Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: O King, I have described to you the pastime of Gajendra mokṣaṇa, which is most pious to hear. By hear ing of such activities of the Lord, one can be freed from all sinful reactions. Now please lis ten as I describe Raivata Manu. (1) The brother of Tāmasa Manu was the fifth Manu, named Raivata. His sons were headed by Arjuna, Bali and Vindhya. (2) O King, in the millennium of Raivata Manu the King of heaven was known as Vibhu, among the demigods were the Bhūtarayas, and among the seven brāhmaṇas who occupied the seven planets were Hiraṇyaromā, Vedaśirā and Ūrdhvabāhu. (3) From the combination of Śubhra and his wife, Vikuṇṭhā, there appeared the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, Vaikuṇṭha, along with demi gods who were His personal plenary expan sions. (4)

Just to please the goddess of fortune, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vaikuṇṭha, at her request, created another Vaikuṇṭha planet, which is worshiped by eve ryone. (5) Although the great activities and transcendental qualities of the Supreme Person ality of Godhead’s various incarnations are wonderfully described, sometimes we are una ble to understand them. Yet everything is pos sible for Lord Viṣṇu. If one could count the at oms of the universe, then he could count the qualities of the Supreme Personality of God head. But no one can count the atoms of the universe, nor can anyone count the transcen dental qualities of the Lord. (6) The son of Cakṣu known as Cākṣuṣa was the sixth Manu. He had many sons, headed by Pūru, Pūruṣa and Sudyumna. (7) During the reign of Cākṣuṣa Manu, the King of heaven was known as Mantradruma. Among the demigods were the Āpyas, and among the great sages were Haviṣmān and Vīraka. (8)

In this sixth manvantara millennium, Lord Viṣṇu, the mas ter of the universe, appeared in His partial ex pansion. He was begotten by Vairāja in the womb of his wife, Devasambhūti, and His name was Ajita. (9) By churning the Ocean of Milk, Ajita produced nectar for the demigods. In the form of a tortoise, He moved here and there, carrying on His back the great mountain known as Mandara. (10) King Parīkṣit inquired: O great brāhmaṇa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, why and how did Lord Viṣṇu churn the Ocean of Milk? For what rea son did He stay in the water as a tortoise and hold up Mandara Mountain? How did the dem igods obtain the nectar, and what other things were produced from the churning of the ocean? Kindly describe all these wonderful activities of the Lord. (11-12)

My heart, which is dis turbed by the three miserable conditions of ma terial life, is not yet sated with hearing you de scribe the glorious activities of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the master of the devotees. (13) Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: O learned brāhmaṇas assembled here at Naimiṣāraṇya, when Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Dvaipāyana, was thus questioned by the King, he congratu lated the King and then endeavored to describe further the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (14) Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When the asuras, with their serpent weapons, severely attacked the demigods in a fight, many of the demigods fell and lost their lives. Indeed, they could not be revived. At that time, O King, the demigods had been cursed by Durvāsā Muni, the three worlds were poverty-stricken, and therefore rit ualistic ceremonies could not be performed. The effects of this were very serious. (15-16)

Lord Indra, Varuṇa and the other demigods, seeing their lives in such a state, consulted among themselves, but they could not find any solution. Then all the demigods assembled and went together to the peak of Sumeru Mountain. There, in the assembly of Lord Brahmā, they fell down to offer Lord Brahmā their obei sances, and then they informed him of all the incidents that had taken place. (17-18) Upon seeing that the demigods were bereft of all influence and strength and that the three worlds were consequently devoid of auspi ciousness, and upon seeing that the demigods were in an awkward position whereas all the demons were flourishing, Lord Brahmā, who is above all the demigods and who is most powerful, concentrated his mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus being encour aged, he became bright-faced and spoke to the demigods as follows. (19-20)

Lord Brahmā said: I, Lord Śiva, all of you demigods, the demons, the living entities born of perspiration, the living beings born of eggs, the trees and plants sprouting from the earth, and the living entities born from embryosall come from the Supreme Lord, from His incar nation of rajo-guṇa [Lord Brahmā, the guṇa avatāra] and from the great sages [ṛṣis] who are part of me. Let us therefore go to the Supreme Lord and take shelter of His lotus feet. (21) For the Supreme Personality of Godhead there is no one to be killed, no one to be protected, no one to be neglected and no one to be worshiped. Nonetheless, for the sake of creation, mainte nance and annihilation according to time, He accepts different forms as incarnations either in the mode of goodness, the mode of passion or the mode of ignorance. (22)

Now is the time to invoke the mode of goodness of the living enti ties who have accepted material bodies. The mode of goodness is meant to establish the Su preme Lord’s rule, which will maintain the ex istence of the creation. Therefore, this is the op portune moment to take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because He is natu rally very kind and dear to the demigods, He will certainly bestow good fortune upon us. (23) O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, subduer of all enemies, after Lord Brahmā finished speaking to the demigods, he took them with him to the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is beyond this material world. The Lord’s abode is on an island called Śvetadvīpa, which is situated in the Ocean of Milk. (24)

There [at Śvetadvīpa], Lord Brahmā offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even though he had never seen the Supreme Lord. Simply because Lord Brahmā had heard about the Supreme Personality of Godhead from Ve dic literature, with a fixed mind he offered the Lord prayers as written or approved by Vedic literature. (25) Lord Brahmā said: O Supreme Lord, O changeless, unlimited supreme truth. You are the origin of everything. Being all-pervading, You are in everyone’s heart and also in the atom. You have no material qualities. Indeed, You are inconceivable. The mind cannot catch You by speculation, and words fail to describe You. You are the supreme master of everyone, and therefore You are worshipable for every one. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. (26)

The Supreme Personality of God head directly and indirectly knows how every thing, including the living force, mind and in telligence, is working under His control. He is the illuminator of everything and has no igno rance. He does not have a material body subject to the reactions of previous activities, and He is free from the ignorance of partiality and mate rialistic education. I therefore take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, who is eternal, all-pervading and as great as the sky and who appears with six opulences in three yugas [Satya, Tretā and Dvāpara]. (27)

In the cycle of material activities, the material body resem bles the wheel of a mental chariot. The ten senses [five for working and five for gathering knowledge] and the five life airs within the body form the fifteen spokes of the chariot’s wheel. The three modes of nature [goodness, passion and ignorance] are its center of activi ties, and the eight ingredients of nature [earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego] comprise the rim of the wheel. The exter nal, material energy moves this wheel like elec trical energy. Thus the wheel revolves very quickly around its hub or central support, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul and the ultimate truth. We offer our respectful obeisances unto Him. (28)

The Su preme Personality of Godhead is situated in pure goodness [śuddha-sattva], and therefore He is eka-varṇathe oṁkāra [praṇava]. Because the Lord is beyond the cosmic manifestation, which is considered to be darkness, He is not visible to material eyes. Nonetheless, He is not separated from us by time or space, but is pre sent everywhere. Seated on His carrier, Garuḍa, He is worshiped by means of mystical yogic power by those who have achieved freedom from agitation. Let us all offer our respectful obeisances unto Him. (29) No one can over come the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s il lusory energy [māyā], which is so strong that it bewilders everyone, making one lose the sense to understand the aim of life. That same māyā, however, is subdued by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who rules everyone and who is equally disposed toward all living entities. Let us offer our obeisances unto Him. (30)

Since our bodies are made of sattva-guṇa, we, the demigods, are internally and externally situated in goodness. All the great saints are also situ ated in that way. Therefore, if even we cannot understand the Supreme Personality of God head, what is to be said of those who are most insignificant in their bodily constitutions, being situated in the modes of passion and ignorance? How can they understand the Lord? Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto Him. (31) On this earth there are four kinds of living entities, who are all created by Him. The mate rial creation rests on His lotus feet. He is the great Supreme Person, full of opulence and power. May He be pleased with us. (32) The entire cosmic manifestation has emerged from water, and it is because of water that all living entities endure, live and develop. This water is nothing but the semen of the Supreme Person ality of Godhead. Therefore, may the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has such great po tency, be pleased with us. (33)

Soma, the moon, is the source of food grains, strength and longevity for all the demigods. He is also the master of all vegetation and the source of gen eration for all living entities. As stated by learned scholars, the moon is the mind of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. May that Su preme Personality of Godhead, the source of all opulences, be pleased with us. (34) Fire, which is born for the sake of accepting oblations in ritualistic ceremonies, is the mouth of the Su preme Personality of Godhead. Fire exists within the depths of the ocean to produce wealth, and fire is also present in the abdomen to digest food and produce various secretions for the maintenance of the body. May that su premely powerful Personality of Godhead be pleased with us. (35)

The sun-god marks the path of liberation, which is called arcirādi vartma. He is the chief source for understand ing of the Vedas, he is the abode where the Ab solute Truth can be worshiped, he is the gate way to liberation, and he is the source of eternal life as well as the cause of death. The sun-god is the eye of the Lord. May that Supreme Lord, who is supremely opulent, be pleased with us. (36) All living entities, moving and nonmov ing, receive their vital force, their bodily strength and their very lives from the air. All of us follow the air for our vital force, exactly as servants follow an emperor. The vital force of air is generated from the original vital force of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. May that Supreme Lord be pleased with us. (37)

May the supremely powerful Personality of God head be pleased with us. The different direc tions are generated from His ears, the holes of the body come from His heart, and the vital force, the senses, the mind, the air within the body, and the ether, which is the shelter of the body, come from His navel. (38) Mahendra, the King of Heaven, was generated from the prowess of the Lord, the demigods were gener ated from the mercy of the Lord, Lord Śiva was generated from the anger of the Lord, and Lord Brahmā from His sober intelligence. The Vedic mantras were generated from the bodily holes of the Lord, and the great saints and prajāpatis were generated from His genitals. May that su premely powerful Lord be pleased with us. (39) The goddess of fortune was generated from His chest, the inhabitants of Pitṛloka from His shadow, religion from His bosom, and irre ligion [the opposite of religion] from His back. The heavenly planets were generated from the top of His head, and the Apsarās from His sense enjoyment. May that supremely powerful Per sonality of Godhead be pleased with us. (40)

The brāhmaṇas and Vedic knowledge come from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the kṣatriyas and bodily strength come from His arms, the vaiśyas and their ex pert knowledge in productivity and wealth come from His thighs, and the śūdras, who are outside of Vedic knowledge, come from His feet. May that Supreme Personality of God head, who is full in prowess, be pleased with us. (41) Greed is generated from His lower lip, affection from His upper lip, bodily luster from His nose, animalistic lusty desires from His sense of touch, Yamarāja from His eyebrows, and eternal time from His eyelashes. May that Supreme Lord be pleased with us. (42)

All learned men say that the five elements, eternal time, fruitive activity, the three modes of mate rial nature, and the varieties produced by these modes are all creations of yoga-māyā. This ma terial world is therefore extremely difficult to understand, but those who are highly learned have rejected it. May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of every thing, be pleased with us. (43) Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, who is completely silent, free from endeavor, and completely satisfied by His own achievements. He is not attached to the activities of the material world through His senses. Indeed, in performing His pastimes in this material world, He is just like the unat tached air. (44) O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we are surrendered unto You, yet we wish to see You. Please make Your original form and smiling lo tus face visible to our eyes and appreciable to our other senses. (45)

O Lord, O Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, by Your sweet will You appear in various incarnations, millennium af ter millennium, and act wonderfully, perform ing uncommon activities that would be impos sible for us. (46) Karmīs are always anxious to accumulate wealth for their sense gratification, but for that purpose they must work very hard. Yet even though they work hard, the results are not satisfying. Indeed, sometimes their work results only in frustration. But devotees who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Lord can achieve substantial results without working very hard. These results exceed the devotee’s expectations. (47) Activities dedi cated to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even if performed in small measure, never go in vain. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being the supreme father, is naturally very dear and always ready to act for the good of the liv ing entities. (48)

When one pours water on the root of a tree, the trunk and branches of the tree are automatically pleased. Similarly, when one becomes a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, everyone is served, for the Lord is the Supersoul of every one. (49) My Lord, all obeisances unto You, who are eternal, beyond time’s limits of past, present and future. You are inconceivable in Your activities, You are the master of the three modes of material nature, and, being transcen dental to all material qualities, You are free from material contamination. You are the con troller of all three of the modes of nature, but at the present You are in favor of the quality of goodness. Let us offer our respectful obei sances unto You. (50)

ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī said: When the Lord delivered Gajendra, King of the elephants, all the demigods, sages and Gandharvas, headed by Brahmā and Śiva, praised this activity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and showered flowers upon both the Lord and Gajendra. (1) There was a beating of kettledrums in the heav enly planets, the inhabitants of Gandharvaloka began to dance and sing, while great sages and the inhabitants of Cāraṇaloka and Siddhaloka offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puruṣottama. (2)

The best of the Gandharvas, King Hūhū, having been cursed by Devala Muni, had become a crocodile. Now, having been delivered by the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, he assumed a very beautiful form as a Gandharva. Understanding by whose mercy this had happened, he immediately of fered his respectful obeisances with his head and began chanting prayers just suitable for the transcendental Lord, the supreme eternal, who is worshiped by the choicest verses. (3-4) Hav ing been favored by the causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and having regained his original form, King Hūhū circum ambulated the Lord and offered his obeisances. Then, in the presence of all the demigods, headed by Brahmā, he returned to Gandhar valoka. He had been freed of all sinful reac tions. (5)

Because Gajendra, King of the elephants, had been touched directly by the hands of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was im mediately freed of all material ignorance and bondage. Thus he received the salvation of sārūpya-mukti, in which he achieved the same bodily features as the Lord, being dressed in yellow garments and possessing four hands. (6) This Gajendra had formerly been a Vaiṣṇava and the king of the country known as Pāṇḍya, which is in the province of Draviḍa [South India]. In his previous life, he was known as Indradyumna Mahārāja. (7) In dradyumna Mahārāja retired from family life and went to the Malaya Hills, where he had a small cottage for his āśrama. He wore matted locks on his head and always engaged in aus terities. Once, while observing a vow of si lence, he was fully engaged in the worship of the Lord and absorbed in the ecstasy of love of Godhead. (8)

While Indradyumna Mahārāja was engaged in ecstatic meditation, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great sage Agastya Muni arrived there, surrounded by his disciples. When the Muni saw that Mahārāja Indradyumna, who was sitting in a secluded place, remained silent and did not fol low the etiquette of offering him a reception, he was very angry. (9) Agastya Muni then spoke this curse against the King: This King In dradyumna is not at all gentle. Being low and uneducated, he has insulted a brāhmaṇa. May he therefore enter the region of darkness and re ceive the dull, dumb body of an elephant. (10) Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, after Agastya Muni had thus cursed King Indradyumna, the Muni left that place along with his disciples. Since the King was a devo tee, he accepted Agastya Muni’s curse as wel come because it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, although in his next life he got the body of an elephant, be cause of devotional service he remembered how to worship and offer prayers to the Lord. (11-12)

Upon delivering the King of the ele phants from the clutches of the crocodile, and from material existence, which resembles a crocodile, the Lord awarded him the status of sārūpya-mukti. In the presence of the Gandhar vas, the Siddhas and the other demigods, who were praising the Lord for His wonderful tran scendental activities, the Lord, sitting on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa, returned to His all wonderful abode and took Gajendra with Him. (13) My dear King Parīkṣit, I have now de scribed the wonderful power of Kṛṣṇa, as dis played when the Lord delivered the King of the elephants. O best of the Kuru dynasty, those who hear this narration become fit to be pro moted to the higher planetary systems. Simply because of hearing this narration, they gain a reputation as devotees, they are unaffected by the contamination of Kali-yuga, and they never see bad dreams. (14)

Therefore, after getting up from bed in the morning, those who desire their own welfareespecially the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and in particular the brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇavasshould chant this narration as it is, without deviation, to counteract the troubles of bad dreams. (15) O best of the Kuru dynasty, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of everyone, being thus pleased, addressed Gajendra in the presence of everyone there. He spoke the following blessings. (16)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Freed from all sinful reactions are those who rise from bed at the end of night, early in the morning, and fully concentrate their minds with great attention upon My form; your form; this lake; this mountain; the caves; the gardens; the cane plants; the bamboo plants; the celestial trees; the residential quarters of Me, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva; the three peaks of Trikūṭa Mountain, made of gold, silver and iron; My very pleasing abode [the Ocean of Milk]; the white island, Śvetadvīpa, which is always brilliant with spiritual rays; My mark of Śrīvatsa; the Kaustubha gem; My Vaijayantī garland; My club, Kaumodakī; My Sudarśana disc and Pāñcajanya conchshell; My bearer, Garuḍa, the king of the birds; My bed, Śeṣa Nāga; My expansion of energy the goddess of fortune; Lord Brahmā; Nārada Muni; Lord Śiva; Prahlāda; My incarnations like Matsya, Kūrma and Varāha; My unlimited all-auspi cious activities, which yield piety to he who hears them; the sun; the moon; fire; the mantra oṁkāra; the Absolute Truth; the total material energy; the cows and brāhmaṇas; devotional service; the wives of Soma and Kaśyapa, who are all daughters of King Dakṣa; the rivers Gan ges, Sarasvatī, Nandā and Yamunā [Kālindī]; the elephant Airāvata; Dhruva Mahārāja; the seven ṛṣis; and the pious human beings. (17-24)

My dear devotee, unto those who rise from bed at the end of night and offer Me the prayers offered by you, I give an eternal residence in the spiritual world at the end of their lives. (25) ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī continued: After giv ing this instruction, the Lord, who is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, bugled with His Pāñcajanya conchshell, in this way pleasing all the demi gods, headed by Lord Brahmā. Then He mounted the back of His carrier, Garuḍa. (26)

ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. (1) The King of the elephants, Gajendra, said: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Su preme Person, Vāsudeva [oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya]. Because of Him this material body acts due to the presence of spirit, and He is therefore the root cause of everyone. He is worshipable for such exalted persons as Brahmā and Śiva, and He has entered the heart of every living being. Let me meditate upon Him. (2)

The Supreme Godhead is the supreme platform on which everything rests, the ingre dient by which everything has been produced, and the person who has created and is the only cause of this cosmic manifestation. Nonethe less, He is different from the cause and the re sult. I surrender unto Him, the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, who is self-sufficient in eve rything. (3) The Supreme Personality of God head, by expanding His own energy, keeps this cosmic manifestation visible and again some times renders it invisible. He is both the su preme cause and the supreme result, the ob server and the witness, in all circumstances. Thus He is transcendental to everything. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection. (4)

In due course of time, when all the causative and effective manifestations of the universe, including the planets and their di rectors and maintainers, are annihilated, there is a situation of dense darkness. Above this darkness, however, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I take shelter of His lotus feet. (5) An artist onstage, being covered by attractive dresses and dancing with different movements, is not understood by his audience; similarly, the activities and features of the supreme artist can not be understood even by the demigods or great sages, and certainly not by those who are unintelligent like animals. Neither the demi gods and sages nor the unintelligent can under stand the features of the Lord, nor can they ex press in words His actual position. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protec tion. (6)

Renunciants and great sages who see all living beings equally, who are friendly to everyone and who flawlessly practice in the forest the vows of brahmacarya, vānaprastha and sannyāsa desire to see the all-auspicious lo tus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. May that same Supreme Personality of God head be my destination. (7) The Supreme Per sonality of Godhead has no material birth, ac tivities, name, form, qualities or faults. To ful fill the purpose for which this material world is created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rāma or Lord Kṛṣṇa by His original internal potency. He has im mense potency, and in various forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonder fully. He is therefore the Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him. (8-9)

I offer my re spectful obeisances unto the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, the self-effulgent Supersoul, who is the witness in everyone’s heart, who en lightens the individual soul and who cannot be reached by exercises of the mind, words or con sciousness. (10) The Supreme Personality of Godhead is re alized by pure devotees who act in the transcen dental existence of bhakti-yoga. He is the be stower of uncontaminated happiness and is the master of the transcendental world. Therefore I offer my respect unto Him. (11) I offer my re spectful obeisances to Lord Vāsudeva, who is all-pervading, to the Lord’s fierce form as Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, to the Lord’s form as an animal [Lord Varāhadeva], to Lord Dattātreya, who preached impersonalism, to Lord Buddha, and to all the other incarnations. I offer my respect ful obeisances unto the Lord, who has no mate rial qualities but who accepts the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance within this material world. I also offer my respectful obei sances unto the impersonal Brahman efful gence. (12)

I beg to offer my respectful obei sances unto You, who are the Supersoul, the su perintendent of everything, and the witness of all that occurs. You are the Supreme Person, the origin of material nature and of the total mate rial energy. You are also the owner of the ma terial body. Therefore, You are the supreme complete. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. (13) My Lord, You are the observer of all the objectives of the senses. Without Your mercy, there is no possibility of solving the problem of doubts. The material world is just like a shadow resembling You. Indeed, one ac cepts this material world as real because it gives a glimpse of Your existence. (14) My Lord, You are the cause of all causes, but You Your self have no cause. Therefore You are the won derful cause of everything. I offer my respect ful obeisances unto You, who are the shelter of the Vedic knowledge contained in the śāstras like the Pañcarātras and Vedānta-sūtra, which are Your representations, and who are the source of the paramparā system. Because it is You who can give liberation, You are the only shelter for all transcendentalists. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You. (15)

My Lord, as the fire in araṇi wood is covered, You and Your unlimited knowledge are covered by the material modes of nature. Your mind, how ever, is not attentive to the activities of the modes of nature. Those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge are not subject to the regu lative principles directed in the Vedic litera tures. Because such advanced souls are tran scendental, You personally appear in their pure minds. Therefore I offer my respectful obei sances unto You. (16) Since an animal such as me has surrendered unto You, who are supremely liberated, cer tainly You will release me from this dangerous position. Indeed, being extremely merciful, You incessantly try to deliver me. By your par tial feature as Paramātmā, You are situated in the hearts of all embodied beings. You are cel ebrated as direct transcendental knowledge, and You are unlimited. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (17)

My Lord, those who are com pletely freed from material contamination al ways meditate upon You within the cores of their hearts. You are extremely difficult to at tain for those like me who are too attached to mental concoction, home, relatives, friends, money, servants and assistants. You are the Su preme Personality of Godhead, uncontami nated by the modes of nature. You are the res ervoir of all enlightenment, the supreme con troller. I therefore offer my respectful obei sances unto You. (18) After worshiping the Su preme Personality of Godhead, those who are interested in the four principles of religion, eco nomic development, sense gratification and lib eration obtain from Him what they desire. What then is to be said of other benedictions? Indeed, sometimes the Lord gives a spiritual body to such ambitious worshipers. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is unlimitedly merciful, bestow upon me the benediction of liberation from this present danger and from the materialistic way of life. (19)

Unalloyed devo tees, who have no desire other than to serve the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious. Thus they al ways merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. Such devotees never ask the Lord for any ben ediction. I, however, am in danger. Thus I pray to that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally existing, who is invisible, who is the Lord of all great personalities, such as Brahmā, and who is available only by transcendental bhakti-yoga. Being extremely subtle, He is be yond the reach of my senses and transcendental to all external realization. He is unlimited, He is the original cause, and He is completely full in everything. I offer my obeisances unto Him. (20-21)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead cre ates His minor parts and parcels, the jīva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahmā, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge [Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur and Atharva] and including all other living entities, moving and nonmoving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the dif ferent modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him. He is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or nonmani festation. He is the last word in the discrimina tion of “not this, not this,” and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of God head! (22-24)

I do not wish to live anymore after I am released from the attack of the croc odile. What is the use of an elephant’s body covered externally and internally by ignorance? I simply desire eternal liberation from the cov ering of ignorance. That covering is not de stroyed by the influence of time. (25) Now, fully desiring release from material life, I offer my respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Person who is the creator of the universe, who is Himself the form of the universe and who is nonetheless transcendental to this cosmic man ifestation. He is the supreme knower of every thing in this world, the Supersoul of the uni verse. He is the unborn, supremely situated Lord. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him. (26)

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, the Supersoul, the master of all mystic yoga, who is seen in the core of the heart by perfect mystics when they are com pletely purified and freed from the reactions of fruitive activity by practicing bhakti-yoga. (27) My Lord, You are the controller of formidable strength in three kinds of energy. You appear as the reservoir of all sense pleasure and the protector of the surrendered souls. You possess unlimited energy, but You are unapproachable by those who are unable to control their senses. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You again and again. (28) I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose illusory energy the jīva, who is part and parcel of God, forgets his real identity because of the bodily concept of life. I take shelter of the Supreme Personality of God head, whose glories are difficult to understand. (29)

ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī continued: When the King of the elephants was describing the su preme authority, without mentioning any par ticular person, he did not invoke the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Indra and Candra. Thus none of them approached him. However, because Lord Hari is the Supersoul, Puruṣottama, the Personality of Godhead, He appeared before Gajendra. (30) After under standing the awkward condition of Gajendra, who had offered his prayers, the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Hari, who lives every where, appeared with the demigods, who were offering prayers to Him. Carrying His disc and other weapons, He appeared there on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa, with great speed, ac cording to His desire. Thus He appeared before Gajendra. (31)

Gajendra had been forcefully captured by the crocodile in the water and was feeling acute pain, but when he saw that Nārāyaṇa, wielding His disc, was coming in the sky on the back of Garuḍa, he immediately took a lotus flower in his trunk, and with great diffi culty due to his painful condition, he uttered the following words: “O my Lord, Nārāyaṇa, mas ter of the universe, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.” (32) Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in such an aggrieved position, the unborn Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Hari, immediately got down from the back of Garuḍa by His causeless mercy and pulled the King of the elephants, along with the crocodile, out of the water. Then, in the presence of all the demigods, who were looking on, the Lord severed the croco dile’s mouth from its body with His disc. In this way He saved Gajendra, the King of the ele phants. (33)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, there is a very large mountain called Trikūṭa. It is ten thousand yojanas [eighty thousand miles] high. Being surrounded by the Ocean of Milk, it is very beautifully situated. (1) The length and breadth of the mountain are of the same measurement [eighty thousand miles]. Its three principal peaks, which are made of iron, silver and gold, beautify all directions and the sky. The mountain also has other peaks, which are full of jewels and minerals and are decorated with nice trees, creepers and shrubs. The sounds of the waterfalls on the mountain create a pleasing vibration. In this way the mountain stands, increasing the beauty of all directions. (2-3)

The ground at the foot of the mountain is always washed by waves of milk that produce emeralds all around in the eight directions [north, south, east, west and the directions mid way between them]. (4) The inhabitants of the higher planetsthe Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandhar vas, Vidyādharas, serpents, Kinnaras and Ap sarāsgo to that mountain to sport. Thus all the caves of the mountain are full of these denizens of the heavenly planets. (5) Because of the re sounding vibrations of the denizens of heaven singing in the caves, the lions there, being very proud of their strength, roar with unbearable envy, thinking that another lion is roaring in that way. (6) The valleys beneath Trikūṭa Mountain are beautifully decorated by many varieties of jun gle animals, and in the trees, which are main tained in gardens by the demigods, varieties of birds chirp with sweet voices. (7)

Trikūṭa Mountain has many lakes and rivers, with beaches covered by small gems resembling grains of sand. The water is as clear as crystal, and when the demigod damsels bathe in it, their bodies lend fragrance to the water and the breeze, thus enriching the atmosphere. (8) In a valley of Trikūṭa Mountain there was a garden called Ṛtumat. This garden belonged to the great devotee Varuṇa and was a sporting place for the damsels of the demigods. Flowers and fruits grew there in all seasons. Among them were mandāras, pārijātas, pāṭalas, aśokas, campakas, cūtas, piyālas, panasas, mangoes, āmrātakas, kramukas, coconut trees, date trees and pomegranates. There were madhukas, palm trees, tamālas, asanas, arjunas, ariṣṭas, uḍumba ras, plakṣas, banyan trees, kiṁśukas and san dalwood trees. There were also picumardas, kovidāras, saralas, sura-dārus, grapes, sugar cane, bananas, jambu, badarīs, akṣas, abhayas and āmalakīs. (9-13)

In that garden there was a very large lake filled with shining golden lo tus flowers and the flowers known as kumuda, kahlāra, utpala and śatapatra, which added ex cellent beauty to the mountain. There were also bilva, kapittha, jambīra and bhallātaka trees. In toxicated bumblebees drank honey and hummed with the chirping of the birds, whose songs were very melodious. The lake was crowded with swans, kāraṇḍavas, cakrāvakas, cranes, and flocks of water chickens, dātyūhas, koyaṣṭis and other murmuring birds. Because of the agitating movements of the fish and tor toises, the water was decorated with pollen that had fallen from the lotus flowers. The lake was surrounded by kadamba flowers, vetasa flow ers, nalas, nīpas, vañjulakas, kundas, kuruba kas, aśokas, śirīṣas, kūṭajas, iṅgudas, kubjakas, svarṇa-yūthīs, nāgas, punnāgas, jātīs, mallikās, śatapatras, jālakās and mādhavī-latās. The banks were also abundantly adorned with vari eties of trees that yielded flowers and fruits in all seasons. Thus the entire mountain stood glo riously decorated. (14-19)

The leader of the elephants who lived in the forest of the mountain Trikūṭa once wandered toward the lake with his female elephants. He broke many plants, creepers, thickets and trees, not caring for their piercing thorns. (20) Simply by catching scent of that elephant, all the other elephants, the tigers and the other fe rocious animals, such as lions, rhinoceroses, great serpents and black and white sarabhas, fled in fear. The camarī deer also fled. (21) By the mercy of this elephant, animals like the foxes, wolves, buffalos, bears, boars, gopuc chas, porcupines, monkeys, rabbits, the other deer and many other small animals loitered elsewhere in the forest. They were not afraid of him. (22)

Surrounded by the herd’s other ele phants, including females, and followed by the young ones, Gajapati, the leader of the ele phants, made Trikūṭa Mountain tremble all around because of the weight of his body. He was perspiring, liquor dripped from his mouth, and his vision was overwhelmed by intoxica tion. He was being served by bumblebees who drank honey, and from a distance he could smell the dust of the lotus flowers, which was carried from the lake by the breeze. Thus sur rounded by his associates, who were afflicted by thirst, he soon arrived at the bank of the lake. (23-24) The King of the elephants entered the lake, bathed thoroughly and was relieved of his fatigue. Then, with the aid of his trunk, he drank the cold, clear, nectarean water, which was mixed with the dust of lotus flowers and water lilies, until he was fully satisfied. (25)

Like a human being who lacks spiritual knowledge and is too attached to the members of his family, the elephant, being illusioned by the external energy of Kṛṣṇa, had his wives and children bathe and drink the water. Indeed, he raised water from the lake with his trunk and sprayed it over them. He did not mind the hard labor involved in this endeavor. (26) By the arrangement of providence, O King, a strong crocodile was angry at the elephant and attacked the elephant’s leg in the water. The el ephant was certainly strong, and he tried his best to get free from this danger sent by provi dence. (27) Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in that grave condition, his wives felt very, very sorry and began to cry. The other elephants wanted to help Gajendra, but because of the crocodile’s great strength, they could not rescue him by grasping him from behind. (28)

O King, the el ephant and the crocodile fought in this way, pulling one another in and out of the water, for one thousand years. Upon seeing the fight, the demigods were very surprised. (29) Thereafter, because of being pulled into the water and fighting for many long years, the el ephant became diminished in his mental, phys ical and sensual strength. The crocodile, on the contrary, being an animal of the water, in creased in enthusiasm, physical strength and sensual power. (30) When the King of the ele phants saw that he was under the clutches of the crocodile by the will of providence and, being embodied and circumstantially helpless, could not save himself from danger, he was extremely afraid of being killed. He consequently thought for a long time and finally reached the follow ing decision. (31)

The other elephants, who are my friends and relatives, could not rescue me from this danger. What then to speak of my wives? They cannot do anything. It is by the will of providence that I have been attacked by this crocodile, and therefore I shall seek shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always the shelter of everyone, even of great personalities. (32) The Supreme Personality of Godhead is certainly not known to everyone, but He is very powerful and influential. There fore, although the serpent of eternal time, which is fearful in force, endlessly chases eve ryone, ready to swallow him, if one who fears this serpent seeks shelter of the Lord, the Lord gives him protection, for even death runs away in fear of the Lord. I therefore surrender unto Him, the great and powerful supreme authority who is the actual shelter of everyone. (33)

King Parīkṣit said: O my lord, my spiritual master, now I have fully heard from Your Grace about the dynasty of Svāyambhuva Manu. But there are also other Manus, and I want to hear about their dynasties. Kindly de scribe them to us. (1) O learned brāhmaṇa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the great learned persons who are completely intelligent describe the ac tivities and appearance of the Supreme Person ality of Godhead during the various manvanta ras. We are very eager to hear about these nar rations. Kindly describe them. (2) O learned brāhmaṇa, kindly describe to us whatever ac tivities the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who created this cosmic manifestation, has per formed in the past manvantaras, is performing at present, and will perform in the future man vantaras. (3)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: In the present kalpa there have already been six Manus. I have described to you Svāyambhuva Manu and the appearance of many demigods. In this kalpa of Brahmā, Svāyambhuva is the first Manu. (4) Svāyambhuva Manu had two daughters, named Ākūti and Devahūti. From their wombs, the Su preme Personality of Godhead appeared as two sons named Yajñamūrti and Kapila respec tively. These sons were entrusted with preach ing about religion and knowledge. (5) O best of the Kurus, I have already described [in the Third Canto] the activities of Kapila, the son of Devahūti. Now I shall describe the activities of Yajñapati, the son of Ākūti. (6)

Svāyambhuva Manu, the husband of Śatarūpā, was by nature not at all attached to enjoyment of the senses. Thus he gave up his kingdom of sense enjoyment and entered the forest with his wife to practice austerities. (7) O scion of Bharata, after Svāyambhuva Manu had thus entered the forest with his wife, he stood on one leg on the bank of the river Sunandā, and in this way, with only one leg touching the earth, he performed great austeri ties for one hundred years. While performing these austerities, he spoke as follows. (8) Lord Manu said: The supreme living being has created this material world of animation; it is not that He was created by this material world. When everything is silent, the Supreme Being stays awake as a witness. The living en tity does not know Him, but He knows every thing. (9)

Within this universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Supersoul fea ture is present everywhere, wherever there are animate or inanimate beings. Therefore, one should accept only that which is allotted to him; one should not desire to infringe upon the prop erty of others. (10) Although the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead constantly watches the ac tivities of the world, no one sees Him. How ever, one should not think that because no one sees Him, He does not see, for His power to see is never diminished. Therefore, everyone should worship the Supersoul, who always stays with the individual soul as a friend. (11) The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning, no end and no middle. Nor does He belong to a particular person or nation. He has no inside or outside. The dualities found within this material world, such as beginning and end, mine and theirs, are all absent from the person ality of the Supreme Lord. The universe, which emanates from Him, is another feature of the Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ulti mate truth, and He is complete in greatness. (12)

The entire cosmic manifestation is the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, who has millions of names and unlimited potencies. He is self-effulgent, unborn and changeless. He is the beginning of everything, but He has no beginning. Because He has created this cosmic manifestation by His external energy, the universe appears to be created, maintained and annihilated by Him. Nonetheless, He remains inactive in His spir itual energy and is untouched by the activities of the material energy. (13) Therefore, to ena ble people to reach the stage of activities that are not tinged by fruitive results, great saints first engage people in fruitive activities, for un less one begins by performing activities as rec ommended in the śāstras, one cannot reach the stage of liberation, or activities that produce no reactions. (14)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full in opulence by His own gain, yet He acts as the creator, maintainer and anni hilator of this material world. In spite of acting in that way, He is never entangled. Hence dev otees who follow in His footsteps are also never entangled. (15) The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, works just like an ordinary human being, yet He does not desire to enjoy the fruits of work. He is full in knowledge, free from material desires and diversions, and com pletely independent. As the supreme teacher of human society, He teaches His own way of ac tivities, and thus He inaugurates the real path of religion. I request everyone to follow Him. (16) Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Svāyambhuva Manu was thus in a trance, chanting the mantras of Vedic instruction known as the Upaniṣads. Upon seeing him, the Rākṣasas and asuras, being very hungry, wanted to devour him. Therefore they ran after him with great speed. (17)

The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, who sits in everyone’s heart, appearing as Yajñapati, observed that the Rākṣasas and demons were going to devour Svāyambhuva Manu. Thus the Lord, accompanied by His sons named the Yāmas and by all the other demi gods, killed the demons and Rākṣasas. He then took the post of Indra and began to rule the heavenly kingdom. (18) The son of Agni named Svārociṣa became the second Manu. His several sons were headed by Dyumat, Suṣeṇa and Rociṣmat. (19) During the reign of Svārociṣa, the post of Indra was as sumed by Rocana, the son of Yajña. Tuṣita and others became the principal demigods, and Ūrja, Stambha and others became the seven saints. All of them were faithful devotees of the Lord. (20) Vedaśirā was a very celebrated ṛṣi. From the womb of his wife, whose name was Tuṣitā, came the avatāra named Vibhu. (21)

Vibhu remained a brahmacāri and never mar ried throughout his life. From him, eighty-eight thousand other saintly persons took lessons on self-control, austerity and similar behavior. (22) O King, the third Manu, Uttama, was the son of King Priyavrata. Among the sons of this Manu were Pavana, Sṛñjaya and Yajñahotra. (23) During the reign of the third Manu, Pramada and other sons of Vasiṣṭha became the seven sages. The Satyas, Vedaśrutas and Bhadras became demigods, and Satyajit was selected to be Indra, the King of heaven. (24) In this manvantara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared from the womb of Sūnṛtā, who was the wife of Dharma, the demigod in charge of religion. The Lord was celebrated as Satyasena, and He appeared with other demi gods, known as the Satyavratas. (25)

Satyasena, along with His friend Satyajit, who was the King of heaven, Indra, killed all the un truthful, impious and miSBehaved Yakṣas, Rākṣasas and ghostly living entities, who gave pains to other living beings. (26) The brother of the third Manu, Uttama, was celebrated by the name Tāmasa, and he became the fourth Manu. Tāmasa had ten sons, headed by Pṛthu, Khyāti, Nara and Ketu. (27) During the reign of Tāmasa Manu, among the demi gods were the Satyakas, Haris and Vīras. The heavenly King, Indra, was Triśikha. The sages in saptarṣi-dhāma were headed by Jyotirdhāma. (28) O King, in the Tāmasa manvantara the sons of Vidhṛti, who were known as the Vaidhṛtis, also became demigods. Since in course of time the Vedic authority was lost, these demigods, by their own powers, protected the Vedic authority. (29)

Also in this manvan tara, the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, took birth from the womb of Hariṇī, the wife of Harimedhā, and He was known as Hari. Hari saved His dev otee Gajendra, the King of the elephants, from the mouth of a crocodile. (30) King Parīkṣit said: My lord, Bādarāyaṇi, we wish to hear from you in detail how the King of the elephants, when attacked by a crocodile, was delivered by Hari. (31) Any literature or narration in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Uttamaśloka, is described and glori fied is certainly great, pure, glorious, auspi cious and all good. (32) Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: O brāhmaṇas, when Parīkṣit Mahārāja, who was awaiting impend ing death, thus requested Śukadeva Gosvāmī to speak, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, encouraged by the King’s words, offered respect to the King and spoke with great pleasure in the assembly of sages, who desired to hear him. (33)

Nārada Muni continued: My dear King, some brāhmaṇas are very much attached to fruitive activities, some are attached to austerities and penances, and still others study the Vedic literature, whereas some, although very few, cultivate knowledge and practice different yo gas, especially bhakti-yoga. (1) A person de siring liberation for his forefathers or himself should give charity to a brāhmaṇa who adheres to impersonal monism [Jnana-niṣṭhā]. In the absence of such an advanced brāhmaṇa, charity may be given to a brāhmaṇa addicted to fruitive activities [karma-kāṇḍa]. (2) During the period for offering oblations to the demigods, one should invite only two brāhmaṇas, and while offering oblations to the forefathers, one may invite three brāhmaṇas. Or, in either case, only one brāhmaṇa will suffice. Even though one is very opulent, he should not endeavor to invite more brāhmaṇas or make various expensive ar rangements on those occasions. (3)

If one ar ranges to feed many brāhmaṇas or relatives during the śrāddha ceremony, there will be dis crepancies in the time, place, respectability and ingredients, the person to be worshiped, and the method of offering worship. (4) When one gets the opportunity of a suitable auspicious time and place, one should, with love, offer food prepared with ghee to the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and then offer the prasāda to a suitable persona Vaiṣṇava or brāhmaṇa. This will be the cause of everlasting prosperity. (5) One should offer prasāda to the demigods, the saintly persons, one’s forefa thers, the people in general, one’s family mem bers, one’s relatives and one’s friends, seeing them all as devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (6) A person fully aware of religious principles should never offer anything like meat, eggs or fish in the śrāddha ceremony, and even if one is a kṣatriya, he himself should not eat such things. When suitable food prepared with ghee is offered to saintly persons, the function is pleasing to the forefathers and the Supreme Lord, who are never pleased when animals are killed in the name of sacrifice. (7)

Persons who want to advance in superior religion are advised to give up all envy of other living entities, whether in relationship to the body, words or mind. There is no religion superior to this. (8) Because of an awakening of spiritual knowledge, those who are intelligent in regard to sacrifice, who are actually aware of religious principles and who are free from material de sires, control the self in the fire of spiritual knowledge, or knowledge of the Absolute Truth. They may give up the process of ritual istic ceremonies. (9) Upon seeing the person engaged in performing the sacrifice, animals meant to be sacrificed are extremely afraid, thinking, “This merciless performer of sacri fices, being ignorant of the purpose of sacrifice and being most satisfied by killing others, will surely kill us.” (10) Therefore, day by day, one who is actually aware of religious principles and is not heinously envious of poor animals should happily perform daily sacrifices and those for certain occasions with whatever food is available easily by the grace of the Lord. (11)

There are five branches of irreligion, appro priately known as irreligion [vidharma], reli gious principles for which one is unfit [para dharma], pretentious religion [ābhāsa], analog ical religion [upadharma] and cheating religion [chala-dharma]. One who is aware of real reli gious life must abandon these five as irreli gious. (12) Religious principles that obstruct one from following his own religion are called vidharma. Religious principles introduced by others are called para-dharma. A new type of religion created by one who is falsely proud and who opposes the principles of the Vedas is called upadharma. And interpretation by one’s jugglery of words is called chala-dharma. (13) A pretentious religious system manufactured by one who willfully neglects the prescribed duties of his order of life is called ābhāsa [a dim reflection or false similarity]. But if one per forms the prescribed duties for his particular āśrama or varṇa, why are they not sufficient to mitigate all material distresses? (14)

Even if a man is poor, he should not en deavor to improve his economic condition just to maintain his body and soul together or to be come a famous religionist. Just as a great py thon, although lying in one place, not endeav oring for its livelihood, gets the food it needs to maintain body and soul, one who is desireless also obtains his livelihood without endeavor. (15) One who is content and satisfied and who links his activities with the Supreme Personal ity of Godhead residing in everyone’s heart en joys transcendental happiness without endeav oring for his livelihood. Where is such happi ness for a materialistic man who is impelled by lust and greed and who therefore wanders in all directions with a desire to accumulate wealth? (16) For a person who has suitable shoes on his feet, there is no danger even when he walks on pebbles and thorns. For him, everything is aus picious. Similarly, for one who is always self satisfied there is no distress; indeed, he feels happiness everywhere. (17) My dear King, a self-satisfied person can be happy even with only drinking water. However, one who is driven by the senses, especially by the tongue and genitals, must accept the position of a household dog to satisfy his senses. (18)

Be cause of greed for the sake of the senses, the spiritual strength, education, austerity and rep utation of a devotee or brāhmaṇa who is not self-satisfied dwindle, and his knowledge grad ually vanishes. (19) The strong bodily desires and needs of a person disturbed by hunger and thirst are certainly satisfied when he eats. Sim ilarly, if one becomes very angry, that anger is satisfied by chastisement and its reaction. But as for greed, even if a greedy person has con quered all the directions of the world or has en joyed everything in the world, still he will not be satisfied. (20) O King Yudhiṣṭhira, many persons with varied experience, many legal ad visers, many learned scholars and many per sons eligible to become presidents of learned assemblies fall down into hellish life because of not being satisfied with their positions. (21)

By making plans with determination, one should give up lusty desires for sense gratifica tion. Similarly, by giving up envy one should conquer anger, by discussing the disadvantages of accumulating wealth one should give up greed, and by discussing the truth one should give up fear. (22) By discussing spiritual knowledge one can conquer lamentation and il lusion, by serving a great devotee one can be come prideless, by keeping silent one can avoid obstacles on the path of mystic yoga, and simply by stopping sense gratification one can conquer envy. (23) By good behavior and free dom from envy one should counteract suffer ings due to other living entities, by meditation in trance one should counteract sufferings due to providence, and by practicing haṭha-yoga, prāṇāyāma and so forth one should counteract sufferings due to the body and mind. Similarly, by developing the mode of goodness, espe cially in regard to eating, one should conquer sleep. (24)

One must conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by developing the mode of goodness, and then one must become de tached from the mode of goodness by promot ing oneself to the platform of śuddha-sattva. All this can be automatically done if one engages in the service of the spiritual master with faith and devotion. In this way one can conquer the influence of the modes of nature. (25) The spir itual master should be considered to be directly the Supreme Lord because he gives transcen dental knowledge for enlightenment. Conse quently, for one who maintains the material conception that the spiritual master is an ordi nary human being, everything is frustrated. His enlightenment and his Vedic studies and knowledge are like the bathing of an elephant. (26) The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the master of all other living en tities and of the material nature. His lotus feet are sought and worshiped by great saintly per sons like Vyāsa. Nonetheless, there are fools who consider Lord Kṛṣṇa an ordinary human being. (27)

Ritualistic ceremonies, regulative princi ples, austerities and the practice of yoga are all meant to control the senses and mind, but even after one is able to control the senses and mind, if he does not come to the point of meditation upon the Supreme Lord, all such activities are simply labor in frustration. (28) As profes sional activities or business profits cannot help one in spiritual advancement but are a source of material entanglement, the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies cannot help anyone who is not a devotee of the Supreme Personality of God head. (29) One who desires to conquer the mind must leave the company of his family and live in a solitary place, free from contaminated associa tion. To maintain the body and soul together, he should beg as much as he needs for the bare ne cessities of life. (30) My dear King, in a sacred and holy place of pilgrimage one should select a place in which to perform yoga. The place must be level and not too high or low. There one should sit very comfortably, being steady and equipoised, keeping his body straight, and thus begin chanting the Vedic praṇava. (31)

While continuously staring at the tip of the nose, a learned yogī practices the breathing ex ercises through the technical means known as pūraka, kumbhaka and recakacontrolling inha lation and exhalation and then stopping them both. In this way the yogī restricts his mind from material attachments and gives up all mental desires. As soon as the mind, being de feated by lusty desires, drifts toward feelings of sense gratification, the yogīshould immediately bring it back and arrest it within the core of his heart. (32-33) When the yogī regularly prac tices in this way, in a short time his heart be comes fixed and free from disturbance, like a fire without flames or smoke. (34) When one’s consciousness is uncontaminated by material lusty desires, it becomes calm and peaceful in all activities, for one is situated in eternal bliss ful life. Once situated on that platform, one does not return to materialistic activities. (35)

One who accepts the sannyāsa order gives up the three principles of materialistic activities in which one indulges in the field of household lifenamely religion, economic development and sense gratification. One who first accepts sannyāsa but then returns to such materialistic activities is to be called a vāntāśī, or one who eats his own vomit. He is indeed a shameless person. (36) Sannyāsīs who first consider that the body is subject to death, when it will be transformed into stool, worms or ashes, but who again give importance to the body and glo rify it as the self, are to be considered the great est rascals. (37) It is abominable for a person living in the gṛhastha-āśrama to give up the reg ulative principles, for a brahmacārī not to fol low the brahmacārī vows while living under the care of the guru, for a vānaprastha to live in the village and engage in so-called social activities, or for a sannyāsī to be addicted to sense gratifi cation. One who acts in this way is to be con sidered the lowest renegade. Such a pretender is bewildered by the external energy of the Su preme Personality of Godhead, and one should either reject him from any position, or taking compassion upon him, teach him, if possible, to resume his original position. (38-39)

The human form of body is meant for understanding the self and the Supreme Self, the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, both of whom are tran scendentally situated. If both of them can be understood when one is purified by advanced knowledge, for what reason and for whom does a foolish, greedy person maintain the body for sense gratification? (40) Transcendentalists who are advanced in knowledge compare the body, which is made by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to a chariot. The senses are like the horses; the mind, the master of the senses, is like the reins; the objects of the senses are the destinations; intelligence is the chariot driver; and consciousness, which spreads throughout the body, is the cause of bondage in this mate rial world. (41) The ten kinds of air acting within the body are compared to the spokes of the chariot’s wheels, and the top and bottom of the wheel itself are called religion and irreli gion. The living entity in the bodily concept of life is the owner of the chariot. The Vedic man tra praṇava is the bow, the pure living entity himself is the arrow, and the target is the Su preme Being. (42)

In the conditioned stage, one’s conceptions of life are sometimes pol luted by passion and ignorance, which are ex hibited by attachment, hostility, greed, lamen tation, illusion, fear, madness, false prestige, insults, fault-finding, deception, envy, intoler ance, passion, bewilderment, hunger and sleep. All of these are enemies. Sometimes one’s con ceptions are also polluted by goodness. (43-44) As long as one has to accept a material body, with its different parts and paraphernalia, which are not fully under one’s control, one must have the lotus feet of his superiors, namely his spiritual master and the spiritual master’s predecessors. By their mercy, one can sharpen the sword of knowledge, and with the power of the Supreme Personality of God head’s mercy one must then conquer the ene mies mentioned above. In this way, the devotee should be able to merge into his own transcen dental bliss, and then he may give up his body and resume his spiritual identity. (45)

Other wise, if one does not take shelter of Acyuta and Baladeva, then the senses, acting as the horses, and the intelligence, acting as the driver, both being prone to material contamination, inatten tively bring the body, which acts as the chariot, to the path of sense gratification. When one is thus attracted again by the rogues of viṣayaeating, sleeping and matingthe horses and chariot driver are thrown into the blinding dark well of material existence, and one is again put into a dangerous and extremely fear ful situation of repeated birth and death. (46) According to the Vedas, there are two kinds of activitiespravṛtti and nivṛtti. Pravṛtti activi ties involve raising oneself from a lower to a higher condition of materialistic life, whereas nivṛtti means the cessation of material desire. Through pravṛtti activities one suffers from ma terial entanglement, but by nivṛtti activities one is purified and becomes fit to enjoy eternal, blissful life. (47)

The ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices known as agni-hotra-yajña, darśa-yajña, pūrṇamāsa-yajña, cāturmāsya yajña, paśu-yajña and soma-yajña are all symp tomized by the killing of animals and the burn ing of many valuables, especially food grains, all for the fulfillment of material desires and the creation of anxiety. Performing such sacrifices, worshiping Vaiśvadeva, and performing the ceremony of Baliharaṇa, which all supposedly constitute the goal of life, as well as construct ing temples for demigods, building resting houses and gardens, digging wells for the dis tribution of water, establishing booths for the distribution of food, and performing activities for public welfarethese are all symptomized by attachment to material desires. (48-49)

My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, when oblations of ghee and food grains like barley and sesame are of fered in sacrifice, they turn into celestial smoke, which carries one to successively higher planetary systems like the kingdoms of Dhumā, Rātri, Kṛṣṇapakṣa, Dakṣiṇam and ulti mately the moon. Then, however, the perform ers of sacrifice descend again to earth to be come herbs, creepers, vegetables and food grains. These are eaten by different living enti ties and turned to semen, which is injected into female bodies. Thus one takes birth again and again. (50-51) A twice-born brāhmaṇa [dvija] gains his life by the grace of his parents through the process of purification known as garbhādhāna. There are also other processes of purification, until the end of life, when the fu neral ceremony [antyeṣṭi-kriyā] is performed. Thus in due course a qualified brāhmaṇa be comes uninterested in materialistic activities and sacrifices, but he offers the sensual sacri fices, in full knowledge, into the working senses, which are illuminated by the fire of knowledge. (52)

The mind is always agitated by waves of acceptance and rejection. There fore all the activities of the senses should be of fered into the mind, which should be offered into one’s words. Then one’s words should be offered into the aggregate of all alphabets, which should be offered into the concise form oṁkāra. Oṁkāra should be offered into the point bindu, bindu into the vibration of sound, and that vibration into the life air. Then the liv ing entity, who is all that remains, should be placed in Brahman, the Supreme. This is the process of sacrifice. (53) On his path of ascent, the progressive living entity enters the different worlds of fire, the sun, the day, the end of the day, the bright fortnight, the full moon, and the passing of the sun in the north, along with their presiding demigods. When he enters Brah maloka, he enjoys life for many millions of years, and finally his material designation comes to an end. He then comes to a subtle des ignation, from which he attains the causal des ignation, witnessing all previous states. Upon the annihilation of this causal state, he attains his pure state, in which he identifies with the Supersoul. In this way the living entity be comes transcendental. (54)

This gradual pro cess of elevation for self-realization is meant for those who are truly aware of the Absolute Truth. After repeated birth on this path, which is known as deva-yāna, one attains these con secutive stages. One who is completely free from all material desires, being situated in the self, need not traverse the path of repeated birth and death. (55) Even though situated in a material body, one who is fully aware of the paths known as pitṛ yāna and deva-yāna, and who thus opens his eyes in terms of Vedic knowledge, is never be wildered in this material world. (56) He who exists internally and externally, at the begin ning and end of everything and of all living be ings, as that which is enjoyable and as the en joyer of everything, superior and inferior, is the Supreme Truth. He always exists as knowledge and the object of knowledge, as expression and the object of understanding, as darkness and as light. Thus He, the Supreme Lord, is every thing. (57) Although one may consider the re flection of the sun from a mirror to be false, it has its factual existence. Accordingly, to prove by speculative knowledge that there is no real ity would be extremely difficult. (58)

In this world there are five elementsnamely earth, wa ter, fire, air and etherbut the body is not a re flection of them, nor a combination or transfor mation of them. Because the body and its ingre dients are neither distinct nor amalgamated, all such theories are insubstantial. (59) Because the body is formed of the five elements, it can not exist without the subtle sense objects. Therefore, since the body is false, the sense ob jects are also naturally false or temporary. (60) When a substance and its parts are separated, the acceptance of similarity between one and the other is called illusion. While dreaming, one creates a separation between the existences called wakefulness and sleep. It is in such a state of mind that the regulative principles of the scriptures, consisting of injunctions and prohibitions, are recommended. (61) After considering the oneness of existence, activity and paraphernalia and after realizing the self to be different from all actions and re actions, the mental speculator [muni], accord ing to his own realization, gives up the three states of wakefulness, dreaming and sleep. (62)

When one understands that result and cause are one and that duality is ultimately unreal, like the idea that the threads of a cloth are different from the cloth itself, one reaches the conception of oneness called bhāvādvaita. (63) My dear Yudhiṣṭhira [Pārtha], when all the activities one performs with his mind, words and body are dedicated directly to the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one reaches oneness of activities, called kriyādvaita. (64) When the ul timate goal and interest of one’s self, one’s wife, one’s children, one’s relatives and all other embodied living beings is one, this is called dravyādvaita, or oneness of interest. (65) In normal conditions, in the absence of dan ger, O King Yudhiṣṭhira, a man should perform his prescribed activities according to his status of life with the things, endeavors, process and living place that are not forbidden for him, and not by any other means. (66) O King, one should perform his occupational duties accord ing to these instructions, as well as other in structions given in the Vedic literature, just to remain a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus, even while at home, one will be able to reach the des tination. (67)

O King Yudhiṣṭhira, because of your service to the Supreme Lord, all of you Pāṇḍavas defeated the greatest dangers posed by numerous kings and demigods. By serving the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, you conquered great en emies, who were like elephants, and thus you collected ingredients for sacrifice. By His grace, may you be delivered from material in volvement. (68) Long, long ago, in another mahā-kalpa [mil lennium of Brahmā], I existed as the Gandharva known as Upabarhaṇa. I was very respected by the other Gandharvas. (69) I had a beautiful face and a pleasing, attractive bodily structure. Decorated with flower garlands and sandal wood pulp, I was most pleasing to the women of my city. Thus I was bewildered, always feel ing lusty desires. (70) Once there was a saṅkīr tana festival to glorify the Supreme Lord in an assembly of the demigods, and the Gandharvas and Apsarās were invited by the prajāpatis to take part in it. (71)

Nārada Muni continued: Being invited to that festival, I also joined, and, surrounded by women, I began musically singing the glories of the demigods. Because of this, the prajāpatis, the great demigods in charge of the affairs of the universe, forcefully cursed me with these words: “Because you have committed an of fense, may you immediately become a śūdra, devoid of beauty.” (72) Although I took birth as a śūdra from the womb of a maidservant, I engaged in the service of Vaiṣṇavas who were well-versed in Vedic knowledge. Conse quently, in this life I got the opportunity to take birth as the son of Lord Brahmā. (73) The pro cess of chanting the holy name of the Lord is so powerful that by this chanting even household ers [gṛhasthas] can very easily gain the ultimate result achieved by persons in the renounced or der. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, I have now ex plained to you that process of religion. (74)

My dear Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, you Pāṇḍavas are so very fortunate in this world that many, many great saints, who can purify all the planets of the universe, come to your house just like ordi nary visitors. Furthermore, the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is living confiden tially with you in your house, just like your brother. (75) How wonderful it is that the Su preme Personality of Godhead, the Parabrah man, Kṛṣṇa, who is sought by great, great sages for the sake of liberation and transcendental bliss, is acting as your best well-wisher, your friend, your cousin, your heart and soul, your worshipable director, and your spiritual master. (76) Present here now is the same Supreme Per sonality of Godhead whose true form cannot be understood even by such great personalities as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. He is realized by devotees because of their unflinching surren der. May that same Personality of Godhead, who is the maintainer of His devotees and who is worshiped by silence, by devotional service and by cessation of material activities, be pleased with us. (77)

ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the best member of the Bharata dynasty, thus learned everything from the de scriptions of Nārada Muni. After hearing these instructions, he felt great pleasure from within his heart, and in great ecstasy, love and affec tion, he worshiped Lord Kṛṣṇa. (78) Nārada Muni, being worshiped by Kṛṣṇa and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, bade them farewell and went away. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, having heard that Kṛṣṇa, his cousin, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was struck with wonder. (79) On all the planets within this universe, the varieties of living entities, moving and nonmoving, in cluding the demigods, demons and human be ings, were all generated from the daughters of Mahārāja Dakṣa. I have now described them and their different dynasties. (80)

Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired from Nārada Muni: O my lord, O great sage, kindly explain how we who are staying at home without knowledge of the goal of life may also easily attain liberation, according to the instructions of the Vedas. (1) Nārada Muni replied: My dear King, those who stay at home as householders must act to earn their livelihood, and instead of trying to enjoy the results of their work themselves, they should offer these results to Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva. How to satisfy Vāsudeva in this life can be per fectly understood through the association of great devotees of the Lord. (2) A gṛhastha must associate again and again with saintly persons, and with great respect he must hear the nectar of the activities of the Supreme Lord and His incarnations as these activities are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Purāṇas. Thus one should gradually become detached from af fection for his wife and children, exactly like a man awakening from a dream. (3-4)

While working to earn his livelihood as much as nec essary to maintain body and soul together, one who is actually learned should live in human society unattached to family affairs, although externally appearing very much attached. (5) An intelligent man in human society should make his own program of activities very sim ple. If there are suggestions from his friends, children, parents, brothers or anyone else, he should externally agree, saying, “Yes, that is all right,” but internally he should be determined not to create a cumbersome life in which the purpose of life will not be fulfilled. (6) The natural products created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be utilized to maintain the bodies and souls of all living enti ties. The necessities of life are of three types: those produced from the sky [from rainfall], from the earth [from the mines, the seas or the fields], and from the atmosphere [that which is obtained suddenly and unexpectedly]. (7) One may claim proprietorship to as much wealth as required to maintain body and soul together, but one who desires proprietorship over more than that must be considered a thief, and he de serves to be punished by the laws of nature. (8)

One should treat animals such as deer, camels, asses, monkeys, mice, snakes, birds and flies exactly like one’s own son. How little differ ence there actually is between children and these innocent animals. (9) Even if one is a householder rather than a brahmacārī, a sannyāsī or a vānaprastha, one should not en deavor very hard for religiosity, economic de velopment or satisfaction of the senses. Even in householder life, one should be satisfied to maintain body and soul together with whatever is available with minimum endeavor, according to place and time, by the grace of the Lord. One should not engage oneself in ugra-karma. (10) Dogs, fallen persons and untouchables, includ ing caṇḍālas [dog-eaters], should all be main tained with their proper necessities, which should be contributed by the householders. Even one’s wife at home, with whom one is most intimately attached, should be offered for the reception of guests and people in general. (11)

One so seriously considers one’s wife to be his own that he sometimes kills himself for her or kills others, including even his parents or his spiritual master or teacher. Therefore if one can give up his attachment to such a wife, he conquers the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never conquered by anyone. (12) Through proper deliberation, one should give up attraction to his wife’s body because that body will ultimately be transformed into small insects, stool or ashes. What is the value of this insignificant body? How much greater is the Supreme Being, who is all-pervading like the sky? (13) An intelligent person should be satisfied with eating prasāda [food offered to the Lord] or with performing the five different kinds of yajña [pañca-sūnā]. By such activities, one can give up attachment for the body and so-called proprietorship with reference to the body. When one is able to do this, he is firmly fixed in the position of a mahātmā. (14)

Every day, one should worship the Supreme Being who is situated in everyone’s heart, and on this basis one should separately worship the demigods, the saintly persons, ordinary human beings and living entities, one’s forefathers and one’s self. In this way one is able to worship the Supreme Being in the core of everyone’s heart. (15) When one is enriched with wealth and knowledge which are under his full control and by means of which he can perform yajña or please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must perform sacrifices, offering oblations to the fire according to the directions of the śāstras. In this way one should worship the Su preme Personality of Godhead. (16) The Su preme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the enjoyer of sacrificial offerings. Yet although His Lordship eats the oblations offered in the fire, my dear King, He is still more satisfied when nice food made of grains and ghee is of fered to Him through the mouths of qualified brāhmaṇas. (17)

Therefore, my dear King, first offer prasāda unto the brāhmaṇas and the dem igods, and after sumptuously feeding them you may distribute prasāda to other living entities according to your ability. In this way you will be able to worship all living entitiesor, in other words, the supreme living entity within every living entity. (18) A brāhmaṇa who is sufficiently rich must of fer oblations to the forefathers during the dark moon fortnight in the latter part of the month of Bhādra. Similarly, he should offer oblations to the relatives of the forefathers during the mahālayā ceremonies in the month of Āśvina.* (19)

One should perform the śrāddha ceremony on the Makara-saṅkrānti [the day when the sun begins to move north] or on the Karkaṭa saṅkrānti [the day when the sun begins to move south]. One should also perform this ceremony on the Meṣa-saṅkrānti day and the Tulā saṅkrānti day, in the yoga named Vyatīpāta, on that day in which three lunar tithis are con joined, during an eclipse of either the moon or the sun, on the twelfth lunar day, and in the Śravaṇa-nakṣatra. One should perform this cer emony on the Akṣaya-tṛtīyā day, on the ninth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Kārtika, on the four aṣṭakās in the winter season and cool season, on the seventh lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Māgha, during the conjunction of Maghā-nakṣatra and the full moon day, and on the days when the moon is completely full, or not quite completely full, when these days are conjoined with the nakṣatras from which the names of certain months are derived. One should also perform the śrāddha ceremony on the twelfth lunar day when it is in conjunction with any of the nakṣatras named Anurādhā, Śravaṇa, Uttara phalgunī, Uttarāṣāḍhā or Uttara-bhādrapadā. Again, one should perform this ceremony when the eleventh lunar day is in conjunction with ei ther Uttara-phalgunī, Uttarāṣāḍhā or Uttara bhādrapadā. Finally, one should perform this ceremony on days conjoined with one’s own birth star [janma-nakṣatra] or with Śravaṇa nakṣatra. (20-23)

All of these seasonal times are considered extremely auspicious for hu manity. At such times, one should perform all auspicious activities, for by such activities a hu man being attains success in his short duration of life. (24) During these periods of seasonal change, if one bathes in the Ganges, in the Ya munā or in another sacred place, if one chants, offers fire sacrifices or executes vows, or if one worships the Supreme Lord, the brāhmaṇas, the forefathers, the demigods and the living entities in general, whatever he gives in charity yields a permanently beneficial result. (25) O King Yudhiṣṭhira, at the time prescribed for reform atory ritualistic ceremonies for one’s self, one’s wife or one’s children, or during funeral cere monies and annual death ceremonies, one must perform the auspicious ceremonies mentioned above in order to flourish in fruitive activities. (26)

Nārada Muni continued: Now I shall de scribe the places where religious performances may be well executed. Any place where a Vaiṣṇava is available is an excellent place for all auspicious activities. The Supreme Person ality of Godhead is the support of this entire cosmic manifestation, with all its moving and nonmoving living entities, and the temple where the Deity of the Lord is installed is a most sacred place. Furthermore, places where learned brāhmaṇas observe Vedic principles by means of austerity, education and mercy are also most auspicious and sacred. (27-28) Aus picious indeed are the places where there is a temple of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, in which He is duly worshiped, and also the places where there flow the celebrated sa cred rivers mentioned in the Purāṇas, the sup plementary Vedic literatures. Anything spir itual done there is certainly very effective. (29)

The sacred lakes like Puṣkara and places where saintly persons live, like Kurukṣetra, Gayā, Prayāga, Pulahāśrama, Naimiṣāraṇya, the banks of the Phālgu River, Setubandha, Prab hāsa, Dvārakā, Vārāṇasī, Mathurā, Pampā, Bindu-sarovara, Badarikāśrama [Nārāyaṇāśrama], the places where the Nandā River flows, the places where Lord Rāmacan dra and mother Sītā took shelter, such as Citrakūṭa, and also the hilly tracts of land known as Mahendra and Malayaall of these are to be considered most pious and sacred. Simi larly, places outside India where there are cen ters of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and where Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deities are worshiped must all be visited and worshiped by those who want to be spiritually advanced. One who in tends to advance in spiritual life may visit all these places and perform ritualistic ceremonies to get results a thousand times better than the results of the same activities performed in any other place. (30-33)

O King of the earth, it has been decided by expert, learned scholars that only the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, in whom all that is moving or nonmoving within this uni verse is resting and from whom everything is coming, is the best person to whom everything must be given. (34) O King Yudhiṣṭhira, the demigods, many great sages and saints includ ing even the four sons of Lord Brahmā, and I myself were present at your Rājasūya sacrifi cial ceremony, but when there was a question of who should be the first person worshiped, everyone decided upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Su preme Person. (35) The entire universe, which  is full of living entities, is like a tree whose root is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Acyuta [Kṛṣṇa]. Therefore simply by worshiping Lord Kṛṣṇa one can worship all living entities. (36)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has cre ated many residential places like the bodies of human beings, animals, birds, saints and demi gods. In all of these innumerable bodily forms, the Lord resides with the living being as Paramātmā. Thus He is known as the puruṣāvatāra. (37) O King Yudhiṣṭhira, the Su persoul in every body gives intelligence to the individual soul according to his capacity for un derstanding. Therefore the Supersoul is the chief within the body. The Supersoul is mani fested to the individual soul according to the in dividual’s comparative development of knowledge, austerity, penance and so on. (38) My dear King, when great sages and saintly persons saw mutually disrespectful dealings at the beginning of Tretā-yuga, Deity worship in the temple was introduced with all parapherna lia. (39)

Sometimes a neophyte devotee offers all the paraphernalia for worshiping the Lord, and he factually worships the Lord as the Deity, but because he is envious of the authorized dev otees of Lord Viṣṇu, the Lord is never satisfied with his devotional service. (40) My dear King, of all persons a qualified brāhmaṇa must be acuucepted as the best within this material world be cause such a brāhmaṇa, by practicing austerity, Vedic studies and satisfaction, becomes the counterpart body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (41) My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, the brāhmaṇas, especially those engaged in preach ing the glories of the Lord throughout the entire world, are recognized and worshiped by the Su preme Personality of Godhead, who is the heart and soul of all creation. The brāhmaṇas, by their preaching, sanctify the three worlds with the dust of their lotus feet, and thus they are worshipable even for Kṛṣṇa. (42)

Śrī Nārada Muni said: A person able to cul tivate spiritual knowledge should renounce all material connections, and merely keeping the body inhabitable, he should travel from one place to another, passing only one night in each village. In this way, without dependence in re gard to the needs of the body, the sannyāsī should travel all over the world. (1) A person in the renounced order of life may try to avoid even a dress to cover himself. If he wears any thing at all, it should be only a loincloth, and when there is no necessity, a sannyāsī should not even accept a daṇḍa. A sannyāsī should avoid carrying anything but a daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu. (2) The sannyāsī, completely sat isfied in the self, should live on alms begged from door to door. Not being dependent on any person or any place, he should always be a friendly well-wisher to all living beings and be a peaceful, unalloyed devotee of Nārāyaṇa. In this way he should move from one place to an other. (3)

The sannyāsī should always try to see the Supreme pervading everything and see eve rything, including this universe, resting on the Supreme. (4) During unconsciousness and consciousness, and between the two, he should try to understand the self and be fully situated in the self. In this way, he should realize that the conditional and liberated stages of life are only illusory and not actually factual. With such a higher understanding, he should see only the Absolute Truth pervading everything. (5) Since the material body is sure to be van quished and the duration of one’s life is not fixed, neither death nor life is to be praised. Ra ther, one should observe the eternal time factor, in which the living entity manifests himself and disappears. (6) Literature that is a useless waste of timein other words, literature without spiritual benefitshould be rejected. One should not become a professional teacher as a means of earning one’s livelihood, nor should one in dulge in arguments and counterarguments. Nor should one take shelter of any cause or faction. (7)

A sannyāsī must not present allurements of material benefits to gather many disciples, nor should he unnecessarily read many books or give discourses as a means of livelihood. He must never attempt to increase material opu lences unnecessarily. (8) A peaceful, equi poised person who is factually advanced in spiritual consciousness does not need to accept the symbols of a sannyāsī, such as the tridaṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu. According to necessity, he may sometimes accept those symbols and some times reject them. (9) Although a saintly per son may not expose himself to the vision of hu man society, by his behavior his purpose is dis closed. To human society he should present himself like a restless child, and although he is the greatest thoughtful orator, he should present himself like a dumb man. (10)

As a historical example of this, learned sages recite the story of an ancient discussion between Prahlāda Mahārāja and a great saintly person who was feeding himself like a python. (11) Prahlāda Mahārāja, the most dear servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, once went out touring the universe with some of his confidential associates just to study the nature of saintly persons. Thus he arrived at the bank of the Kāverī, where there was a mountain known as Sahya. There he found a great saintly person who was lying on the ground, covered with dirt and dust, but who was deeply spiritu ally advanced. (12-13) Neither by that saintly person’s activities, by his bodily features, by his words nor by the symptoms of his varṇāśrama status could people understand whether he was the same person they had known. (14)

The advanced devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja duly worshiped and offered obei sances to the saintly person who had adopted a python’s means of livelihood. After thus wor shiping the saintly person and touching his own head to the saint’s lotus feet, Prahlāda Mahārāja, in order to understand him, inquired very submissively as follows. (15) Seeing the saintly person to be quite fat, Prahlāda Mahārāja said: My dear sir, you undergo no en deavor to earn your livelihood, but you have a stout body, exactly like that of a materialistic enjoyer. I know that if one is very rich and has nothing to do, he becomes extremely fat by eat ing and sleeping and performing no work. (16 17) O brāhmaṇa, fully in knowledge of tran scendence, you have nothing to do, and there fore you are lying down. It is also understood that you have no money for sense enjoyment. How then has your body become so fat? Under the circumstances, if you do not consider my question impudent, kindly explain how this has happened. (18)

Your Honor appears learned, expert and in telligent in every way. You can speak very well, saying things that are pleasing to the heart. You see that people in general are en gaged in fruitive activities, yet you are lying here inactive. (19) Nārada Muni continued: When the saintly person was thus questioned by Prahlāda Mahārāja, the King of the Daityas, he was cap tivated by this shower of nectarean words, and he replied to the inquisitiveness of Prahlāda Mahārāja with a smiling face. (20) The saintly brāhmaṇa said: O best of the asuras, Prahlāda Mahārāja, who are recognized by advanced and civilized men, you are aware of the different stages of life because of your inherent transcen dental eyes, with which you can see a man’s character and thus know clearly the results of acceptance and rejection of things as they are. (21) Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full of all opulences, is pre dominant within the core of your heart because of your being a pure devotee. He always drives away all the darkness of ignorance, as the sun drives away the darkness of the universe. (22)

My dear King, although you know every thing, you have posed some questions, which I shall try to answer according to what I have learned by hearing from authorities. I cannot re main silent in this regard, for a personality like you is just fit to be spoken to by one who de sires self-purification. (23) Because of insatia ble material desires, I was being carried away by the waves of material nature’s laws, and thus I was engaging in different activities, strug gling for existence in various forms of life. (24) In the course of the evolutionary process, which is caused by fruitive activities due to undesira ble material sense gratification, I have received this human form of life, which can lead to the heavenly planets, to liberation, to the lower species, or to rebirth among human beings. (25) In this human form of life, men and women unite for the sensual pleasure of sex, but by ac tual experience we have observed that none of them are happy. Therefore, seeing the contrary results, I have stopped taking part in material istic activities. (26)

The actual form of life for the living entities is one of spiritual happiness, which is real happiness. This happiness can be achieved only when one stops all materialistic activities. Material sense enjoyment is simply an imagination. Therefore, considering this subject matter, I have ceased from all material activities and am lying down here. (27) In this way the conditioned soul living within the body forgets his self-interest because he identifies himself with the body. Because the body is ma terial, his natural tendency is to be attracted by the varieties of the material world. Thus the liv ing entity suffers the miseries of material exist ence. (28) Just as a deer, because of ignorance, cannot see the water within a well covered by grass, but runs after water elsewhere, the living entity covered by the material body does not see the happiness within himself, but runs after happiness in the material world. (29)

The liv ing entity tries to achieve happiness and rid himself of the causes of distress, but because the various bodies of the living entities are un der the full control of material nature, all his plans in different bodies, one after another, are ultimately baffled. (30) Materialistic activities are always mixed with three kinds of miserable conditionsadhyātmika, adhidaivika and adhi bautika. Therefore, even if one achieves some success by performing such activities, what is the benefit of this success? One is still sub jected to birth, death, old age, disease and the reactions of his fruitive activities. (31) The brāhmaṇa continued: I am actually seeing how a rich man, who is a victim of his senses, is very greedy to accumulate wealth, and therefore suf fers from insomnia due to fear from all sides, despite his wealth and opulence. (32)

Those who are considered materially powerful and rich are always full of anxieties because of gov ernmental laws, thieves and rogues, enemies, family members, animals, birds, persons seek ing charity, the inevitable time factor and even their own selves. Thus they are invariably afraid. (33) Those in human society who are intelligent should give up the original cause of lamenta tion, illusion, fear, anger, attachment, poverty and unnecessary labor. The original cause of all of these is the desire for unnecessary prestige and money. (34) The bee and the python are two excellent spiritual masters who give us ex emplary instructions regarding how to be satis fied by collecting only a little and how to stay in one place and not move. (35) From the bum blebee I have learned to be unattached to accu mulating money, for although money is as good as honey, anyone can kill its owner and take it away. (36)

I do not endeavor to get anything, but am satisfied with whatever is achieved in its own way. If I do not get anything, I am patient and unagitated like a python and lie down in this way for many days. (37) Sometimes I eat a very small quantity and sometimes a great quantity. Sometimes the food is very palatable, and sometimes it is stale. Sometimes prasāda is offered with great respect, and sometimes food is given neglectfully. Sometimes I eat during the day and sometimes at night. Thus I eat what is easily available. (38) To cover my body I use whatever is available, whether it be linen, silk, cotton, bark or deerskin, according to my des tiny, and I am fully satisfied and unagitated. (39) Sometimes I lie on the surface of the earth, sometimes on leaves, grass or stone, sometimes on a pile of ashes, or sometimes, by the will of others, in a palace on a first-class bed with pil lows. (40)

O my lord, sometimes I bathe my self very nicely, smear sandalwood pulp all over my body, put on a flower garland, and dress in fine garments and ornaments. Then I travel like a king on the back of an elephant or on a chariot or horse. Sometimes, however, I travel naked, like a person haunted by a ghost. (41) Different people are of different mentali ties. Therefore it is not my business either to praise them or to blaspheme them. I only desire their welfare, hoping that they will agree to be come one with the Supersoul, the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. (42) The mental concoction of discrimination be tween good and bad should be accepted as one unit and then invested in the mind, which should then be invested in the false ego. The false ego should be invested in the total mate rial energy. This is the process of fighting false discrimination. (43)

A learned, thoughtful per son must realize that material existence is illu sion. This is possible only by self-realization. A self-realized person, who has actually seen the truth, should retire from all material activities, being situated in self-realization. (44) Prahlāda Mahārāja, you are certainly a self-realized soul and a devotee of the Supreme Lord. You do not care for public opinion or so-called scriptures. For this reason I have described to you without hesitation the history of my self-realization. (45) Nārada Muni continued: After Prahlāda Mahārāja, the King of the demons, heard these instructions from the saint, he understood the occupational duties of a perfect person [para mahaṁsa]. Thus he duly worshiped the saint, took his permission and then left for his own home. (46)