74 verses
Prācīnabarhi said: O great devotee! I cannot completely understand your words. The wise understand, but I cannot, since I am bewildered by karma.
Nārada said: Know that Purañjana is the jīva who manifests his city or body with one, two, three, or many legs, or without legs at all.
Puruṣam means the jīva.
He who was described as unknown, the friend of the jīva, is the Supreme Lord, since man does not recognize him by his names, his actions or his qualities.
He who was described by the word unknown is the Lord.
When the jīva desires to enjoy the guṇas of prakṛti fully, he thinks that, among the different bodies, the one with nine openings, two hands and two feet is most suitable.
Tatra means among the bodies of the different species like animals.
Know that the women is intelligence (actually ignorance), which produces the concepts of I and mine, taking shelter of which, the jīva enjoys the guṇas with his senses in the body.
Buddhim means ignorance. Akṣabhiḥ means by the senses.
The male friends are the senses by which knowledge and action is accomplished. The female friends are the actions of the senses. The snake with five heads is the life air with five different functions.
The snake has five heads for five different functions.
One should know that the powerful mind is the leader of the ten senses. The Pañcāla states are the five sense objects within which the city of nine gates is situated.
The eleven warriors were described. Their leader is the mind, which has great strength. Nava-khaṁ puram means the city with nine gates.
The nine gates are the two eyes, two nostrils, two eyes, mouth, penis and anus. The jīva goes out along with the senses through the doors.
Dve deva dvārau should also include the mouth, genital and anus. By these gates the jīva goes out along with the senses.
The two eyes, two nostrils and mouth are the eastern gates and the two ears are the southern and northern gates. The penis and anus are the western gates.
The city faces east. This is the front side of Purañjana.
The two gates named Khadyotā and Āvirmukhī which have been mentioned are the two eyes constructed side by side. The city called Vibhrājita is the sense object called form. The jīva sees by the eye sense organ.1
The names of the eyes are Khadyotā and Āvirmukhī. With his friend Dyuman, the eye sense organ (cakṣuṣā), the jīva went to the sense object form (rūpam).
The gates called Nalinī and Nālinī are the two nostrils. The place called Saurabha is the sense object smell. Avadhūta refers to the sense organ called the nose. The gate called Mukhya is the mouth. Vipaṇa is the voice. Rasajña is the sense organ called the tongue.
Avadhūta means shaking. It refers to air. Air is used in breathing, which is performed with the nose also. Therefore the nose is called Avadhūta. The name Mukhya refers to the mouth, which functions for tasting and speaking. Vipaṇa means the voice and Rasajña or Rasavit means the tongue. Nine syllables in the last line is an irregularity in the meter.
The place called Apaṇa is speaking and the place called Bahūdana is various types of food. Pitṛhū is the right ear and Devahū is the left ear.
Citram andaḥ refers to the four types of food.
With the sense organ called the ear, the jīva hears scriptures encouraging enjoyment leading to Pitṛloka (Dakṣaina-pañcāla) by the left ear, and he hears scriptures for liberation (Uttara-pāñcāla) by the right ear.
Śruti-dharaḥ refers to the ear.
Āsurī, the lower door, is the penis. Sex life is the place called Grāmaka. Durmada is the sense organ called the penis. The gate called Nirṛti is the anus.
Grāmaka is the sense object of the penis. It is called here enjoyment of the materialistic people. It is defined as sex life (vyavāyaḥ).
Vaiśaṣa, the sense object of the anus, means hell. Lubdhaka is the anus sense organ. The two blind men are the hands and feet, by which men perform action and move about.
The inner chamber refers to the heart. His servant Viṣūci is the mind. The jīva experiences illusion, satisfaction, and joy though its natures of tamas, sattva and rajas.
Viṣūci is explained as the mine. By its qualities of tamas, sattva and rajas the jīva experiences illusion, satisfaction and joy.
Whatever changes the intelligence undergoes during sleep or however it transforms the senses during waking state, the jīva, contaminated by the qualities of the intelligence, imitates the intelligences actions.
This verse explains the description starting in SB 4.25.56. Whatever the Queen did the King followed. However the intelligence changes during a dream and whatever senses it transforms in the waking state, the ātmā contaminated by the qualities of that intelligence imitates its functions such as seeing or touching. The ātmā is simply a witness, and acts by force of the intelligence. The intelligence is the cause the jīva acting.
mano-raśmir buddhi-sūto hṛn-nīòo dvandva-kūbaraḥ pañcendriyārtha-prakṣepaḥ
sapta-dhātu-varūthakaḥ
ākūtir vikramo bāhyo
mṛga-tṛṣṇāṁ pradhāvati
ekādaśendriya-camūḥ
pañca-sūnā-vinoda-kṛt
The chariot is the body. The horses are the senses. Its speed is the force of time. The two wheels are sin and piety. The three flags are the guṇas. The five connecting rods are the five life airs. The bridle is the mind. The driver is the intelligence. The seat is the heart. The two poles attached to the yoke are happiness and distress. The five weapons are the five sense objects. The seven coverings are the seven dhātus. The five exploits are the actions of the action senses. The eleven commanders are the eleven senses. Going hunting on the chariot means seeking material pleasure through the five senses.
The momentum (rayaḥ) of the year is the chariots quick motion, mentioned as aśugam in SB 4.26.1. Another version of the first line is samvatsaraśca tat kṛtaṁ rayaś: the chariots speed is the year. The flags refer to triveṇum in SB 4.26.1. These are the three guṇas-- sattva, rajas and tamas. The five weapons (prakṣepaḥ) are the five sense objects such as sound. The five action senses (ākūtiḥ) are the exploits (vikramaḥ). Pañca-sūnā-vinoda-kṛt means enjoying objects sinfully through the five senses. This is an explanation of going out hunting.
Caṇòavega is the year by which time is perceived. The Gandharvas are the days and the female Gandharvas are the nights. By the rotation of 360 days and nights the life span decreases.
Parikrāntyā means rotating.
The daughter of Time is Old Age. People do not want to meet her. The King of the Yavanas is death. He accepted her as a sister for destroying the world.
Death accepts old age as his sister for destroying the people. Or he accepted her as his sister for his own destruction. Because she came in the family of Adharma he became her husband, though she was his sister. She is merciful to the Vaiṣṇavas. By the order of Nārada she helps them surpass death.
evaṁ bahu-vidhair duḥkhair daiva-bhūtātma-sambhavaiḥ kliśyamānaḥ śataṁ varṣaṁ dehe dehī tamo-vṛtaḥ
prāṇendriya-mano-dharmān
ātmany adhyasya nirguṇaḥ
śete kāma-lavān dhyāyan
mamāham iti karma-kṛt
The soldiers of the King of the Yavanas are mental and physical diseases. He experiences difficulties in the body due to the elements. Prajvāra is fever of two types. Thus the jīva, covered by ignorance, dwells in the body for a hundred years, suffering from various pains due to body, mind and higher causes. Imposing the qualities of the life air, senses and mind on his soul, though he is actually without material qualities, he performs actions, meditating on me and mine, and lies down on particles of enjoyment.
Carāḥ means those who move together with him. Quickly he develops symptoms related the elements. That means heavy breathing, fatigue and meaningless speech, caused by wind, water, cold, fire, heat of the sun and wrong diet. The two types of fever are cold and hot. Another version is bhūtopasargās tv arayaḥ: he is attacked by enemies (arayaḥ) and has pains (upasarga) caused by kings, thieves, and insects. Nārada then speaks to produce a sense of detachment from the body. The jīva suffers from adhidaivika, adhyātmika and adhibhautika causes. The qualities of the life air are hunger, thirst etc. the qualities of the sense are blindness etc. the qualities of the mind are lust etc. Though he is without these qualities, they are imposed on him.
guṇābhimānī sa tadā karmāṇi kurute 'vaśaḥ śuklaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ lohitaṁ vā yathā-karmābhijāyate
When the jīva, self seer, forgetting the Supreme Lord, the supreme guru, identifies with the guṇas and becomes attached to the guṇas, he helplessly performs actions in sattva, rajas or tamas, and takes birth according to his actions.
Ātamānam means Paramātmā. Śukla means sattva. Kṛṣṇa means tamas and lohita means rajas.
By actions in sattva he attains planets illuminated by knowledge. Sometimes he attains planets whose final result is suffering, and filled with efforts for action. Sometimes he attains planets filled with ignorance and lamentation.
He attains planets whose final result (udarka) is suffering, and he makes efforts by action. He attains tamasic planets filled with ignorance and lamentation.
This foolish jīva is sometimes a man and sometimes he is a woman. Sometimes he is eunuch. Sometimes he is a devatā, a human or an animal. His birth takes place according to the guṇas and his actions.
Why did Purañjana become a woman? That is answered here. Na ubhayam means a eunuch. One attains birth without surpassing guṇas and karma.
tathā kāmāśayo jīva uccāvaca-pathā bhraman upary adho vā madhye vā yāti diṣṭaṁ priyāpriyam
Just as a wretched dog, afflicted with hunger, wandering from house to house, by fate sometimes gets the stick and sometimes gets food, the jīva, full of desires, wandering on high or low roads, by fate attains enjoyable or disagreeable bodies in the higher, middle or lower planets.
By the force of fate, he attains happiness and distress in these births. An example is given in two verses. The word dīna (wretched) is used to exclude the dog belonging to a king.
Even if there is a remedy, there is no cessation of even one of the jīvas miseries caused by fate, other beings, his body and mind.
The foolish dog gets the stick, but the intelligence man does not do activities to cause suffering. He has remedies for his suffering caused by sickness which he happens to get. There is no separation from even one of the three types of suffering, even if there is remedy for the suffering. This means that the remedy is also a cause of suffering.
All the remedies are similar to a man who, carrying a heavy burden on his head, places it on his shoulder.
An example is given.
O sinless King! There is no remedy for action by more action. Both the sinful act and the remedial measure take shelter of ignorance. It is like the suffering in a dream while one sleeps.
The cause of suffering is sinful actions. Therefore with a desire to destroy all sinful actions, by perform in a great sacrifice one can destroy all suffering. Two verses give the answer. Both the sinful act and the action of atonement take shelter of (upasṛtam) ignorance, since both are caused by tamas and rajas. Though the sattva portion of the remedy in rajas destroys the tamas portion of acts previously committed, the tamas portion of the remedy in rajas remains. Thus, though a sacrifice destroys all sinful acts, the tamas portion, consisting of killing animals, remains. An example is given. In a dream a son dies and one grieves. In that same dream, one dreams that the son lives, and ones grief disappears. Then a snake bites the son, and again one suffers. Just as the suffering in the dream cannot be stopped except by waking up, the suffering in saṁsāra cannot be stopped except by destroying saṁsāra.
Though suffering does not really exist, saṁsāra will never cease, as long as the conception of suffering continues, just as the suffering in a dream will never cease for the jīva wandering about with the covering of the mind, as long as he identifies with the dream.
Because happiness and distress are qualities of the body, actually there is no suffering for the jīva who is dissociated from the body. What is the use of trying to destroy suffering that does not exist? Though suffering (arthe) does not exist for the jīva, without wiping out that misconception of suffering, material existence will not cease. In a dream, false objects continue to give suffering to the jīva moving about with the mind, a covering (upādhi) on the jīva (liḍga-rūpeṇa), until the person wakes up.
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ samāhitaḥ sadhrīcīnena vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca janayiṣyati
For the jīva who is actually a spiritual entity, from whose ignorance arises the unending succession of miseries birth after birth, that misery ceases by pure bhakti to the guru. The stage of prema-bhakti completely dedicated to Vāsudeva produces complete jñāna and vairāgya.
How can one stop saṁsāra? At the beginning stage of bhakti, for the jīva dedicated to the highest goal, from whose ignorance (yataḥ) arises a succession of obstacles in saṁsāra, the cessation of saṁsāra will take place by devotion to guru. This means there should be bhakti to guru and to the Lord, since guru is a person who teaches about bhakti to the Lord. This is the function of guru:
gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt
pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt
daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān
na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum
One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable devatā. SB 5.5.18
Therefore it is explained that the deliverance of Purañjana took place by bhakti to the Lord and guru in his next life.
By sādhana-bhakti one attains prema-bhakti. This is explained in verses 37-38. Prema-bhakti to Vāsudeva is completely dedicated to the Lord alone (samāhitaḥ). It is for his pleasure, not for ones own happiness. In a complete manner (sadhrīcīnena), this prema produces jñāna and vairāgya. But jñāna and vairāgya aiming at merging with the Lord are excluded. It has been said:
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ |
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam ||
Bhakti dedicated to Lord Kṛṣṇa, endowed with special moods, quickly produces detachment from material goals and knowledge of the Lord devoid of the desire for liberation. SB 1.2.7
The word ahaitukam (without motive) suggests that, since this jñāna and vairāgya have arisen from bhakti, they will not have any goal other than bhakti.
O saintly King! One who hears and studies with faith very soon attains bhakti-yoga in the form of shelter of topics of the Lord to attain prema.
Sādhana for attaining prema is also bhakti-yoga. On should take shelter of topics of the Lord to attain prema. Who is qualified? Those who study bhagavad-dharma, and hear, chant and remember the Lord with faith. Hearing in the verse means these three principle activities of bhakti.
tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra- pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāòha-karṇais tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛò-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ
Where there are devotees with pure hearts and proper conduct, who are eager to hear discussions of the qualities of the Lord, profuse streams of nectar of the pastimes of the Lord emanating from the mouths of the saintly devotees, the mahāprasāda of the devotees, flow everywhere. Those who drink that nectar with firm ears, with constant thirst, O King, will not be touched by hunger, thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion.
Where will bhakti take place? It takes place where there are devotees with hearts eager to hear about the Lord, just as those attached to the house are eager for engaging in household activities. The time for discussions about the Lord, hearing about the Lord, have passed! What great misfortune! Now the time for chanting the Lords glories has arrived. I am so unfortunate! I have wasted my time in oversleeping and in performing disgusting daily rituals. How can I quickly go to the assembly of devotees? Where there are such devotees, speaking about the Lord takes place. What are the rules? Mukharitāḥ means topics which accept the mouth or in other words topics which reside at all times in the mouths of the devotees. In that assembly of great devotees (tasmin), the great rivers of nectar of topics of the Lord, which are prasāda (śeṣa) of the great devotees, having been tasted by them, and which are continually present in the mouths of the great devotees (mukharitāḥ), flow in all directions. Those who drink those rivers (indicating great thirst because of the intense taste), not being able to neglect even a drop of those rivers (indicating attraction), thinking that it is never enough (avitṛṣaḥ), with ears made sturdy to prevent the nectar from flowing out (gāòha-kārṇaiḥ), cannot be touched by hunger and thirst, fear, lamentation or illusion. They do not have a desire for eating, thinking Where is my food today? since they have been fed by the devotees. They are fearless, since they are not attached to anything.
te na smaranty atitarāṁ priyam īśa martyaṁ
ye cānv adaḥ suta-suhṛd-gṛha-vitta-dārāḥ
ye tv abja-nābha bhavadīya-padāravinda-
saugandhya-lubdha-hṛdayeṣu kṛta-prasaḍgāḥ
O Lord with a lotus navel! Those who have taken association with those whose hearts have smelled the fragrance of your lotus feet do not care for this very dear material body or the things accompanying it, such as sons, friends, house, wealth and wife. SB 4.9.12
They have no lamentation or illusion because they have forgotten possessiveness.
Those who are constantly disturbed by habitual hunger, thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion can never develop attraction for the ocean of nectar of topics concerning the Lord.
Bhakti will rarely blossom in those afflicted by hunger, thirst and fear, because they lack absorption in the rasa, caused by habitual lack of enthusiasm for thinking about topics of the Lord, due to lack of devotee association.
marīcir atry-aḍgirasau pulastyaḥ pulahaḥ kratuḥ bhṛgur vasiṣṭha ity ete mad-antā brahma-vādinaḥ
adyāpi vācas-patayas
tapo-vidyā-samādhibhiḥ
paśyanto 'pi na paśyanti
paśyantaṁ parameśvaram
Omniscient Brahmā, the father of all progenitors, Śiva, Manu, Dakṣa and the other rulers of humankind, the four Kumāras, Marīci, Atri, Aḍgirā, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, and I as well, though we know the Vedas and skilful at speaking and though even today we reflect upon the Supreme Lord by austerity, knowledge and concentration, cannot see the Lord who sees everything.
Śruti says tarati śokam ātmavit: the knower of ātmā surpasses lamentation. What is the use of bhakti for the jñānīs? Jñānīs never know the Lord. This is expressed by kaimutya-nyāya in four verses (We do not know the Lord. What then to speak of others?). Bhagavān means knowing everything. I criticize not only these persons, but myself also. We try to see him by austerity, knowledge and meditation, but we do not use bhakti. Though they are actually all famous as devotees, they express themselves as very fallen, without bhakti. We are all expert at teaching the meaning of scriptures to others (vācaspataḥ), but we do not know the actual meaning of the scriptures, since we do no have bhakti. Even today indicates they are expert at austerities, knowledge and meditation. They reflect on the Lord, but do not see him. This means they do not know him.
Those who study the Vedas, vast in meaning and words, and who worship the devatās distinguished by typical markings and mantras, do not know the Supreme Lord.
Therefore, those involved in karma do not know the Lord at all. Those who study the Vedas, with vast meaning and words, who worship devatās distinguished by typical characteristics and mantras, do not know the Lord.
When the Lord shows mercy to the devotee, the devotee gives up thinking of karma-kāṇòa and material affairs.
If the jñānīs and karmīs do not know the Lord, who knows him? The devotee knows him. Then, how does he become a devotee, and by what qualities is he recognized? Ātma-bhāvitaḥ means of one whose devotion is in the Lord. This means the devotee. The devotee prays in his mind, O Lord! Please accept this person and deliver him from saṁsāra. When the Lord is merciful to that person, that devotee gives up absorbing his mind in thinking of mundane affairs (loke) and karma-kāṇòa (vede).
O King Prācīnabarhiṣat! Therefore, out of ignorance, never make your ultimate goal of life prescribed karmas, which appear to be legitimate goals, which are pleasing to hear about, but which do not produce substantial results.
Artha-kāśiṣu means those karmas which appear to be legitimate goals. Artha dṛṣtim means taking as the goal of life. Karma is pleasing to hear (śrotra-sparśiṣu) for excitement, and which do not touch the substantial (aspṛṣta-vastuṣu).
Foolish people do not know the Lords planet where the Lord resides. Not knowing the Vedas, they speak of the Vedas in terms of prescribed karmas alone.
Then why do my priests and the sages, learned men, make me do karmas such as sacrifices? They do not know Vaikuṇṭha where the Lord resides. They know Svarga as their planet, because, having contaminated intelligence (dhūmra-dhiyaḥ), they say that karma is the ultimate message of the Vedas. They do not know the meaning of the Vedas. The Lord has said:
kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā dharmo yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ
By the influence of time, the Vedic knowledge was lost at the time of annihilation. Therefore, when the subsequent creation took place, I spoke to Brahmā the Vedic knowledge in which bhakti is the essence. SB 11.14.3
Covering the whole earth with kuśa grass, with tips facing east, thinking yourself a great sacrificer because of sacrificing animals, and misbehaving, you do not know the supreme activity. That activity which is pleasing the Lord is the real activity. That activity by which one concentrates on the Lord is knowledge.
Taught by ignorant people, you have become a fool. You think (manī) you are a great sacrificer because you have killed animals and have bad conduct (stabdhaḥ). What then is the supreme activity? Please tell me. What is pleasing to the Lord is real activity. Anything else is not called activity. Anything else is not called knowledge.
The Supreme Lord is the soul of all beings. He is the mother and the father of the universe. His feet are the shelter of all beings. From those feet arise all auspiciousness.
Deha-bhṛtām ātmā means that there is no satisfaction without satisfying him. He is the mother of the universe (prakṛtiḥ) and the father or puruṣa (īśvaraḥ).
The Lord is most beloved, though the jīva is also dear, because from worshipping the Lord there is not the least fear or suffering. He who knows the two ātmās is learned. Such a learned person should be considered your guru and should be worshipped like the Lord.
The Lord is dearest thought the jīva (ātmā) is dear, because from worshipping devatās and receiving Svarga there is only suffering for the jīva (and from worshipping the Lord there is no suffering or fear). You should know that he who knows the two ātmās to be distinct (iti veda) is learned. He who is that learned person is your guru, someone to take shelter of. He is the Lord. That means the guru is to be worshipped by you (like the Lord).
Nārada said: O best of men! Thus your question has been answered. Please hear from me a secret I have ascertained.
The subject is here concluded. The question has been dealt with (sañchinnaḥ). Understanding that the King was considering in his mind that he would have his servants bring his sons, hand over the kingdom to them, and depart for the forest, after understanding that one should be delivered by bhakti and renunciation according to the story of Purañjana, Nārada then told another story about a deer to make him immediately leave the house. Please hear the secret words of me, who speak to you.
Search out the deer, who is grazing on grass, enjoying with his mate in garden of flowers, his ears attracted to the songs of swarms of bees, moving about without considering the hungry tigers in front of him, with a hunter behind him ready to shoot him with his arrows.
Examine this deer which will soon die, without knowing the calamity awaiting him. He is grazing (caram) on insignificant grass. Not making a proper compound (kṣudra-caram) is poetic license. He is attached to being together with his wife in a garden (śaraṇe) of flowers. He listens to the songs (sāmasu) of a swarm of bees. In front are hiding wolves. He moves about, not considering them, because he does not know. He is almost pierced by the arrows of a hunter hiding behind him. Find that deer and lead him quickly from the flower garden to another place, otherwise the wolves and hunter will kill him.
While you contemplate the drop of sense enjoyment from the tongue and genital arising as a result of kāmya-karmas, which is actually insignificant, like the sweet fragrance of flowers which fades away, in the āśrama or garden of women who are beautiful like flowers, with your mind absorbed in sex life like the deer with his mate, with your ears extremely greedy for attractive gossip with women, which similar to the songs of the bees, while you play in houses without considering each second of time or the days and the nights, which steal way your life like a pack of wolves hiding in frontdeath, like a unseen hunter lurking behind, pursues you with his arrow that pierces the heart. O King! You should understand that the deer, pierced in the heart, is you.
This is an explanation of the previous verse. The flower garden is household life with women (similar to flowers). The aroma of fresh jasmine is attractive but becomes disgusting when old. This is the nature of household life. It is thus compared to eating insignificant grass. The man absorbed in his wifes company, thinking of sex life, is compared to the deer attached (raktam) to enjoying the company of its mate. The decrease of life span is compared to the wolves hiding in front. Moving about (yāntam) is compared to enjoying in household life (viharantam gṛheṣu). Atitarām is a modifier. Antaḥ śarena means by the arrow which goes deeply to the heart. This means a death-inflicting weapon, which is not recognized as such. You should see this. You should immediately leave household life. This way the deer will be saved from death.
Reflecting on the actions of the deer, fix your mind within yourself in the heart, and understand the futility of the attractive results of karma. Give up household life and the topics discussed by materialists. Accept the simple cottage of the devotees. Gradually become detached.
In this verse he makes the meaning clear. Vicakṣya is poetic license. It means considering in the context. Place the mind (cittam) within the heart (antaḥ hṛdi). Also place in the heart what is like the sweet sound of a river for the ears. The śruti promises sweet results such as apāma somam amṛtā abhūma: we drank soma and became immortal. You should merge that knowledge in your heart. This means After considering the results of karma-kāṇòa, understand it is useless. Accept the shelter of the swans. This means accept the leaf hut of the renounced devotees. Or it can mean please the Supreme Lord, who is the shelter of the devotees.
The King said: O brāhmaṇa! I have heard and considered what you have spoken. The teachers do not know this. If they knew, why did they not tell me?
What you spoke has been heard and later seen (anu īkṣitam), considered and absorbed. The sages present here made me study karma. They do not know this. If they know, then why do they not tell me? From today you are my guru.
O brāhmaṇa! You have destroyed my great doubt created by these teachers by your teachings. Even sages who have controlled the senses are bewildered.
The doubt created by the teachers who taught by contrary statements that bhakti, jñāna and vairāgya were impossible, has been completely, decisively (sam) cut by you. The sages, in whom sense actions do not prevail, who have conquered the senses, are bewildered. Out of illusion they perform karma, and make persons like me perform karma. How unfortunate for persons like us!
Giving up the body by which he performs actions, a person then enjoys the results in a different body on another planet after death.
I have one more doubt concerning the path of karma. Please destroy that doubt. A person gives up the body which he performed acts and then attains results in Svarga or hell in another body in another planet after death. This is explained in the scripture. How is that suitable? In other words, it is not right that he performs actions in one body and enjoys results in another body.
This statement is heard from the knowers of the Vedas. Also, the action prescribed in the Vedas that is performed disappears with the end of the act, and its future result also is absent.
He raises another doubt. The action mentioned in the Vedas which is performed by men immediately disappears the next moment. The fate generated from the act, though existing, is absent, since we see no evidence of it existing. How then can one enjoy the results on another planet after death?
Nārada said: One enjoys the results after death by the same body which performed the actions while living--through the subtle body with the mind as the principal sense organ, without obstruction of the gross body.
He answers the first question. By the subtle body, by the mind principally, by the senses of which the mind is predominant in performing sin and piety, one enjoys. One enjoys the results of Svarga and hell by these senses in the subtle body. The subtle body gives no obstacle to enjoyment (avyavadhānena). There is not obstacle of a gross body.
Just as a sleeping person gives up his identity as a waking person and experiences actions in the mind through impressions while dreaming, so the person after death enjoys on another planet with a gross body similar to the dream body.
Though doer and enjoyer exist through the subtle body, without the gross body they cannot accomplish enjoyment. That is true. It is the gross body which is procured by actions. An example is given. Just as a sleeping body, giving up the living (śvasantam) body of waking state, giving up that identity, enjoys actions through impressions in the mind, a person enjoys in other worlds after death in a gross body (for instance, an animal body) procured through karma, similar to the dream body.
Saying This is mine or I am this person, the jīva identifies with his gross body and performs action. The jīva then receives the results of that action in his subtle body. By that action performed with a certain identity, the jīva then takes birth with another gross body.
This verse explains how ones identity in the gross body helps the jīva attain his next body. He says I did this activity. This is my sacrifice for attaining Svarga. And he identifies with his particular gross body (yad yad gṛhṇīyāt). Then the jīva in his subtle body accepts the result accomplished through actions of the previous gross body. The previous gross body is not necessary for this. Thus by that action performed with ahaḍkāra, one takes birth again. Birth cannot take place otherwise.
Just as one can infer the citta by the knowledge senses and action senses, one can infer the actions in the previous gross body by the present functioning of citta.
This answers the question Since action disappear the moment it is performed, how can one enjoy its results in the next life? One can infer the citta by the knowledge senses or action senses, which are not operating at the same time. Knowledge does not arise from simultaneous action of the different senses. Akṣapāda says yugapaj jñānānutpattir manaso liḍgam: the quality of the mind is that knowledge does not arise simultaneously from different senses. Thus, when the mind unites with a particular sense, there is knowledge for the sense object of that particular sense. Similarly, by the present functions of citta, which do not arise simultaneously, the actions generated from previous bodies can be inferred. When the operation of citta unites with a certain action, the citta then appears to be auspicious or inauspicious, depending on the particular action. Though an action disappears the moment it is performed, its impression remains in the citta. Thus the conclusion has been shown.
Sometimes one experiences objects in the mind in the present body which have not been experienced, seen or heard in this life, with particular forms and varieties.
How can we perceive the subtle body which is not destroyed when the gross body is destroyed? This is explained in two verses. In the present body, sometimes one experiences things which have not been experienced, seen or heard of in this life, things from the previous body, in dreams or imagination. The forms and varieties are experienced in the mind.
O King! Please believe that these forms arise from experiences in previous bodies of the jīva. It is not possible for anything to appear in the mind which has not been previously experienced.
Consider for certain those forms and varieties to be produced from a previous body (deha-sambhavam) of the jīva (liḍginaḥ). O King! It is not possible for things to appear in the mind that have not been experienced. Just as things seen or heard when a person is young appear in his mind when he is older, things experienced in many previous bodies appear in the mind in this body. If that is so, then you should know that it is the mind and nothing else.
Good fortune to you! The mind of man indicates his past forms and his future forms and indicates as well whether he will not take another birth at all.
The present mental states inform us of the past and future inauspicious and auspicious bodies of the jīva. The mind alone indicates the previous bodies of man by his display of ferocity, peacefulness, miserliness and generosity. The present mind indicates He was this type of person previously. It also indicates what his future body will be. By seeing his knowledge and renunciation in the present body, one understands that he had control of his senses and mind in a previous body and that he will not be born in the future (na bhaviṣyataḥ). He will be liberated. The mind indicates all this. The same mind which always remains in the subtle body does this. The mind is not produced again and again with each body. Good fortune to you! This means Understand this! It is a blessing out of Nāradas mercy.
Sometimes one sees in the mind things that are impossible to see or hear in this life. These things should be understood to be experiences dependent on a place, time and action.
How is it that one sometimes sees impossible things in dreams, such as an ocean on a mountain top, stars during the day or ones own body without a head? It should be understood that whatever form appears is dependent on a place, time, or action. The ocean on a mountain top depends on seeing those things in particular places. Seeing stars in the daylight depends on experiencing stars in the night (a particular time). Taking a massage or other events depends on actions performed during the day. One may then perceive the illusory action of having ones head cut off in a dream because of a disturbance of the dhātus. .
All jīvas are endowed with subtle bodies. All experiences of the senses come and go in the mind in a particular sequence.
One jīva, at different times, entering into thousands of gross bodies by means of one subtle body and enjoys all material pleasures. Samanasaḥ means with the subtle body.
If ones mind is situated in śuddha-sattva, by the side of the Lord, sometimes one sees the whole universe directly, just as Rāḥu occasionally approaches the moon.
Everyone sees all these things in a particular order. Sometimes there is simultaneous observation of everything. When the mind is constantly situated in śuddha-sattva, situated next to the Lord, the devotee may see the universe directly, just as the Lord sees it, by his will. For instance, Kṛṣṇa showed the universe to his mother when he ate dirt. Though one does not deserve to see this, sometimes one can see it. An example is given. Rāhu sometimes approaches the moon.
The connection with the gross body expressed through me and mine does not cease for the jīva as long as the beginningless subtle body composed of intelligence, mind, senses and sense objects continues to exist.
Because the subtle body is not destroyed when the gross body is destroyed, one cannot say that there is another doer and another enjoyer in each life. This has been explained. There is another doubt. Through the gross body, the subtle body acts as a doer and enjoyer. But the subtle body never acts alone. In the absence of the gross body, the jīva no longer is a doer. He should then get liberation. For the jīva (puruṣe) the connection with the gross body, the condition of me and mine, is not cut, as long as the subtle body (guṇa-vyūhaḥ), a transformation of the guṇas, in the form of intelligence, mind senses and sense objects, continues to exist. When did this start? That subtle body does not have a known time of beginning (anādimān).
Only because of the stoppage of movement of the senses in states of sleep, fainting and deep grief, and in the states of death and death fever, one has no self-awareness. (But the subtle body does not cease to exist.)
Just as the gross bodies are created and destroyed thousands of times while the subtle body remains, while the gross body remains there is destruction of the subtle body when deep sleep occurs and creation of the subtle body when deep sleep ends. Why can we not say this? This is explained in two verses. Upatāpa means suffering due to separation from someone dear. Because of the stoppage of movement of the senses (prāṇa) during sleep and other conditions, and the consequent inability of the senses to carry out their functions, one does not have awareness of self, identity, I am so and so. In deep sleep, none the sense or mind function. In the dream state, the external knowledge senses do not function. Though there is greater degree of stoppage of movement in the states of death and prajvāra, and great difficulty in those states, the subtle body is still not absent.
Because of seats of the senses are not fully developed, the subtle body, evident by eleven senses which are clearly visible in a stage of youth, is not visible in a child within the womb or in a new-born baby, just as the moon is not visible during the new moon phase.
Because of the lack of development of the abodes of the senses, the subtle body, the cause of ahaḍkāra, evident by the eleven senses of a young man, is not visible when the child is in the womb or is young. An example is given to show its invisibility. It is like the moon during the dark moon phase (invisible but present).
Just as enjoyment of objects continues in a dream, thought the objects are not present, saṁsāra does not cease for a person attached to sense objects though the subtle body stops functioning during deep sleep.
In states like deep sleep, there is obstruction to the subtle bodys functions, but it is not absent. Some say that during deep sleep and final devastation, the subtle body does not exist, because of merging into prakṛti. But they also say that this is not liberation. It is still saṁsāra. An example is given. Just as a person who meditates on senses objects perceives forms for enjoyment in a dream though the physical objects are not present, so in deep sleep, though the subtle body does not function, there is no liberation because of the impressions have not been destroyed. Saṁsāra continues.
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The form which consists of the five prāṇas and the three guṇas, which is furnished with the sixteen transformations (ten senses, five sense objects, and mind), and which is endowed with consciousness is called the subtle body.
What is the subtle body? This verse explains. Pañca-vidham means the five prāṇas. Vidhā means performing actions. Tri-vṛt is the three guṇas. The subtle body is furnished with sixteen transformations. This is the subtle body (jīvaḥ)
By the subtle body the jīva accepts bodies and gives up bodies, and experiences joy, lamentation, fear, grief and happiness.
yāvad anyaṁ na vindeta vyavadhānena karmaṇām mana eva manuṣyendra bhūtānāṁ bhava-bhāvanam
Just as a caterpillar does not give up one leaf while moving to the next leaf, the jīva does not give up his previous identity even while dying, until he accepts another body by firmly holding his karmas. O King of men! The mind of living beings is the cause of repeated birth.
There is no cessation of false identity at the moment between rejecting one body and accepting another. The caterpillar does not give up one leaf while traveling to the next. Holding firmly the karmas which decide the next body (karmanām vyavadhānena), he accepts another body. The topic is then summarized. Bhava-bhāvanam means cause of saṁsāra.
When one performs actions by the senses while thinking of objects of enjoyment, bondage to action of the body occurs, since each of those actions have the seed of ignorance.
How is the mind the cause of saṁsāra? One meditates on objects of enjoyment (caritān). Because each act has ignorance as its seed, bondage to action of the body (anātmanaḥ) takes place.
Therefore, to counteract ignorance, seeing the Supreme Lord as the whole universe, worship the Lord who creates maintains and destroys the universe with all your heart.
Maitreya said: The chief devotee Nārada, after showing the nature of the jīva and the Lord to the King and taking permission from the King, departed for Siddhaloka.
Haṁsayoḥ means the jīva and the Lord.
The saintly king Prācīnabarhi, after ordering his sons to protect the citizens, went to Kapilas hermitage to perform austerities.
He gave the order to his ministers, since his sons had not yet returned from their austerities.
There, by fully concentrating his mind while being free of material contamination and continually worshipping the lotus feet of Govinda, he attained sārūpya by his devotion.
Sāmyatām means similar form.
O sinless Vidura! One who hears or makes others hear this allegorical story of spiritual life sung by Nārada becomes freed from the subtle body.
One who studies this story filled with the glories of Mukunda which is purifying for the whole world and purifying for the soul, which flowed from the mouth of Nārada and is continually sung by Brahmā becomes free from all bondage and does not wander in the material world.
This story glories Mukunda by showing how bhakti is superior to karma. Or it can be taken as a reference to verse 29 of this chapter:
tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti:
Profuse streams of nectar of the pastimes of the Lord emanating from the mouths of the saintly devotees, the mahāprasāda of the devotees, flow everywhere. SB 4.29.40
Pārameṣṭhyam means activities of the Lord. It can also mean glorified by Brahmā.
I have studied this astounding spiritual allegory. By doing this, I am free from ahaḍkāra and doubts concerning how one experiences karma in the next life.
Striyāśramaḥ means the shelter of intelligence, ahaḍkāra. Or taken literally according to the story, it means association with women. Doubts about how one enjoy results of karma in the next life are also destroyed.
Thus ends the commentary on the Twenty-ninth Chapter of the Fourth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Twenty-ninth Chapter, the spiritual explanation of the story of Purañjana is given, along with questions of the King concerning karma and a story to illustrate renunciation.
I have understood a little of the meaning of this story.