49 verses
Vidura said: O brāhmaṇa! What did the sons of Prācīnabarhi, whom you mentioned, attain after satisfying the Lord by chanting the song of Śiva?
Disciple of Bṛhaspati! What excellent benediction did the Pracetās, dear associates of Śiva, achieve in this world and the next, after meeting him?
Disciple of Bṛhaspati! It is well known that Maitreya and Uddhava became disciples of Bṛhaspati to obtain some particular knowledge. What best thing did the Pracetās obtain in this world and the next? What did they do to meet with Śiva? What is the description of the Pracetās, who got the mercy of Śiva?
Maitreya said: Following the instructions of their father within the ocean, the Pracetās satisfied the Supreme Lord by chanting Śivas prayer and by austerity.
They satisfied the Lord (purañjanam) by chanting Śivas prayer (japa-yajñena).
After ten thousand years, the eternal Supreme Lord appeared to them and mitigated their austerities by his soothing beauty.
Śāntena should be śāntayā.
Riding on the shoulders of Garuòa, he appeared like a cloud on the peak of Mount Meru. Wearing yellow cloth, with a jewel around his neck, he illuminated the directions.
His cheeks shone because of his bright gold earrings with colorful gems. On his head was a brilliant crown. He was served by eight weapons, servants, sages, and devatās. Garuòa and Kinnaras sang his glories.
His cheeks shone because of the earrings of gold studded with various colorful jewels.
Accompanied by Lakṣmī who competed with the beauty of his array of eight long, thick arms, the Lord, wearing a garland, with merciful glance spoke to the surrendered sons of Prācīnabarhi in a thunderous voice.
He appeared with Lakṣmī who competed with the beauty of his arms. He spoke with a voice making a sound like the clouds. He had a merciful glance (saghṛṇāvalokaḥ).
The Lord said: All fortune to you! Please choose a benediction, O sons of the King! By your mutual friendship you have the same qualities. I am pleased with your friendship.
One who remembers you brothers daily in the evening will have friendship to all beings and close friendship with his brothers.
To those who with attention in the morning and evening glorify me by the song of Śiva, I will give anything they desire and glorious wisdom.
I give this to others. How much more I will give to you!
Because you accepted the order of your father with joy, you will have attractive fame in the world.
Lokān anu means directed at the world.
You will have a famous son not less in qualities than Brahmā, and he will fill the three worlds with his offspring.
He will be not less (anavamaḥ) than Brahmā in qualities.
O sons of the King! A lotus-eyed daughter was born to the heavenly woman Pramlocā by the sage Kaṇòu. The trees accepted her after Pramlocā gave her up.
Who will be the wife that bears us the son? This is explained in three verses. For a long time, the sage Kaṇòu enjoyed with Pramlocā, who was sent by Indra to break his austerity. She then returned to Svarga after leaving the child in the trees. Apaviddhām means she was given up. O sons of the King! (This is vocative case.)
Soma, king of the trees, being compassionate, placed his forefinger which poured with nectar into the mouth of the child who was crying because of hunger.
Soma is well known as the king of the trees.
Ordered by your father, who is obedient to me, to produce progeny, please go to that place and marry this beautiful young woman without delay.
You have been ordered by your father, who is obedient to me. Go there and marry her.
This slender-waisted girl, fully surrendered, with qualities and conduct similar to yours, should be the wife of all of you, since your conduct and qualities are of one nature.
How can all of us marry one girl? Your qualities and conduct are one, though you are many. This is my blessing (bhūyāt), and thus all faults visible and invisible are mitigated.
With power undiminished for three thousand devatā years, you will enjoy a thousand earthly and heavenly pleasures by my mercy.
For thousands of divine years you will enjoy a thousand, or unlimited pleasures. Here, the phrase thousands of divine years means three thousand. The plural number means three according to kapīñjalālabhena-nyāya.
Of men, whose hearts have all guṇas burned up by undiminished bhakti! After earthly enjoyment, disgusted with all material places which are equivalent to hell, you will attain my abode.
O men in whose hearts the material guṇas have been burned up by bhakti! After enjoying on earth (ataḥ), you will come to my abode. Since they could not see the Lord if they still had material guṇas present in them, the sentence does not mean after have burned up the material guṇas in your hearts by bhakti, you will come to me. It is said:
hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati |
avipakva-kaṣāyāṇāṁ durdarśohaṁ kuyoginām ||
Oh! In this body you will not be able to see me again. But lax practitioners with contamination remaining cannot see me at all. SB 1.6.22
Becoming disgusted with places having material identity such as Brahmaloka (ataḥ nirayāt nirvidyā), which are equivalent to hell, you will attain my abode.
Householders who perform acts of devotion while spending all time in discussing topics about me are not bound by household life.
You have told them to enjoy the earthly pleasures. Since this pleasure is equivalent to hell and unfavorable for bhakti to you, why do you force it on us? Kuṣalam karmaṇām means those who serve me. They pass their hours (yāmānām) talking about me as a necessity of life. The meaning is this. That enjoyment which produces karma is a cause of bondage and is equivalent to hell. It is unfavorable for bhakti. It does not arise from my mercy. You should enjoy the earth. This is my mercy. Other types of enjoyment of the world restrict bhakti, but enjoyment ordered by me increases bhakti. Thus it should be understood that this is enjoyment arising from my mercy and does not cause bondage. This is also seen in the cases of Pṛthu, Prahlāda, Dhruva and Manu. My mercy towards persons who have not burned up material impurities is to take away their enjoyment. Thus it is said:
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ
tato 'dhanaṁ tyajanty asya svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam
If I especially favor someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the relatives and friends of such a poverty-stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one distress after another. SB 10.88.8
Those who have attained my form which is known as Brahman by the followers of Brahman are not bewildered. They do not lament and do not rejoice, since I, full of knowledge, have entered their fresh lotus hearts.
Where is the suffering of bondage for these devotees? I reside eternally in their hearts to give them joy. My svarūpa (etat) is called Brahman by those attached to Brahman. Those who have attained that form (yatra gatāḥ) are not bewildered. They do not have illusion, lamentation or material joy, since I, with full knowledge, go into (or know) the always fresh lotus hearts of those householder devotees. Jīva Gosvāmī says the phrase means I reside ever-fresh in their hearts.
Maitreya said: With folded hands, the Pracetās, devoid of all tamas and rajas by his presence, then offered prayers with choked voices to the Supreme Lord, the greatest friend, the vessel holding lifes goals, who had just spoken.
Though they were already without tamas and rajas, by his presence they became free of the contamination of grief due to not seeing him.
The Pracetās said: We offer repeated respects to you who destroy suffering, whose great qualities and names are described in the Vedas, who is quicker than mind and words, and who cannot be perceived by the material senses.
You have excellent names and qualities defined (nirūpita) in the Vedas. Your speed is great than that of the mind and words.
We offer respects to you, who are pure, peaceful, fixed in your svarūpa, who make the dualities of the world useless to the mind, and who accept material forms such as Brahmā and Indra for creating, maintaining and destroying the world.
The dualities of the world, though attractive (vilasat), become useless to the devotees mind, by your mercy. When the devotee attains you, the various enjoyments in the world become useless in his mind. You have forms made of the material guṇas such as Brahmā and Indra.
We offer respects to you who have a form of purest sattva, knowledge of whom removes saṁsāra. We offer respects to Hari, Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, the master of all beings.
We offer respects to you, with lotus navel, lotus garland, lotus feet and lotus eyes.
We offer respects to you, wearing bright garments, yellow like lotus pollen, who are the shelter of all beings and the witness of all things. We have thus offered respects.
Namo 'yuḍkṣmahi means we have performed our respects.
You have revealed this form which destroys unlimited suffering to persons like us who are suffering. What other mercy exists?
Destroyer of misfortune! Masters who are affectionate to their poor servants recognize them as their loyal servants at the time they perform service. You are such a master.
You are like this (etāvat tvam). Masters (this means you) remember the followers as their servants at the time they perform service (kale).
By your remembering your servants, the servants feel happiness. Since you are situated in the hearts of the most insignificant and greedy people, how can you, purifier of the mind, not know their desires?
By your remembrance of your devotees, they feel happiness (upaśāntiḥ). You are situated in the hearts of the most insignificant persons, even those with material desires such as us. How could you not know our desires? From you comes purification (hitaḥ) of the antaḥkaraṇa (antar).
O master of the universe! You are more important than liberation. You are the goal. Our desired boon is that you be pleased with us.
You should say in words what you want. They reply. You are more important (guruḥ) than liberation (apavarga). If one attains you, then what is the use of everything including liberation?
We ask for another boon from you who are the cause of all causes. Since there is no end to your splendor, you are called Ananta, the unlimited.
We desire one other boon. O master! Since there is no limit to the splendors that you can give, you should give this boon to us.
When a bee has quickly come to the pārijāta tree, it does not go elsewhere for tasting. Having directly attaining your lotus feet, what else can we pray for?
So then, ask for many boons, as much as you want. No. We want only your lotus feet. In order to attain a taste of that sweetness, there is one boon we desire. Other than that we do not ask any benedictions. They explain this in three verses. The bee (sāraḍgaḥ) does not go to another tree (anyat). Just as the bee does not desire other objects because it has tasted the honey of that tree, having attained your feet, except for your lotus feet what could we request?
As long as we wander about in this world because of our actions, contaminated by māyā, we want the association of devotees, life after life.
They state their one desire. Bhavat-prasaḍgānām means devotees.
We do not compare attainment of Svarga or liberation to even a moments association with a devotee, what to speak of comparing it to the enjoyments of this life.
You said you were contaminated by māyā. You pray for devotee association to conquer māyā. Then, why dont you just directly take liberation? They answer with this verse. The meaning is this. All desirable benedictions including Svarga and liberation have been experienced. But the association of devotees is experienced to be thousands of times better than Svarga or liberation because with devotee association one can experience the sweetness of talks about your form and qualities. That is millions of times superior to the happiness of Svarga and the happiness of your impersonal form as Brahman.
nāhaṁ vasāmi vaikuṇṭhe na yogi-hṛdaye ravau
mad-bhaktā yatra gāyanti tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
I do not live in Vaikuṇṭha, in the hearts of the yogīs, or inside the sun. Rather, my dear Nārada, I am present wherever my devotees sing about me. Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇòa 92.21
Though you give all happiness to others, the devotee gives you the highest happiness. Thus we pray for devotee association.
In that association, pure topics of the Lord are discussed, from which all hankerings cease. In that association, there is no hostility to any living being. In that association there is no agitation.
Devotee association is recommended at all times and places for the siddha-bhaktas and the sādhaka-bhaktas. Yatra means in the association of those devotees. Yataḥ means from that discussion.
In that association, Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Lord, the goal of the sannyāsīs, is repeatedly praised by persons without material contamination through pure discussions.
When the devotees, with a desire to be purified, wander to the holy places, should not a person suffering fear of this world relish a meeting with those devotees?
The holy places, with a desire to be purified, think Let us be purified when the devotees take bath in our rivers. They think it is good fortune that the devotees come and purify them. But the devotees go there for getting purified by the holy places. Bhītasya means one who fears material life.
O Lord! By association with your dear friend Śiva, we have today attained you, the best remedy for birth and death, which are difficult to cure.
The boon we want from attaining you, the result of attaining you, is association with devotees. The sādhana for attaining you is also association of devotees. That is stated here. By meeting Śiva, who is a dear friend to you (priyasya sakhyuḥ), we have achieved you, the best remedy for the disease of birth (bhavasya) and death.
yan naḥ sutaptaṁ tapa etad īśa nirandhasāṁ kālam adabhram apsu sarvaṁ tad etat puruṣasya bhūmno vṛṇīmahe te paritoṣaṇāya
We have studied and satisfied the teachers, brāhmaṇas and seniors in knowledge by our proper conduct. We have respected the senior devotees, friends, and our brothers. We have been kind to all beings, without envy. We have performed severe penancenot taking food for a long time while remaining in the water. We select all this for pleasing you, the great Lord.
Being ignorant, we do not know the process of pleasing you. You should be pleased with what we have done randomly. Vṛddhāḥ means those with good knowledge. Āryāḥ means those with great bhakti. After sarvāni bhūtāni, prasāditāni (have been pleased) should be added. Nirandhasām means without taking food. Adabhram kālam means for a long time.
Manu, Brahmā, Śiva, and others who became purified by austerity and knowledge, though they are not able to see your glories completely, offer prayers to you. In the same way, we offer prayers to the best of our ability.
Being ignorant we are not even capable of offering prayers. Though they do not know the limits of your glories, in spite of being most learned, just as they glorify, we also, though the most ignorant, offer prayers to the best of our ability.
We offer respects to you who are equal to all and the pure, the supreme person, Vāsudeva, Bhagavān, with a form of śuddha-sattva.
Sattvāya means unto the form of śuddha-sattva.
Maitreya said: The Supreme Lord, thus praised by the Pracetās, was pleased and said So be it. Though their eyes could not be satisfied and they did not desire his departure, the Lord, affectionate to the surrendered, who has vigorous strength, then departed.
Anapavarga-vīryaḥ means having vigorous power.
Rising from the waters of the ocean, the Pracetās, seeing that the earth was covered with tall trees which appeared to obstruct heaven, became angry.
Seeing the trees covering the earth (gām) as if obstructing Svarga (gām), they became angry. How will we carry out the Lords order? How will we servants rule the kingdom given by the Lord? These trees have covered the earth and want to swallow Svarga. Where will mankind reside? This was the cause of their anger.
O King! In great anger, they then released fire and air from their mouths in order to make the earth treeless. It was like the fire of devastation at the end of the universe.
Maitreya addresses Vidura as a king because he has no anger, since he reigns (rāj) by bhakti.
Seeing the trees turning to ashes, Brahmā came and pacified the sons of the King Prācīnabarhi using logic
Nayaiḥ means by logic.
The frightened trees which still remained, on advice of Brahmā, offered their daughter to the Pracetās.
By the order of Brahmā, all the Pracetās married their daughter named Māriṣā, in whom Dakṣa later took birth because of offense to Śiva.
Māriṣā was the child raised by the trees. Ajana-yonijaḥ is Dakṣa. Dakṣa was born from Brahmā but because of great offense to Śiva, took birth (ajani) from Māriṣā, in a kṣatriyas line (by the Pracetās). Because of being born from kṣatriya blood, he had to experience the suffering of being born from a womb. It should be understood that he died twiceonce by the hand of Vīrabhadra and later by time.
He who, inspired by the Lord, created the desired progeny at the time of Cākṣuṣa Manvantara when the previous creation had been destroyed by time, is known as Dakṣa.
By pleasing Śiva through praising him, Dakṣa regained his power and body. That is described here. Prāk-sarge kāla-vidrute means when the fifth manvantara ended, and the old creation was destroyed by the will of the Lord (kalataḥ). He was born during Svāyambhuva Manvantara and had to perform austerities until the fifth manvantara with a desire to regain his previous powers. In the sixth manvantara his austerities bore fruit.
taṁ prajā-sarga-rakṣāyām anādir abhiṣicya ca yuyoja yuyuje 'nyāṁś ca sa vai sarva-prajāpatīn
Equal to Brahmā, he spread his power by his effulgence over all powerful persons. Because he was expert at performing rituals he was called Dakṣa. Brahmā, appointing him, engaged him in creating and maintaining the progeny. He engaged other Prajāpatis as well.
His power is described. Equal to Brahmā (ajāyamānaḥ), he spread (upādatta) power by his effulgence. Brahmā (anādiḥ) engaged Dakṣa (tam) in creating and protecting the progeny. Dakṣa engaged others such as Marīci.
Thus ends the commentary on the Thirtieth Chapter of the Fourth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Thirtieth Chapter, the Pracetās, by praising the Lord, obtain a boon from him. They leave the water, burn the trees, marry the daughter of the trees and then rule the kingdom happily.
Vidura desires to hear the rest of the story concerning the Pracetās, after hearing about the deliverance of their father Prācīnabarhi by Nāradas instructions, which was narrated in the middle of the discussion of the Pracetās. Satisfying the Lord, what boon did they receive?