35 verses
Maitreya said: Here the words spoken by the sages, Dhruva, after performing ācamana, strung an arrow made by Nārāyaṇa on his bow.
O Vidura! When he employed that Nārāyaṇa weapon, the illusion created by the Yakṣas suddenly disappeared just as suffering disappears with the dawn of knowledge.
Etasmin refers to the Nārāyaṇa weapon.
When Dhruva fixed the weapon on his bow, golden arrows with feathers from swans fired out upon the enemy like the frightening sound of peacocks in the forest.
Ārṣāstram means the weapon of the sage (ṛṣi) Nārāyaṇa. The shaft and tip were gold. The feathers were from swans. The word śarāḥ (arrows) should be supplied.
Oppressed by the arrows with sharp points present everywhere on the battlefield, the Yakṣas angrily rushed at Dhruva with raised weapons, like snakes with raised hoods attacking Garuòa.
Attacked by the Yakṣas, Dhruva cut off there their arms, thighs, necks and torsos with his arrows and sent them to planet where the brahmacārīs go after attaining the sun.
By his arrows (pṛṣatkaiḥ) he brought them, with severed thighs, to Satyaloka (param), where the sannyāsīs go after surpassing the sun planet. Because of being killed by the hand of a devotee, they got special elevation. As the Gītā says, they return again to the earth planet ābrahmabhuvanāllokāḥ punarāvartino rjuna: from all planets up to Brahmaloka, people return, O Arjuna! One should not think that they attained liberation with the sannyāsīs at the end of Brahmās life. That is because one does not even see liberation given to those killed by the Lord, such as Kālameni, other than when killed by Kṛṣṇa.
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Seeing that many innocent Yakṣas were being killed by Dhruva, Svāyambhuva Manu, his grandfather, along with sages, approached Dhruva and spoke out of compassion.
Manu said: Dear child! Enough with excessive anger, the sinful path to ignorance! By anger you have killed many innocent Yakṣas.
Son! This action of killing innocent Yakṣas is not befitting our family, and is condemned by the virtuous.
Upadevānām means Yakṣas.
O son, affectionate to your brother! Aggrieved by the death of your brother, you have killed many Yakṣas for the offense of one Yakṣa, just because of their connection.
It is a fact that one Yakṣa killed your brother, and because the others are associated with him you are killing many.
Killing of living entities just as the animals do, by accepting the body as the self, is not the path of the devotees of the Lord.
If the devotees do not come under control of material affection, then certainly they should not come under the control of violence to living entities. Accepting the body (ātmanam) as the self (parāg) just as animals think of others in relation to their bodies and then commit violence against others is not the path. Gṛhya instead of grītvā is poetic license. Another version has parāgṛhya. This has a negative meaning not accepting the jīva as the self.
By worshipping the Lord, rarely worshipped, as the abode of all beings, with the understanding that he is within all beings, you have achieved the supreme abode of the Lord.
Since you are the best of all devotees, such conduct is not befitting. This is expressed in two verses. Sarva-bhūtātma-bhāvena means with thoughts that he is in all beings.
Always remembering the Lord, you have been recognized by the great devotees. You teach others the conduct of a saintly person. Why then do you act in this shameful way?
You always (anu) remember the Lord. And this means the Lord, out of affection, makes him remember. You are always considered by the devotees such as Nārada. This means that he is the object of mercy of these great devotees.
The Supreme Lord, the soul of all beings, is pleased when a devotee is tolerant of superiors, merciful to inferiors, friendly towards equals, and takes others happiness and distress as his own.
This describes the conduct of the devotee. One should be tolerate of the great, merciful to the inferior and friendly towards those of equal status. One should think of others joy and sorrow, hunger and thirst as ones own.
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśyati yo rjuna |
sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ sa yogī paramo mataḥ ||
I consider that practicing yogī who sees equally everything as equal to himself in all circumstances, whether in happiness or suffering, to be the topmost yogī. BG 6.32
If all beings are satisfied one can infer that the Lord is satisfied (sarvātmā).
When the Lord is satisfied, a person becomes free from the guṇas of prakṛti, is free from the subtle body, and attains the Lord.
Jīva-nirmuktaḥ means freed from the subtle body. If one is a jñānī, then he attains merging in Brahman. If he is a devotee, he attains service to the Lord. This is understood from Prahladas statement concerning brahma-nirvāṇa:
adhokṣajālambham ihāśubhātmanaḥ
śarīriṇaḥ saṁsṛti-cakra-śātanam
tad brahma-nirvāṇa-sukhaṁ vidur budhās
tato bhajadhvaṁ hṛdaye hṛd-īśvaram
The wise know that direct contact with the Lord, which includes the happiness of Brahman, destroys saṁsāra for the sinful persons possessing material bodies in this world. Therefore worship the Paramātmā in your heart. SB 7.7.37
Prākṛtair guṇaiḥ vimuktaḥ means that not only is he free from the guṇas of prakṛti, but is specially (vi) liberated, beyond merging in Brahman.
Women and men arise from bodies made of the five elements. From their interaction more women and men appear.
Ten verses then consider the nature of things. Who is the killer and who is being killed? By bodies (ārabdhaiḥ) made of the five elements, women and men appears. By their interaction more women and men appear.
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O King! As the creation of bodies takes place in this way, so does the maintenance and destruction of bodies take place by the action of the guṇas, through the māyā of the Supreme Lord.
Just as the creation takes place by the elements in the form of bodies, so by mother and father made of the elements maintenance takes place, and by bodies of criminals, tigers and snakes, destruction takes place. However the actions of guṇas do not take place by themselves, but by the māyā of the Supreme Lord. Creation takes place by rajas, maintenance by sattva and destruction by tamas.
The Lord beyond the guṇas is the indirect cause, within whom this universe of cause and effect moves just as a magnet moves iron.
How can creation maintenance and destruction of bodies take place, without some foundation of consciousness?
Since the Lord is the indirect cause (nimitta-mātram), this material universe with cause and effect moves as if conscious, through the bodies of devatās and men, just as, with a magnet as the indirect cause, iron moves about as if having life.
The Lord, acting as the jīvas entering into māyā, separated from himself by the agitation of guṇas through time, acts and does not act. He kills and does not kill. The actions of the Lord are inconceivable.
If that is so, then creation, maintenance and destruction should occur simultaneously. No, there is sequential agitation of the guṇas by the time energy. It is not simultaneous. The Lord, as the jīva-śakti entering into māyā-śakti (vīryaḥ), separated from the Lord (vibhakta) by agitation of the guṇas (pravāheṇa) through the time energy, step by step, acts. The Lord is the material cause (upādāna-kāraṇa) and the indirect cause (nimitta-kāraṇa) since he is non-different from his energies of the guṇas, time and the jīva. He is the non-doer, since these items are not the Lords svarūpa. Thus he kills and is not the killer. Why does he create the universe? Why does he not continually create the universe (and not have destruction)? Why does he make inequality in the universe? To dismiss such questions it is said that he is inconceivable, since he is the powerful Lord (vibhūmnaḥ). This universe is a manifestation of his power.
As time, he is without destruction, but causes destruction, and he is without birth but causes birth. He is inexhaustible. He produces people by means of people, and destroys even Yama by Kālāgni-rudra.
See his other powers. He is without destruction (anantaḥ). But he is the destruction of others, in the form of time. He is without birth (anādiḥ), but he causes the birth of others. He is inexhaustible like the cintāmaṇi, supplying everything without decrease. As the cause of birth, he produces children by fathers (janena). As the destroyer, he destroys even Yama by Kālāgni-rudra.
The Lord has no friend or enemy. He enters all beings as death equally. The jīvas, dependent on karma and associated with matter, follow the Lord as he moves along, just like particles of dust follow the currents of the air.
Though the Lord acts in this way, he cannot be accused of injustice, since he does not show favorites. This is explained in two verses. The Lord enters equally into all beings in the form of death. Though he is equal, there is difference in results for the jīvas because their karmas are not equal. An example is given. The jīvas dependent on karma, associated with the elements, follow after moving time, just like dust particles follow the moving wind. Just as the wind does not see difference, whether dust, causing darkness, or water or fire enter it, so the Lord sees no difference though the jīvas experience different karmas.
Living beings have short or long lives. The Lord is free of both. He awards these results to those dependent on karma.
Flies have short life and devatās have long life. Duḥsthasya means dependent on karma.
Some say it is karma, some say it is the nature of matter, some say it is time, some say it is planets and some say it is lust.
Let karma be the cause of happiness and distress, birth and death! True, but philosophers argue about his. Some, Lokāyatas, followers of Cārvāka, say that it is nature of matter itself. Others the Vyavahārikas, followers of the Purāṇas, say it is time. Astrologers say it is the devatās in the form of planets (daivam). Others like Vātsyāyana say it is lust. Śruti says kāmo kārṣīt kāmaḥ karoti kāmaḥ kartā kāmaḥ kārayitā: lust has done it, lust is doing it, lust is the doer, lust causes us to act. (Mahā-nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad)
O child! No one knows the plan of the Lord who is invisible and unfathomable, from whom numerous energies arise, and from whom you are born.
Who among these disputants establishes the truth? No one, since they are all ignorant of root cause of everything. The Lord cannot be revealed by childish intelligence (avyaktasya). The cause of this is that he cannot be measured by material proofs like sense perception (aprameyasya). Various śaktis such as time, karma and nature of things (svabhāva) arise from him. Taking shelter of one of these śaktis, they argue. But there can be no arguments about the cause of these śaktis. No one knows the plan of the Lord, from whom we arise? Bhīṣma said:
na hy asya karhicid rājan pumān veda vidhitsitam
yad vijijñāsayā yuktā muhyanti kavayo 'pi hi
O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered. SB 1.9.16
Śruti says:
ko dhā veda ka iha pravocat kuta ājātā kuta iyaṁ visṛṣṭiḥ arvāg devā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata āvabhūva
Who knows him? Who speaks of him? From whom was he born? From what was he produced? He precedes the devatās. Who knows from where he appeared for creating this universe. Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa 2.8.9.5.8
O son! These followers of Kuvera are not the killers of your brother. The cause of birth and death of living beings is the Lord.
The conclusion is given. The Lord is the creator and destroyer.
The Lord creates the universe, maintains it and destroys it without attachment or ego. He is not affected by actions of the guṇas.
The Lord is not to be blamed.
The soul in all beings, the controller of all beings, the maintainer of all beings, using his energy of māyā, creates, maintains and destroys.
This verse explains why the Lord is without attachment or material identity. He uses his energy of māyā. Since the external energy causes creation and destruction, not his svarūpa-śakti, he does not undergo material identity of ahaḍkāra in performing actions.
O son! Surrender to the Lord who is birth and death, the refuge of the world, with your whole being. Unto him the devatās offer homage, like bulls controlled by the rope ties to their noses.
Though I have been enlightened by you, I cannot give up my ego. Four verses answer. Surrender to him. Without surrender, it is difficult to give up ego by jñāna alone.
Giving up your mother when you were five years old, wounded by the words of your step mother, you went to the forest. Worshipping the Lord by austerities, you achieved the topmost position in the three worlds.
Surrendering to the Lord, you became the lotus of our dynasty. Prtyag-akṣam means the Lord who is the object of the yogīs eyes.
Seek out in your mind devoid of hostility the one, indestructible, eternally liberated Lord beyond the guṇas, who resides within you out of affection, on seeing whom, the world filled with dualities will appear disgusting.
At this time you should seek him. Give up your thoughts of material good and bad. Your endeavor is not like that of other people. In a mind free of contradictions (mukta-vigrahe), seek out the Lord who resides in your mind out of affection (vyāpaśritam). Seeing the Lord (ātma-dṛk), the differences of enemy and friend will appear unbeneficial and unattractive (asat).
When you were five years old, by performing pure devotion to the Lord, who is the soul within, unlimited, full of bliss, and endowed with all energies, you gradually cut the strong knot of ignorance concerning I and mine.
Do you not remember how you attained the Lord when you were five years old (tadā)? The future tense is used to express memory of the past according to the rule abhijñā-vacane. (Pāṇini 3.2.112)
As sickness is controlled by medicine, by constantly hearing instructions, control anger, which is the great enemy of proper conduct. All good fortune to you!
This is simply imitating common behavior. You show anger externally to announce to people your affection for your brother. For devotees such as you, announcing your good qualities to the world is also a disease. Give up this disease of anger by my instructions, just as one gives up disease by medicine.
Everyone becomes terrified of the person overcome by anger. Desiring freedom from death, the intelligent person should control anger.
Proper conduct is explained. Everyone fears the person filled with (upasṛṣtāt) anger.
Because you have in anger killed many Yakṣas, killers your brother, you have offended Kuvera, the brother of Śiva.
You have done what is not proper for a Vaiṣṇava. Please listen. The killing of the Yakṣas (yat) is the offense (helanam). Iti indicates a conclusion, or the ending of the chapter.
My son! Satisfy Kuvera immediately by offering respects, humble behavior, and kind words, so that the anger of great persons will not defeat our family.
Thus, after instructing his grandson Dhruva, Svāyambhuva Manu, worshipped by Dhruva, departed to his abode with the sages.
Thus ends the commentary on the Eleventh Chapter of the Fourth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Eleventh Chapter, Manu, seeing the destruction of the Yakṣas, stops Dhruva from killing them, after giving scriptural instructions.
The word vacaḥ should be supplied to make the phrase the words spoken by the sages.