Lord in His form of Time with
pragmatically perverted or unleaped clocks and weekdivisions
[see the
Order of Time
and kâla
for correcting on this] as the deity of preference with
mantras like 'be on time' and 'time is money', so does
classical bhakti with the kanishthha or beginning personalist
devotee more truthfully to the vedic authority arrange for also
the personal form of the Lord in the form of a deity worshiping
with 'om namo bhagavate vâsudevâya'
[4.8:
54]
, the gâyatrî,
the mahâmantra
and other mantras. In all these cases should be remembered what
Vyâsa in 11.2:
47
says on mûrti-worship in general.
