55 verses
Nārada said: O Yudhiṣṭhira! When Lord Viṣṇu, in the form of Varāha, the boar, killed Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiraṇyākṣa's brother Hiraṇyakaśipu was afflicted with anger and grief.
Filled with rage and biting his lips, Hiraṇyakaśipu, gazing at the smoky sky with eyes that blazed in anger, spoke.
He looked at the sky towards Vaikuṇṭha, the abode of Viṣṇu, thinking, I will destroy Viṣṇu and his abode with my hands. The sky became smoky from the fire coming from his eyes.
Exhibiting his terrifying teeth, his fierce glance and frowning eyebrows, frightening to see, he took up his trident and began speaking to the assembled demons.
O Dānavas and Daityas! O Dvimūrdha, Tryakṣa, Śambara and Śatabāhu ! O Hayagrīva, Namuci, Pāka and Ilvala! O Vipracitti, Puloman, Śakuna and other demons! All of you, please hear me and then act without delay.
My insignificant enemies, the devatās, joined with Viṣṇu, supposedly neutral, to kill my very dear friend and brother Hiraṇyākṣa.
Though Viṣṇu is equal to all, he has sided with the devatās out of greed, because of their worship (upadhāvanaiḥ).
mac-chūla-bhinna-grīvasya bhūriṇā rudhireṇa vai asṛk-priyaṁ tarpayiṣye bhrātaraṁ me gata-vyathaḥ
Viṣṇu has given up his neutral nature. Though he was shining, he is now an animal under the control of māyā. He has accepted the nature of an ordinary person and acts unsteadily like a small child. Relieving my pain, I will satisfy my brother, fond of blood, with the profuse blood from the neck of Viṣṇu severed by my trident.
If you think you should also worship Viṣṇu, please do not say that. You should remain and work for me. I will kill him all alone. This is expressed in two verses. But the scriptures say the Viṣṇu is supreme. Why then do you want to kill him? He is famous as Paramātmā for being equal, but he has given up his neutrality. If he has given up that position, then what is his position as Paramātmā now? Rather, he has given up that position and is now simply an animal. He who was shining (ghṛṇeḥ) previously is now an animal (Matsya, Kūrma) under the control of māyā. He has become an ordinary person (bhajantam), and is restless like a child controlled by sweets.
The words also have opposite meaning. Actually out of affection for his devotees he gives up his neutrality, takes the form of avatāras, shines, becomes like an ordinary person, and is restless like a child. These are his ornaments, not faults. Ghṛṇeḥ means having pure effulgence. Māyā means by his mercy he accepts different forms.
Mac-chūla-bhinna-grīvasya also means My trident will break into pieces on his neck, since my material trident cannot enter his body. I will satisfy my brother with the kuḍkuma coming from the body of Viṣṇu. Rudhira can mean kuḍkuma according to the dictionary.
The devatās, whose life is Viṣṇu, will wither away when cheating Viṣṇu is dead, just as branches wither away when the root is cut.
Kūṭe ahite means Viṣṇu having deceptive actions. But it also means Viṣṇu who fights against cheaters like me. Thus this is my good fortune. There is also good fortune for the devatās. They live only for Viṣṇu. Nāsṭe can also mean that Viṣṇu becomes invisible, since he cannot be destroyed. When he disappears from their sight, just as a tree dries up when the root is cut, so the devatās, whose life is Viṣṇu, will dry up, out of separation. The devatās are fortunate, having Viṣṇu as their very life.
While I am engaged in killing Lord Viṣṇu, go down to the planet earth, which is flourishing due to brāhmaṇas austerity and kṣatriya strength. Destroy all the people engaged in austerity, sacrifice, Vedic study, vows, and charity.
Go to the earth flourishing because of austerity of brāhmaṇas and strength of kṣatriyas. Why? Destroy the performers of charity and vows.
Viṣṇu has his roots in the activities of the brāhmaṇas. He is sacrifice, the embodiment of dharma, the shelter of dharma, and the shelter of the devatās, sages, Pitṛs and all beings.
When the brāhmaṇas are destroyed, Viṣṇu himself will be destroyed. When the brāhmaṇas are destroyed, their actions will stop. Thus the root of Viṣṇu will be destroyed. With destruction of sacrifice and dharma, Viṣṇus form will be destroyed. He is the supreme shelter of the devatās and sages. With the destruction of the devatās, he will die, out of lamentation.
Go wherever there are cows and brāhmaṇas, study of the Vedas, and activities of varṇāśrama. Burn the cities and cut down the trees.
Sandīpayata means burn. If the cities are burned, then the inhabitants will be burned also. Cut down the trees upon which they live.
Thus the demons, being fond of evil, took Hiraṇyakaśipu's instructions on their heads with great respect and began persecuting the citizens.
Kadanam means difficulties.
Pura means towns with markets. Grāma means towns without markets. Vraja means places for cows. Udyāna means forest with lots of flowers. Kṣetra means fields of grains. Ārāma means forests with fruits. Āśrama means the houses of sages. Ākara means mines for jewels and minerals. Kheta means houses of farmers. Kharvaṭa means a village in a valley of a mountain. Ghoṣa is the house of a cowherd. Pattanam is a capital city.
Some of the demons took shovels and broke down the bridges, the protective walls and the gates of the cities. Some took axes and began cutting the trees that produced fruits. Some of the demons took firebrands and set fire to the residential quarters of the citizens.
When all the people were disturbed again and again by the followers of Hiraṇyakaśipu, the devatās, not receiving the results of sacrifice, left the heavenly planets and, unobserved by the demons, began wandering the earth.
When the people were disturbed, the devatās left heaven because of not receiving their share of sacrifice.
After performing the death rites of his brother, grieving Hiraṇyakaśipu consoled his nephews.
Kaṭodakam means water given to the Pretas. The word ādi indicates the performance of preta-śrāddha rites as well.
tan-mātaraṁ ruṣābhānuṁ ditiṁ ca jananīṁ girā ślakṣṇayā deśa-kāla-jña idam āha janeśvara
O King! Hiraṇyakaśipu, judging time and place, with sweet words spoke to his nephews, whose names were Śakuni, Śambara, Dhṛṣṭi, Bhūtasantāpana, Vṛka, Kālanābha, Mahānābha, Hariśmaśru and Utkaca, and to their mother, Ruṣābhānu, and as well as to his own mother, Diti.
Hiraṇyakaśipu said: My dear mother, sister-in-law and nephews! You should not lament for the death of the great hero, for a hero's death in front of his enemy is glorious and desirable.
Vadhūḥ means the wife of his brother.
Persons are brought together to live in one place by karma and are taken away by karma, just as living entities gather at a watering hole and then depart.
You should rid yourself of lamentation out of separation from relative. It is like living entities coming together at a drinking place and departing.
The ātmā is eternal, without decay, pure, capable of going to all planets, experiences life everywhere, and is different from the body. By its ignorance, the ātmā accepts for itself a subtle body, in order to accept and reject various gross bodies.
I have said all this from the common mans viewpoint to make you understand. You should also understand by philosophy that Hiraṇyākṣa is an ātmā, not a body. Hear about his real form as an ātmā. He is eternal, without death, without decay, without contamination, and all-pervading. All-pervasion is a quality of the Lord, but because of his demon mentality, he applies this term to the jīva. But the jīva goes to all planets and therefore can be called sarvagaḥ. He knows everything about happiness and distress. He is different from the subtle body (paraḥ). This ātmā accepts his body by ignorance (māyayā). Why? He accepts the subtle body in order to accept gross bodies high or low (guṇān). And then he rejects these gross bodies. Viṣrjan has both meanings.
Because of the movements of the water, the trees on the bank of a river, when reflected on the water, seem to move. Similarly, when the eyes move because of some mental derangement, the land appears to move.
Since it accepts the subtle body, the ātmā is different from the subtle body. An example is given. The trees, reflected in water, seem to move because of moving water. The trees do no move, since they are different from the water. Similarly the qualities of the subtle body, lamentation and illusion, are falsely projected on the ātmā. Since the ātmā is different from the subtle body, lamentation and illusion do not belong to the ātmā. The attributes of the covering on the soul (subtle body) are projected on the ātmā. Having given that example, an example of the qualities of a sense being applied to the object perceived by the sense is given. Because of the rolling eye, the earth appears to move. The earth is caught by the defective eye, just as a man haunted by a ghost.
O my gentle mother! When the mind is agitated by the movements of the guṇas, the living entity, although pure and not identical with the subtle body, takes on the qualities of the mind, as if he were the subtle body.
The ātmā absorbed in the body, is controlled by the body, and is overcome by the qualities of the body. The ātmā is pure but becomes like the mind, accepting the qualities of the mind.
sambhavaś ca vināśaś ca śokaś ca vividhaḥ smṛtaḥ avivekaś ca cintā ca vivekāsmṛtir eva ca
The condition of the ātmā, which is different from its gross and subtle bodies, becomes reversed when it identifies with these bodies. From this cause appears attaining what is desired and undesired, losing what is desired or undesired, karma, changing bodies, birth, death, lamentation, lack of discrimination, anxiety, and loss of discrimination after having possessed it.
Though the ātmā is not the body, it identifies with it (liḍga-bhāvanā). This is an inversion of the ātmās condition. Because of this reversal, there is connection with desired objects and undesired objects, and separation from desired objects and undesired objects. There is karma and accepting various bodies (saṁsṛtiḥ). Vivekāsmṛtir means disappearance of discrimination, after it has been present.
In this regard, an example is given from an old history. Please hear the discussion between Yamarāja and the friends of a dead person.
This is a story of lamenting for something that does not deserve lamentation. It is a discussion of Yamarāja with the friends of deceased person (preta).
In Uśīnara there was a famous king named Suyajña. He was killed during war by enemies. The relatives sat around his dead body.
prakīrṇa-keśaṁ dhvastākṣaṁ rabhasā daṣṭa-dacchadam rajaḥ-kuṇṭha-mukhāmbhojaṁ chinnāyudha-bhujaṁ mṛdhe
uśīnarendraṁ vidhinā tathā kṛtaṁ
patiṁ mahiṣyaḥ prasamīkṣya duḥkhitāḥ
hatāḥ sma nātheti karair uro bhṛśaṁ
ghnantyo muhus tat-padayor upāpatan
When the queens saw their husband, King of Uśīnara, killed by fate, biting his lips in anger, his bejeweled armor smashed, his ornaments and garlands fallen from their places, his heart pierced by arrows, body smeared with blood, his hair scattered and his eyes lusterless, his lotus face covered with dust, his arms and weapons broken, they began to lament. "O lord, now that you have been killed, we also have been killed." They fell down at the feet of the dead King, pounding their breasts repeatedly.
The King had bitten his lip in anger (rabhasā), while fighting, and at that moment he had been hit by the weapon of the enemy. He died in that condition.
As the queens loudly cried, their tears, reddened by kuḍkuma powder on their breasts, moistened the lotus feet of their husband. With their hair and ornaments in disarray, causing grief in all people, they lamented by crying.
O lord! You have now been taken somewhere beyond our sight by cruel providence, which has made you, previously the maintainer of Uśīnara, increase the lamentation of the population of Uśīnara.
They lament. You have been taken by providence, which has made you now increase the lamentation of the population.
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O King! O hero! How shall we exist without you, a grateful husband and best friend? Please give us the order to follow you wherever you will go to serve your feet.
Give us the order to follow you where you go in order to serve your feet. This means We will die also.
While the lamenting wives, holding the dead body on their laps, did not want to the body go for burning, the sun set.
Nirhāram means taking the body for burning. The sun gave up the western mountain (astam) and stopped its movement (sannyavartata).
Hearing the lamentation of the friends of the departed king, Yamarāja took the form of a boy, went there, and spoke to them.
Yamarāja personally went. Some say that generally Yama comes personally for pious persons and takes them to his city after their bodies are burned. Some explain that, among the women, a few were devotees, so Yamas servants could not approach. Thus Yama himself came to take the body from them. Yamarāja took the form of a boy, because others could not enter such a form, because a child speaking is very sweet, and because a boy speaking philosophy would be astonishing and would inspire them to take up the instructions.
Śrī Yamarāja said: Persons older than me, seeing the law of birth and death, are bewildered. The body goes to some unknown place from which it has come. Persons who take birth and die are lamenting uselessly.
Yatra means from an unknown state. It is said in the Gītā:
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyakta-madhyāni-bhārata |
avyakta-nidhanāny eva tatra kā paridevanā ||
Living entities are invisible in the beginning, manifest in the middle, and invisible at the end. What is there to lament in this? BG 2.28
Oh women! I am fortunate because, though abandoned by my mother and father, I have not been eaten by wolves. Thus I do not worry. He who protects me in the womb is my protector now.
Though young I have understanding, but these persons do not. He speaks in amazement.
O women! They say that the world of moving and non-moving beings is simply the playing of the unchanging Lord who, by his will, creates, maintains and destroys this world. The Lord is capable of destroying and protecting.
O child! The Lord protected you in the womb. Why did he not protect our husband during war? The Lord acts by his will, not on the request of others. Why does he desire independently? He is the controller. Because he has supreme power, independent of all others, seeking a cause for his will would simply negate his position of supreme power. Why does he carry out creation and destruction? O women! It is only his play. The Lord is fully capable of destroying (nigrahe) and protecting (saṁgrahe).
What is dropped on the road is protected by the Lord. What remains in a house, and is rejected by the Lord, is destroyed. An unsheltered person lives in the forest by the mercy of the Lord. A person protected in his house, disregarded by the Lord, does not live.
The Lords power is illustrated by positive and negative examples. Diṣṭa-rakṣitam means protected by the Lord. What is neglected by the Lord is destroyed. What is glanced upon by the Lord is protected. A person overlooked by the Lord is destroyed by others.
The bodies of all beings appear and disappear by their karmas caused by themselves. The Paramātmā, different, though situated in the body, is not bound by the qualities of the body.
But then there is inequality in the Lord, because he favors one and ignores another. The bodies of men and animals (bhūtāni) appear by individual karmas, causing their specific bodies. By one karma producing birth, a person becomes a pig. All (sarvaśaḥ) bodies appear and disappear in time. This is clear (ha). Though situated in a body (prakṛtau), the Paramātmā (ātmā), being different (anyatamaḥ), is not bound by the qualities of the body such as birth and death. Paramātmā makes the jīva experience the results of his good and bad karmas by his presence alone. That is his favoring or ignoring.
The body is produced from bewilderment of the jīva. Paramātmā is different from the body just as the person living in a house is different from the house, and just as a body made of water, earth and fire is born, matures and dies in time.
This verse explained the Lords being different. The body is produced out of bewilderment of the jīva. It is different from the Paramātmā situated within it, just a house with walls and doors is different from the person living in the house. The difference is further explained. Just as foam made of water particles, a pot made of clay, and earrings made from fire are produced and then destroyed, the body, produced from atoms of water, earth and fire, is born, develops and then is destroyed. However, this is not so for the ātmā.
Just as fire is perceived to be different from wood, and air within the body is different from the body, so ātmā, situated in the body, is different from it. Just as ether, all-pervading, does not mix with anything, the ātmā, shelter of the body and senses, is different from the body.
Examples of being situated in the same place but being different are given. Fire, though situated in wood, is perceived as different from wood because of its power to burn and illuminate. Air, though within the body, is perceived to exist separately in the nostrils. An example is given to show how the ātmā, though situated in the body, does not take on the qualities of the body. Just as ether does not mix with other things, the jīva, though the shelter of body and senses (sarva-guṇa), or though it takes shelter of them, it remains separate. Why do not you not become detached from this body of your husband, who died by his karma, ignored by the Lord?
O fools! The person named Suyajña, for whom you lament, is still lying before you. He who spoke and heard was not visible at any time.
This king, defeated in battle, now sleeps. How can we ignore him, and not show affection? But his body is still here. Up until now he would hear and respond to our lamentation. Even before this time, he could not be seen. What you saw beforethe body, you can also see now.
The main life air, mahat-tattva, is also not the hearer or speaker. The ātmā who possesses the senses, who is different from the life air and body, is the hearer and speaker.
As long as the life air was present, he could hear and speak. When the life air left, he could not do so. Therefore the life air is the hearer and speaker. That is not so, though the life air is important. Śruti says prāṇo vai mukhyaḥ: the prāṇa is the chief. Even the main life air (mahān),1 the cause of the activities of all the senses, is not the hearer or speaker because it is unconscious. Who is the hearer and speaker? He who possesses the senses, the jīva, different from the life air, body and senses, because he is conscious, is the hearer and speaker.
The jīva accepts and gives up gross bodies which also have a subtle body composed of mind and senses. In some cases, he gives up the subtle body by knowledge.
The King has gone somewhere. What is he doing? He accepts and gives up gross bodies in which he attains (bhūta) a subtle body (liḍgam) composed of senses and mind, just as he has accepted and given up the present body. However, by the strength of knowledge gained by good fortune (svena tejasā), he sometimes gives up the subtle body as well.
As long as the jīva keeps the subtle body, he continues in the bondage of karma. From bondage, arise false identity, misery, and contact with māyā.
Only when the jīva gives up the subtle body does he become liberated.
Seeing and speaking about the effects of the guṇas as permanent things are a useless misconception. It is like the objects of daydreams or dreams during sleep. All things perceived by the senses are illusory.
Therefore, you should strive for liberation from the bondage of karma. You should not strive for the results of karma such as Svarga, since material happiness and distress are flickering like a dream. This identity is useless (vitatha). Seeing and speaking about the effects of the guṇas, such as happiness, as being permanent things is useless. We drank soma and became immortal, and enjoyed with Apsarās. This identity is similar to daydreaming about deriving bliss from sons or wealth, or dreaming about enjoying women or attaining Svarga. This universe perceived by the senses is false.
Some say the world is permanent. Some say it is transient. But they do not lament. The nature of those who lament is to say, I cannot do anything else except lament.
Mīmāṁsakas say that the world is permanent. Sāṇkhya says the world is temporary but real. Then we cannot understand the world at all. It is not possible to do anything. That is the nature of those who lament.
Once a hunter, appointed as the killer of the birds by the Lord, spread his net, lured birds with food, and captured them.
Though lamentation may be ones nature, it creates problems. Yamarāja tells a story. The hunter, appointed by the Lord, used to catch (vidadhe) birds. Another version has pralobhanam. He lured them with food.
While wandering in the forest, the hunter saw a pair of kuliḍga birds. Of the two, the female was lured by the hunter.
O queens of Suyajña! The female was caught in the ropes of the net. The male kuliḍga bird, seeing his wife captured, became very unhappy. Because of affection, the poor bird, being unable to release her, began to lament for his wife.
Sicas tantryām means the ropes of the net. Mahiṣyaḥ means O queens!
Alas, how merciless is the Lord! Why afflict my poor wife who was kind to me and is lamenting for a wretch like me?
Devaḥ means the Lord. My wife was merciful to me (karuṇayā).
Let the Lord take me also. What is the use of this miserable half of my body, even if it lives a long time, since it will only experience suffering?
How will I maintain the baby birds without wings, in the absence of their mother? I am unfortunate. They are waiting form their mother in the nest.
The hiding hunter, inspired by time, pierced with his arrow that lamenting bird, grieved by separation from his wife, with tears in its eyes.
Ignorant women! Simply lamenting for your husband for a hundred years, while not seeing your own death, you will not regain him.
Ātmāpāyam means ones own death.
Hiraṇyakaśipu said: While Yamarāja in the form of a small boy was speaking, all the relatives, struck with wonder, began to consider that the world is temporary and that it disappears just as it arose.
They thought this world is temporary, because just as it has arisen somehow, it will not remain.
After instructing all the foolish relatives of Suyajña, Yamarāja disappeared. Then the relatives of King Suyajña performed the funeral rites.
Therefore none of you should be aggrieved for your or anyones body. By identifying the self and the other, which arises only from ignorance, the living entities thinking Who am I? Who is he? What is mine? What is his?
By identifying self and other, which is only because of ignorance, the living entities think, Who am I? Who is he?
Thus ends the commentary on the Second Chapter of the Seventh Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
The Second Chapter describes how Hiraṇyakaśipu, in grief for his brothers death, engaged in destruction of dharma and pacified his friends by relating a history giving instructions on knowledge. In order explain that the cause of hating Prahlāda was hatred of the Lord, first Nārada explains the cause of hatred of the Lord.