44 verses
Maitreya said: The merciful sage, remembering the words of Viṣṇu, then spoke to the praiseworthy daughter of Manu who had spoken of detachment from material life.
O princess! O faultless wife! Do not lament your misfortune. The Supreme Lord will enter your womb soon.
O women who cannot be criticized (anindite)! Do not lament.
You are strong in vows. Auspiciousness to you! Worship with faith the Lord using sense control, regulations, austerity, and giving wealth.
Unlike other women, you are not without pious actions. You have strong vows. Because you performed vows in your previous life, in this life you have strong determination also. This will be auspicious for you.
Being worshipped by you, Viṣṇu, spreading my glories and becoming your son, will teach about Brahman and cut the knot of attachment in your heart.
He will cut material bondage, the knot of ahaḍkara in the heart. Audaryaḥ means a son, born in the womb. Brahma-bhāvanah means teacher of Brahman.
Maitreya said: Having complete faith in the instructions of Kardama, Devahuti worshipped the changeless Supreme Lord, her future guru, with veneration.
Sandeśam means instruction. The Lord is called guru because as her son, he would become her guru.
After a long time, the Supreme Lord, Madhusūdana, who is like fire in wood, controlled by the strength of bhakti of Kardama, made his appearance.
Bahu-tithe kale means after a long time. It formed by the rule bahu yuga gaṇasajghasya tithug. (Pānini 5.2.52) The Lord appeared, controlled by the strength of bhakti of Kardama. The Lord was already situated as the antaryāmī in Devahūti, like fire in wood. He then appeared externally as her son.
At that time, in the sky, devatās in the clouds played instruments, the Gandarvas sang in praise of the Lord and the Apsaras danced in joy.
Ghanāghanāḥ means rumbling clouds, indicating the devatās. Amara-koṣa says that ghanāghana means rain cloud.
Flowers, dropped by flying devatās, fell from the sky. All the directions, waters and minds became satisfied.
Apavarjitā means expelled.
Brahmā, along the sages headed by Marīci, came to the hermitage of Kardama, which was surrounded by the Sarasvatī River.
Pariśritam means surrounded.
sabhājayan viśuddhena cetasā tac-cikīrṣitam prahṛṣyamāṇair asubhiḥ kardamaṁ cedam abhyadhāt
Independent Brahmā, knowing that the Lord had appeared in a śuddha-sattva portion to teach enumeration of the elements, worshipped the Lords future activities with pure heart and then spoke to Kardama and his wife with joyful senses.
This form of Kapila was not a full form, but a portion which was śuddha-sattva (sattvena aṁśena). Brahmā understood that the Lord had appeared to teach particularly (vijyaptai) the philosophy which enumerates elements (tattva-saḍkhyāna). He worshipped (sabhājayan) him. He spoke with joyful senses (asubhiḥ). Asubhiḥ actually means life airs, but that also includes the senses. The word ca indicates Devahūti.
Brahmā said: O son! O sage who gives respect! You have accomplished my sincere worship since you have accepted my instructions with respect for me.
Apacitiḥ means performance of service.
Service to the father should be rendered exactly in this manner by good sons. The son should accept the commands of his elder with respect, saying I will do as you have instructed.
Good sons will perform such service. Bāòham means I will do as you have instructed.
O son! These chaste daughters with thin waists will increase the creation with their powerful portions many times.
If sons were not born, then creation would not increase. The creation will increase by these daughters aslo. Prabhāvaiḥ means by portions having great powers.
Therefore please give away your daughters to the foremost sages according to qualities and liking, and spread your fame throughout the universe.
O sage! I know that the original Lord, the treasure of the living beings, has appeared by his own energy, assuming the body of Kapila
By his energy alone, the Lord, treasure of the living entities-- who can bestow all desires and give pure knowledge-- has appeared. Accepting a body means that actually he has an eternal body, but that body now makes an appearance.
eṣa mānavi te garbhaṁ praviṣṭaḥ kaiṭabhārdanaḥ avidyā-saṁśaya-granthiṁ chittvā gāṁ vicariṣyati
O daughter of Manu! In order to uproot karma by the methods of jñāna and vijñāna, with golden hair, lotus eyes, lotus feet marked with the lotus, this Lord, killer of the demon Kaitabha, entering your womb, will travel over the world, cutting the knot of ignorance and false knowledge.
Brahmā speaks to Devahūti. Jñanam means knowledge of God without form, and vijñānam means knowledge of God with form. By these methods he will travel the earth to uproot (uddharan) the roots or vāsanā of karma. He will cut the knot in the heart made of ignorance concerning ones svarūpa (avidyā) and false knowledge (samśaya).
The chief of perfected sages, approved by the ācāryas of Sāḍkhya philosophy, he will take the name Kapila in this world and will increase your fame.
This person is approved. There is another perfect sage called Kapila, founder of the Sāḍkhya philosophy who is not well approved. He will preach philosophy contrary to the theistic philosophy of the Vedas. It is said in the Padma Purāṇa:
kapilo vāsudevokhyas tattvaṁ sāḍkhyaṁ jagāda ha
brahmādibhyaś ca devebhyo bhṛgvādibhyas tathaiva ca
tathaivāsuraye sarva-vedārthair upabṛṁhitam
sarva-vedaviruddhañ ca kapilo nyo jagāda ha
sāḍkhyam āsuraye anyasmai kutarka-paribṛṁhitam
Kapila or Vasudeva spoke the real Sāḍkhya, which is filled with the meaning of all the Vedas to Brahmā and others, the devatās, the sages such as Bhṛgu, and to a person called Āsuri. Another Kapila spoke Sāḍkhya which is contrary to the Vedas, filled with bad logic, to another person called Āsuri.
Maitreya said: Having reassured the couple, Brahma, along with the Kumaras and Nārada, departed for Satyaloka on his swan carrier.
He went with the Kumāras. Saha is omitted. Brahma came with the five persons who retained their semen, having ordered Marīci and others to get married. Brahmā (haṁsah) went to Satyaloka, which is far beyond the third abode (tridhāma), Svargaloka.
O Vidura! After Brahmā departed, Kardama, as ordered by him, according to scriptural rules, then gave his daughters to the creators of population.
Śata-dhṛtau means Brahmā. Yathoditam means according to scripture. He gave his daughters to the creators of the universal population (viśva-sṛjām).
pulahāya gatiṁ yuktāṁ kratave ca kriyāṁ satīm khyātiṁ ca bhṛgave 'yacchad vasiṣṭhāyāpy arundhatīm
Kardama gave his daughter Kalā to Marīci, and Anasūyā, to Atri. He gave Śraddhā to Aḍgirā, and Havirbhū to Pulastya. He gave qualified Gati to Pulaha, the chaste Kriyā to Kratu, Khyāti to Bhṛgu, and Arundhatī to Vasiṣṭha.
Yuktām means qualified or suitable.
He gave Śanti, by whom sacrifice becomes successful, to Atharvā. He took care of those best of brāhmaṇas who he had got married, along with their wives.
Because of Śānti, sacrifices of austerities and knowledge became successful.
O Vidura! Then those sages, married, taking leave of Kardama, returned their hermitages in joy.
Nimantrya means asking if they could leave. Nandim means joy.
Understanding that the Lord, chief of the deities, had appeared, Kardama approached him in a solitary place and, offering respects, spoke to him.
Sa means Kardama.
Oh! In this world, the devatās become pleased with persons burning in material existence from their sinful actions only after a long time.
Your appearance in my house without motive is because of your mercy only. I do not have any qualities that caused it. This is expressed in three verses. There are three types of persons seen in the world: worshippers of devatās, worshippers of Brahman and worshippers of the Supreme Lord, Bhagavān. Worship of devatās produces material results. They are pleased after a long time, within the worshippers lifetime, but not immediately, to the living beings burning in the hell of material existence. Then they give the desired results after a long time.
The yogīs attempt to see your impersonal feature in solitary places by complete samādhi through yoga, but this realization is achieved only after many births.
Among the second type of persons, they achieve their goal only after many births. by samādhi through yoga, they try to attain direct contact with your impersonal form (padam).
The Supreme Lord, who favors his devotees, not considering our neglect of him, has today appeared in the house of a materialist.
We, very lazy, are among the third type of persons. However, his mercy is unlimited. The Lord does not consider our negligence (helanam), treating him lightly. That is your very nature. You elevate even a shadow devotee to a high position. You support (paksā-poṣaṇaḥ) those who are devotees, considering them your relatives.
You, the Supreme Lord, desiring to give a method of knowledge, and increasing the honor of the devotees, have descended in my house to make your words true.
Two verses expand on this point. You desire to teach Sāḍkhya, a method of knowledge, but you increase the respect for your devotees more than for the jñānīs, since the Lord has already established that knowledge is insignificant without bhakti.
O Lord! These are suitable forms of you who have no material form, and which are pleasing to the devotees.
These are suitable forms--forms of eternity, knowledge and bliss--belonging to you who are eternity, knowledge and bliss, which are pleasing to your devotees. Other forms, not pleasing to the devotees, are actually are not your forms but are māyā forms, since you are without material form. This is Śrīdhara Svāmīs meaning of arūpiṇaḥ. Though the universal form is pleasing as an object of meditation in the preliminary stage for some devotees, it is not pleasing later. That form being material is not the Lords personal form. That is the intended meaning.
I surrender to you, full of the six qualities of control, detachment, good qualities, knowledge, influence and beauty, whose feet are constantly worthy of worship by devotees desiring direct knowledge of the truth.
Speaking of the qualities of the suitable forms of the Lord which please the devotees, Kardama now describes Kapila. He lists the six great qualities of the lord: aiśvarya, varirāgya, yaśa, jñāna, vīrya and śrī, which define Bhagavān. The Lord is a great reservoir (pūrtam) of these spiritual qualities, which becomes the object of address, worship and service by the devotees. This indicates that this form is his real form, full of the six qualities, and fully spiritual.
I surrender unto Kapila, whose other form is prakṛti, who is also the jīva, the mahat-tattva, time, sūtra, ahaḍkāra, the devatās of the directions, the universe inhabited by your internal energy, and the possessor of independent energies.
Having described the Lords powers, he speaks of unsuitable material forms of the Lord. I surrender to you Kapila, who is the form of the external energy pradhāna, which is different (param) from you. That is a material form. You are also the jīva (puruṣam), the mahat-tattva (mahāntam), and time the agitator of prakṛti and the jīva. You are the mahat-tattva transformed into sūtra (rajo-guṇa condition), and the ahaḍkāra (trivṛtam). You are the protectors of the directions such as Indra. You are the material universe, since you are the antaryāmī of it: you have entered (anugata) matter though you are situated outside of matter, by your spiritual energy (ātmānubhūtyā). And because you are the cause of the material world you are identified as the world. You are the possessor of independent śaktis such as māyā. Because the whole universe is created by your māya-śakti under your will, and because you are not different from your śakti, and because you, the cause, are not different from the effect, this world of māyā is your form, though it is not the pleasing form.
Now I ask something from you, the master of the progeny. I have become free of debt because of you, and fulfilled all my desires. Taking the renounced order, I will wander about without lamentation, remembering you in my heart.
Now I ask for the order to renounce. Sma is without sandhi for metrical reasons. The debt, the order of my father to produce offspring, has been liquidated by your appearance. My desire is fulfilled. Accepting the path of renunciation, remembering you in my heart, I will wander about here and there. Kardama contemplated in his mind: I have been fixed in my Lord Nārāyaṇa since birth as a servant. Now, with the birth of a son, it will be hard to avoid having fatherly affection for the Lord. But the simultaneous mixture of dāsya and vāsalya is not suitable. However, the independent Lord, sinking me in the ocean of lamentation, will quickly have me renounce. Why should I not immediately renounce? I will not commit an offence to the Lord in giving him up when he appeared in my house, because the worshipable lord is dependent on worship, according to the Vaiṣṇavas. Thus one should have more eagerness for worshipping the Lord than for the Lord himself. I wish to worship him without interruption in a solitary forest, twenty-four hours a day.
The Lord said: What is spoken by me is authoritative for the people, for ultimate and worldly affairs. Similarly, I have taken birth because of what I said to you-- that I would be your son. Thus my words are true.
O great sage! You want to act according to my wish since I have said that it is necessary to worship me, giving up everything. Certainly (hi), I have said Give up everything in the Gīta (18.66). That is proof for the people. This applies to worldly and ultimate affairs. The worldly principle of taking a wife stated by Manu and others is the authoritative statement concerning worldly affairs (laukika). The uncommon (satya) principle however is to attain me. This is also an authoritative statement for the people, uttered by me, concerning the highest principle, bhāgavad-dharma. It is said:
ye vai bhagavatā proktā upāyā hy ātma-labdhaye
añjaḥ puṁsām aviduṣāṁ viddhi bhāgavatān hi tān
Even ignorant living entities can very easily come to know the Supreme Lord if they adopt those means prescribed by the Supreme Lord. The process recommended by the Lord is to be known as bhāgavata-dharma. SB 11.2.34
Therefore you have considered things properly in giving up everything and departing. He gives an example of his own words being authoritative. I took birth because I said to you that I would be your son. That is the truth.
Please understand that I have appeared in this world to explain the principles suitable for realizing the self for those desiring liberation from the subtle body.
The Lord explains the reason for his appearance. Please understand my appearance is to explain principles suitable for realizing the self to those desiring liberation from the sinful subtle body (durāśayāt). The verb is in the next verse.
Understand that this path, difficult to know, was lost in time. I have taken this form to introduce this knowledge again.
Avyaktaḥ means subtle. Though the Lord and his body are non-different, spiritual intelligence introduces difference even where there is non-difference. Thus the Lord says I have taken this body. This is a customary expression. It is like the following statement (which also cannot be taken literally.)
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti nirguṇasya guṇās trayaḥ
sthiti-sarga-nirodheṣu gṛhītā māyayā vibhoḥ
The three guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas, belonging to the Lord without guṇas, are accepted by the māyā of the Lord for creation, maintenance and destruction. SB 2.5.18
You have requested me, so then depart when you please. Having conquered unconquerable death by offering your activities to me, you should worship me for immortality.
Just as you are asking to go, I am asking you to stay. It would be harsh for me to tell you to go, and even if you stay here your desire will be fulfilled. If you are determined to go, then go as you wish. Worship me for immortality. This recalls the śruti text avidyayā mṛtum tīrtvā vidyayāmṛtam aśmute: by karma cross over obstacles, and by knowledge attain eternal life. (Iśopaniṣad) Or, you will not have birth again because of my association, since you will have attained a position as my associate, having birth only in the sense that Rāma and Kṛṣṇa take birth, though they are without death.
Seeing me, self-effulgent, dwelling in the hearts of all beings, as antaryamī in your heart by your intelligence, free from lamentation, you will achieve fearlessness.
This form has been mentioned:
kecit sva-dehāntar-hṛdayāvakāśe
prādeśa-mātraṁ puruṣaṁ vasantam
catur-bhujaṁ kañja-rathāḍga-śaḍkha-
gadā-dharaṁ dhāraṇayā smaranti
Others conceive of the Lord, residing within the body in the region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands carrying a lotus, a wheel of a chariot, a conchshell and a club respectively. SB 2.2.8
You will see the antaryāmī, Śukla, within yourself (ātmani), by your intelligence (ātmanā).
I will give to my mother spiritual knowledge which ends all karmas, by which she will also attain fearlessness.
Because I am the Lord acting as her son, you do not have to worry about what will happen to Devahūti, your wife.
After Kapila had spoken to him in this way, Kardama, pleased, circumambulated him and left for the forest.
Samuditaḥ means being spoken to fully. After circumambulating (dakṣiṇī-kṛtya) the Lord, he left.
Accepting the vow of silence, taking exclusive shelter of the Lord, he wandered the earth alone, without fire and without shelter.
He fixed his mind on the Brahman which is beyond auspicious and inauspicious, which has spiritual qualities and is devoid of material qualities, and which is realized by pure bhakti.
He fixed his mind, which was beyond auspicious and inauspicious objects (sad-asataḥ param). What was the Brahman like? It had a manifestation (avabhāse) of spiritual qualities such as beauty, sweetness and power, and was devoid of material guṇas (viguṇe). It was realized by his senses through pure bhakti.
He was devoid of false ego and possessiveness, and did not see with duality. He regarded everything equally, and perceived the state of bhakti within himself. His intelligence was peaceful, not functioning externally. He was sober, like an ocean without waves.
He was detached from material objects: he was devoid of ahaḍkāra and possessiveness. He could see within himself how much bhakti had arisen and how much it would arise in the future (sva-dṛk). He was devoid of external functioning (pratyak). His intelligence was peaceful.
Attaining spiritual mind and intelligence, he absorbed those elements in the Supreme Lord, omniscient Vāsudeva, the soul of the jīva, by prema-bhakti, and achieved liberation from all bondage.
How did this remarkable state suddenly appear in him? After destroying material mind, intelligence and consciousness, with destruction of the subtle body, he regained them in spiritual form (labdhātmā). With those he absorbed himself in Vāsudeva by the supreme (param) bhāva produced through worship (bhakti)--prema. Pratyag-ātmā means the soul or the jīva. The mind and intelligence were previously causes of bondage. Now they were causes of liberation (mukta-bandhanaḥ). It is said anāvṛttiḥ śabdāt: according to the scriptures, ones does not return to bondage. (Brahma-sūtra 4.423)
Kardama saw the antaryāmī situated within all living beings, and saw all living beings situated within Mahāviṣṇu.
He saw the Lord directly. This state is described. He saw the antaryāmī of all, Kṣīrodakaśāyī, the third puruṣāvatāra (ātmānam) situated in all beings. This was Bhagavān, the four armed lord, Śukla, the deity of his worship. He saw all beings, situated in universes emerging from Mahāviṣṇus hair pores, within the antaryāmī of prakṛti, Kāraṇodakaśāyī, the first puruṣa, by eyes produced through yoga. Kardama is described to be more advanced than the yogīs who get gradual liberation described in the Second Canto. The yogī, giving up his gross body, desiring to see everything within the universe, goes and sees everything within the universe. Kardama, however, without desire to see anything, while situated in this world, saw all beings in the hair holes of the Lord outside of the universe, in the Kāraṇa Ocean. The form he saw was the four armed Viṣṇu, Śukla, the object of his worship. Yaśodā saw all beings within Kṛṣṇa. It should be understood however that seeing the powerful form of Viṣṇu was suitable to Kardama who worshipped that powerful form.
Free from desire and hatred towards everything in the material world, with mind seeing everything as equal, by pure bhakti for the Lord, Kardama attained the position of an associate of the Lord in the spiritual world.
He was free of desire and hatred because everything in the material world is inferior. Because of that, he saw everything equally. He then attained the goal of becoming an associate of the Lord (bhagavatī gatiḥ). Another version has bhāgavatīm gatiṁ prāptaḥ: Kardama, with an equal mind, attained that spiritual goal.
Thus ends the commentary on Twenty-fourth Chapter of the Third Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
The Twenty-fourth Chapter describes the birth of Kapila, the words of Brahmā, the marriage of Kardamas daughters and Kardama leaving for the forest, after praising the Lord. Śālinīm means praiseworthy. Kardama remembers what Viṣṇu (śukla) had said.
sahāhaṁ svāṁśa-kalayā tvad-vīryeṇa mahā-mune
tava kṣetre devahūtyāṁ praṇeṣye tattva-saṁhitām
O great sage! Then I will take birth in your wife Devahūti as an expanded form and will write the Tattva-saṁhitā. . SB 3.21.32