See for the online version with illustrations, music and links to the previous translation: http://bhagavata.org/
S'RÎMAD BHÂGAVATAM
"The story of the fortunate one"
CANTO 7:
The Science of God
Chapter 1 The Supreme Lord Is Equal unto Everyone
Chapter 2 Hiranyakas'ipu, the King of the Demons, on Bereavement
Chapter 3 Hiranyakas'ipu's Plan to Become Immortal
Chapter 4 Hiranyakas'ipu Terrorizes the Universe
Chapter 5 Prahlâda Mahârâja, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakas'ipu
Chapter 6 Prahlâda Instructs His Asura Schoolmates
Chapter 7 What Prahlâda Learned in the Womb
Chapter 8 Lord Nrisimhadeva Slays the King of the Demons
Chapter 9 Prahlâda Propitiates Lord Nrisimhadeva with Prayer
Chapter 10 About Prahlâda, the Best Among the Exalted Devotees and the fall of Tripura.
Chapter 11 The Perfect Society: About the Four Social Classes and the Woman
Chapter 12 The Four Âs'ramas and How to Leave the Body
Chapter 13 The Behavior of a Saintly Person
Chapter 14 The Supreme of the Householder's Life
Chapter 15 Nârada's Instructions on Sharing, Irreligion, Yoga and Advaita
This book relates the story of the Lord and His Incarnations since the earliest records of the vedic history. It is verily the Krishna-Bible of the Hindu-universe. The Bhâgavad Gîtâ compares to it like the sermon on the mountain by Lord Jesus to the full Bible. It has 18.000 verses and consists of 12 books also called cantos. These books tell the complete history of the vedic culture with the essence of all its classical stories called Purânas and includes the cream of the vedic knowledge compiled from all the literatures as well as the story of the life of Lord Krishna in full (canto 10). It tells about His birth, His youth, all His wonderful proofs of His divine nature and the superhuman feats of defeating all kinds of demons up to the great Mahâbhârat war at Kurukshetra. It is a brilliant story that has been brought to the West by Swami Bhaktivedânta Prabhupâda, a Caitanya Vaishnava, a bhakti (devotional) monk of Lord Vishnu [the name for the transcendental form of Lord Krishna] who undertook the daring task of enlightening the materialist westerners as well as the advanced philosophers and theologians, in order to help them to overcome the perils and loneliness of impersonalism and the philosophy of emptiness.
For the translation the author of this internet-version has used the translation of Swami Prabhupâda. As an âcârya [guru teaching by example] from the age-old indian vaishnava tradition he represents the reformation of the devotion for God the way it was practiced in India since the 16th century. This reformation contends that the false authority of the caste-system and single dry bookwisdom is to be rejected. Lord Krishna-Caitanya, the avatâra [an incarnation of the Lord] who heralded this reform, restored the original purpose of developing devotion for God and endeavored especially for the sacred scripture expounding on the devotion relating to Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This scripture is this bhâgavata Purâna from which all the vaishnava-âcâryas derived their wisdom for the purpose of instruction and the shaping of their devotion. The word for word translations as well as the full text and commentaries of this book were studied within and without the Hare Krishna temples of learning in as well India, Europe as in America. The purpose of the translation is first of all to make this glorious text available for a wider audience over the Internet. Since the Bible, the Koran and numerous other Holy texts are readily available, the author meant that this book could not stay behind on the shelf of his own bookcase as a token of material possessiveness. Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost, and certainly this type of knowledge which stresses the yoga of non-possessiveness and devotion as one of its main values could not be left out. The version of Prabhupâda Swami is very extensive covering some 2400 pages of plain fine printed text including his commentaries. And that was only the first ten cantos. The remaining two cantos were posthumously published by his pupils in the full of his spirit. Thus the author was faced with two daring challenges: one was to make a readable running narrative of the book - that had been dissected to the single word - and second to put it into a language that would befit the 21th century with all its modern and postmodern experience and digital progress to the world order without losing anything of its original verses. Thus another verse to verse as-it-is translation came about in which Prabupâda's words were retranslated and set to the understanding and realization I myself acquired. This realization came directly from the disciplic line of succession of the Vaishnava line of âcâryas (teachers) as well as from a realization of the total field of indian philosophy of enlightenment and yoga discipline as was brought to the West by also non-vaishnava guru's and maintained by their pupils. Therefore the author has to express his gratitude to all these great heroes who dared to face the adamantine of western philosophy with all its doubts, concreticism and skepticism. Especially the pupils of Prabhupâda, members of the renounced order (sannyâsîs) who instructed the author in the independence and maturity of the philosophy of the bhakti-yogis of Lord Caitanya need to be mentioned. The author was already initiated in India by a non-vaishnav guru and been given the name of Swami Anand Aadhar ("teacher of the foundation of happiness"). That name the Krishna community converted into Anand Aadhar Prabhu (master of the foundation of happiness) without further ceremonies of vaishnav' initiation (apart from a basic training). Anand Aadhar is a withdrawn devotee, a so-called vânaprashta, who does his devotional service independently in the silence and modesty of his own local adaptations of the philosophy.
The spelling of Sanskrit names has here and there been adapted because of the absence of the suitable Sanskrit signs on the keyboard so that e.g. where normally a flat stripe was placed above the letters a ^accent is placed. It means that one has to choose for two letters where one is written, or that one has to pause pronunciating the word at that place. Also the name Krsna has been spelled this way as Krishna and rsi (=wise) as rishi. Normally the word for word translations of Prabhupâda have been taken as they were given in the translations of Prabhupâda, be it that here and there some words, because of their multiple meanings have lead to slightly different translations. E.g. the word loka means as well planet as place as world. Between square brackets [ ] sometimes a little comment and extra info is given to accommodate the reader when the original text is drawing from a more experienced approach. The original running text of Prabhupâda is linked up at each verse so that it is possible to retrace what the author has done with the text. This is according the scientific tradition of the Vaishnava-community. These texts, as also most of the images, are copyrighted material and the property of the ISCKON-Krishna community and may only be used as a fragment and not be published by non-members without permission (BBT). For the tenth Canto more verse-to-verse loyal translations of a former pupil of Prabhupâda (S'rî Hayesvar das) and Prabhupâda's godbrothers/pupils have been used [including their word for word translation] next to the translation of Prabhupâda, as for this volume [but not the eleventh canto] the word-for-word translations had been omitted and replaced by a more elaborate description of the text. The twelfth canto was drawn in reference to the work of only the ISKCON pupils of Prabhupâda who completed his work. Further was throughout the concatenation process of this version the so called Shastri-version of the Bhâgavatam (from the Gîtâ Press, Gorakpur) as extant with the common Himdu in India itself used as a reference and second opinion.
For copyright purposes concerning the used images and texts and further commentaries and the word-for-word translations of Prabhupâda themselves one will have to consult the Bhaktivedanta Booktrust and other Krishna sites and the printed books of Prabhupâda themselves. For the copyrights on this translation one will have to consult this writer. It is permitted to download and print these texts for private and non-commercial use. For all other usage one will have to contact the author (for links see our linkpage).
With love and devotion, Anand Aadhar Prabhu, Enschede, The Netherlands, 05-28-2000.
The Supreme Lord Is Equal unto Everyone
(1) The king said: 'How could the Supreme Lord beloved as an equal friend towards all living beings, o brahmin, in support of Indra kill the demons as if He were partial Himself [see also B.G. 9: 29]? (2) Being of the highest bliss there is certainly no need for Him to side personally with the enlightened community and not being of any material mode, is it for certain not in His nature to fear or compete with the ones of darkness. (3) Thus, o glorious one, is in consideration of the qualities of Nârâyana, the magnitude of the doubt that rose with us; could you please dispel it?'
(4-5) The honorable rishi said: 'What an excellent question to ask o great King! From the wonderful activities of the Lord, sung by the foremost of piety, the sages headed by Nârada, are there more and more the glories and the devotion of His devotees. I will discuss all the relating topics of the Lord with you, but let me first pay homage to the great sage of Krishna [Vyâsa]. (6) Although above the modes, surely unborn and unmanifest, does the Supreme Lord transcendental to the material world by His own potency enter the material qualities accepting obligations and responsibilities [compare B.G. 9: 11]. (7) The sattva, rajas and tamas to that belong to the material of nature and not to the quality of the spirit soul, o King, to the spiritual self there is not the on and off [one normally has with material things]. (8) According their particular time does one when sattva [goodness] dominates find the devas and the rishis [the gods and sages], with the prominence of rajas [passion] has one the Asuras [the unenlightened] and with tamas [inertia] finds one the Yakshas and Râkshasas [the ghosts and the demons, see also B.G. 14: 11-13]. (9) To the elements of light and such that appear with the differently embodied can the ones who know from the Supersoul within distinguish who of them are of discrimination and who not [see B.G. 10: 10]. (10) When desiring to create material bodies for the living entities manifests the Supreme, He dominating in His own creation, the mode of passion; desiring to act in different forms is He in the mode of goodness and when the Controller is about to round it all up gives He as such rise to the mode of ignorance [see: B.G. 9: 10]. (11) O ruler of man, the true Creator, Controller in Person of the matter and Shelter for the beings is the Time that by its movements conditions [see also B.G 11: 32]. (12) It is but with this Time that the Supreme Lord His glories are widespread, o King, by which to sattva the certainty of the numbers of gods is furthered and hence with those who are covered by rajas and tamas the inimical is found whereto He, as the friend of the enlightened, destroys the unenlightened. (13) To this was earlier with great joy at the great sacrifice of Yudhishthhira upon his request by the Rishi of Enlightenment [Nârada] recounted the following story. (14-15) The king, the son of Pându, after having seen how at the great offering called Râjasûya the King of Cedi [S'is'upâla] so wondrously had merged with the Supreme Personality of Vâsudeva, had as the ruler being struck with wonder at the sacrifice asked the following from Nârada who sat there with the sages listening. (16) Yudhishthhira had said: 'Oh how wonderful and for sure difficult to attain for even the transcendentalists is the attainment of the impudent S'is'upâla to Vâsudeva, the Supreme Absolute Truth. (17) We all long to know how this could happen, o sage, how from insulting the Lord [he could merge while] Vena [for his offense] was thrown in hell by the brahmins. (18) That sinful son of Damaghosha fostered from his earliest prattle to his last days anger towards Govinda, just as did the evil-minded Dantavakra [his brother]. (19) Of both their repeated offenses against Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Brahman [compare B.G. 10: 12], didn't any white leprosy appear on their tongues nor landed they in the darkness of hell. (20) How could they for everyone to see, so easily find absorption [sâyujya-mukti] in the Supreme Lord whose nature is so hard to attain? (21) In this matter is my intelligence as fickle as a candle flickering in the wind, please o man of all knowledge, tell us here now about the particular cause of this great wonder.'
(22) The son of Vyâsa said: 'After hearing the words of the king questioning him on the tale in the midst of the assembly, did Nârada the greatest of sages, being satisfied, address him. (23) S'rî Nârada said: 'In order to experience insults, praise, honor and dishonor without discrimination has the Supreme of the Primary Nature [pradhâna] created this vehicle of time, o King [see also B.G. 2: 14, 12: 18-19]. (24) Suffering from the false notion of being this body is there thus the 'I' and 'mine' to which there is the rod of punishment, o earthly ruler. (25) Bound in this false conception appears the annihilation of bodies to be the same as the annihilation of living beings; not being of Him as the one without a second is one of the false notion, but how can there any harm be done by Him, the Soul of all, the Supreme One and Highest Control? (26) Therefore, whether one is of constant enmity, of devotion, of fear, of affection or of lusty desires, should one, being of whatever way, concentrate oneself [on the Lord] and not look for something else. (27) A person will in [a single-minded] constant enmity not attain the like of being absorbed one finds in being unified in devotion, that is my definite opinion. (28-29) A larva checked by a bee in a niche may be filled with anxiety and resentment, but of that bee it attains the same form; the same way may one with Krishna, who as the Supreme Lord out of His own appeared as a man, be filled with obstinacy towards the Supreme, but when one has found purification of one's sins, attains one by the constant thought of Him. (30) Of in lust, hatred, fear, affection and devotion having a mind absorbed in the Supreme have many given up the sin and by that attained the path of liberation. (31) The gopîs with their lusty desires, Kamsa out of fear, S'is'upâla and others out of hatred, many Kings out of kinship, Krishna's family out of affection and you and us through bhakti did so o King. (32) Not to be someone like Vena, who couldn't adopt one of these five forms of respect in regard of the Original Person, must one then fix one's mind on Krishna in any of these ways. (33) The sons of your mother's sister, S'is'upâla and Dantavakra, o Pândava, were the two exalted attendants of Vishnu [Jaya and Vijaya, see 3.15-16] who because of a curse of the brahmins fell away from the feet.'
(34) S'rî Yudhishthhira said: 'Who did that and what kind of curse was used; a servant of the Lord thus overcome seems an incredible thing to me, how can those exclusively devoted to Him take birth again [see B.G. 4: 9 and 8: 16]? (35) Those who reside in Vaikunthha are not concerned with a material body, material senses or a material life, please describe how they then could be bound to a physical body.'
(36) S'rî Nârada said: 'Once happened the sons of Brahmâ, Sanandana and the others, who traveled around the three worlds, to arrive at that place. (37) Approaching like boys of five or six year old, even though they were born before the ancients of the universe [see 1.3: 6], denied the two guards them access thinking they were naked children. (38) And so they were full of anger cursed by them: 'O, you two undeserving ones, at the feet of the Slayer of Madhu it is most sinful not to be free from passion and ignorance and therefore, o fools, will you soon hereafter be born from an unenlightened womb [see 3.17]. (39) Thus being cursed to fall down from their abode heard they from the merciful sages: 'May it be so that after three births you return again to your abode.'
(40) The two were thereafter born as the sons of Diti and worshiped by all the Daityas and Danava's as Hiranyakas'ipu the older one and Hiranyâksha the younger brother. (41) Hiranyakas'ipu was killed by the Lord appearing in the form of a lion [Lord Nrisimhadeva] and Hiranyâksha was killed by Him when He in the form of a boar had appeared to uplift the world [Lord Varâha, see 3.18-19]. (42) Hiranyakas'ipu desirous to kill his son Prahlâda, the beloved devotee of Kes'ava, enacted various ways of torture to cause his death. (43) Since his son was protected by the power of the Supreme Lord, the Soul of mercy and equality towards all, could he, with all the might he displayed, not kill him though. (44) Next were the two demons as Râvana and Kumbhakarna born from Kes'inî as the sons of Vis'ravâ, and were they the cause of a lot of misery for all the people. (45) In order to relieve the two from the curse, manifested thereupon Râmacandra Himself to kill them, but you better hear about the exploits of Râma [see 9: 10 & 11] from the lips of Mârkandeya, my best. (46) The two in their third birth were [as S'is'upâla and Dantavakra] born in this world as kshatriya sons to your mother's sister and are now freed from the curse with their sins destroyed by Krishna's cakra. (47) By meditation in a bond of acute hatred getting near to Him managed the gate keepers of Vishnu again to find absorption into the essence of the infallible Lord.'
(48) S'rî Yudhishthhira said: 'How could there [with Hiranyakas'ipu] be such a hatred for his own son, that great soul, please tell me o exalted one how Prahlâda got that close to Acyuta [the Infallible Lord].
Hiranyakas'ipu, the King of the Demons, on Bereavement
(1) S'rî Nârada said: 'When the brother [Hiranyâksha] thus was killed by the Lord in the form of a boar [see 3.18-19] was Hiranyakas'ipu very afflicted with anger and grief o King. (2) Enraged biting his lips on this, stared he into the sky that smoked with the blazing fury of his eyes and spoke he. (3) With his terrible teeth and fierce look ghastly to behold, raised he, in an assembly of the Dânavas, his trident with a frown on his face saying the following. (4-5) 'O Dânavas and Daityas, Dvimûrdha ['the two headed one'], Tryaksha ['the three-eyed one'] S'ambara and S'atabâhu ['the hundred-armed one']; Hayagrîva ['the horsehead'], Namuci, Pâka, Ilvala and Vipracitti! Pulomâ, S'akuna and all others, listen to the words I have to tell you and may you thereafter all quickly, without delay, act to them. (6) My so very dear brother and well-wisher was with those powerless enemies, the godly who conspiring behind his back were of worship, killed by Hari who was supposed to treat us all equal. (7-8) He has forsaken His own love for us and is now, abominable in mâyâ, behaving like a wild beast in His as a child jumping from this to that form to the like of His worshiping devotees. I will with my trident cut His neck and make Him swim in blood for the sake of indeed [Hiranyâksha,] he who was so fond of drinking it. Thus I'll please my brother and find my own peace. (9) When He, that most deceitful enemy of all is finished will, like with the drying up of the branches and leaves of a tree that is cut by its roots, the same happen to those guys of God whose life belongs to Vishnu. (10) Meanwhile all of you go to that world so neatly kept by the rulers of Brahmâ and see to the destruction of all those repenting and sacrificing bookworms who according to vows donate in charity. (11) Vishnu by the twice born exhaustingly worshiped, is sacrifice personified, the Supreme Person of the full of dharma; He is the one shelter of the religion of them gods and sages, forefathers and all the others. (12) Wherever the twice-born keep their cows, study their Vedas and are busy with their varnâs'rama ado, set all those towns afire or cut down all the trees of the place.'
(13) Proving him their respects took they the instructions of their master on their heads and terrorized they, the experts in destruction, all the people. (14) The cities and villages, pasturing grounds, orchards and gardens, fields, forests, hermitages and mines, farms and mountain places, cowherd camps and the capitals as well, they all burned down. (15) While others with firebrands set the dwellings ablaze, demolished some of them with picks the bridges, surrounding walls and the city gates and took some others axes to destroy the source of livelihood by cutting down the fruit trees. (16) When time and again the people were thus disturbed by the followers of the king of the Daityas, gave the godly their positions up and wandered they, not seen by the demons, all over the earth. (17) Hiranyakas'ipu, very distressed about the loss of his brother performed the obsequies and pacified his nephews. (18-19) S'akuni, S'ambara, Dhrishthi, Bhûtasantâpana, Vrika, Kâlanâbha, Mahânâbha, Haris'mas'ru and Utkaca as also their mother Rushâbhânu and Diti, his own mother, he addressed as a well adapted person in sweet words saying this, o ruler of man.
(20) Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'O mother, mother, o sister in law, o nephews, you do not deserve this lamentation about our hero of enlightenment who in front of the enemy desired the most glorious death. (21) Of all beings in this world living together like travelers amassing about a drinking place, o my sweet mother, are by divine ordinance the ones that were brought together in one place led apart according their own karma. (22) The eternal inexhaustible soul is, free from the tinge of matter, capable of going anywhere; knowing all and transcendent takes that soul up the self of a body that under the influence of the material world gives him various qualities [see B.G. 13: 22]. (23) Just as reflected in water the trees are moving, seems it also in case of an optical illusion to be so that [with heat e.g.] the ground moves. (24) Likewise does the adhering mind, that is confused of the modes of matter, the same way agitate the changeless living entity, o my mother, making the entity despite of being formless believe that it belongs to that bodily form. (25-26) This soul, confounded indeed with his formless existence, falls in love with the body and has beloved ones and enemies, allies and strangers in his karma about the material affair. Faced with births and dying, lamenting different ways and lacking in discrimination as to what the scriptures say, is he full of anxiety and forgetful about the right discrimination. (27) Concerning this one often recites an ancient story about Yamarâja in discussion with the friends of a deceased one. Listen closely. (28) Once there was a king in Us'înara known as Suyajña who was killed by his enemies in a war. His kinsmen sat around him. (29-31) With his jeweled armor scattered here and there and his ornaments and garlands fallen down, lay he there in his blood pierced by the arrows through his heart. With his hair loose and his eyes obscured, had he of anger bitten lips, was his lotus face covered with dust and lay his arms and weapons cut off on the battlefield. When the queens ascertained that the master of Us'înara thus hacked up by providence had been killed, were they in tears and pounded they their breast constantly with their hands, crying over and over again 'O, husband', falling down at his feet. (32) Wailing out aloud for their beloved husband moistened they the lotusfeet with the tears red of the kunkum of their breasts and with their ornaments and hair loosened lamented they heart-rending, sobbing pitiably:
(33) 'Alas by the merciless providence o Lord of us, have you, o beloved one, been taken away beyond the range of our sight; the state and the inhabitants of Us'înara you formerly provided their livelihood, but now that you're finished are you the cause of an increase in their lamentation. (34) You were such a grateful husband to us o King, how can we and your retinue live without you; you who art our best friend, tell us where those, who were of service at your lotus feet, have to follow you now you've left us.' (35) The queens thus lamenting had taken the dead husband on their lap, not wishing the corpse to be buried. In the meantime was the sun setting in the west. (36) Hearing the kith and kin of the ruler lamenting so loudly came Yamarâja in person in the form of a boy to them and spoke he.
(37) S'rî Yamarâja said: 'How regretful to see this bewilderment of these elderly people. Don't they see the law of nature ruling every day? To the same nature as to where this man returned will they themselves return, nevertheless they meaninglessly weep! [compare B.G. 2: 28]. (38) We, alas, think that, because we at present are without the protection of our parents, we thus, weak as we are, don't have to worry that we'd be eaten by the predators, supposing that He who has protected us in the womb would also protect us thereafter. (39) O poor women, the Supreme Controller by His own will creates all of this, while He Himself remains the same, and it is Him who no doubt also maintains and destroys; all that moves and does not move, is, so one says, the plaything of the Lord who at all times is able to give protection or to annihilate. (40) Something lost in the street can, protected by destiny, be preserved despite of the fact that one stays home, or just the same, God willing, be lost; despite of being unprotected can one under His protection remain alive whether one is at home or in the forest, but this one struck down did, well protected, not survive. (41) All that are embodied have their own type of birth according their karma and disappear also in due course of time therefrom; but all this does not apply to the soul, even though he, situated within this material world, in various forms is bound to her different modes. (42) This body of the person born of ignorance is just as separate from him as the material of a house is separate from its indweller; the same way is man separate from the body in which he with water, earth and fire took birth, and which, transforming in time, is vanquished again. (43) Just as fire in wood is observed separately, just as the air within the body has its separate position, just as the all pervading ether stays with itself, so too stands the living entity apart from its material encasement with its modes. (44) [The body of] this one [called] Suyajña is there right before you and you, o foolish people, now cry for him, but he who heard and spoke with it in this world, could never be seen by you! (45) Although residing within this body is the great ruler of the body, the life air, not the listener, nor the speaker; the soul stands apart from him, the life air, that is locked up within the body with all its sense organs. (46) The soul in control achieves and gives up again high and low-class bodies that are characterized by the five elements, the senses and the mind, and in doing so differs he [as the so-called linga, the subtle body] by dint of his own spiritual potency indeed from that what he assumes [see also 4.29]. (47) As long as one is of fruitive activity is one covered by the subtle body [consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego]; from that bondage is there the reversal [of the control from the soul to the one by the body] and the misery which follows the being identified with the illusory of matter [B.G. 8: 6]. (48) Just like with the seeing and talking in a daydream is it useless to cling to the factual of the modes of nature: everything that the senses produce in a dream is false. (49) It is for this reason that having the eternal as well as the temporal in this world is something that is not lamented by those who are of knowledge, otherwise, as you'll understand, wouldn't it be possible to deal with those who do like to sob over things [see also B.G. 2: 11]. (50) Some hunter in the forest who was directed to decimate the number of birds, spread a net and luring with food here and there he captured them. (51) He saw there a pair of kulinga birds foraging and as the hunter allured the female bird was it killed by surprise. (52) O queens, the male seeing how the female bird caught in the ropes of the net was seized, was very aggrieved and not knowing what to do began the poor thing out of affection to lament for its mate: (53) 'Alas how cruel providence is, the Almighty of Mercy, to my wife; how awkward, what else can I do but lament over the poor one? (54) As He likes He may take my life too, what, for God, is the use of my half of the body really, what a poor life it is to suffer that pain for a lifetime! (55) How unfortunate are my babies waiting for their mother in their nest. How can I without the mother maintain the young that can't fly as yet?' (56) With the bird with wet eyes thus very sad lamenting at a distance over the loss of his beloved, managed the relentless hunter to sneak upon him and take him down by piercing him with an arrow.
(57) And so, o ignorant ones, is it with you not facing the finality of your existence; lamenting over your husband won't bring him back, not even in a hundred years.'
(58) S'rî Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'The boy thus expounding philosophically astounded the hearts of all the relatives and they thought everything that the eye could meet was just temporary [see also B.G. 2: 18]. (59) Yamarâja in this form having given instruction then disappeared, whereupon the relatives of King Suyajña did what needed to be done for the funeral. (60) So what would there for you be to lament about? Whether it belongs to you or to someone else, whether it concerns yourself or someone else, in this material world is the idea one has of oneself and of others the result of being preoccupied with the body in combination with a lack of knowledge about that what is embodied.'
(61) S'rî Nârada said: 'Diti and [Rushâbhânu,] the wife of the deceased brother, hearing the speech of the king of the Daityas promptly gave up their great bereavement and engaged their hearts in the real philosophy of life.'
Hiranyakas'ipu's Plan to Become Immortal
(1) S'rî Nârada said: 'Hiranyakas'ipu, o King, desired to become unconquerable, free from old age and immortal himself, the only king with no rivals or opponents. (2) In a valley at Mandara Hill he performed a most difficult austerity raising his arms upwards staring into the sky, standing with the big toes of his feet on the ground. (3) Emanating from the hair on his head there was a light bright as a supernova and by the beams were all the gods in their practices of penance driven back to their own places. (4) Generated by his severe penance with smoke spreading sidewards, upwards and downwards everywhere, heated it all the worlds. (5) The rivers and oceans were in turmoil, the islands and mountains and the earth shook and the stars with their planets fell with all the ten directions ablaze. (6) Scorched therefrom gave the demigods their residences up and went they to Lord Brahmâ's place to submit to their leader: 'O Master of the Universe from the penance of the daitya king are we all afflicted and no longer capable of keeping our positions in heaven. (7) Please, if you think it's right, we would like to see the end of this, o Great One, before all obedient to the worship of you o Chief of All are lost. (8) Take notice of this intention of him executing the so very difficult austerity; what wouldn't be known to you - but nevertheless we would like to submit this: (9-10) 'Lord Brahmâ, who by austerity absorbed in yoga created the moving and unmoving [see 3.8], has his throne in all the worlds high and low and thus will I by dint of an even more severe penance absorbed in yoga, from the eternality of time and the soul, achieve just as much for myself. (11) I shall by my strength turn this world upside down reinstating what is now called inappropriate; what is the use of all those other practices of the followers of Vishnu, in the end they'll all be vanquished.' (12) This way so we learned was his determination from within his excessive penance; please take for your own sake as soon as possible the necessary steps, o master of the three worlds. (13) It is your position to be the supreme master in the universe for the better and exalted of the twice born and the cows, the salvation and opulence, the welfare and the victory.
(14) Thus informed by the godly went the most powerful one born from the lotus, o King, in the company of Bhrigu, Daksha and others to the place of penance of the daitya lord. (15-16) Covered by an anthill, grass and bamboo, with his fat, skin, flesh and blood eaten away by the ants, could he not be spotted, but he who rides the swan smiled with wonder when he saw how by his penance the heating of all the worlds was being covered like the sun is by clouds. (17) S'rî Brahmâ said: 'Please come forward, come forward, o son of Kas'yapa, all good fortune to you so perfect in your penance, I, the granter of boons have come, let what you desire from me be my blessing. (18) I've personally seen how great your power of endurance is and how wonderful it is that someone whose body is eaten away by worms and ants has managed to keep his life-air within his bones. (19) There was nothing like it performed by the sages before you, nor will anyone else do so hereafter; who indeed without taking water can sustain his life-air for a hundred celestial years [36.000 years]? (20) O son of Diti, by your resolve to perform a penance that is even for the greatest of saints very hard, have I been conquered by you. (21) For this I shall give you all benedictions, o best of the Asuras, the audience of someone destined to die like you with an immortal like me will not be fruitless.'
(22) S'rî Nârada said: 'Thus speaking did the original godhead and first living being of the universe sprinkle divine, allpotent and infallible water from his kamandalu [waterpot] over the by the ants eaten body. (23) From that was he, from his anthill and bamboos, fully restored to mind, senses and strength in all his limbs; he arose, like fire springing from fire wood, with a young body as strong as a thunderbolt that had a luster of molten gold. (24) When he saw the god right before him in the sky on his swan carrier offered he, very pleased to meet Lord Brahmâ, with his head to the ground his obeisances [compare B.G. 9: 23-24 and 2.3: 10 ]. (25) Rising to his feet with his own eyes seeing the Almighty began he, overwhelmed by jubilation, with tears in his eyes and his hair standing on end with folded hands and a faltering voice humbly to pray. (26-27) S'rî Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'At the end of his day when he under the influence of time is covered by the dense darkness of ignorance, is by the self-effulgence of the rays of his body this cosmic creation manifested. This world is by himself and conducted by the three modes of rajas, sattva and tamas [passion, goodness and ignorance], created, maintained and annihilated. My respectful obeisances unto that transcendental and Supreme Lord. (28) My reverential homage unto the original living being, the seed of creation, knowledge and wisdom; unto the deity of the life force, the senses, the mind and the intelligence, who through his works realized the manifestation. (29) You are the factual control of the moving beings and the immobile entities; by the life force are you the source of all activities and the master mind and source of insight of all alive; the great master of the knowing and acting senses you are, the controller of all desire, the material elements and their qualities [compare B.G. 7: 7 ]. (30) By your body of the three Vedas you spread the seven kinds of rituals [beginning from the agnishthoma-yajña] of the four kinds of priests [known as hotâ, adhvaryu, brahma and udgâtâ] and the knowledge required; you are the one soul of all living entities without a beginning and an end; the supreme inspirator and the True Self within. (31) Without being affected by it yourself are you verily the Time ever wakeful, that reduces the duration of life of all beings with each of its segments; of this material world are you the Great Self and Supreme Controller unborn as well as the essential cause of life. (32) Nothing exists separate from you, whether it is higher evolved or even lower, moving or not-moving, while the knowledge in all its divisions makes up the different features of your body; you are the one greater than the greatest, transcendental to the three modes, who keeps the universe in his abdomen. (33) Situated in your abode unseen you enjoy, as the Supreme One, the Soul and oldest person the manifested, o Almighty, this cosmic manifestation that is the external of you from which we have the senses, the life-air, the mind and the qualities. (34) By this unlimited, unimaginable form of you there is the totality of this aggregate expanded with its material and spiritual potency; unto him thus endowed, unto him that Supreme Master of God, I offer my obeisances.
(35) If you are willing to give me the boon of my desire, o granter of all benedictions, then, o my Lord, let it be so that from none of the beings created by you I will meet death. (36) Not at home nor outside, not during the day nor at night, nor from any other god even or by any known weapon, nor on the ground nor in the sky may I die, nor from any human or animal. (37-38) Lifeless things nor living entities, demigod nor demon and the great serpents either may kill me; I must have no rivals, have the supremacy in battle and the rule over all embodied including the deities of all planets; mine must be the glory equal to yours and never may the powers acquired by yogic penance be defeated.'
Hiranyakas'ipu Terrorizes the Universe
(1) S'rî Nârada said: 'Lord Brahmâ who sees everywhere, thus being solicited then, pleased by Hiranyakas'ipu's austerities, granted him the benedictions that are so rarely achieved. (2) Lord Brahmâ said: 'My son, all the boons you asked for are very rarely by men obtained from me, but despite of the fact that these blessings are normally not available, I will award them to you, my best.'
(3) Thereupon departed the mighty Lord, whose grace knows no faults, being worshiped by the most exalted Asura as the Almighty One praised by all rulers of manhood. (4) The Daitya who thus obtained his desired boon and had acquired a body with a golden luster, maintained a constant contemplation of hatred against the Lord who had killed his brother. (5-7) He, the greatest Asura, conquering all places high, low and middle in all directions, brought under his control the masters of all worlds: god, demon and man, the kings, the indwellers of heaven, the reciters of the verses and the serpentine, the ones of perfection, of culture and knowledge, the saints, the leading forefathers, the founding fathers, the evil spirits, the wild men and the madmen and the dead and the ghosts and their leaders; as the conqueror of the world he usurped the power of rule of all authorities everywhere. (8) In the paradise of the godly remaining in the riches of all opulence, lived he in the highest world, in the palace of the king of heaven as designed by Vis'vakarmâ the great asura architect himself; in control of all the wealth of the world lived he in the abode of Lakshmî. (9-12) There the steps were of coral, the floors of emerald, the walls of crystal and the rows of pillars of vaidûrya stone. Also were there the most wonderful canopies and seats bedecked with rubies and was the bedding as white as the foam of milk with pearls on its borders. In the quarters, left and right, adorned with jewels and gems, made the celestial ladies sweet sounds with their jingling ankle bells and showed they their nice teeth to their beautiful faces. In that royal residence with the greatest might and mind ruling with a most severe oppression enjoyed the dictator, having everyone under his control, the worship by the godly entourage at his feet. (13) He, o best one, the harbor of all austerity, yoga, strength and good sense, who, except for by the three principal deities, with all glory was honored with presentations from the hands of all the important men, was in reality intoxicated by strong scented wines to which he rolled his eyes red as copper. (14) On the seat of Indra being glorified by Vis'vâvasu, Tumburu [the greatest Gandharvas] and also by me, were time and again prayers offered by all the singers and girls of heaven, the perfected, the saints and the ones of knowledge, o son of Pându. (15) And he, factually being worshiped with gifts in abundance by all classes and agegroups, reserved in the exercise of his power every portion of the oblations for himself. (16) As if she was the cow of plenty herself, yielded the earth under his rule on all continents spontaneously crops in a great abundance, while in the sky all the wonders of the universe could be observed. (17) The seas and oceans of salt and sweet water, wine, ghee, cane-juice, yogurt and milk, and their wives the rivers as well, carried all kinds of precious stones in their waves. (18) The valleys between the mountains and hills were his pleasure grounds offering throughout all seasons all the good of plant and tree; he alone stood for all the different qualities of all the different gods. (19) He, thus having conquered all directions as the one and only ruler enjoying all the pleasures one can think of, was not satisfied though being out of control with his senses. (20) Intoxicated in his great pride over his opulence thus passed a long period of living in offense with the scriptures and was the curse of the brahmin met [see also B.G. 16: 23-24].
(21) Disturbed by his painful rebuke was there for all the worlds and their leaders no place were they were safe and thus approached they the Infallible One to seek shelter with Him [compare B.G. 5.: 29]. (22-23) To that they prayed: 'Let there be our obeisances in that direction where the Supersoul of Hari, the Supreme Controller is found and from where, approaching Him, the peaceful, renounced and pure never return.' With their minds controlled that way they steadied and purified their intelligence, feeding on air only in worshiping the Master of the Senses without taking to sleep.
(24) To them all then appeared a loudly resonating voice without a form that, driving away their fear, stirred the saintly in all their pores: (25-26) 'Do not fear, o best of learning, may there be all good fortune for you. The presence of Me indeed is there for all living beings to attain all the good. The nefarious activities of this great demon are known to Me and I shall put an end to them, just await that time. (27) When one is averse to the gods, the Vedas, the cows, the brahmins, the saints, the regulative principles and to Me, will one indeed soon be vanquished. (28) When he is of violence unto his peace loving son who has no enemies, that great soul, Prahlâda, shall I kill him, whatever the blessings he has received [see also 3.25: 21].'
(29) S'rî Nârada said: 'Thus addressed by the spiritual master of all, turned the godly back to their places offering Him their obeisances, in their hearts relieved of all their anxieties and considered they the Asura as good as killed [2.3: 10]. (30) Of him, the daitya king there were four most qualified sons of whom the one named Prahlâda was the greatest with all the qualities of a great devotee [see 5.18: 12]. (31-32) As a good brahmin being of full control over the senses and the mind, had he all the talent of understanding the Absolute of the Truth. Like the Supersoul was he the beloved, best friend of all living beings, like a menial servant obeyed he always at the feet of the great, like a father he was kind to the poor, like a brother was he to his equals, he was full of affection for the spiritual masters whom he held as high as the Supreme Controller Himself; he was of education, purpose, beauty, nobility and completely free from arrogance and impudence [compare B.G. 12: 13-19 and B.G. 18: 42]. (33) Even though he was born from an asura was he in the midst of danger of an unperturbed consciousness and had he no desire whatsoever to what is heard and what is seen [with the Vedic knowledge]; things of the modes of matter he considered insubstantial and controlling the senses and life force, were the lusts of his body and his mind always quieted; he was completely void of the demoniac nature. (34) The qualities of him are, like those found in the Supreme Lord our Controller, by the advanced always glorified as being the greatest, o King, and not so much the ones one is so confused about today [in Kali-yuga]. (35) In gatherings for the sake of the saintly would even the godly of enmity [with the asuric], o ruler of man, take him for an example; then why shouldn't you or others? (36) The greatness of the countless qualities of him who is known for his natural attachment to Vâsudeva, the Supreme Lord, defies all description. (37) As a boy having forsaken all child play seemed he to be listless, fully absorbed with his mind in the world of Krishna as he was; completely of that attraction was he not interested in the ways of the world. (38) As he sat and walked, ate and lied down, drank or talked, was he, embraced by Govinda, impervious to anything that went on outside of it. (39) Sometimes he cried thinking of Vaikunthha, sometimes he laughed to the follies of the mind and sometimes chanted he thinking of Him gladly, very loud. (40) Sometimes he exclaimed anxiously, sometimes without shame he danced and sometimes did he, lost in thoughts about Him, imitate Him thinking to be Him. (41) At times with his hair standing on end and his half closed eyes filled with tears, fell he completely silent rapt with joy being caught in His loving association of transcendental bliss. (42) He by his constant service to the lotus feet as glorified in the hymns, obtained of expanding on the association with the liberated the highest ecstasy, bestowing constantly from the spiritual soul peace upon the ones poor in spirit and association. (43) Unto him that exalted and most fortunate broad minded devotee, o King, who was his own son, committed Hiranyakas'ipu the greatest sin.'
(44) S'rî Yudhishthhira said: 'O saint of God vowed to the best, we would like to know from you the following: how could the father give his own son, such a saint of purity and goodness, any trouble? (45) Sons going against the will of their fathers are chastised out of love. For the sake of their education, they can't be punished like an enemy, can they? (46) Please dissipate the doubts we have, o brahmin, about this father being so mean in hating to the point of death his own so very obedient son, a great devotee of the sort that honors his father as his guru, o master.'
Prahlâda Mahârâja, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakas'ipu
(1) S'rî Nârada said: 'To serve as their priest was by the Asuras the mightiest around, S'ukrâcârya ['the seminal teacher'], chosen. His two sons Shanda and Amarka lived near the residence of the daitya king. (2) The king sent the boy Prahlâda, well known with the moral code, to them to receive, together with other asura children, instruction from the textbooks of material knowledge. (3) Hearing and repeating what the teachers instructed on what all should be considered the good and bad of oneself and others, he considered it a case of bad philosophy. (4) When once the asura ruler placed his son on his lap, o son of Pându, inquired he: 'Tell me my son, what do you yourself think would be the best?'
(5) S'rî Prahlâda ['the joy of understanding'] said: 'O holiest excellency of the Asuras, I think that all those who are embodied, because of taking the temporary for real, have an intelligence that is always full of anxieties; giving up that cloaking of the soul, that household concern which is nothing but a blind well, may one be sure to go to the forest and seek refuge with the Lord.'
(6) S'rî Nârada said: 'The Daitya hearing how his son full faith with his words stood at the side of the enemy, laughed at the intelligence of the small boy and assumed he was polluted by the wrong spirit: (7) 'Let this little boy better be protected at school so that his intelligence stays free from the influence of Vishnu minded brahmins who present themselves differently from what they are.'
(8) Brought back to the place [the guru-kula], called the daitya priests for Prahlâda and questioned they him, comforting him with a soft voice and pleasant words. (9) 'Dear child, Prahlâda, all fortune to you, tell us the truth and do not lie, which of the other children have given you this wrong way of thinking? (10) Tell us, did this opposing vision originate from evildoers or was it something of yourself; we, all of your teachers are eager to hear about this, o best one of the family.'
(11) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'This reasoning about others in terms of good and bad is something belonging to people in the material conception of life; thinking about what one sees is one simply bewildered by the outer that is created by Him, the Supreme Lord whom I prove my respect [see also B.G. 5: 18]. (12) When He is pleased with the person is the animal notion of this timebound way of discriminating between the 'I' of someone else and the 'I' of oneself destroyed. (13) He, this Supersoul is most difficult to ascertain for those whose intelligence and service with the 'I' and 'Thou' vision is spoilt; they, the ones of Brahmâ [here: the false teachers], of whom the followers on the vedic path are bewildered, have indeed placed my intelligence in opposition. (14) O brahmins, just as iron from itself moves to the proximity of a magnet is similarly my consciousness simply bend to the will of the cakra in His hand [see e.g. 5.14: 29].'
(15) S'rî Nârada said: 'After saying all this to the brahmins fell the great mind silent and was he harshly chastised by the servants of the king who, thinking nothing of it, were very angry: (16) 'Oh get me a stick for him, this cinder of the dynasty, who with his corrupted intelligence is defaming us; to him is the fourth diplomatic option of the danda [the rod] the solution called for [after dâna, legally settled charity; sâma, pacification and bheda, dividing posts]. (17) In the sandalwood forest of the Daityas is this boy born a thorn tree that serves as a handle to the ax that is Vishnu cutting us by the roots!'
(18) This way by various means threatening him in words and deeds, instructed they Prahlâda in what the scriptures offered concerning the [first] three goals of life [the purusârthas of dharma, artha and kâma]. (19) After his teachers had taught him all there was to be known about the four principles of diplomacy was he, bathed and ornamented by his mother, taken to the daitya ruler. (20) The boy fallen at his feet was by the Asura encouraged with blessings and from embracing him for a long time with his two arms, derived he a great joy. (21) Putting him on his lap smelled he his head and wetted he him with the water of his tears, and with a smile on his face said he the following, o Yudhishthhira.
(22) Hiranyakas'ipu said. 'Now tell me Prahlâda my son, now you're so well taught, something nice about all that you, o love of my life, have been learning all this time from your teachers.'
(23-24) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'Hearing, singing, remembering Vishnu, attending to the feet, offering worship and prayers, becoming a servant, being a friend and to surrender one's soul are of all the people who are of sacrifice the nine ways making up the bhakti that should be performed unto the Supreme Lord of Vishnu; the complete of that I consider the topmost of learning.'
(25) Hearing his son saying this told Hiranyakas'ipu, with lips trembling of anger, thereupon the son of the guru [who was Prahlâda's teacher] the following: (26) 'You degraded brahmin! What is this, are you siding with the enemy so mischievously teaching this nonsense, not taking proper care of my boy, you fool! (27) Really, there are a lot of dishonest people in this world, who, in cheating their friends, dress up for appearances; in the course of time can one of them observe the sin manifesting itself like a disease does with people living wrong.'
(28) The son of the guru said: 'This what your son says is not what I taught him, nor did anyone else teach him that, o enemy of Indra; this is his natural inclination, o King, don't be angry with us about that obvious mistake of him.'
(29) S'rî Nârada said: 'Thus answered by the teacher addressed the Asura his son a second time: 'If you haven't heard it from the mouth of your teacher, then from where came this bad inclination, you fallen one?'
(30) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'Persons attached to their material life develop, because they fail to control their senses in their chewing the chewed again and again, a life that leads to hell; never are they inclined towards Krishna [see B.G. 4: 4-5] because others say so or out of their own understanding, nor will they of a combination of the two [see also B.G. 2: 44]. (31) They who are after the value of the external world have in their ambitions really no idea of the goal of their lives, Vishnu; although they are led are they, like blind men led by the blind, heavily bound in ropes to the dictates of material nature. (32) As long as the consciousness of these people is not in touch with the Feet of Renown, as long as they do not accept the consecration by the rule [or dust] of the feet of those who are free from the bondage, is the disappearance of the unwanted, that is the purpose of all the great, out of their reach.'
(33) Thus having spoken stopped the son. Hiranyakas'ipu blind of anger to the selfrealization, threw him from his lap on the ground. (34) Overpowered by indignation said he angered with bloodshot eyes: 'Men, kill him immediately, take this one away to die! (35) This one here is the murderer of my brother, he, this lowest one giving up his own well-wishers, is like a servant to the feet of Vishnu, the same who has killed his uncle. (36) And to Vishnu he's no good either being only five of age and this untrustworthy having given up on the hard to forsake love of his father and mother. (37) Even stemming from others is a child as beneficial as a medicinal herb coming from elsewhere; but a son born from oneself who is ill-willing should just like a diseased limb be cut off as being deleterious to the well-being of the body that by that removal may live happily. (38) By all means must he be killed, he who eating, lying down and sitting with us, posing as a friend is as much an enemy to us as the uncontrollable senses are to a sage.'
(39-40) The henchmen having taken in all their leader had to say then fearfully roared with the sharpest tridents in their hands, their frightening teeth and faces and their red hairs and mustaches: 'Let's cut him to pieces' and attacked Prahlâda, sitting there silently, with their lances on his tender parts. (41) On him whose mind was absorbed in the Supreme Absolute of the Fortunate One, the Soul of Each that is not perceivable by the senses, had they no effect just as good deeds have no effect with an undeserving person. (42) O Yudhishthhira, the daitya ruler daunted upon seeing how the attempts ran futile, devised with determination for a variety of ways to kill him. (43-44) Crushing him with an elephant, attacking with the king's poisonous snakes, with spells of doom, throwing him from heights, conjuring tricks, imprisoning him, administering venom and subjecting him to starvation, cold, wind, fire and water and with piling rocks upon him, was the demon unable to put his son, the sinless one, to death and because he in that long standing effort had no success, was he in great anxiety:
(45) 'From the many of these unholy expressions and different ways devised to kill him, from all these treacheries and abominations he found relief by his own strength! (46) So near to me and only a child really, he is nevertheless rooted in complete fearlessness; just like a mistreated dog that always keeps its tail curved, will he never forget the wrong I did to him. (47) Definitely will this unlimited glory and immortality of his lack of fear for whatever, from wherever he was opposed, be the cause of my death sooner or later.'
(48) Thus ruminating face downward he lost a great deal of his splendor. Shanda and Amarka, the two sons of the preceptor, then spoke secretively to him. (49) 'Conquered by you alone do all the leaders of the three worlds tremble when you lift your eyebrows; you have nothing to fear from him o master, nor do we see the point really of worrying about the qualities and faults of this or that child. (50) Just keep him bound in the ropes of Varuna until our guru S'ukrâcârya returns, so that he, afraid, may not run off; helped by the more experienced will the intelligence be found when his person grows older.'
(51) This way being advised he took heed of what the sons of the spiritual master had told him and thus was Prahlâda practically taught what the civil virtues of kings are. (52) The formal duty, the economy and the regulation of desire were time and again systematically laid out before Prahlâda o King, who was as humble as he was submissive [compare B.G. 14: 20 & 26]. (53) What the teachers related to him about the three paths - the education he received from people who were delving in a prescribed duality, he considered not a really good instruction at all [compare 6.3: 20-25]. (54) When the teachers were busy with their own civil duties took the boys of the same age there the opportunity to call for him. (55) He then, the great intelligence, addressed them in pleasing words telling them smilingly and learned how merciful it is to stay with God. (56-57) They, the boys giving up their playthings, indeed all in awe for his words, had their minds cleared from the instructions and the modeling from those [teachers] who took pleasure in talks of duality. They sat around him o king of rule, with their hearts and eyes freed now fixed on him who was speaking compassionately as a real friend and a great example of an Asura in devotion.
Prahlâda Instructs His Asura Schoolmates
(1) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'From one's childhood on should a person of intelligence practice the dharma of devotional service unto the Lord [as described in 7.5: 23-24]; to be born in this human life is a temporary thing rarely achieved that is suffused with meaning. (2) That way [of meaning] indeed is of a living being here the approaching of the feet of Vishnu because this concerns the dearest and best one of all alive, the Master of the Soul [see also 3.25: 38 and B.G. 5.: 29,]. (3) By divine ordinance is happiness to the sensual, o Daityas, everywhere available to all entities united with a material body, just as there is the unhappiness without one asking for it. (4) For that there is no need to endeavor, one would only waste one's life, and there is no need either to lust about it; the ultimate goal of life are the lotus feet of Mukunda [the Lord of Liberation]. (5) Therefore should a person of reflection as long as he [from old age] is not of failure, still being stout and strong, be after the real benefit of [Mukunda in] having a material life in a human body. (6) Of the hundred years that every person has for his life is a person in service of his senses indeed wasting half of his time as one sleeps half the day in ignorance being engulfed in darkness. (7) In one's childhood one is naive, as a boy one is playing and thus twenty years do pass and another twenty years pass being unable when one physically is incapacitated of old age. (8) And bewildered by formidable material lusts that can never be satisfied is the one overly attached to family matters madly wasting the remainder of his life. (9) What man is able to free himself who, attached to his household, with his hands and feet is bound by the ropes of affection, and thus is out of control with his senses [see 1.2: 6-7]? (10) Who, thinking really that to make money is more desirable than to live [in devotion and gratitude], would be able to give up that acquiring for which merchant, thief and public servant risk their dear lives? (11-13) How can one give up on associating privately with one's loving wife who is so pleasing; how can one not support with wisdom the family bound by their affection or what person would not be attracted to the prattle of children? With one's sons and married daughters, brothers, sisters and depending parents enshrined in one's heart, with all the household matters of very nice furniture, a good income and all the pets and the groups of servants and maidservants connected with the family, how can one give up; like a silkworm is one greedily occupied by all kinds of activities in desires that can never be satisfied in considering the genitals and tongue the most important; how can such a massive illusion be forsaken? (14) Not for his lifetime does he understand to desist from the maintenance of his family; maddened spoiling the true purpose, at all fronts being distressed the threefold way [see 2.10: 8], has he no regrets about simply enjoying the family. (15) With a mind set on wealth and familiar with the fault of cheating out here for the money, is he nevertheless, after having died, tied to this material world [by Yamarâja taking rebirth again] because he, all too fond of his kin, never in peace with his desires, was on a campaign of stealing in having no control over his senses. (16) Even though one knows about it, o sons of Danu, is one busy with providing the greater family while one at the same time fails to understand one's true self in one's entering the darkness of the, just like animals, being estranged in a "mine" and "thine" conception of life. (17-18) Because never, anyone, wherever or whenever with a poor fund of knowledge will excell in the art of liberating himself from hankering after the lust of being a sexual plaything and from being someone of whose attachment entire families come about, must you, my daitya friends, in this keep yourselves far away from hiding with the demon that is all too addicted to sensual pleasure; instead should one approach Lord Nârâyana, the original godhead, who by the association of the liberated lays out the desired path of liberation. (19) It really doesn't take that much to satisfy the Infallible One, o asura sons, because in this world of all beings so close to the soul each and every respect is already established [compare B.G. 14: 3-4]. (20-23) Within the beings high or low, beginning with simple plantlife up to Brahmâ the foremost being; within the single transformations of the elements as well as with the totality of the material energy; with the modes of nature in a balanced state as also in their perturbation, is He the One and Only of transcendence, indeed the original source that is the Supreme Lord, the Controller who is without decay Himself. By the original of His inner position and by His personal manifestations is He the pervaded to be described and the undifferentiated all-pervading that defies description. He is the entirety pure and whole whose form is full of bliss and knowledge, the Supreme Ruler covered by the illusory energy about whose unlimited opulence one is mistaken by the modes of the creation. (24) Show therefore mercy towards all living entities; with a friendly attitude will the ones of opposition, the Asuras, giving it up to live that way, satisfy the Lord beyond the Senses [see also B.G. 12: 13-20]. (25) When He, the Eternal and Original One, is satisfied is there nothing out of one's reach; what need would there be to those who are thus of service in this world ruled by the modes, to work for a sense of duty [regulating the lusts, the economy and the religion] that follows [the devotion] automatically. Why would we, being above the modes, be of desire when we in defense of His qualities are relishing the essence of the Lord His feet? (26) The three prescribed ways of dharma, kâma and artha that are thus covered, make for the selfrealization, the ceremonies, the logic, the law and order and the different sorts of occupations that I all consider to be the [superficial] truth that is one's lesson; it is the full surrender of oneself to the Supreme Friend that leads to the ultimate personality [compare 1.2: 8]. (27) This knowledge that is without material contamination is most difficult to understand. It was explained by Lord Nârâyana unto the certain friend of all man Nârada for all those who [through him] exclusively are of surrender unto Him, the Supreme Lord; for those who do not claim material possessions, can that understanding be achieved, as their bodies bathed in the dust of the lotus feet. (28) This spiritual knowledge concerning the bhâgavata dharma [the nine of devotional service unto the Lord] was together with its practical use in all its purity formerly explained to me by Nârada who always sees the Lord.'
(29-30) The daitya sons said: 'Prahlâda, a child like you as well as children as us know no other teachers but the two sons of S'ukrâcârya as their controllers. Remaining in the palace it must be difficult to find such superior association; please dispel our doubt o gentle one, on how we may find belief in that.'
What Prahlâda Learned in the Womb
(1) Nârada Muni said [to Yudhishthhira, see 7.1: 13]: 'Thus being questioned by the daitya sons spoke he, the Asura who was a great devotee of the Lord, smiling to them remembering what I had told him. (2) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'When our father left for Mandarâcala to do his austerities, were the godly of a great war effort against the Dânavâs. (3) 'Thanks heaven is because of his own sins the sinner, who was always oppressing everyone, now like a serpent eaten by the ants [see: 7.3: 15-16 ]', so the ones of Indra said. (4-5) Hearing how by their great display of violence one after the other was killed by them, fled the asura leaders in fear in all directions. In their great haste and desire to stay alive they forgot about their wives, children and wealth, homes, relatives, animals and the articles of their households. (6) In the heat of their victory plundered the Suras the king's palace, while Indra to that occasion captured the queen, my mother.
(7) The devarishi who happened to arrive there on the spot saw how she on the road, in great fear crying like a kurarî [an osprey], was led away. (8) He said: 'O King of the Suras, you shouldn't drag this one away, she's innocent, release her right away, o greatest of fortune, she is the chaste wife of someone else!'
(9) Indra said: 'She carries the seed of the sura enemy in her womb, let her remain in our custody until she delivers. With that objective realized I will release her.
(10) Nârada said: 'There is nothing wrong with this child, you should see him as a great devotee, the very best even; he, being such a stout servant, will not find his death by your hand.'
(11) Thus speaking to him, released Indra her out of respect for the devarishi his words, out of respect for someone dear to the Eternal One. In their devotion they circumambulated her and then returned to their heaven. (12) Thereafter took the rishi my mother to his âs'rama reassuring her: 'Stay here my child, until the arrival of your husband.' (13) As he so said lived she thus with the devarishi with nothing to fear from anywhere for as long as the penance of the daitya leader was not completed. (14) For the welfare of the child she was expecting was the faithful woman in her desire to deliver it, there unto Nârada of service with great dedication. (15) The rishi as the man in control gave out of compassion her, in fact the both of us, instructions on the truth of dharma and spiritual knowledge, especially pointing it out to me without a tinge of material interest [compare 1.2: 7]. (16) That all was, indeed because it happened such a long time ago and because of my mothers female disposition, forgotten by her, but I, blessed by the sage, did not and even today has the recollection of it not left me [see also B.G. 9: 32]. (17) You yourselves too can have it from me if you believe in my words; provided a firm faith is the intelligence of the very best there just as well for women and small children as it is there for me [see also B.G. 18: 55]. (18) Like in due course of time from the Controller of all Forms with flowers and fruits the body of a tree can be seen, can with one's body the six conditions be observed [of being born, existing as a person, growing, transforming, dwindling and dying] that one undergoes beginning with one's birth, but that does not apply to the soul [see also B.G. 2: 20]. (19-20) The soul is eternal, does not dwindle, is pure, the individual, the knower of the field, the original foundation, the unchanging, self-illumined, actual cause, pervading all, independent and unmoving. From these twelve symptoms of the soul is a conscious person impelled to give up the false conception of 'I' and 'mine' that originates from the illusion of everything that belongs to having a body [see also 6.4: 24]. (21) Just as gold locked up in the stones, that by the golddiggers in different ways are won in the goldmines, by the experts easily is extracted, can from within the fields of organic bodies [see also B.G. 13: 1-4] likewise by spiritual processes the experts in telling the difference between matter and soul obtain the brahmin goal. (22) The teachers of example speak of eight types of material energy [B.G. 7: 4] to which there are exactly three modes and sixteen modifications [consciousness, the senses of action and perception and the elements, see also 1.3: 1]; it is the individual living entity, the person, that connects all these. (23) The body that moving about and standing alone is but a combination of all of them together is thus of the dual and in this matter is it the [original of the] person that one must look for when one says 'not this, not that' [neti neti], which is the way to give up on what is not the soul. (24) Being in touch with matter and being apart from it are, when they with the mindfulness to the soul are purified by mature discrimination, thus the ones reticent who are of serious analysis with the creation, maintenance and destruction. (25) Of the intelligence there are the waking state, the dreaming, and the deep sleep; the One by whom those various modalities are perceived, that One apart from all, is the Original Person of Transcendence. (26) One should understand the constitutional position of the soul in the out of intelligence [neti neti] refuting of the dividedness produced by the different actions of the three modes of nature which are alike scents that are carried by the air [see also B.G. 3: 42]. (27) This ocean of matter rooting in ignorance that is without factual meaning, is of the living entity the door behind which he is confined by the operating modes of nature, like being caught in a dream.'
(28)' Therefore from the bottom of your heart you must burn the weeds of all karma of being conditioned by the modes of nature, in the yoga realizing the cessation of the stream of consciousness. (29) To that is of the thousands of processes this one, as offered by the supreme of devotion that [through the Lord and the devotee] relates to the Supreme Controller, the one process which, once followed, soon brings the peace [consider also B.G. 18: 66, and the footnote]. (30-31) Properly attend to a guru with faith and devotion, offer all that was gained, be of association with the holy and the devoted and of worship unto the Controller, take heed of the relevant discourses, sing about His qualities and activities, meditate on the feet and observe the rules exercising respect for the deities. (32) Hari, the Supreme Lord is situated in all living beings; being of the highest esteem for all those creatures and for what drives them is one of understanding for the Supreme Controller. (33) Thus having subdued the six symptoms [of sensual weaknesses: lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and jealousy] is the devotional service rendered unto the Controller, Vâsudeva, the Supreme Lord, of which the peace and love is obtained. (34) When hearing about the uncommon activities and might of His exploits and His qualities as evinced by the pastimes of His different appearances, will of great jubilation there be horripilation, tears, a faltering voice and loud aloud chanting, shouting and dancing. (35) Like when one is haunted by a ghost are there sometimes laughs, exclamations, meditative moods, exercises of respect towards other living beings, prolonged heavy breathing and utterances like: 'O Lord, Master of the World, Nârâyana!'; thus is one free from shame absorbed in thoughts about the True Self. (36) This way engaged is one, thus thinking in love about the ultimate, liberated from all obstacles on one's path and is one in one's body and mind harmonized; the so very powerful seed of desire has then been burned by the exercise of bhakti of which one achieves the One Beyond it All [**]. (37) Constantly being in touch with Him, Adhokshaja, is the contaminated mind of an embodied being in this world and the repetitious of its material existence brought to a full stop; the advanced all know of that spiritual heaven of happiness and therefore, from the core of your heart, sing in devotion for your heart's true Controller [see also B.G. 18: 54].
(38) And what would be the problem of that, o asura sons; what would in one's own exercise of always having a place for Him in one's heart, with Him always there as the Soul to one's soul and the Friend Unlimited, all together be the need of providing for all that the sensual pleasure would require [compare 7.6: 19 and B.G. 9: 26]? (39) Wealth, women, one's animals, children and all that, houses, land, elephants, a treasury, all the luxury, all that economy and sense gratification is to the one whose lifespan is but short, the one who inevitably dies, lost in a second; how much pleasure can a thing so temporary bring? (40) Likewise are the higher destinations that are achieved by great sacrifice, all perishable, however more comfortable they might be; they are not free from disturbances and therefore is He of whom one has never seen or heard any fault, with the bhakti as it is explained, the Supreme Ruler to be worshiped for self-realization [see also B.G. 8: 16]. (41) From the material knowledge which is there for the purpose of the many activities in this world, one thinks oneselves highly advanced, but again and again is the unfailing result of a man waging like this to have arrived at the opposite. (42) The determination of the karmi [the person sweating for results] to be happy, to be liberated from misery out here, is an ambition that always leads to the unhappiness that conceals the [lasting] happiness which follows from not craving the money. (43) The desirables one wishes for in the willful actions for which the living being entered the world, result indeed in the physical body that one has, but perishable as it is, is it one's enemy when one tries to leave it for what it is in order to embrace the spirit. (44) What more is there to say, ultimately is one separated from the children, wife, home, wealth and all, the realm, the treasury, the elephant, the ministers and servants and relatives, on which one based one's self-esteem. (45) What is the value of all of this to the soul? Most trivial with the perishable body appear these things to be necessary, but they are useless for the ocean full of the nectar of eternal happiness.
(46) Let it be clear that all that someone in a material body in this world does for his personal benefit, o asura sons, beginning with lusting after sex, with the temporary leads to the heavy suffering that is the result of the workload of one's karma. (47) For the embodied one begins the karma with the body that one acquired as a consequence of the way one acted; because of that karma one acquires another body, and that repetition one indeed owes to one's ignorance. (48) Therefore depends all the regulation of one's income and desires for sense gratification, as well as the religion thereto, on the glorification of the Soul above the soul, the Lord divinely indifferent who is the Controller [of the Time and the karma]. (49) Of all living beings is He the Lord, the original source, the one pulling the strings, the Beloved, who by His different energies has created them in being the Individual Soul of all individual entities together. (50) Whether god or demon, man or ghost or a singer of heaven, in rendering service at Mukunda's feet do we all become equally fulfilled by all of His! (51-52) Being a perfect brahmin, a fine godly person or a saint, o asura descendants, will not suffice for pleasing Mukunda, nor do good conduct or vast learning. Neither will charity or austerity, worship, cleanliness or vows; the Lord is satisfied by unalloyed devotional service, the rest is but outer appearance [see also B.G. 9: 30 and 1.2: 8]. (53) Execute therefore, unto Hari the Supreme Lord the bhakti, o dânavâ sons, for He, omnipresent as the Soul and Controller of all beings alive, is alike one's own self. (54) O Daityas, the ghosts and demons, the women and the laborers, the cowherds, the birds, the animals and all the sinners, without any doubt can all arrive at and be part of the qualities of the Infallible One, of Acyuta [see also B.G. 4: 9]. (55) Of the living entity in this world is the following considered to be the real transcendental self-interest: to care for association in the unalloyed devotion unto Govinda [He as the blessing of the cows] who is found everywhere [see also bhajan 1 and 2].
* To this there is also a significant verse in the S'vetâs'vatara Upanishad 6.23 :
yasya deve parâ bhaktir
yathâ deve tathâ gurau
tasyaite kathitâ hy arthâh
prakâs'ante mahâtmanah
"Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed."** : S'rîla Madhvâcârya writes as follows:
tad-bhâva-bhâvah tad yathâ svarûpam bhaktih
kecid bhaktâ vinrityanti gâyanti ca yathepsitam
kecit tushnîm japanty eva kecit s'obhaya-kârinah
'The ecstatic condition of devotional service was completely exhibited by S'rî Caitanya Mahâprabhu, who sometimes danced, sometimes cried, sometimes sang, sometimes remained silent, and sometimes chanted the holy name of the Lord. That is perfect spiritual existence.'
Lord Nrisimhadeva Slays the King of the Demons
(1) Nârada Muni said [to Yudhishthhira]: 'Having heard his explanations accepted thereupon all the attending daitya sons his words because of their profundity and rejected they what their teachers taught them. (2) When the two sons of the guru [S'ukrâcârya's sons Shanda and Amarka] realized how the intelligence was fixed on the one subject matter, contacted they in fear the king to submit to him what was going on. (3-4) All over his body trembling of anger and with a mind determined to kill his son he rebuked Prahlâda, who shouldn't really be blamed, thereto with the harshest words staring at him in fury about his offenses. He so very mild and of restraint had folded his hands with him before him who was hissing like a vicious snake trampled by foot.
(5) Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'O you impudence, utter stupidity, you intriguer of the family, you outcast, you obstinate one wide of my rule, today I'll take you to Yamarâja's. (6) When I am angry do all in the three worlds and their leaders tremble of me; by what power do you so fearlessly overstep my rule, you idiot?' [compare B.G. 9: 31].
(7) Prahlâda said: 'He indeed, the Strength of the Strong is not just mine or yours, o King; He is also the exalted of all others subordinate who move or do not move around, and who He, beginning with Lord Brahmâ, has brought under His control. (8) He the controller, the time-factor, is the unique Lord who is the one strength of mind and life, the steady of one's physical power and senses; He, the Real of the self, is by all His potencies indeed the Supreme One Master of the natural modes who creates, maintains and winds up again the entire universe. (9) Just give up the asura ways. You, of yourself, be equalminded, on the path of error there is no other enemy but the mind that ran out of control, a problem for which the unlimited Lord is the best remedy. (10) Formerly there were plunderers who not in control with the six enemies [the mind and the five senses] stole away everything. They considered themselves as people who had conquered the ten directions, but where are those enemies created from one's own illusion with the saint who is equipoised towards all embodied beings?'
(11) S'rî Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'Apparently do you, boasting so limitless, want to die; clearly do the words of people who are about to die become nonsensical, you stupid rascal. (12) O unfortunate one, the one you describe besides me as the controller of the universe, where is He to be found? If He is omnipresent, then why don't I see Him in this pillar before me? [see also B.G. 7: 25] (13) Let Him, that Lord you desired as your protector, now protect you as I am going to sever the head from the body of someone like you, speaking such nonsense.'
(14) Thus with a stream of abuses enraged chastising his son, that great devotee, struck Hiranyakas'ipu, rising from his throne and taking up his sword, with his hard fist a column. (15) At that very time could from within the column a most fearful sound be heard as if the covering of the universe cracked open. That sound, reaching as far as the place where the godly of Lord Brahmâ resided, my dearest, made them believe that the destruction of their abodes was at hand. (16) He who in his display of power wanted to kill his son, hearing the tumultuous sound one had never heard before, stood with the assembly present amazed about the fact that one couldn't determine its origin, and thus were all the ones in power seized by fear. (17) To prove the words true spoken in defense of His omnipresence of pervading each and every thing, could of Him a most wonderful form be seen taking shape in a pillar in the middle of the assembly hall; it was not an animal nor a man. (18) The king, studying it from all sides, saw how a living being emerged from the middle of the pillar, and not being able to ascertain whether it was an animal or a human being said he in wonder: 'What is this form of half a man and half the king of the animals?'
(19-22) As he was contemplating the miracle that took place in front of him, appeared the extraordinary, most frightening form of Nrisimhadev. He had flashing eyes like molten gold and deadly teeth to a face extending in manes. He waved His tongue like a sword sharp as a razor, looking with a dreadful frown. His ears stood straight up and His wide open mouth and nostrils most amazingly gaping like a mountain cave, covered the sky. His body was short and fat with a broad neck and chest over a small waist. Like the rays of the moon was His body covered with whitish hairs and hundreds of arms stretched in all directions with hard to challenge fatal nails for weapons in combination with all His personal weapons. Faced with that excellence fled the Daityas and Dânavas away. (23) 'I guess this is what the Lord so full of mystical potency is trying in order to get me killed, but what's the use?' so Hiranyakas'ipu murmured to himself, and taking up his weapon threw the Daitya himself like an elephant forward attacking the loudly roaring Lord Nrisimha.
(24) As invisible as an insect fallen into a fire, disappeared he, the Asura, in the effulgence of Nrisimha; a thing which at the time was not so astonishing at all considering the fact that He from within the effulgence of His own goodness formerly had swallowed all the darkness of creation. (25) Thereafter attacking struck the greatest of the demons in fury Lord Nrisimhadev with his club, showing his prowess in moving Him with great force by that club, but the Lord who also had a club, seized him just like the son of Târkshya [Garuda] would capture a great snake. (26) When the Asura slipped from His hands while He was playing with him the way Garuda plays with a snake, thought the godly and the rulers of heaven whose places he had taken, from behind the clouds that to be a bad turn of events, o son of Bharata. (27) Thinking that because of letting him go He was frightened by his display of manliness, attacked the greatest of the demons, after a pause in the battle taking up his sword and shield, with great force Nrisimhadeva again. (28) With him moving fast as a hawk, with his moonspotted shield and sword maneuvering up and down not to offer any opportunity, made the Lord a very shrill, loud sound of laughter that was so frightening that he, with his eyes closed, was captured by the Greatest of all Speed. (29) In protest with his limbs wrestling to get away placed the Lord him, whose skin couldn't even be cut by Indra's thunderbolt, like a snake or mouse over the edge of His thigh and pierced He him with His nails as easy as Garuda does seizing a viper. (30) He with His most fearful eyes full of anger, was difficult to behold. With His mouth wide open licking the edges with His tongue and with His manes and face smeared red with traces of blood, wore He the intestines like a garland around His neck as if He was a lion that just has killed an elephant. (31) The heart was by Him with His pointed nails ripped out completely and thrown aside, and the thousands of followers who with their weapons raised attended to their leader He all killed with His nails and the other weapons in His countless hands. (32) Shaking His manes He scattered the clouds and with His glaring glance He outshone the luminaries; the waters and oceans struck by His breathing swirled in perturbation and frightened of His roar cried the elephants that guarded the quarters. (33) With Him tossing His hair slipped the celestial chariots crowding in the sky from their place, the earth shook under the heavy weight of His feet, His intolerable force moved the mountains and hills and His effulgence outshone everything else in the ten directions of the sky.
(34) Thereafter had He, in the assembly hall seated on the highest seat of man with a most fearsome, terrible countenance, no one to challenge Him nor anyone to worship Him. (35) But upon hearing how he, the Daitya that was the headache of the three worlds, in the battle had been killed by the Lord, were there exclamations of joy, blossoming faces and showered the wives of the demigods incessantly a rain of flowers. (36) At that time was there an overcast formed by all the celestial chariots of the demigods desirous to attend and were drums and kettle drums sounded and sang and danced the greatest singers and angels of heaven. (37-39) There assembled all the godly, Brahmâ, Indra and S'iva, the sages, the ancestors, the perfected, the scientific experts, and the great serpent[ ego]s; the founding fathers came, the leaders of mankind, the residents of heaven and the best of the angels just as did the venerable ones, the keepers of the wealth and the monkey-like, o my best. So came also the goblins [the comedians, the bards], the ones of superpower and they who were Vishnu's personal associates like Sunanda and Kumuda. With their hands folded before their heads to offer worship they each approached Him who had appeared as half a man, half a lion and now sat there on the throne displaying His effulgence.
(40) Brahmâ said: 'I bow down before You, o Inscrutable, Unlimited One; with all Your might and prowess and the pure of Your actions are You of the Universe the creation, maintenance and destruction who by the modes playfully performs without ever changing Yourself. '
(41) Lord S'iva said: 'The end of the yuga is the right time for You to kill in anger this insignificant demon; just protect his son, this bhakta of surrender next to You, o caretaker of the devotees.'
(42) S'rî Indra said: 'Our share of the sacrifices is recovered by Your Lordship protecting us, o Supreme One; we have no words to describe how afflicted by the Daitya our lotus-like hearts were that really are Your residence. Alas o Lord, how insignificant is our world in the grip of Time, but for the sake of the devoted in Your service to find liberation from their bondage have You brought light. What else, o Nrisimhadeva, would, in considering the visible world indeed as not so important, to them be of use?'
(43) The honorable saints said: 'You are the example of instruction for our austerity. By the power of Your self is this world, o Original Personality of Godhead, created, maintained and merged again. That all was stolen by that unwise one but is now, o Shelter of the Needy, by the protection of Your embodiment brought back to us with Your blessing.'
(44) The honorable ancestors said: 'The demon who by force enjoyed our sacrifices of s'râddha that were offered by our sons and grandsons, he who even at the holy bathing places drank our offerings of sesame water, from piercing the intestines of his belly with the nails of Your hand have these offerings reached their final destination; unto Him our obeisances who maintains the universal principles of religion and who appeared as a man-lion.'
(45) The ones of perfection said: 'The person most uncivilized and dishonest who took away the purpose of our perfection in yoga and who by the power of his mysticism and penance was so proud of his wealth, has been torn apart by Your nails; unto Him, unto You, we bow down o Nrisimha.'
(46) The scientific experts said: 'Our formulas, that each by different ways of concentration are attained, were blocked by this fool puffed up about his strength and capacity; He who in battle killed him like he was an animal, unto Him who appeared as Nrisimha, we yield for sure ever obliged.'
(47) The snakepeople said: 'That greatest sinner that took our jewels and wives away; by piercing his chest are You to all our women the Source of all Pleasure; may there be our proof of respect for You.'
(48) The honorable founding fathers said: 'We, the inspirers of humanity are the order-carriers of Your Lordship who contrary to the codes of morality and class were disrespected, o Lord, by this son of Diti; with You having killed this rascal o master, please tell us, Your eternal servants, what we can do for You.'
(49) The leaders of mankind said: 'We, the creators of the generations originate from You o Supreme Controller, and not from him; the living beings indeed that we put on this world were by him denied a life and of him, who now lays slain, have You split open his chest for the wellbeing of the world by means of the incarnation of the form of Your goodness.'
(50) The musicians of heaven said: 'We o Lord are Your dancers and singers, Your performers, who were brought under the control of the valor and force of his influence. He, this one, has been reduced to this condition by You; whoever could, in the face of Your goodness, be such an upstart?'
(51) The venerable ones said: 'O Lord, Your lotus feet are the only shelter for liberation, we duly seek shelter there because this Asura, this stake in the heart of all honest people, has been finished by You.'
(52) The keepers of the wealth said: 'We, the foremost among Your servants will here and now try to please You with our services; by the son of Diti we were forced to carry his palanquin but he caused the poverty of each and everyone; thus we acknowledge You because You are the one that has put him to death, o twenty-fifth principle [that is the time, see 3.26: 10-15].'
(53) The monkey-like said: 'We are but insignificant Kimpurushas Your Lordship, however, this monster of sin has been slain by You after he had been condemned by the seekers, o Supreme Personality, our Controller.' [see also: B.G. 4: 7-8]
(54) The kings bards said: 'In great gatherings and arenas of sacrifice in purity singing the glory of Your reputation we achieved the greatest position of respect; that crooked character that put us under his control was to our great fortune killed by You, o Supreme Lord, like he was a disease.'
(55) The ones of superpower said: 'O Controller, we the Kinnaras are Your faithful servants; by that son of Diti we had to perform without remuneration, but by You o Lord was he being so sinful destroyed, o Nrisimha, o Master, please be with us for the sake of our happiness and welfare.'
(56) The associates of Lord Vishnu said: 'Today have You been seen in a wondrous human-like form. For us You are the lasting shelter and good fortune of all worlds and this state-manager of Yours, o Controller, has, being cursed by the learned [see 7.1: 36-39], because of that been killed; we understand that to be Your special grace.'
Prahlâda Propitiates Lord Nrisimhadeva with Prayers
(1) Nârada Muni said [to Yudhishthhira again]: 'All the Suras thus represented by Brahmâ and S'iva dared not to come forward because He, boiling with anger, was most difficult to approach. (2) The Goddess of Fortune on the request of the gods being confronted, could, after seeing Him so huge and wonderful the way one had never seen or heard before, not come closer either as she was most frightened herself. (3) Prahlâda brought close to Lord Brahmâ was asked: 'My dear son, could you please go near the Lord and propitiate Him for He is very angry because of what your father has done.'
(4) 'So be it' he said and slowly, o King, got the great devotee, although he was only a small boy, step by step near Him and prostrated he himself offering prayers with folded hands. (5) With him, such a little boy, fallen at His lotusfeet was the godhead, greatly moved, merciful and with the raising of His lotus hand which He placed on his head, dispelled He the fear from all minds about the snake of time [to its four physical necessities of âhâra, nidrâ, bhaya and maithuna; eating, sleeping, fearing or defending and mating]. (6) He because of that touch being cleansed from all impurity, manifested, in association with the Supersoul or the reality of His lotusfeet, from a heart overcome and captured in bliss the symptoms of ecstasy all over his body, with tears welling in his eyes. (7) With his mind one-pointed in great concentration and with an of love faltering voice, began he in the full dedication of his heart and mind to offer prayers unto the Lord.
(8) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'All the Sura's headed by Brahmâ, all the saints as well as the perfect ones of spiritual living, one-pointed in the purpose were in their streams of words as yet not able to please You, however qualified they are; how can it be that He, this Lord, with mine would be pleased while I am but of an asura birth? (9) I think that riches, a good birth, a nice body, penance, vedic knowledge, prowess, energy, influence, strength, diligence, intelligence, and mystical power will not satisfy at all; like the Supreme Lord with Gajendra [the elephant], is the Personality of Transcendence pleased by bhakti. (10) A learned one with the twelve characteristics [as mentioned, see also*] who doesn't care about the lotus feet of Him from whose navel sprouted the lotus, I consider not as blessed as a man of low birth who is of surrender to the Ultimate, because he with his mind, words and everything he does, purifies his wealth, life and family, while that is not so with the one whose thought is based on false prestige. (11) Whatever a person in his ignorance offers is kindly accepted by the Supreme Lord, and that offering is for certain, with Him always being happy within, not His personal desire; that worship indeed serves the interest of the one devoted, just like the reflection in a mirror is there to the glory of one's own face. (12) It is for this reason that I must not consider myself unfit; in full surrender to the Lord shall I to the best of my ability and insight aim at His glory, however lowborn I am; because with one's ignorantly having entered this material world is describing and singing that glory the way for a person to find purification [see also B.G. 18: 55]. (13) I am certain that, unlike us [Asuras], all these followers, like Brahmâ and his lot, are faithful and godfearing to the principle of You who are always situated in goodness o Lord, but it is said that it is for the better and good of Your protection and provision, and for the happiness of the soul that You manifested the incarnations of Your lordship in this material world. (14) Therefore give up Your anger about the Asura that You killed today, even the saints are happy when a scorpion or snake is killed; the truth is that all the worlds have found the pleasure and that all, wishing to commemorate You, are awaiting this form of You to allay their fears. (15) I myself am not afraid, o Invincible One, of Your fearsome mouth, tongue, flashing eyes and frowning face, Your strong ferocious teeth or garland of intestines and bloody manes, Your pointed ears, Your roar that even scares the elephants or the nails that pierced the enemy. (16) I do fear, o Merciful Father of Care, that intolerable, ugly repetition of birth and death, the fact that one is thrown into the miserable condition of living among predator-people, that one is bound to the actions and reactions of karma, o Insurmountable One; when will I, with You being pleased with me at the soles of Your feet, the refuge in this ocean of matter, be called back to You? (17) Because of one's pleasing or not so pleasing birth being separated from You and being fused with the world, is one, in whatever body one resides, burnt by the fire of lamentation and suffers one just as well by the remedies against it in mistaking the body for the real self; I, o Greatest Being, am wandering; please initiate me into the service of You in yoga. (18) That way will I, from constantly hearing the narrations about Your exploits as the well-wisher and Supreme Godhead, o Nrisimha, as handed down in succession, easily cross over and be free from the modes, and will I, in wisdom and association with the liberated, be liberated from all the misery in the full absorption of Your lotusfeet. (19) Of a little child in this world not being the shelter of parentage, o Nrisimha, neither of a patient being the medicine, nor of a person drowning in the ocean being the boat, nor of a person suffering being the redeemer, constitute all the things which in this world are cherished by the ones locked up in a physical body but the appearance of a remedy, o Almighty One, in which they are bereft of You. (20) Whatever the circumstance, for whatever reason, whatever the time, whatever the obligation or relation, by whomever or unto whomever, whatever way or of whatever nature, certain is that each of these matters is but a different form of the same Supreme; in other words: in nature is there because of all kinds of changes the separateness of a certain form of existence, but whatever form it may concern, it is always a manifestation of the energy of Your Lordship. (21) The illusory of matter is a creation of the mind [which is experienced as a fixation] that produces endless wanton actions; actions that are conditioned by the Time that stirs the three modes of nature. And then are the person, to the approbation of God with what is arranged in the Vedas [in the karma-kânda section], less victoriously offered the sixteen spokes [of the senses of action and perception, the elements and the mind] of the wheel of rebirth, o Unborn One. Whoever, bereft of the best that You are, would single-handed be able to overcome this [see also B.G. 9: 25]? (22) You are indeed that one element of Time, to which one in one's intelligence, through Your personal energy, eternally is delivered; present as a form of material energy which in all effects and causes is subjected to Your cyclic control, am I at a loss, o Lord and Master, and am I crushed under the wheel with the sixteen spokes; please help me to get out of it, o Mightiest, for I am of full surrender. (23) I witnessed o Almighty One, how in that respect all the higher placed leaders of state in their desire for lifespan, opulence and glory, all by our father with his sarcastic laughs in the blink of an eye were baffled, nevertheless was he by You completely vanquished. (24) Therefore, knowing where all the sensegratification of all that longevity, opulence and fineness of all the ones embodied, from Brahmâ down to the smallest ant, leads to, have I no want for being subjected by You who art so powerful as the Master of Time; please kindly lead me to the association of your faithful servants. (25) In what respect is one blessed with happiness in being controlled [by desires]? What to this body, which is host to so many illnesses, is the meaning of the happiness that is just like a mirage in the desert? Even though the common man has never enough, do nevertheless the ones of learning try to put out that fire of desire with small drops of honey, do they try to control that which is only controlled with the greatest difficulty. (26) What is now my position? How can I surpass the fact of being born in the darkness of a body of passion, from a family far removed fom the enlightened state? The lotushand of Your causeless mercy that You offered me on my head as a token of grace, wouldn't even be there for Lord Brahmâ, for Lord S'iva or even for the Goddess of Fortune! (27) In this can there factually with Your Lordship as the friend of the whole world be no distinction between higher and lower living beings, but nevertheless is there of You, depending on the service, just like with a desire tree yielding whatever wanted, the manifestation of the benediction reserved for the devotion, whether or not one is of a higher or lower level [see also 2.3: 10 and B G. 4: 33, 9: 25]. (28) The common man who in his material existence fell into a blind well full of snakes, runs after the objects of his desire; I who as a person because of bad association also fell into that condition was by the sura sage [Nârada], o Supreme Lord, taken in confidence; how can I ever give up on the service of Your pure devotee? (29) Saving my life o Unlimited One, with You having saved me from being killed by my father, do I consider the words of Your servant, that what the rishi said, as true because You proved them to be true unto him who bad-minded with the sword in his hands said to me: 'Let that controller other than me save you from me now severing your head.'
(30) 'This universe all around is the One of You alone; because of You where there in the beginning and in the end as well as in betw