60 verses
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Aditi's sons, the devatās, had thus disappeared from Svarga which was taken by the demons, Aditi began lamenting, as if she had no protector.
After many days, the powerful sage Kaśyapa broke his meditation and returned to the hermitage of Aditi which was neither jubilant nor festive.
O best of the Kurus! When Kaśyapa had been properly received and welcomed, he took his seat and then spoke as follows to his wife, Aditi, who a sorrowful face.
Saḥ refers to Kaśaypa.
O most excellent woman! I wonder whether anything inauspicious has now taken place in regard to dharma, the brāhmaṇas or the people in general, who are subject to the whims of death.
He asks various questions, to understand the reason for her sad face in seven verses. Api indicates a question. Has misfortune come to the brāhmaṇas or not? Or to dharma or the people, who are subject to the desires of death?
O my wife! Is there some inauspiciousness concerning dharma, artha or kāma in the house, where even the karmīs becomes qualified for yoga?
Is there some misfortune for dharma in the house in which the karmīs get the result of yoga.
I wonder whether because of being too attached to the members of your family, you failed to properly receive uninvited guests, by standing up.
Were guests who came not worshipped by standing up?
Homes where guests go away without having been received even with a little water are like homes of jackals.
Pheru is a jackal.
O auspicious woman! When I was absent, were you in so much anxiety that you did not offer oblations of ghee into the fire at the proper time?
By worshiping the fire and the brāhmaṇas, a householder can achieve the goal of residing in the higher planets, for the sacrificial fire and the brāhmaṇas are to be considered the mouth of Lord Viṣṇu, who is the soul of all the devatās.
O wise! Are all your sons faring well? Seeing your withered face, I can perceive that your mind is not tranquil by its symptoms.
Aditi said: O brāhmaṇa! All is well with the brāhmaṇas, the cows, religion and the welfare of other people. O master of the house! The house is the best place for nourishing dharma, artha and kāma.
The house is the origin (kṣetram) of artha, dharma and kāma. They exist sufficiently in this house.
O brāhmaṇa! The fires, guests, servants and beggars are all being properly cared for by me. Because I always think of you, there is no possibility that any of the religious principles will be neglected.
Bhagatavaḥ means of Kāśyapa. By meditating on you, nothing is lacking.
O my lord! Since you, a Prajāpati, instruct on dharma, where is the possibility that all my desires will not be fulfilled?
O son of Marīci! All the demons and devatās, possessing sattva, rajas, or tamas, are born either from your body or from your mind. O master! You are equal to the all, but the Supreme Lord protects his devotee.
If you ask then my suffering can be relieved very easily by your mercy. This is explained in four verses. Just as the Lord, though equal to all, serves his devotee, you, though equal to all your sons, should protect Indra, who is devoted to you.
Therefore, O Lord, think of the welfare of your servant. Man of vows! O master! Please protect our places whose wealth has been stolen by the demons.
She uses the plural (naḥ) to indicate herself and her sons.
The demons, our formidably powerful enemies, have taken away our opulence, our beauty, our fame and even our residence. We have now been exiled, and we are drowning in an ocean of trouble.
O best of sages! O supreme benefactor! Please create auspiciousness by your intelligence so that they can regain what they have lost.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Kaśyapa Muni was thus requested by Aditi, he slightly smiled and spoke. "Alas, the entire world is bound by affection, the strength of Viṣṇus māyā."
Kaḥ means Kaśyapa. He appeared to smile, but actually he did not. He was pained internally by her suffering.
The body made of elements is not the soul. The soul is different from the body made of matter. Who is the husband and who are the sons? Who do they belong to? Illusion is the cause of this.
The jīva is different from the body made of prakṛti.
Worship the Supreme Lord, who begs from his devotee, who will inspire Bali from the heart, who will appear in you when you are purified, and who will benefit the whole universe.
Again he speaks to her, since she is weeping, out of affection for her sons. Worship the Lord. He is actually your husband. I am just the conventional husband. He knows everything (bhagavantam). He alone knows the method of auspiciousness for your sons. He gives pain to the enemy (janārdana). The Lord alone can kill the demons. Janārdana also means he who will beg from his devotee, Bali, for Indras sake. This is the real meaning. The Lord resides in everyones heart. He will inspire Bali from within to ignore his guru. Vāsudeva means he who manifests himself in śuddha-sattva. Purify your heart by bhakti and meditate on him. An ocean of mercy, he will then without delay appear before you. He is the guru of the world. He will give benefit to you, me, Bali, Indra, and the entire world by making the Gaḍgā appear.
The Supreme Lord, remover of suffering, who is very merciful to the poor, will fulfill all of your desires, for devotional service to him cannot fail. Any method other than devotional service is useless. That is my opinion.
Hari means one who takes away suffering.
Aditi said: O brāhmaṇa! Tell me the rules by which I may worship the master of the world, so that the Lord, who fulfills desires, will fulfill all my desires.
Satya-saḍkalpaḥ means the Lord by whom vows come true.
O best of the brāhmaṇas! Kindly instruct me in the method of worshiping the Lord, so that he will be quickly satisfied with me, now lamenting because of my sons.
Kaśyapa said: I shall explain to you the process by which Keśava is satisfied, which Brahmā instructed to me when I inquired from him with a desire to produce progeny.
In the bright fortnight of the month of Phālguna [February and March], for twelve days, subsisting only on milk, one should worship the lotus-eyed Lord with complete devotion.
Payo-vratam means to perform a vow taking only milk.
If dirt dug up by a boar is available, on the day of the dark moon one should smear this dirt on his body and then bathe in a river. One should chant the following mantra.
This describes the actions on the day before beginning the vow. On the dark moon day, one should smear the body with earth dug up by a boar, if available, and bath in a river if available. The phrase if available serves both phrases like the eyeball of a crow.1
O mother earth! You were raised from the bottom of the universe, by Varāha who desired a place. I pray that you kindly vanquish all my sins. I offer my respectful obeisances unto you.
He speaks nine mantras starting with an invitation to the Lord.
After perform daily duties, with great attention, one should worship the Lord in the deity, in the earth of the fire pit, in the sun, in water, in fire and in the guru.
I offer respects to you the Supreme Lord, the greatest person, residing in all beings, Vāsudeva, the witness of everything.
I offer my respectful obeisances to the Lord who is invisible, fine, the Supreme Person, the knower of twenty-four qualities of the Vaiśeṣikas, the cause of the Sāḍkhya.
Twenty-four qualities such as form are propounded by the Vaiśeṣika philosophers, or it can refer to the twenty-four elements of Sāḍkhya philosophy. You are the knower of this philosophy. You are the originator of the Sāḍkhya scriptures (guṇa-saḍkhāna-hetave).
I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, the Supreme Lord who bestows the results of sacrifice, to you, the Lord with two heads, three legs, four horns and seven hands, and to the soul of the three types of knowledge.
Respects are offered to the guṇāvatāras in three verses. Respects are first offered to Viṣṇu in the form of sacrifice described in a Vedic mantra. He bestows the result of sacrifice (tantave). He is the soul of three types of knowledge or scripture. The mantra describing Viṣṇu is catvāri śṛḍgāṇi trayo sya pādā deve śīrṣe sapta hastāḥ, so sya tridhā baddho vṛṣabho roravīti mahadevo martyān āviveśa: the excellent Lord, with four horns, three feet, two heads and seven hands, bound three times, roaring loudly, entered mankind. (Ṛg Veda 4.58.3) Yāska explains that the four horns are the four Vedas. The three feet are the three periods of the day. The two heads are introductory and concluding portions of sacrifice. The seven hands are seven meters. The three elements bound up are the mantra portion of the Vedas, the brāhmaṇa portion and the kalpa portion (rules for sacrifice). One chants (roravi) using the Ṛg-veda, Yajur-veda and Sāma-veda. One invokes the Lord by the Ṛg-veda, performs sacrifice by the Yajur-veda and praises the Lord by Sāma-veda.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, Lord Śiva, or Rudra, who are the reservoir of all potencies, the lord of all knowledge, and the master of everyone.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, who are situated as Brahmā, the sūtrātmā, the soul of the universe, whose body is made of the power of yoga, and who are the source of yoga.
Prāṇāya means unto the sūtrātmā.2 You have a body made of the power of yoga.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, the Supreme Lord, the original lord, the witness in everyone's heart, and the incarnation of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi.
I offer respects to you, Keśava dressed in yellow garments, with a dark blue complexion, possessor of Lakṣmī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto you.
O most worthy of worship! O best of benedictor! You can fulfill the desires of everyone, and therefore those who are wise, for their own welfare, worship the dust of your lotus feet.
May the Lord whom the devatās and Lakṣmī serve, as if desiring the fragrance of your lotus feet, be pleased with me!
May the Lord whom the devatās and Lakṣmī serve as if (this should be added) desiring the fragrance of his lotus feet, be pleased with me.
Honoring the Lord by these mantras one should call the Lord and with faith then worship him by offering foot water, ācamana and other items.
Honoring (puraskṛtam) the Lord by calling for him using these mantras, or putting the Lord in front of oneself (puraskṛtam), and calling him, one should then worship the Lord by offering foot water and ācamana (upasparśanam).
After offering flower garlands, incense and so on, one should bathe the Lord with milk and then offer cloth, a sacred thread, ornaments, foot water, ācamana, sandalwood, incense and other paraphernalia using the twelve syllable mantra.
First after offering foot water one should bathe the Lord. After bathing the Lord, one should dress him with cloth, thread, and ornaments. Again one should offer foot water and other items. The word ca indicates many other items. In offering these items one should utter the twelve syllable mantra.
After offering the Lord, if possible, fine rice boiled in milk with clarified butter and raw sugar, one should offer oblations in the fire using the twelve syllable mantra.
Payasi śṛtam means rice cooked in milk.
One should give this food offering to a Vaiṣṇava or take some oneself. After offering the Lord ācamana, one should offer the Lord betel nut.
One should offer all the food to a devotee, or offer a little and take the rest for oneself.
Thereafter, one should silently murmur the mantra 108 times and offer prayers to the Lord for his glorification. Then one should circumambulate the Lord and finally, with great delight, offer obeisances on the ground.
After touching to one's head all the flowers and water offered to the deity, one should tell the Lord to leave.3 Then one should feed more than two brāhmaṇas with sweet rice.
Śeṣam means the flowers and other items already offered. Udvāsaḥ means telling the Lord to leave the place of worship. One should feed more than two brāhmaṇas, but if not possible then two brāhmānas.
snātaḥ śucir yathoktena vidhinā susamāhitaḥ payasā snāpayitvārced yāvad vrata-samāpanam
With a friend, one should take the remnants with the permission of brāhmaṇas, who have been honored. Observing celibacy at night, after bathing again the next morning, with purity and attention one should bathe the Lord with milk and worship him according to the methods mentioned, on the first day of the vow.
After worshipping the brāhmaṇas with garlands and betel nut, with their permission one should eat along with ones friends. Śvo bhūte means in the morning.
Worshiping Viṣṇu with great faith and living only by drinking milk, one should follow this vow. One should also offer oblations to the fire and feed the brāhmaṇas as mentioned before.
In this way, for twelve days, one should drink only milk, daily honor the Lord, perform deity worship, perform sacrifices and feed the brāhmaṇas.
From first phase of the moon until the thirteenth day of the waxing moon one should observe complete celibacy, sleep on the floor, bathe three times a day and thus execute the vow.
During this period, surrendered to the Lord, one should avoid talk of material subjects and sense gratification, and one should be free of violence to all living entities.
Thereafter, following the directions of the scripture, with help from brāhmaṇas who know the scriptures, on the thirteenth day of the moon one should bathe Lord Viṣṇu with five substances [milk, yogurt, ghee, sugar and honey].
Pañcakaiḥ means with pañcāmṛta.
sūktena tena puruṣaṁ yajeta susamāhitaḥ naivedyaṁ cātiguṇavad dadyāt puruṣa-tuṣṭidam
Giving up miserly habits, one should perform grand worship of the Lord. With great attention, preparing grains boiled in milk for Viṣṇu, antaryāmī of the jīvas, chanting the Puruṣa-sūkta mantra, one should worship the Lord. One should give food with varieties of tastes for the satisfaction of the Lord.
One should satisfy the ācārya who is endowed with knowledge and the priests by offering them clothing, ornaments and cows. Understand this worship of the Lord.
O woman with a smile! One should satisfy them and as far as possible others who have assembled, by pure food with excellent qualities.
One should give the guru and the priests donations. And as far as possible, by distributing prasāda one should satisfy everyone assembled, including even the lowest of men.
After distributing food to everyone, including the poor, blind man, and suffering, knowing that Lord Viṣṇu is very pleased by this, one should then take prasāda with his friends and relatives.
Every day from Pratipat to Trayodaśī, one should worship the Lord by dancing, singing, instrumental music, the chanting of auspicious prayers, and recitation of the Lords pastimes.
Having received this payo-vrata, worship of the Lord from Brahmā, my grandfather, I now have described it to you.
O most fortunate lady! Worship unchanging Keśava, with pure, controlled mind, following all these rules.
This payo-vrata is also known as all sacrifices and all vows. It is the essence of austerity. It is the essence of charity and is pleasing to the Lord.
It is called all sacrifices. This means that by performing this, all sacrifices are performed. If this vow is performed all vows are performed. It is the essence of austerity, because by this austerity all austerities are performed. Thus it is the essence of all sacrifices, vows and charity. This should be understood. It satisfies the Lord. The word ca indicates that this is the sacrifice, vow, austerity and charity which satisfy the Lord.
The best yama, niyama, austerity charity, vows, sacrifices is that by which the Lord is pleased.
Without pleasing the Lord all things are useless. There are not other actions than these. The singular yena is used according to the rule napuṁsakam anapuṁsakena.4
O excellent lady! With purity, follow this vow faithfully. The Supreme Lord will very soon be pleased with you and will satisfy all your desires.
Thus ends the commentary on the Sixteen Chapter of the Eighth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Sixteenth Chapter Aditi reveals her grief for her sons to Kaśyapa and he teaches her the payovrata to pacify her.
Naṣṭeṣu means disappeared.