Adhyaya 87

Verse 1

श्रीपरीक्षिदुवाच ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मण्यनिर्देश्ये निर्गुणे गुणवृत्तय: । कथं चरन्ति श्रुतय: साक्षात् सदसत: परे ॥ १ ॥

Śrī Parīkṣit said: O brāhmaṇa, how can the Vedas directly describe the Supreme Absolute Truth, who cannot be expressed in words, who is the benefactor of the brāhmaṇas, and who is nirguṇa—beyond all material manifestations and their causes? The Vedas speak within the scope of nature’s guṇas, but He is transcendental to all guṇas.

Verse 2

श्रीशुक उवाच बुद्धीन्द्रियमन:प्राणान् जनानामसृजत् प्रभु: । मात्रार्थं च भवार्थं च आत्मनेऽकल्पनाय च ॥ २ ॥

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The Supreme Lord manifested within the living beings their material intelligence, senses, mind and vital air, so they might pursue sense enjoyment, accept repeated births for the sake of karmic results, rise in future lives, and ultimately attain liberation.

Verse 3

सैषा ह्युपनिषद् ब्राह्मी पूर्वेशां पूर्वजैर्धृता । श्रद्धया धारयेद् यस्तां क्षेमं गच्छेदकिञ्चन: ॥ ३ ॥

This is the brahmī Upaniṣad, the same confidential wisdom upheld by the forefathers of our most ancient predecessors. Whoever, with faith, fixes the mind upon this knowledge becomes free of material attachment and attains life’s final goal.

Verse 4

अत्र ते वर्णयिष्यामि गाथां नारायणान्विताम् । नारदस्य च संवादमृषेर्नारायणस्य च ॥ ४ ॥

In this connection I will describe to you a sacred narration centered on Lord Nārāyaṇa—an ancient dialogue that took place between Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi and Nārada Muni.

Verse 5

एकदा नारदो लोकान् पर्यटन् भगवत्प्रिय: । सनातनमृषिं द्रष्टुं ययौ नारायणाश्रमम् ॥ ५ ॥

Once, while traveling through the various worlds, Nārada—the Lord’s beloved devotee—went to Nārāyaṇa’s āśrama to behold the primeval sage Nārāyaṇa.

Verse 6

यो वै भारतवर्षेऽस्मिन् क्षेमाय स्वस्तये नृणाम् । धर्मज्ञानशमोपेतमाकल्पादास्थितस्तप: ॥ ६ ॥

In this land of Bhārata, for the welfare and auspiciousness of humanity, Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi has been performing austerities since the very beginning of Brahmā’s day, perfectly established in dharma, spiritual knowledge, and self-control.

Verse 7

तत्रोपविष्टमृषिभि: कलापग्रामवासिभि: । परीतं प्रणतोऽपृच्छदिदमेव कुरूद्वह ॥ ७ ॥

There Nārada approached Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, seated amid the sages of Kalāpa village. After bowing down, O hero of the Kurus, he asked Him the very same question you have asked me.

Verse 8

तस्मै ह्यवोचद् भगवानृषीणां श‍ृ‍ण्वतामिदम् । यो ब्रह्मवाद: पूर्वेषां जनलोकनिवासिनाम् ॥ ८ ॥

As the sages listened, Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi told Nārada of an ancient discourse on the Absolute Truth that took place among the residents of Janaloka.

Verse 9

श्रीभगवानुवाच स्वायम्भुव ब्रह्मसत्रं जनलोकेऽभवत् पुरा । तत्रस्थानां मानसानां मुनीनामूर्ध्वरेतसाम् ॥ ९ ॥

The Supreme Lord said: O son of self-born Brahmā, long ago on Janaloka there was a great brahma-satra. Present there were sages, the mind-born sons of Brahmā, all perfect celibates (ūrdhva-retas).

Verse 10

श्वेतद्वीपं गतवति त्वयि द्रष्टुं तदीश्वरम् । ब्रह्मवाद: सुसंवृत्त: श्रुतयो यत्र शेरते । तत्र हायमभूत् प्रश्न‍स्त्वं मां यमनुपृच्छसि ॥ १० ॥

At that time you were visiting the Lord on Śvetadvīpa, the Supreme Lord in whom the Vedas rest during cosmic dissolution. In Janaloka a lively discussion arose about the nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth, and the very same question came up there that you are asking Me now.

Verse 11

तुल्यश्रुततप:शीलास्तुल्यस्वीयारिमध्यमा: । अपि चक्रु: प्रवचनमेकं शुश्रूषवोऽपरे ॥ ११ ॥

Although these sages were all equal in Vedic learning, austerity, and character, and saw friend, enemy, and neutral with the same vision, they chose one among them as the speaker, and the rest became eager, reverent listeners.

Verse 12

श्रीसनन्दन उवाच स्वसृष्टमिदमापीय शयानं सह शक्तिभि: । तदन्ते बोधयां चक्रुस्तल्लिङ्गै: श्रुतय: परम् ॥ १२ ॥ यथा शयानं संराजं वन्दिनस्तत्पराक्रमै: । प्रत्यूषेऽभेत्य सुश्लोकैर्बोधयन्त्यनुजीविन: ॥ १३ ॥

Śrī Sanandana replied: After withdrawing the universe He had created, the Supreme Lord lay for some time as if asleep, with all His śaktis resting dormant within Him. When the time for the next creation arrived, the personified Vedas awakened Him by singing His glories—just as, at dawn, bards approach a king and rouse him by reciting his heroic deeds.

Verse 13

श्रीसनन्दन उवाच स्वसृष्टमिदमापीय शयानं सह शक्तिभि: । तदन्ते बोधयां चक्रुस्तल्लिङ्गै: श्रुतय: परम् ॥ १२ ॥ यथा शयानं संराजं वन्दिनस्तत्पराक्रमै: । प्रत्यूषेऽभेत्य सुश्लोकैर्बोधयन्त्यनुजीविन: ॥ १३ ॥

Just as, at dawn, bards who live by serving a king approach him and awaken him with fine verses about his valor, so the śrutis awakened the Supreme Lord as He lay, by praises that reveal the signs of His glory.

Verse 14

श्रीश्रुतय ऊचु: जय जय जह्यजामजित दोषगृभीतगुणां त्वमसि यदात्मना समवरुद्धसमस्तभग: । अगजगदोकसामखिलशक्त्यवबोधक ते क्व‍‍चिदजयात्मना च चरतोऽनुचरेन्निगम: ॥ १४ ॥

The śrutis said: Victory, victory to You, O unconquerable Lord! By Your very nature You are complete in all opulences; therefore, please subdue māyā, who seizes the guṇas and brings fault and suffering upon the bound souls. O awakener of all energies in embodied beings, moving and unmoving! Sometimes the Vedas can recognize You when You sport in līlā with Your invincible material and spiritual potencies.

Verse 15

बृहदुपलब्धमेतदवयन्त्यवशेषतया यत उदयास्तमयौ विकृतेर्मृदि वाविकृतात् । अत ऋषयो दधुस्त्वयि मनोवचनाचरितं कथमयथा भवन्ति भुवि दत्तपदानि नृणाम् ॥ १५ ॥

This vast, perceivable world is understood as resting upon the Supreme, for Brahman is the ultimate foundation of all existence: created things arise from Him and finally dissolve into Him, just as forms made of clay appear and merge back into clay while the clay itself remains unchanged. Therefore the Vedic sages direct their mind, speech, and conduct toward You alone. How could the footsteps of men fail to touch the earth on which they live?

Verse 16

इति तव सूरयस्‍त्र्यधिपतेऽखिललोकमल-क्षपणकथामृताब्धिमवगाह्य तपांसि जहु: । किमुत पुन: स्वधामविधुताशयकालगुणा:परम भजन्ति ये पदमजस्रसुखानुभवम् ॥ १६ ॥

Therefore, O master of the three worlds, the wise cast off all misery by diving into the nectarean ocean of narrations about You, which washes away the contamination of the entire universe, and they abandon even the burden of austerities. What then to speak of those who, by spiritual strength, have cleansed the mind of bad habits and become free from time and the guṇas—O Supreme—worshiping Your true nature and tasting unbroken bliss in Your abode?

Verse 17

द‍ृतय इव श्वसन्त्यसुभृतो यदि तेऽनुविधा महदहमादयोऽण्डमसृजन् यदनुग्रहत: । पुरुषविधोऽन्वयोऽत्र चरमोऽन्नमयादिषु य: सदसत: परं त्वमथ यदेष्ववशेषमृतम् ॥ १७ ॥

Only when they become Your faithful followers are they truly alive; otherwise their breathing is like a bellows. By Your mercy alone, the mahat-tattva, false ego and the rest produced the egg of this universe. Within the coverings called anna-maya and so on, You enter along with the jīva and assume the very forms he assumes; beyond the gross and subtle, You are the reality that underlies all.

Verse 18

उदरमुपासते य ऋषिवर्त्मसु कूर्पद‍ृश: परिसरपद्धतिं हृदयमारुणयो दहरम् । तत उदगादनन्त तव धाम शिर: परमं पुनरिह यत् समेत्य न पतन्ति कृतान्तमुखे ॥ १८ ॥

Among those who follow the disciplines taught by the great sages, the less subtle worship the Supreme in the region of the abdomen, while the Āruṇis worship Him in the heart, in the delicate center from which the prāṇic channels spread. From there, O unlimited Lord, they raise their awareness to the crown of the head and directly perceive You. Then, passing through the crown toward the supreme destination, they reach the realm from which they never again fall into this world, into the mouth of death.

Verse 19

स्वकृतविचित्रयोनिषु विशन्निव हेतुतया तरतमतश्चकास्स्यनलवत् स्वकृतानुकृति: । अथ वितथास्वमूष्ववितथं तव धाम समं विरजधियोऽनुयन्त्यभिविपण्यव एकरसम् ॥ १९ ॥

Seeming to enter, as the causal power, into the variegated species You have created, You impel the jīvas to act and reveal Yourself according to their higher and lower stations, just as fire appears differently according to the shape of what it burns. Therefore, those of spotless intelligence, free from attachment, realize Your undivided, unchanging Self as the enduring reality amid these impermanent forms of life.

Verse 20

स्वकृतपुरेष्वमीष्वबहिरन्तरसंवरणं तव पुरुषं वदन्त्यखिलशक्तिधृतोंऽशकृतम् । इति नृगतिं विविच्य कवयो निगमावपनं भवत उपासतेऽङ्‍‍घ्रिमभवं भुवि विश्वसिता: ॥ २० ॥

The jīva, though dwelling in material bodies he has fashioned by his own karma, is not truly covered by gross or subtle matter, for the Vedas declare him a part of You, the bearer of all potencies. Understanding this status of the living being, learned sages, filled with faith, worship Your lotus feet—unto which the Vedic sacrifices of this world are offered, and from which liberation arises.

Verse 21

दुरवगमात्मतत्त्वनिगमाय तवात्ततनो- श्चरितमहामृताब्धिपरिवर्तपरिश्रमणा: । न परिलषन्ति केचिदपवर्गमपीश्वर ते चरणसरोजहंसकुलसङ्गविसृष्टगृहा: ॥ २१ ॥

My Lord, to spread the unfathomable Vedic science of the self, You manifest Your personal forms and enact Your līlās; and by diving into the vast nectar ocean of those pastimes, a few fortunate souls find relief from the weariness of worldly life. O Īśvara, such rare devotees do not even desire liberation; by the company of bhaktas—like swans sporting at the lotus of Your feet—they abandon the happiness of home and family.

Verse 22

त्वदनुपथं कुलायमिदमात्मसुहृत्प्रियव- च्चरति तथोन्मुखे त्वयि हिते प्रिय आत्मनि च । न बत रमन्त्यहो असदुपासनयात्महनो यदनुशया भ्रमन्त्युरुभये कुशरीरभृत: ॥ २२ ॥

When this human body is used for Your devotional service, it acts as one’s self, friend and beloved. But unfortunately, although You always show mercy to the conditioned souls and affectionately help them in every way, and although You are their true Self, people in general fail to delight in You. Instead they commit spiritual suicide by worshiping illusion. Alas, because they persistently hope for success in their devotion to the unreal, they continue to wander about this greatly fearful world, assuming various degraded bodies.

Verse 23

निभृतमरुन्मनोऽक्षद‍ृढयोगयुजो हृदि य- न्मुनय उपासते तदरयोऽपि ययु: स्मरणात् । स्‍त्रिय उरगेन्द्रभोगभुजदण्डविषक्तधियो वयमपि ते समा: समद‍ृशोऽङ्‍‍घ्रिसरोजसुधा: ॥ २३ ॥

Simply by constantly thinking of Him, the enemies of the Lord attained the same Supreme Truth whom sages fixed in yoga worship by controlling their breath, mind and senses. Similarly, we śrutis, who generally see You as all-pervading, will achieve the same nectar from Your lotus feet that Your consorts are able to relish because of their loving attraction to Your mighty, serpentine arms, for You look upon us and Your consorts in the same way.

Verse 24

क इह नु वेद बतावरजन्मलयोऽग्रसरं यत उदगाद‍ृषिर्यमनु देवगणा उभये । तर्हि न सन्न चासदुभयं न च कालजव: किमपि न तत्र शास्‍त्रमवकृष्य शयीत यदा ॥ २४ ॥

Everyone in this world has recently been born and will soon die. So how can anyone here know Him who existed prior to everything else and who gave rise to the first learned sage, Brahmā, and all subsequent demigods, both lesser and greater? When He lies down and withdraws everything within Himself, nothing else remains — no gross or subtle matter or bodies composed of these, no force of time or revealed scripture.

Verse 25

जनिमसत: सतो मृतिमुतात्मनि ये च भिदां विपणमृतं स्मरन्त्युपदिशन्ति त आरुपितै: । त्रिगुणमय: पुमानिति भिदा यदबोधकृता त्वयि न तत: परत्र स भवेदवबोधरसे ॥ २५ ॥

Supposed authorities who declare that matter is the origin of existence, that the permanent qualities of the soul can be destroyed, that the self is compounded of separate aspects of spirit and matter, or that material transactions constitute reality — all such authorities base their teachings on mistaken ideas that hide the truth. The dualistic conception that the living entity is produced from the three modes of nature is simply a product of ignorance. Such a conception has no real basis in You, for You are transcendental to all illusion and always enjoy perfect, total awareness.

Verse 26

सदिव मनस्‍त्रिवृत्त्वयि विभात्यसदामनुजात् सदभिमृशन्त्यशेषमिदमात्मतयात्मविद: । न हि विकृतिं त्यजन्ति कनकस्य तदात्मतया स्वकृतमनुप्रविष्टमिदमात्मतयावसितम् ॥ २६ ॥

The three modes of material nature comprise everything in this world — from the simplest phenomena to the complex human body. Although these phenomena appear real, they are only a false reflection of the spiritual reality, being a superimposition of the mind upon You. Still, those who know the Supreme Self consider the entire material creation to be real inasmuch as it is nondifferent from the Self. Just as things made of gold are indeed not to be rejected, since their substance is actual gold, so this world is undoubtedly nondifferent from the Lord who created it and then entered within it.

Verse 27

तव परि ये चरन्त्यखिलसत्त्वनिकेततया त उत पदाक्रमन्त्यविगणय्य शिरो निर्ऋतेः । परिवयसे पशूनिव गिरा विबुधानपि तां- स्त्वयि कृतसौहृदा: खलु पुनन्ति न ये विमुखा: ॥ २७ ॥

Those devotees who worship You as the shelter of all beings disregard death and place their feet upon Yama’s head. But by the words of the Vedas You bind those who turn away from You, even if they are great scholars, like animals. Only Your affectionate, unwavering bhaktas purify themselves and others—not those who are hostile to You.

Verse 28

त्वमकरण: स्वराडखिलकारकशक्तिधर- स्तव बलिमुद्वहन्ति समदन्त्यजयानिमिषा: । वर्षभुजोऽखिलक्षितिपतेरिव विश्वसृजो विदधति यत्र ये त्वधिकृता भवतश्चकिता: ॥ २८ ॥

Though You have no material senses, You are the self-effulgent Lord who sustains everyone’s sensory powers. The demigods and prakriti offer You tribute, while also enjoying the offerings given them by their worshipers—like subordinate rulers who pay tribute to the king, the ultimate proprietor of the land, yet still enjoy what their own subjects pay. Thus the universal creators carry out their appointed services faithfully, out of fear of You.

Verse 29

स्थिरचरजातय: स्युरजयोत्थनिमित्तयुजो विहर उदीक्षया यदि परस्य विमुक्त तत: । न हि परमस्य कश्चिदपरो न परश्च भवेद् वियत इवापदस्य तव शून्यतुलां दधत: ॥ २९ ॥

O eternally liberated, transcendental Lord, Your material energy brings forth the moving and nonmoving species by stirring their desires, but only when You sport with her by a brief glance. You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, regard no one as intimate and no one as a stranger, just as the ethereal sky is untouched by perceptible qualities. In this sense You resemble a void.

Verse 30

अपरिमिता ध्रुवास्तनुभृतो यदि सर्वगता- स्तर्हि न शास्यतेति नियमो ध्रुव नेतरथा । अजनि च यन्मयं तदविमुच्य नियन्तृ भवेत् सममनुजानतां यदमतं मतदुष्टतया ॥ ३० ॥

If the countless living beings were all-pervading and had forms that never changed, O immutable Lord, You could not be their absolute ruler. But because they are Your localized expansions and their forms are subject to change, You do control them. Whatever supplies the ingredients for a thing’s generation must be its controller, since a product never exists apart from its material cause. Thus to think, on the strength of imperfect material knowledge, “I know the Supreme Lord,” who is equally present in all His expansions, is simply illusion.

Verse 31

न घटत उद्भ‍व: प्रकृतिपूरुषयोरजयो- रुभययुजा भवन्त्यसुभृतो जलबुद्बुदवत् । त्वयि त इमे ततो विविधनामगुणै: परमे सरित इवार्णवे मधुनि लिल्युरशेषरसा: ॥ ३१ ॥

Neither material nature nor the soul who seeks to enjoy her is ever born, yet living bodies arise when the two combine, like bubbles where water meets air. And just as rivers merge into the ocean, or the sweet nectar of many flowers blends into honey, so all these conditioned beings, along with their various names and qualities, ultimately merge back into You, the Supreme.

Verse 32

नृषु तव मयया भ्रमममीष्ववगत्य भृशं त्वयि सुधियोऽभवे दधति भावमनुप्रभवम् । कथमनुवर्ततां भवभयं तव यद् भ्रुकुटि: सृजति मुहुस्‍त्रिनेमिरभवच्छरणेषु भयम् ॥ ३२ ॥

The wise who discern how Your Māyā bewilders humankind offer intense, love-filled bhakti to You, the source of liberation from birth and death. How could fear of worldly existence touch those who have taken shelter in You? Yet Your furrowed brows—the three-rimmed wheel of Time—again and again terrify those who refuse Your refuge.

Verse 33

विजितहृषीकवायुभिरदान्तमनस्तुरगं य इह यतन्ति यन्तुमतिलोलमुपायखिद: । व्यसनशतान्विता: समवहाय गुरोश्चरणं वणिज इवाज सन्त्यकृतकर्णधरा जलधौ ॥ ३३ ॥

Even those who have conquered their senses and breath cannot rein in the mind, that impetuous and untamed horse. Those who try to subdue the uncontrolled mind yet abandon the feet of their spiritual master meet hundreds of obstacles in their painful disciplines. O unborn Lord, they are like merchants on the ocean in a boat without a helmsman.

Verse 34

स्वजनसुतात्मदारधनधामधरासुरथै- स्त्वयि सति किं नृणां श्रयत आत्मनि सर्वरसे । इति सदजानतां मिथुनतो रतये चरतां सुखयति को न्विह स्वविहते स्वनिरस्तभगे ॥ ३४ ॥

To those who take shelter in You, You reveal Yourself as the Paramātmā, the very embodiment of all transcendental relish. What further need have such devotees for servants, children or even their own bodies, for wives, wealth and homes, for land, health or conveyances? And for those who do not know the truth of You and keep chasing sexual pleasure, what in this world—doomed by nature to destruction and stripped of lasting meaning—could ever grant real happiness?

Verse 35

भुवि पुरुपुण्यतीर्थसदनान्यृषयो विमदा- स्त उत भवत्पदाम्बुजहृदोऽघभिदङ्‍‍घ्रिजला: । दधति सकृन्मनस्त्वयि य आत्मनि नित्यसुखे न पुनरुपासते पुरुषसारहरावसथान् ॥ ३५ ॥

Sages free from false pride dwell on this earth by visiting holy tīrthas and the places where the Supreme Lord revealed His līlās. Because they keep Your lotus feet within their hearts, the water that washes their feet destroys sin. Whoever even once turns his mind toward You, the ever-blissful Ātman, no longer devotes himself to domestic life at home, which only steals away a man’s good qualities.

Verse 36

सत इदमुत्थितं सदिति चेन्ननु तर्कहतं व्यभिचरति क्व‍ च क्व‍ च मृषा न तथोभययुक् । व्यवहृतये विकल्प इषितोऽन्धपरम्परया भ्रमयति भारती त उरुवृत्तिभिरुक्थजडान् ॥ ३६ ॥

If one argues that this world is eternally real because it arises from the eternal Reality, that claim is defeated by reason: sometimes the supposed nondifference of cause and effect does not hold, and sometimes what is produced from something real is itself illusory. Thus this world cannot be permanently real, for it shares the nature of both the Absolute and the Māyā that veils the Absolute. In truth, the visible forms are an imagined arrangement, fashioned by a succession of ignorant people to manage worldly dealings. And the words of Your Vedas, with their many meanings and implications, bewilder those whose minds have grown dull from hearing only the incantations of sacrificial rites.

Verse 37

न यदिदमग्र आस न भविष्यदतो निधना- दनुमितमन्तरा त्वयि विभाति मृषैकरसे । अत उपमीयते द्रविणजातिविकल्पपथै- र्वितथमनोविलासमृतमित्यवयन्त्यबुधा: ॥ ३७ ॥

Since this universe did not exist before creation and will not exist after annihilation, we know that in the interval it is only an imagined appearance, seeming to shine within You, whose spiritual bliss is ever one and unchanging. It is compared to material substances taking on varied forms; those who deem this mental fabrication to be solidly real are of lesser intelligence.

Verse 38

स यदजया त्वजामनुशयीत गुणांश्च जुषन् भजति सरूपतां तदनु मृत्युमपेतभग: । त्वमुत जहासि तामहिरिव त्वचमात्तभगो महसि महीयसेऽष्टगुणितेऽपरिमेयभग: ॥ ३८ ॥

The minute soul, drawn by ajā—illusory material nature—embraces her and, relishing her guṇas, assumes forms made of those qualities. Then he loses his spiritual excellence and undergoes repeated deaths. You, however, cast off the material energy as a serpent abandons its old skin; glorious with the eight mystic perfections, You possess and enjoy opulences without limit.

Verse 39

यदि न समुद्धरन्ति यतयो हृदि कामजटा दुरधिगमोऽसतां हृदि गतोऽस्मृतकण्ठमणि: । असुतृपयोगिनामुभयतोऽप्यसुखं भगव- न्ननपगतान्तकादनधिरूढपदाद् भवत: ॥ ३९ ॥

Renunciants who cannot uproot the last tangles of desire within the heart remain impure, and thus You do not grant them true understanding of You. Though You dwell within their hearts, for them You are like a jewel on the neck of one who has forgotten it entirely. O Bhagavān, those who practice yoga for sense pleasure suffer in both this life and the next: death will not release them, and Your realm they cannot attain.

Verse 40

त्वदवगमी न वेत्ति भवदुत्थशुभाशुभयो- र्गुणविगुणान्वयांस्तर्हि देहभृतां च गिर: । अनुयुगमन्वहं सगुण गीतपरम्परया श्रवणभृतो यतस्त्वमपवर्गगतिर्मनुजै: ॥ ४० ॥

One who realizes You no longer frets over good or bad fortune born of past piety and sin, for You alone govern both. He also disregards the talk of ordinary embodied beings. Day after day he fills his ears with Your glories, sung in every age through the unbroken lineage of Manu’s descendants, and thus You become his ultimate path to liberation.

Verse 41

द्युपतय एव ते न ययुरन्तमनन्ततयात्वमपि यदन्तराण्डनिचया ननु सावरणा: । ख इव रजांसि वान्ति वयसा सह यच्छ्रुतय-स्त्वयि हि फलन्त्यतन्निरसनेन भवन्निधना: ॥ ४१ ॥

Because You are unlimited, neither the lords of heaven nor even You Yourself can reach the end of Your glories. Countless universes, each wrapped in its own shell, are driven by the wheel of time to wander within You like dust motes in the sky. The śrutis, by their method of negating all that is separate from the Supreme, succeed by revealing You as their final conclusion.

Verse 42

श्रीभगवानुवाच इत्येतद् ब्रह्मण: पुत्रा आश्रुत्यात्मानुशासनम् । सनन्दनमथानर्चु: सिद्धा ज्ञात्वात्मनो गतिम् ॥ ४२ ॥

The Supreme Lord said: Hearing this instruction concerning the Paramātmā, the sons of Brahmā understood their ultimate destination. Perfectly fulfilled, they worshiped Sanandana with reverence.

Verse 43

इत्यशेषसमाम्नायपुराणोपनिषद्रस: । समुद्‍धृत: पूर्वजातैर्व्योमयानैर्महात्मभि: ॥ ४३ ॥

Thus the ancient great sages who journey through the higher heavens distilled the nectarean, confidential essence of all the Vedas, Purāṇas, and Upaniṣads.

Verse 44

त्वं चैतद् ब्रह्मदायाद श्रद्धयात्मानुशासनम् । धारयंश्चर गां कामं कामानां भर्जनं नृणाम् ॥ ४४ ॥

And you, dear son of Brahmā, as you wander the earth at will, faithfully hold to this instruction on the science of the Self, which burns away the material desires of all men.

Verse 45

श्रीशुक उवाच एवं स ऋषिणादिष्टं गृहीत्वा श्रद्धयात्मवान् । पूर्ण: श्रुतधरो राजन्नाह वीरव्रतो मुनि: ॥ ४५ ॥

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus instructed by Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, the self-possessed sage Nārada, whose vow is heroic, accepted the order with firm faith. O King, keeping what he had heard within his heart and having attained his purpose, he replied to the Lord as follows.

Verse 46

श्रीनारद उवाच नमस्तस्मै भगवते कृष्णायामलकीर्तये । यो धत्ते सर्वभूतानामभवायोशती: कला: ॥ ४६ ॥

Śrī Nārada said: I offer my obeisances to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, whose fame is spotless, who reveals His many personal expansions so that all living beings may attain liberation.

Verse 47

इत्याद्यमृषिमानम्य तच्छिष्यांश्च महात्मन: । ततोऽगादाश्रमं साक्षात् पितुर्द्वैपायनस्य मे ॥ ४७ ॥

Having spoken thus, Nārada bowed to Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, foremost among sages, and to His saintly disciples; then he returned to the hermitage of my father, Dvaipāyana Vyāsa.

Verse 48

सभाजितो भगवता कृतासनपरिग्रह: । तस्मै तद् वर्णयामास नारायणमुखाच्छ्रुतम् ॥ ४८ ॥

Vyāsadeva, an incarnation of Bhagavān, respectfully welcomed Nārada Muni and offered him a seat, which he accepted. Nārada then recounted to Vyāsa what he had heard from the mouth of Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi.

Verse 49

इत्येतद् वर्णितं राजन् यन्न: प्रश्न‍: कृतस्त्वया । यथा ब्रह्मण्यनिर्देश्ये निर्गुणेऽपि मनश्चरेत् ॥ ४९ ॥

Thus, O King, I have answered your question: how the mind may approach the Absolute Truth, which cannot be indicated by material words and is beyond material qualities.

Verse 50

योऽस्योत्प्रेक्षक आदिमध्यनिधने योऽव्यक्तजीवेश्वरो य: सृष्ट्वेदमनुप्रविश्य ऋषिणा चक्रे पुर: शास्ति ता: । यं सम्पद्य जहात्यजामनुशयी सुप्त: कुलायं यथा तं कैवल्यनिरस्तयोनिमभयं ध्यायेदजस्रं हरिम् ॥ ५० ॥

He is Hari, the Lord who eternally watches over this universe, existing before, during, and after its manifestation. He is the master of the unmanifest material energy and of the living soul. Having sent forth creation, He enters within it along with each being, fashions the material bodies, and remains their regulator. By surrendering to Him one is freed from māyā’s embrace, as a dreamer forgets his bodily identity. Seeking fearlessness and liberation, one should constantly meditate upon that Hari, ever perfect and beyond material birth.