Chapter 1: The First Step in God Realization

(-) My obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva. (1) S'rî S'uka said: 'The question you asked is a glorious one, as being
beneficial to all men, o King, it carries the approval of the transcendentalists and constitutes the Supreme for everybody in
all kinds of hearing. (2) There are countless of subject matters to hear about in human society, o Emperor, that are the
interest of those materially engrossed who are blind to the reality of the soul. (3) Wasting their nights sleeping or indulging
in sex they either spend their lives during the day with making money, or with maintaining their family, o King. (4) In spite
of experiencing the destructivity of the fallible soldiers of the body, the children, the wife and everything thereto, they, being
too attached, do not see. (5) For this reason, o descendant of Bharata, must the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality who is
the controller and vanquishing Lord, be heard of, be glorified and also be remembered as He frees the ones in desire from
anxiety. (6) All this analyzing in the knowledge of yoga of one's particular nature and on how a person from his birth should
attain to the full awareness of the Supreme, in the end only concerns the remembrance of Nârâyana [Krishna as the
Supreme Personality]. (7) Predominantly those sages, o King, who through the restrictions are transcendentally situated
above the regulative principles, are the ones taking pleasure in distinctly describing the glories of the Lord.

(8) This story called the Bhâgavatam containing the essence of the Vedas, was, was by me, at the end of this Dvâpara Yuga
[the age of honoring monarchs] studied with my father Dvaipâyana Vyâsa.. (9) In spite of being fully realized in
transcendence my attention was drawn towards the enlightened verses on the pastimes, o saintly King, of which I studied
the content. (10) Those I will recite to you, as you from your good self are a most sincere devotee - they who give full respect
and attention very soon will find an unflinching faith in Mukunda [Krishna as the Lord granting liberation]. (11) Of those
free from material desires, of those who are desirous ànd of all who free from fear and doubts are united within [the yogis], o
King, is it to the decided truth of the Lord His holy name that one is ['always'] singing in succession. (12) What is there
better, to the bewildered in the inexperienced of their many years in this world, than a moment of consciously trying for the
matter of the supreme interest? (13) The saintly king known as Khatvânga, knowing that the duration of life in this world is
but a moment, set aside everything and experienced the full safety of the Lord. (14) O, member of the Kuru-family, therefore
also your life's duration limited to seven days should inspire you to perform everything that traditionally belongs to the
rituals for a next life. (15) Seeing the end of one's life one should be free from the fear of death in cutting, by means of the
weapon of non-attachment, with all desires, as well as with everybody associated with them. (16) Piously self-controlled
having left one's home for a sacred place, one should, properly cleansed and purified, seat oneself poised, in solitude
according the regulations. (17) The mind should be set to the practice of the three transcendental letters [A-U-M], and thus
one attains, without forgetting the seed of the absolute [Brahman, the impersonal spirit], to the control of the Supreme by
regulating the breath. (18) For the sake of the virtue, being fixed in meditation, withdraw the mind from the senses their
engagement, for, being absorbed in fruitive labor, the intelligence tends to be driven by the mind. (19) Concentrating,
without losing sight of the complete, the mind thereafter on the different parts and divisions [of the body as also of the
logic], one should consequently not think of anything but the feet of that Supreme Vishnu, the reconciler of the mind. (20)
By the passion and inertia of nature the mind is always agitated and bewildered, but one will find that rectified in the
concentration of the pacified that destroys all the wrong done. (21) Being fixed in the habit of such systematic remembrance
the mystics holding on to this devotion will soon attain to success in the shelter of the yoga that sees this as all-good.

(22) The king, attentive to what was said, asked: 'O brahmin, what is in short the idea of where and how a person must
engage in or hold on to, to escape without delay from a polluted mind?'

(23) S'rî S'uka said: 'From the controlled sitting and breathing, one's association to the senses about the gross matter of the
Supreme Lord His features, must engage the thinking intelligently.
(24) His individual body is this gross material world wherein we experience all past, the present and future of this universe
its existence. (25) This outer shell of the universe known as a body with seven coverings [fire, water, earth, sky, ego,
noumenon and phenomenon, see also kos'as], is the conception of the object of the Universal Form of the purusha as the
Supreme Lord. (26) The lower worlds are recognized by the ones who studied it as the soles of His feet [called Pâtâla] to
which His heels and toes are called Rasâtala, His ankles Mahâtala while the shanks of the gigantic person are called the
Talâtala worlds. (27) The two knees of the Universal Form are called Sutala, the thighs Vitala and Atala and the hips are
named Mahîtala, o King, while outer space is taken to be the depression of His navel. (28) The higher illumined worlds are
of His chest, with above it the neck called Mahar, His mouth called Jana while Tapas is the name of the worlds of the
forehead with Satyaloka [the world of Truth] as the uppermost of the [middle] worlds of the Original Personality who has a
thousand heads. (29) The gods headed by Indra are His arms, the four directions are His ears and sound is His sense of
hearing. The nostrils of the Supreme are the As'vinî-Kumâras [a type of demigods], while fragrance is His sense of smell and
His mouth the blazing fire. (30) The sphere of outer space are the pits of His eyes, while the eyeball of the sun is making up
His seeing. The eyelids of Vishnu are the day and night, the movements of His eyebrows are the supreme entity [Brahmâ
and other demigods], His palate is the director of water [Varuna] and His tongue is verily the nectarine juice. (31) They say
that the vedic hymns are the thought process of the Unlimited One, that His jaws make up Yamarâja [the Lord of death], His
teeth are His affection and that His smile is the most alluring unsurpassable material energy [mâyâ]; the material creation is
but the casting of His glance. (32) Modesty is His upper lip, His chin for sure the hankering, religion is His breast, and the
way of irreligion His back. Brahmâ is His genitals, His testicles are the Mitrâ-varunas [the friends], His waist the oceans and
the stack of His bones are the mountains. (33) His veins are the rivers and the plants and trees are the hairs on the body of
the Universal Form, o King. The air is His omnipotent breathing, the passing ages are His movement and the reactions of
the modes of material nature are His activities. (34) Let me tell you that the hairs on the head of the Supreme Controller are
the clouds, o best of the Kurus, and that the intelligence of the Almighty is the prime cause of the material creation, so one
says. His mind, the reservoir of all changes, is known as the moon. (35) The material principle constitutes His
consciousness, so one says, while Lord S'iva is the cause within (His ego, His self). The horse, mule, camel and elephant are
His nails, and all other game and quadrupeds are represented in the region of His belt. (36) The singing of the birds is His
artistic sense and Manu, the father of man forms the contents of His thought with humanity as His residence. The angelic
and celestial beings [the Gandharvas, Vidyâdharas and Caranas] constitute His musical rhythm while the remembrance of
terrorizing soldiers represents His prowess. (37) With the intellectuals [brahmins] for the face and the rulers [kshatriyas]
for the grip of the Universal Form, are the traders [vais'yas] the thighs and the laborers [s'ûdras, the dark or 'krishna'-class]
those who are protected by His feet. Through the various names of the demigods He overtakes with the provision of feasible
goods [that appease Him] through the performance of sacrifices.

(38) I explained all these locations in the Form of the Supreme Lord to you so that anyone who may concentrate the mind
on this virâth-rûpa Universal Form can attain through intelligence, as beyond Him as such there is nothing else to be found
in the gross of matter. (39) He who from all realization knows everyone as the Supersoul as much as a dreamer sees it, is the
 one and only Supreme Truth and ocean of bliss. Towards Him one should
never worship anything else or else see oneself degraded by attachments.'

Chapter 2: The Lord in the Heart

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'Soon, the soul from its birth, meditating the Universal
Form regains its lost memories in thus finding peace with the Lord,
whereafter, with a cleared vision, it can rebuild its life the way it was before.
(2) For certain the adherence to the spiritual makes the intelligence,
because of its many names, ponder over meaningless ideas in which one
wanders around in realities of illusion and its different desires without ever
enjoying, as if one is dreaming. (3) Therefore the enlightened person in the
world of names should restrict himself to the bare necessities without being
mad of desire, intelligently being fixed [on the Universal Form] in order to
be successful. He should arrive at the practical insight that otherwise he
would endeavor for the sake of hard work only. (4) What is the need of a
bed, when one can lie on the ground; what is the need of a pillow when one
has his arms; why should one use utensils if one can eat with one's hands
and with the cover of trees, what is the use of clothing? (5) Aren't there rags
lying on the road, isn't there giving in charity; don't the trees offer their
alms maintaining others; have the rivers dried up; are the caves closed; did
the Almighty Lord give up His protecting the surrendered soul? Then why
should a learned man flatter the ones intoxicated by wealth? (6) Thus will
for certain with the worship of the in one's heart so dearly cherished goal of
the Supersoul perfect in itself, in detachment from the world for the sake of
Him, the Eternal and Unlimited Supreme Lord, give the highest and lasting
gain in which the cause of material bondage no doubt will find its end. (7) Who else but the materialists would by neglecting
the transcendental thoughts take to the non-permanent of names and see themselves, the general mass of the people, fallen
into the river of suffering being overtaken by the misery that is the consequence of their own work?

(8) Others see in the meditation on Him within their own body in the region of the heart the Personality of God residing
there measuring eight inches in the notion of Him as having four arms, carrying the lotus, the wheel of the chariot, the
conchshell and the club. (9) With His mouth expressing happiness, His eyes wide spread like a lotus, His clothes yellowish
like a Kadamba flower bedecked with jewels and with golden ornaments studded with precious stones, He wears a glowing
headdress with earrings. (10) His feet are on the whorl of the lotus hearts of the great mystics. On His chest He wears the
beautifully engraved Kaustubha jewel and around His neck He has a fresh flower garland spreading its beauty. (11) With a
decorative wrap around His waist, valuable finger rings, ringing leglets, bangles, oiled spotless bluish, curling hair and His
beautiful, smiling face He looks very pleasing. (12) His magnanimous pastimes and the glowing glances of His expression
are indicative for the extensive benedictions of this particular transcendental form of the Lord one should focus on as long as
the mind can be fixed on it for one's meditation. (13) One by one, one should meditate the limbs, from the feet up, until one
sees the smiling of His face, and thus gradually taking control over the mind one leaves in meditation for higher and higher
spheres and purifies that way the intelligence. (14) As long as the materialist does not develop devotional service to this form
of the Lord, the seer of the mundane and transcendental worlds, he should, at the end of his prescribed duties, remember
the Universal Form of the Original Person with proper attention.

(15) Whenever one desires to give up one's body, o King, one should as a sage without being disturbed, comfortably seated
with one's thinking unperturbed by matters of time and place, control the senses by the mind in conquering the breath of
life. (16) The mind, by its own pure intelligence, should, by regulating itself to the living being with all of it, merge with the
self, while that self should be locked to the fully satisfied Supersoul so that it thus, ending all other activities, may attain the
full bliss. (17) Therein one will not find the supremacy of time that for sure controls the godly who direct the worldly
creatures with their demigods, nor will one find there mundane goodness, passion or ignorance, nor any material change or
causality of intelligence or nature.. (18) Knowing what and what not relates to the divine of the supreme situation, those
desiring to avoid the godless give up the perplexities [of arguing to time and place] completely in the absolute of the good
will taking the worshipable lotus feet in their heart at every moment. (19) Through insight the philosopher thus should
retire, familiar with the science of properly regulating the energy for the purpose of life, by blocking the arse ['air-hole'] with
one's heel and directing the life air upward through the six primary places [navel, plexus, heart, throat, eyebrows and top of
the skull] and thus put an end to the material desire. (20) The soaring force should gradually be directed from the navel to
the plexus [the 'heart'] onwards to the chest from where the meditator intelligently should search out the meditative by
bringing it slowly into the throat. (21) From between the eyebrows the seer should, blocking the outlet of the seven centers
and maintaining to the fearless, independent of sense enjoyment, for a while ('half an hour'), enter the domain of the head
and give up for the sake of the Supreme.

(22) If however one maintains a desire, o King, to lord over, what one calls, the place of enjoyment of the gods in the sky, or
with the eight mystic powers, [the eight siddhis] in the world of the gunas [the modes of nature] one will surely have to take
it up with the mind and the senses that come along with it also. (23) One says of the destination of the great
transcendentalists who reside within and without of the three worlds, that they exist from within the air of the subtle body,
while those who do their work materially motivated never attain to the progress to which those in the absorption of yoga
achieve in the austerity of devotional service.

(24) In the control of the divinity of fire one reaches, following the movements in the sky, through the gracious passage of
breath [the sushumnâ], the pure spirit [Brahmaloka, place of the Creator] that is illuminating and washing off the
contaminations, after which one reaching upward attains to the circle [the cakra, the wheel], o King, called S'is'umâra
[meaning: dolphin, to the form of the Milky Way, galactic time]. (25) Passing beyond that navel of the universe, the pivot of
the Maintainer [Vishnu], is by the single living entity purified by the realization of his smallness, the place reached
worshipable to those transcedentally situated, where the self-realized souls enjoy for the time of a kalpa [a day of Brahmâ].
(26) Thereupon, will he, who sees from the bed of Vishnu [Ananta] the universe burning to ashes by the fire of His mouth,
be gone from that place to the supreme abode [of Brahmâ] that, home to the purified souls of elevation, lasts for two
parârdhas [the two halves of the life of Brahmâ]. (27) There one will never find bereavement or old age, death, pain or
anxieties, save that one sometimes has feelings of compassion, seeing how the ignorant are subjected to the hard to vercome
misery of the repetition of birth and death.

(28) Without doubt from that pure self one attains, surpassing the forms of water and fire, to the effulgent
atmospherewhere, in due course of time, the self by its air attains to the ethereal, the real greatness of the soul. (29) By
smelling scents, by the taste of the palate, by the seeing of forms and being in touch through physical contact, and, as it
were, through aural reception attaining to the identification with the ethereal, the yogi by the senses also attains to material
actions. (30) In the mode of goodness he surpasses the change to the material form by neutralizing the gross and subtle
senses, seeing by that progress the wisdom of true reality [self-realization] coming along in that complete suspension of the
[operating] material modes. (31) The person by that purification to the self of the Supersoul attains to the rest, satisfaction
and natural delight of being freed from all contaminations. He who attains to this destination of devotion for sure will never
become attracted to this material world again, my dearest [Parîkchit].

(32) All that I described to you, o protector of man, is according to the Vedas as your Majesty properly requested for, and it
is also verily in accord with the eternal truth as it definitely was heard in the pure of the spirit to the satisfaction of the
worshiped Supreme Lord Vâsudeva. (33) For those wandering in this life in the material universe, is there for sure nothing
more auspicious as a means of attaining than that at which is aimed in the devotional service [bhakti-yoga] towards the
Supreme Personality Lord Vâsudeva. (34) The great personality [Vyâsadeva] studied the Vedas three times, and
scrutinizingly examining with scholarly attention, he ascertained that one's mind is properly fixed in being attracted to the
soul. (35) The Supreme Personality can be perceived in all living beings as the actual nature of that soul; as the Lord who is
discerned by the intelligence of the seer in different signs and suppositions. (36) Therefore must every human soul, o King,
wherever and whenever hear about, glorify and remember the Lord, the Supreme Personality. (37) Those who drink the
nectar filling their ears with the narrations about the Supreme Lord, the dearest to the devotees, will purify their material
enjoyment, the polluted aim of life, and go back to the feet that reside near the lotus.'

Chapter 3: Pure Devotional Service - The Change in Heart

(1) S'rî S'ukadeva said: 'For the intelligent among men, I have given you all the answers in response to the inquiring of your
good self about the human being on the threshold of death. (2-7) The ones who desire for the luster of the Absolute worship
the master of the Vedas; Indra, the King of Heaven is for the ones desiring strength of the senses [sex] and the Prajâpatis
[the strong progenitors] are for those who desire offspring. The goddess [Durgâ] is for those desiring after the beauty of the
material world, the firegod for the ones desiring power, for wealth there are the Vasus [a type of demigod] and the
incarnations of Rudra [Lord S'iva] are for those wishing for strength and heroism. For a good harvest the mother of the
demigods Aditi is worshiped, desiring heaven one worships her sons, for those desiring royal riches there are the Vis'vadeva
demigods and for a commercial success there are the Sâdhya gods. The As'vinîs [two brother demigods] are for the desire for
longevity, for a strong body the earth is worshiped and those who want to maintain their position and be renown respect
their environment up to the horizon. Aspiring beauty there are the heavenly Gandharvas, those who want a good wife seek
the girls of the heavenly society [the Apsaras and Urvas'îs] and everybody who wants to dominate over others is bound to
the worship of Brahmâ, the head of the Universe. Yajña, the Lord of Sacrifice is worshiped for tangible fame and for a good
bank balance Varuna, the treasurer, is sought. But those who desire to learn worship S'iva himself while for a good marriage
his chaste wife Umâ is honored.
 (8) For spiritual progress the supreme truth [Lord Vishnu and His
devotees] is worshiped, for offspring and their protection one seeks
the ancestral [the residents of Pitriloka], pious persons are sought
by those seeking protection, while the demigods in general are for
the less common desires. (9) The godly Manus [the fathers of
mankind] are for those desiring a kingdom, but the demons are
sought for defeating enemies. The ones desiring sense gratification
are bound to the moon [Candra], while those who are free from
desire worship the Supreme Personality beyond. (10) Whether free
from desire, full of it or desiring liberation, the person with a
broader intelligence should with all his heart worship in devotional
service [bhakti-yoga] the Original Personality of God, the Supreme
Whole. (11) All these types of worshipers surely develop, worshiping
the highest benediction in this life, unflinching spontaneous
attraction to the Supreme Lord through the association with His
pure devotees. (12) The knowledge leading to the limit of the
complete withdrawal from the whirlpool of the material modes,
gives the satisfaction of the soul, which to the transcendence in
detachment of these modes, carries the blessings of the path of
bhakti yoga. Who, absorbed in the narrations about the Lord would
not act on this attraction?"

(13) S'aunaka said: "What did the king, the ruler of Bharata, after
hearing all this, want to know more from the son of Vyâsadeva, the
poetic wise? (14) O learned Sûta, explain to us, who are eager to
hear about it, these topics that lead to the narrations about the Lord
that certainly are welcome in the assembly of the devotees. (15) He,
the king, was no doubt a great devotee, that grandson of the
Pândavas; a great fighter who playing with dolls as a child enacted the activities of Lord Krishna. (16) And so was it also
bound to be with the son of Vyâsadeva, there in the presence of the devotees, because of his great qualities in his attachment
to the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva who is glorified by so many souls. (17) The rising and setting of the sun is sure to decrease [in
vain] the duration of people's lives, except with the one who spends his time on the topics about the One of the Supreme
Scriptural Truth. (18) Aren't the trees alive, do the blacksmith's bellows not breathe and do the beasts all around not eat and
procreate? (19) A person is, just like a dog, a hog, an ass or a camel, as good as an animal if the holy name of the deliverer of
all evils never reached his ear. (20) The ears of a man who never heard of Vishnu, the One of giant progress, are like those of
snakes and the tongues also of those who never sung aloud the songs of worth are just as useless as those of frogs. (21) Even
carrying a heavy silk turban, is the upper part of the body just a burden, never bowing down to Mukunda [Krishna granting
liberation]; just like hands that are not engaged in the worship of the Lord are as those of a dead body, even though
decorated with glittering golden bangles. (22) Like the eyes on the plumes of a peacock are the eyes of those men who do not
look upon the forms of Vishnu and like the roots of trees are the feet of those human beings who never went for the holy
places of the Lord. (23) Dead alive are the mortals who never in particular received the dust of the feet of pure devotees and,
while breathing, is a descendant of Manu [a man] but a dead body when he has never experienced the wealth of the aroma of
tulsî-leaves of Lord Vishnu's lotus feet. (24) Certainly is that heart steel-framed which, in spite of being absorbed in chanting
the name of the Lord, is not transformed with the emotional of having tears in the eyes and hairs standing on end therewith.
(25) Therefore please explain, 0 Sûta Gosvâmî, as you are speaking words favorable to the pure devotee, what
transcendental knowledge the expertly leading S'ukadeva Gosvâmî being questioned conveyed to the truth seeking king."

Chapter 4: The Process of Creation

(1) Sûta said: "Just having realized what S'ukadeva Gosvâmî thus spoke about the verification of the reality of the soul, the
chaste son of Uttarâ [Parîkchit] concentrated himself upon Lord Krishna. (2) In order not to be constantly disturbed, he
gave up his deep-rooted affinity with his body, his wife, his son, his treasury and all his relatives and friends in the kingdom.
(3-4) The great soul in full faith inquired for the purpose of this exactly the way you are asking me, o great sages. Being
informed of his death he renounced his fruitive activity according the three principles [- of self-realization: renouncing
religious acts, economic development and sense gratification] and everything thereto and thus firmly fixed he achieved the
attraction of love for the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva. (5) The king said: 'What you said is perfectly right, o learned one; being
without contaminations you know it all and make the darkness of ignorance gradually disappear as you are speaking on the
topics concerning the Lord. (6) Furthermore, I would like to learn how the Supreme Lord by His personal energies creates
this phenomenal world of the universe so inconceivable for even the great masters of meditation. (7) And please tell me also
about the way the powerful one maintains His energies and winds them up again, as the all-powerful Supreme Personality
arriving at His expansions, involving them as also being involved Himself, enacting them and causing them to act. [see also
canto1, chapter 3] (8) Even the highly learned in spite of their endeavors for Him, fall short, dear brahmin, in explaining the
wonderful, inconceivable acts of the Supreme Lord. (9) Even though He acts through His different incarnations is He the
One and Supreme, whether He acts by the modes, is there simultaneously in the material energy or is manifesting in many
forms consecutively. (10) Please clear up these questions asked by me; since you, being as good as the Supreme Lord, are as
well of the oral tradition with the vedic literatures as of full realization in transcendence'."

(11) Sûta said: "Upon thus being requested by the king to describe the transcendental attributes of Lord Hrishîkes'a
[Krishna as the master of the senses] S'uka, in order to reply properly, proceeded methodically.

(12) S'rî S'uka said: 'My obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who for the maintenance as well as the winding
up of the complete whole of the material creation, by His pastimes assumed the power of the three modes while residing
within as the One whose ways are inconceivable. (13) Again my obeisances to Him who frees the truthful from the
distressing controversies of the ones of untruth and again unto Him who is the form of pure goodness, granting all that is
sought by those situated in the status of the highest stage of spiritual perfection [the paramahamsas]. (14) Let me offer my
obeisances unto the great associate of the Yadu-dynasty who, keeping far from mundane wrangling, vanquishes the
nondevotees. I bow down to Him who is of the same greatness of enjoying in opulences as in enjoying in His own abode the
spiritual sky. (15) Of Him whose glorification, remembrance, audience, prayers, hearing and worship forthwith cleanses the
effects of sin of all people; unto Him of whom one hears as being the all-auspicious one, I bring my due obeisances again and
again. (16) The bright ones who by simply dedicating themselves to His lotus feet give up all attachments for a present or
future existence completely, for sure realize without difficulty the progress of the heart and the soul towards the spiritual
existence; unto that renown all-auspicious One my obeisances again and again. (17) The great sages, the great performers of
charity, the most distinguished, the great thinkers, the great mantra chanters and the strict followers will never attain to
tangible results without being dedicated to Him, unto Him so auspicious to hear about I offer my obeisances again and
again. (18) The People of old Bharata, Europe, southern India, Greece, Pulkas'a [a province], Âbhîra [part of old Sind],
S'umbha [another province], Turkey, Mongolia and yet others also addicted to sin who take to the shelter of the Lord His
devotees at once get purified; towards Him, the powerful Lord Vishnu, my respectful obeisances. (19) He is the soul and
Lord of the selfrealized; the personification of the Vedas, the religious literatures and austerity; the one held in awe by the
Unborn One [Brahmâ], Lord S'iva and those above all pretensions; o Supreme Lord, may Your kindness be with me. (20) Of
all opulence the owner, the director of all sacrifices, the leader of all living entities, the master of the intelligent, the ruler of
all worlds, the supreme head of the planet Earth as well as the destination of the kings of the Yadu-dynasty in being the first
among them; o Supreme Lord, master of all the devotees, be merciful upon me. (21) It is said that thinking of His lotus feet,
at each moment absorbed, gives, purifying, following the authorities, for sure the pure knowledge of the ultimate reality of
the soul and also that it makes the scholars describe Him the way they want; o Mukunda, my Supreme Lord, may Your grace
always be with me. (22) May He who inspired the Goddess of Learning from the beginning and strengthened the first of
creation [Lord Brahmâ] with remembrance in the heart about his own nature, while He himself seemed to have been created
from his mouth - may He, the Teacher of Teachers, be pleased with me. (23) He who lies down within the material creation
empowering all these bodies made of the material elements while as the purusha [the original person] causing all to be
subjected to the modes of nature with her sixteen divisions [consciousness, the elements of earth, water, fire, air, sky, the
five organs of action and the senses]; may that Supreme Lord be the illustration of my statements. (24) My obeisances unto
Him, the great lord of Vâsudeva [Vyâsadeva incarnate], the compiler of the vedic literatures, from whose lotus mouth his
adherents drank the nectar of this knowledge. (25) The first one [Vyâsadeva; Brahmâ], my dear king, imparted, on the
request of Nârada, from the inside, the vedic knowledge exactly as it was spoken by the Lord in the heart'."

Chapter 5: The Cause of all Causes

(1) Nârada said [to the Creator]: 'My obeisances to you, o god of the demi-gods, as you are the first one, giving life to the
living beings. Please explain which knowledge specifically directs the transcendental. (2) What is the form, the basis and the
source of this created world; o master, how is it conserved, what controls it and please what of this is factually real? (3) All
this for sure is known by your good self, as you know all that has become, will become and is becoming; master, the universe
is like a walnut in your scientific grip. (4) What is the source of your wisdom, under whose protection and ordination are you
and in what capacity do you alone create the lives of all beings with the elements of matter that are for sure empowered by
the soul? (5) Employed like a spider, you self-sufficient manifest without any help out of your own all those [lives] without
being defeated yourself. (6) Whether or not I know myself as superior or inferior in this world, or as an equal, o powerful
one, the qualities of name and form of all that from the eternal came into existence are just temporary, like anything else
that originated from another source. (7) We're weary of the fact that your good self undertook severe penances in perfect
discipline and so were given the chance to doubt about the ultimate truth of you. (8) O you controller over all who knows
everything, please explain to me all this I asked you about, so that I, to what the rule says, will be able to understand.'

(9) The Creator answered: 'O gentle one, so dear to me, you are very kind in your perfect inquiries that inspire me to the
heroism of the Supreme Lord. (10) You are not mistaken in what you just said in your describing me; my dear, without the
Supreme beyond me, will it, knowing me, certainly turn out to be as you said about me. (11) It is I who manifests the
universe shining forth on the power of His effulgence [the brahmajyoti], just like the sun and the fire as well as the moon,
the stars, the planets and the constellations manifest their brightness. (12) My obeisances are unto Him, the Supreme Lord
Vâsudeva upon whom I meditate, by dint of whose invincible potencies one calls me the teacher [guru] of the world. (13)
Unashamed in keeping a prominent position with the bewildering material energy, do those who are deluded abuse their
words in talking of 'I' and 'mine', but thus speaking I am ill understood. (14) The five elements in their interaction in Eternal
Time as also the natural disposition of the living being, certainly are part of Vâsudeva, o brahmin; each for themself have
they in truth no value. (15) Nârâyana [Krishna as the four-armed original Personality of God and primordial Lord of man] is
the cause of the knowledge, the demigods are His helping hands, for His sake do the worlds exist and all sacrifices are just
there to please Him, the Supreme Lord. (16) The concentration of mind is just there to know Nârâyana, austerity is just
there to achieve Nârâyana, the culture of transcendence is just there to become aware of Nârâyana and the progress on the
path of salvation is there only to enter the kingdom of Nârâyana. (17) Seeing what of the Seer, of the Supersoul, the
Controller over all intelligence who has created me, so immaculately has been created, do I, inspired by His glance, engage
myself in creating.

(18) Of this [modal reality of] goodness, passion and slowness [see 4.23], that because of the Almighty [Lord of Time] by the
external energy was assumed, are there the three qualities of transcendence: maintenance, creation and destruction. (19)
Under the influence of the modes of the material energy is the eternally liberated living entity conditioned to the material
knowledge [of 'I' and 'mine'] that manifests by the symptoms of cause and effect in material activities. (20) He, this Supreme
Lord who by the symptoms of all these three modes, as the Superseer, verily is unseen in His movements, o brahmin, is of
everyone as well as of me the controller. (21) [The Lord of] Eternal Time, the controller of the deluding potency of matter
[mâyâ] that sets the workload [karma] as also the specific nature [or svabhâva - of the living entity], by the energy of its
[His] own Self appears, independently merged, employing different forms. (22) From that Eternal Time it so happened that
because of the transformation of the activities created by the modes of nature, the original person His modification of the
complete of matter [the mahat-tattva] took place. (23) But of the transformation of the complete of matter the modes of
passion and goodness were being increased so that [countering it in reaction] a prominence of the mode of darkness took
place with its single material knowledge and predominance of material activities. (24) That transformed material ego, thus
said, manifested itself in its three features of as well goodness, passion as ignorance, and thus, prabhu, were divided the
powers of material action, knowledge in creation and guidance in intelligence. (25) From the idenfication with the darkness
of matter was of the transformation to that mode the [first element of the] ether developed with its subtle form and quality
of sound which is indicative of as well the seen as the seer. (26-29) Of the transformation to the ether came the touch, as the
quality of the air, to the full of sound, inheriting the characteristics of the previous element, and came it thus also to a life of
discrimination and the might of strength. Likewise transforming to that air generated the time as a reaction to the past
naturally the element of fire duly giving form, touch and sound also. Of the water that of fire got transformed there were the
juices and the taste which, as seen before, also gave sound in succession [tears, saliva, semen, blood, milk]. But by the
variegatedness of that transformation of water again, found next in succession the odorous [of the earth element] its
existence of the juice taking the form of the qualities of touch and sound. (30) From the mode of goodness [thus] the mind
of the godly generated that act in that goodness, counting the ten of them as the controller of the directions, the air, the sun,
the waters [Varuna], the longevity [As'vinî-Kumâras associated with
the smell], the fire, the heavens [Indra], the deity of transcendence,
ceasing [Mitra, associated with the evacuation] and the spirit
[Brahmâ]. (31) From the passion of ego the according tenfold
transformation concerning the power of knowledge and action to the
five senses took place giving to the life energy the intelligence of all
its hearing, touching, smelling, seeing and tasting to the speaking,
handling, procreating, walking and defecating. (32) For the time that
all these elements of the senses and the mind to the modes of nature
remained separate, for that time the body [of man and mankind]
could not be formed, o [Nârada] best one in knowledge. (33) When
all those [elements], one after another assembled by the Supreme
Energy, were applied, came distinctly, in acceptance of their primary
and secondary nature, both [material and spiritual realities] of this
universe into being.

(34) Countless millennia that universal reality remained drowned in

the [causal] waters until the individual soul [jîva or the Lord] of the
action of Eternal Time to the modes of nature caused the non-
animated to be animated. (35) He Himself as the original person [the
purusha] came out from within the universal egg dividing Himself in
thousands of divisions of legs, arms, eyes, mouths and heads. (36)
The great philosophers imagine that all the worlds in the universe are
like the limbs of the body with seven systems to the lower and seven
to the upper part of what can be seen. (37) The brahmins manifested
as the mouth of the Original Person, the ruling class is there as His arms, the traders represent the Supreme Lord His thighs
while the laborer class is of His legs. (38) The earthly [lower] worlds are of His legs one says, the ethereal worlds are from
His belly, the heavenly worlds from the heart are of the chest while the supreme worlds of the saints and sages are of the
great Soul. (39) While up to the neck one finds the worlds of manhood and next from the chest the worlds of renunciation
and the worlds of truth with the head are found, are it the worlds of the spirit that are found in the eternal. (40-41) With
down His waist the first of the lower worlds, the second on the hips, the third down to the knees, the fourth on the shanks,
the fifth from His ankles, the sixth on His feet and the seventh on the soles of His feet [compare 2-1: 26-39], the body of the
Lord [virâth rûpa or universal form] is full of all the worlds. (42) Thus one [threefold] imagines oneself the earthly planets
situated on the legs, the ethereal worlds on the region of His navel and the heavenly worlds from the chest upward or else
the worlds as assumed otherwise [in a four or fourteen division].'

Chapter 6: The Hymn of the Original Person Confirmed

(1) The Creator said: 'Voicing the fire the mouth is the center generating the hymns to which there are seven coverings
[worlds ...] of offering the nectar and all sorts of food to the tongue in respect of all the delicate. (2) To the nose there is the
life-air and the air outside for the generation of the transcendental experience of longevity [the As'vinî demigods] with all
the medicinal herbs and the taking pleasure in fragrances. (3) The eyes that see all kinds of forms as also all the illumined
that glitters to the eyeball of the sun, accompany the hearing of the ears of all the sounds of veneration resounding in the sky
from all directions. (4) His surface [of the Universal Form] is the ground for all articles and auspicious opportunities as well
as the field for production, while His skin of the moving airs makes the touch for sure generating all kinds of sacrifices also.
(5) His bodily hair is the vegetation in the kingdoms, from which in particular the sacrifices are done to which the hair on
His head, His facial hair and His nails make for the stones, the iron-ore and the clouds with their electricity. (6) His arms,
the governing men of god, do mostly provide and protect the general mass. (7) His progressing with the lower and middle
worlds as well as in heaven, providing for all that is needed of fearlessness and all the benedictions, is known by the Lord
His lotus feet giving shelter. (8) Of water, of semen and of the generative of rains one realizes oneself the genitals of the
Creator, the Lord and also the spot wherefrom the happiness originates engendered by the [need of the] begetting [of
offspring or cultural products]. (9) O Nârada, the orifice where the evacuation of the Universal Form takes place is of Mitra,
the controlling deity of everything running to its end and forms the rectum where envy, misfortune, death and hell is
remembered. (10) Of frustration, immorality and ignorance His backside is found, while the rivers and streams [as said]
make for His veins and the mountains for the stack of His bones. (11) The unseen mover [the time] of the seas and oceans of
the becoming and annihilated beings as seen from His belly [the middle worlds, S'iva], is known by the intelligent as the
[beating] heart with the subtle body for its location.

(12) Of the Great Personality is your, mine and also my sons' [the Kumâras] conscious heartening of the [religious] duties in
the continuity [S'iva, the continuing soul facing the destruction] and the transcendental knowledge, the essential
consciousness [soul] of truth. (13-16) Me, you, the Lord continuing [S'iva], as also certainly the great sages before you, the
godly, the demoniac, the human beings and the excellent [the Nâgas], the birds, the beasts, the reptiles and all the heavenly
beings as well as the plants and many other living entities on the land, in the waters and in the sky, together with the
asteroids, the radiant leading stars, the comets, the lightening and thunder - certainly as whatever was, is and will be
created, are all together of the Original Person who covers all in the idea of measuring only half a foot [see also 2.2: 8]. (17)
The same way the sun in spreading its rays is outside, gives the life energy (inside) and illumines his path, is there likewise
by the expansion of the universal form, the Supreme Person vitalizing the internal and external of life. (18) He is the
controller of the immortal and fearless in the transcendence over death and the fruit of anyone and therefore, o Nârada, are
the glories of the Original Personality seen as being immeasurable.

(19) You should know that all the living entities exist in one fourth of the Supreme Person who is the immortal, fulfilling
and fearlessness reservoir of all opulence beyond the material coverings of the three worlds. (20) The three fourths of Him
in the beyond is where those reside who will never be reborn; but within [the material world] are there the three worlds
[heaven, purgatory and hell] for the status orientations of those who, not strictly following the vow of celibacy, are attached
to family life. (21) Thus neatly ordering the destination of the living beings, is the Maintainer ruling the devotion of both the
nescient as the ones factually knowing, and is He thus, as the Original Personality of God, the master of both of them. (22)
From whom all the planets and the gigantic universal form came, appeared the elements and the senses to the material
qualities of the universes, to which the surpassing by that Universal Form is alike the way the sun relates to its distributed
rays and heat.

(23) When I took birth from the lotus flower from the navel of this great person, I did, except for the personal limbs of the
Original Person not know of the ingredients for performing sacrifices. (24) For the performance of sacrifices, is the
sacrificed such as flowers and leaves and the burning material [such as straw] needed together with an altar as also the great
of time [a calendar e.g.] in following the modes of nature. (25) Utensils, grains, fuel [clarified butter], sweetener ['honey'],
capital ['gold'] and a fire place ['earth'], water, the scriptures ['Rig, Yajur and Sâma Veda'] and [at least] four [leading]
persons are comprised in this, o pious one. (26) It also involves the invocation of holy names and mantras as also
contributions and vows concerning the specific godhead at hand for which there is a particular scripture for each specific
purpose. (27) For progressing to the ultimate goal by means of the worship and surely also the compensation with the
ultimate offerings to the diverse parts of the body of the Original Person [the representing demigods], I arranged for the
ingredients. (28) Thus well-equipped worshiped I, executed by all those expansions of the Original Person, the Supreme
Personality, the original enjoyer of all sacrifices. (29) Thereafter your [god-]brothers, the nine masters of the living creatures
[schools; demigods next to Brahmâ; compare 5:30], performed with proper ritual for the personalities seen and unseen.
(30) In following those [schools or demigods] also the Manus, the fathers of mankind, worshiped in due course of time,
pleasing Him, as also did the other great sages, forefathers, scholars, devotees, and mankind as a whole.

(31) For the sake of Nârâyana, the Personality of Godhead, came all these greatly powerful manifestations, having accepted
the material illusion of form in the universal sphere, into the existence of creation, maintenance and destruction, even
though He Himself is self-sufficient above it. (32) To His will, I create while under His subordination S'iva destroys, with
Himself thereto as the controller of the three energies maintaining the whole Universe as the Original Person.

(33) Thus I explained on your request all this to you, my dear, concerning the matter of never having anything else beyond
the Supreme Lord in thinking of cause and effect. (34) O Nârada, for sure never did this state of mind prove to be false at
any time, nor was my train of thought ever of the untrue, nor were my senses degraded in the temporal, because my heart
with great zeal caught hold of the Lord. (35) Being successful in the austerities of vedic wisdom according the disciplic
succession, worshipable as the master of all the forefathers and expert and self-realized in the practice of yoga, I couldn't
fully understand Him from whom the self generated. (36) I am [therefore] devoted to the all-auspicious feet of the Lord of
the surrendered souls, who stop the repetition of births and deaths and grant the vision of happiness; one surely cannot
estimate the potency of His personal energies - as the way the sky can't see its own limit, therefore: how can others know?
(37) Since neither I, nor all you sons, nor the Destroyer can factually know [of all] His movements, how then then would the
other god-conscious? The intelligence bewildered by the illusory energy of what is created can only see as far as one's ability
reaches.

(38) Our respectful obeisances unto Him, the Supreme Lord, whose incarnation and activities we glorify, even though
persons like us do not fully know Him. (39) He, the very Primordial Original Personality in each millennium creates from
the unborn soul to the [material] self, by His own Self, His own transcendental presence maintaining Himself [for some
time] as well as absorbing [Himself again]. (40-41) Without a material tinge, pure and perfect in knowledge and all-
pervading in His fullness He is situated in truth as the absolute without a beginning and an end, free from the modes of
nature and eternally unrivaled. O wise one, the great thinkers can only understand this with a pacified self and their senses
under cover, otherwise it will certainly be beyond their scope and distorted by untenable arguments. (42) The first
incarnation of the Lord, the Original Person [Mahâvishnu or Kâranodakas'âyi Vishnu] is time-space [the original nature of
time]; and cause and effect, the elements, the modes, as also the ego, making for the Universal Form [virâth rûpa] of the
movable and immovable of the Lord [also called Garbhodakas'âyî Vishnu].

(43-45) I myself [Brahmâ], the Destroyer and the Maintainer, all the fathers of the living beings like Daksha [and Manu],
you yourself and the other sons [the Kumâras], the leaders of the higher worlds, the spacetravelers, the earth and the lower
worlds, the leaders of the denizens of heaven [of the Ghandarva,Vidyâdhara and Cârana worlds] as well as the leaders of the
demoniac [the Yakshas, Râkshasas and Uragas] and the underworld as well as the leaders of the sages, the forefathers, the
atheists, the miraculous, the uncivilized and also the dead, the evil spirits, the Jinn and Kûshmândas [other evil spirits] and
the great aquatics, beasts and birds - in other words anything and everything in the world that is of power to a special degree
or of a specific mental or perceptual dexterity or exceptional strength, forgiveness, beauty, modesty, opulence, intelligence
or breeding are as if they are the form of His transcendental reality themselves, but in fact they are only a fragment of it. (46)
O Nârada, now relish the devotion for the pastimes of all those incarnations of the Original Supreme Personality that will
evaporate the foul matter accumulated in your ears. I will relate them, all a pleasure to hear, one after the other as they are
in my heart.

Chapter 7: Brief Description of the Past and Coming Avatâras

(1) The Creator said: 'When the Lord attempted to lift the earth out of the great ocean [ - the Garbodhaka], assumed He as
the Unlimited One within the universe for His pastimes the form of the sum total of all sacrifices, in being faced with the
first demon [called Hiranyâksha, the demon of gold] who by Him, as if He was a thunderbolt piercing a pack of clouds, was
defeated with His tusk [Him considered as the boar-avatâra Varâha].
(2) From Âkûti ['good intention'], the wife of the Prajâpati, Suyajña ['appropriate sacrifice'] was born who with his wife
Dakshinâ ['the reward'] gave birth to the godly headed by Suyama ['proper regulation'] by which He greatly diminished the
distress in the three worlds and because of which the father of mankind called Svâyambhuva Manu was named Hari [the
Lord].

(3) Next He took birth in the house of the twice born Kardama ['the shadow of the Creator'], from the womb of Devahûti
['the invocation of the Gods'] accompanied by nine women. In teaching His mother as Lord Kapila ['the analytic one'] in
spiritual realization, she in that life was freed from the soul-covering material modes and achieved liberation.

(4) The sage Atri praying for offspring, I, satisfied by his surrender, promised the Supreme Lord to be born as Datta
[Dattâtreya, the given one] of whom the dust of His lotus feet purified the body of mysticism bringing wealth to the spiritual
and material worlds of Yadu [the founder of the dynasty], Haihaya [a descendant] and others.

(5) Because of my first having lived austere in penance for the sake of the creation of the different worlds, the Lord
appeared as the four Sanas [the four celibate sons called Sanat-Kumâra, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanâtana]. In the epoch
before, the spiritual truth was devastated in the inundation of the world, but it became completely manifest with these sages
who had a clear vision of the soul.

(6) From Mûrti ['the idol'], the wife of Dharma ['righteousness'] and the daughter of Daksha ['the able one', a prajâpati], He
took the form of Nara-Nârâyana ['man, the course of man']. Thus [in that descent] by seeing the strength of [the beauties
originating of] His personal penances the Supreme Lord never would see His vows broken by the celestial beauties that
came to Him with Cupid [the god of love]. (7) Great stalwarts [like Lord S'iva] can overcome their being overwhelmed by
lust by means of their wrathful vision, but they cannot overcome their own intolerance. To that however, with having Him
within, the lust is afraid to enter. How can it factually reclaim the attention with Him in mind?

(8) Incited by the sharp words uttered by a co-wife, even in the presence of the king, [He as] a boy took to severe penances
in a great forest and therewith set the goal of the attainment of Dhruva [the immovable] with being prayed for to the
satisfaction of the denizens of heaven as do the great sages ever since ascending and descending from that position [see also
fourth Canto].

(9) When the twice born, cursed King Vena ['the anxious'], strayed from the path of religion, it burnt him like a thunderbolt
and all his great deeds and opulence went to hell. Being prayed for He delivered him coming to earth as his son [named
Prithu, 'the great one'] as well achieving that the earth could be
exploited to yield all kinds of crops.

(10) As the son of King Nâbhi ['the pivot'] He was born as

Rishabha ['the best one'] from Sudevî to go for the certainty of
being equipoised in the matter of yoga which is accepted by the
learned sages as the highest stage of perfection, in which one,
being perfectly liberated from material influences, accepts the
selfreposed in suspension of the activities of the senses.

(11) In a sacrifice of mine the Supreme Lord appeared with a

horse-like head [called Hayagrîva] and thus He is seen as the
Personality of Sacrifices with a golden hue from whose
breathing through His nostrils the sounds of the vedic hymns,
personal sacrifices and all that concerns the [Super-]soul of the
godly can be heard.

(12) He who became the Manu [called Satyavrata, 'the truth-

abiding'] at the end of the epoch saw that Lord Matsya ['the
fish'] is the shelter of all living beings up to the earthly ones
because of which out of a great fear for the waters, having
taken to my mouth, therefrom certainly all the Vedas could be
enjoyed.

(13) When in the ocean of milk [knowledge] the leaders of the

immortals and their opponents where churning the mountain
[called Mandara, big] for gaining the nectar, supported the primeval Lord half asleep as a tortoise [called Kurma] it
scratching and itching His back.

(14) As Nrisimha ['the lion'] He appeared as the one that takes away the fear of the god-conscious in rolling His eyebrows
and showing the terrifying teeth of His mouth, directly on His lap with His nails piercing the fallen king of the demons
[Hiranyakas'ipu] who had challenged Him with a club in his hands.

(15) The leader of the elephants who within the river at his leg was taken by an exceptionally strong crocodile, holding a
lotus in great distress addressed [Him] like this: 'You are the Original Personality and Lord of the Universe and as famous as
a place of pilgrimage all good ensues just hearing of Your name so worthy to chant.' (16) The Lord who heard him in his
need, as the Unlimited Powerful One seated on the king of the birds [Garuda], cut the beak of the crocodile in two with His
cakra-weapon and delivered him in His causeless mercy by pulling him out by his trunk.

(17) Although by His transcendental qualities the greatest He [as the youngest] of all the sons of Aditi ['the infinite one']
surpassed in this universe all the worlds [as Vâmana] and was therefore called the Lord of Sacrifice: pretending to need only
three steps of land He took thus begging all the lands [of Bali Mahârâja] without ever offending the authorities He is never
bereft of. (18) O Nârada, by virtue of the strength of the water that washed from the feet of the Lord, he [Bali Mahârâja], who
kept it on his head and who had the supremacy over the kingdom of the godly, never tried for anything else but to keep -
even at the cost of his own body - to his promise, as he was dedicated to the Lord within his own mind.

(19) Unto you, Nârada, the Supreme Lord satisfied by the developing of your goodness through your transcendental love,
nicely in all detail described the light of the knowledge of yoga and the science of relating to the soul, which all surrendered
to Vâsudeva so perfectly know to appreciate.

(20) By His cakra and undeterred in all circumstances ['ten sides'] He in the different incarnations as the Manu-successor
in the Manu-dynasty ruled over de miscreants and kings of that type, subduing by the marks of His personal glories from the
world of truth the three systems [see loka] thus establishing His fame.

(21) With the name of Dhanvantari ['moving in a curve'] the Supreme Lord as fame personified descended in the universe
directing the knowledge for obtaining a long life by bringing the nectar from the [Kurma-churning] sacrifice that swiftly
cures the diseases of all living entities.

(22) With the purpose of diminishing the increasing dominance of the ruling class the great soul [as Lord Paras'urâma] as
the Ultimate Spiritual Truth abated all those thorns of the world who strayed from the path and opted for a hellish life,
awfully powerful operating thrice seven times by His transcendental hatchet.

(23) By dint of His causeless all-embracing mercy, the Lord of All Time [as Râma] descended in the family of Ikshvâku [the
dynasty of the solar order] where on the command of his father [Das'aratha] He took to the forest with His wife [Sîtâ] and
brother [Lakshmana] on the opposition of the ten-headed one [the demoniac ruler Râvana] who had caused great distress.
(24) Unto Him the fearful Indian ocean, which saw its aquatics [sharks, seasnakes and such] burnt, quickly gave way when
from a distance He, angered as He was about His aggrieved intimate friend [the kidnapped Sîtâ], meditated the city of the
enemy [on the island of Lankâ] with red-hot eyes like Hara did [who wanted to burn the heavenly kingdom by his fiery
looks] in desiring to burn it down. (25) When the trunk of the elephant carrying Indra with light in all directions broke on
the chest of Râvana, he was proudly overtaken by laughter strolling amidst the armies, but within no time the kidnapper was
killed by the tingling sound of the bow [of Râma].

(26) When the entire world is in misery from the burden of the soldiers of disbelievers, is He, with His plenary expansion,
His beauty and His black hair, whose glorious activities are so difficult to see by the people in general, bound to appear for
the sake of the decimation of those atheists. (27) Who possibly else than He could as a child kill a living being that assumed
the form of a giant demoness [Pûtanâ] or only being three months old with His leg turn over a cart and also uproot two high
rising Arjuna trees? (28) At Vrindâvana [where Krishna grew up] by His merciful glance He brought back to life the cowherd
boys and their animals who drank of the poisoned water [of the Yamunâ]. In order to purify [the water] from the excess of
the highly potent poison He in the river took pleasure in punishing the snake severely that was lurking there with its
venomous tongue. (29) He by His superhuman activity saved all the inhabitants of Vraja [the cowherd-village], that
unworried were sleeping that night, from being burnt by the fire that was ablaze in the dry forest. Thus to them [later on,
also those cowherdboys] who were sure to see the last of their days, He together with Balarâma proved His unfathomable
prowess [delivering them the same way from another fire in the forest] by simply having them closing their eyes. (30)
Whatever rope His [foster] mother [Yas'odâ] tried to take to bind her son, time and again proved to be too short and that
which she saw when He opened His mouth to the doubting cowherd woman were all the worlds, which convinced her thus
another way. (31) Nanda Mahârâja His [fostering] father whom He also saved from the fear for Varuna [the demigod of the
waters] and the cowherd men who were held captive in the caves by the son of Maya [a demon] and also the ones [in
Vrindâvana] working during the day and sleeping during the night of their hard labor, He surely awarded the highest world
of the spiritual sky. (32) When the cowherd men were being stopped in their sacrifices by the king of heaven who caused the
downpour of heavy rains, He, desiring to protect the animals in His causeless mercy, being only seven years of age, held up
Govardhana Hill for seven days in a row, just like an umbrella playfully with one hand only without getting tired. (33) When
in His nightly pastimes in the forest desiring to dance in the silver light of the moon with sweet songs and melodious music
He awakened the amorous desires of the wives of Vrajabhûmi [the region of Vrindâvana], He decapitated their kidnapper [a
demon known as S'ankhacûda] who was in pursuit of the riches of Kuvera [the heavenly treasurer]. (34-35) All those like
Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kes'î, Arishtha, Cânûra and Mushthika [wrestling for Kamsa], Kuvalayâpîda [the elephant],
Kamsa [the demoniac uncle], many foreign kings [like those of Persia], the ape Dvivida, Paundraka and others, as well as
kings like S'âlva, Narakâsura, Balvala, Dantavakra, Saptoksha, S'ambara, Vidûratha and Rukmî and all powerful and well
equipped as Kâmboja, Matsya, Kuru [the sons of Dhritarâshthra], Sriñjaya, and Kekaya, found their dissociation or would
attain to His heavenly abode through either Himself or with His other names, like Baladeva [Krishna's brother], Arjuna or
Bhîma.

(36) Born from Satyavatî He [as Vyâsadeva], in due course of time seeing the difficulties of the less intelligent and short-
lived of mankind at large, with His appearance in the exact, complex vedic literature compiled, [would and] will for certain
divide the desire tree of the Vedas into its branches according the circumstances of the age.

(37) To those who, well situated on the path of the Vedas, envious with the divine unseen roam the worlds by inventions of
Maya [a demon] and who are destructive of the bewildered mind, He dresses Himself attractively [as the Buddha] speaking
mainly of moral guidelines.

(38) When with even the civilized gentlemen there is no mention of the Lord, and the twice-born [the higher classes] and
the government itself never take to the hymns, paraphernalia, altars and words wherever, then, at the end of the Age of
Dissent, will the Supreme Lord, the chastiser appear.

(39) I of penance [as Brahmâ] from the beginning with the generating [nine] sages [Prajâpatis], certainly [in the middle]
maintained the duties of sacrifice [as Vishnu] with Manu, the godly and the different rulers, but in the end with the
forsaking of the principles it is S'iva to the atheists subjected to anger. All of them are the potent representatives of the One
of Supreme Power. (40) Who can fully describe the prowess of Lord Vishnu? Not even the scientist that might have counted
the atoms. All were greatly moved by Him who by His own leg could cover the universe [as Trivikrama] up to the topmost
world beyond the operating modes. (41) Never do I, nor all the sages born before you, know the end of the Omnipotent
Original Person. Then what to expect of others born after us who even to the present day by singing the qualities with the
thousand faces of Ananta S'esha [the 'snakebed' of Vishnu ] of the primordial God, cannot achieve to His limit? (42) He, the
Supreme Lord, will only bestow the mercy of His unlimited potential upon those who by all means, without any reservation
and pretension, are as the souls that surrendered to His feet passed the insurmountable ocean of His material energies, and
not upon those who hold on to the I and mine of the body that is known [in the end] to be eaten by dogs and jackals. (43-45)
O Nârada, know me and yourself to be of the Supreme over the deluding material potency as also are the great Lord S'iva,
Prahlâda Mahârâja who came from the atheist family, S'atarûpâ, the wife of Manu and Svâyambhuva Manu himself with his
children, Prâcînabarhi, Ribhu, Anga [the father of Vena], and like Dhruva, Ikshvâku, Aila, Mucukunda, Janaka, Gâdhi,
Raghu, Ambarîsha, Sagara, Gaya, Nâhusha, etc. as also others like Mândhâtâ, Alarka, S'atadhanve, Anu, Rantideva,
Bhîshma, Bali, Amûrttaraya, Dilîpa, Saubhari, Utanka, S'ibi, Devala, Pippalâda, Sârasvata, Uddhava, Parâs'ara, Bhûrishena,
and first ones as Vibhîshana, Hanumân, S'ukadeva Gosvâmî, Arjuna, Ârshthishena, Vidura and S'rutadeva. (46)
Undoubtedly do also those persons manage to surpass the illusion of the divine energy and to arrive at knowledge, who are
women, laborers, barbarians and outcasts do know despite of [formerly] being sinful souls - provided they observe the
instructions of admirable devotees. When even those who were not of the human do, then what would one expect from those
who devotedly listened [from the beginning]? (47) Being eternal and unperturbed, free from fear and uncontaminated in the
opposing consciousness without preferences in the reality of the Supersoul over the true and untrue, one is [having
surpassed] unconcerned about the fruits of action in sacrifices and sees the illusion flying away that is full of shame [see also
B.G. 2: 52]. For certain that is the ultimate phase of the Supreme Lord [Bhagavân] who is the Spirit of Transcendence of the
person which is thus known as being of unlimited happiness without grief. (48) In that state of hearing are the diverse
practices of the mystics seeking the truth in their process of spiritual culture then given up, just the way Indra [god of the
rains] doesn't worry to dig a well [to have water]. (49) He, all-auspicious is also the master, the Supreme Lord, because to
the natural living being its own nature all doing good is rewarded the ultimate success to which, after the body with its
constituent elements is being vanquished and given up, one like the sky, being unborn as a person will never be vanquished.'

(50) My dear, thus I explained in brief to you about the Supreme Lord as the creator of the known worlds, without whom
nothing else of whatever that may exist in the phenomenal and noumenal can be of any causation. (51) This story of the
Fortunate One called the S'rîmad Bhâgavatam, was handed down to me by His Holiness and constitutes the summary of His
diverse potencies. Now you from your good self must expound on this science of Godhead yourself. (52) Therefore describe
with determination, for the cause of enlightening mankind, this science of devotion [bhakti] for the Supreme Personality,
the summum bonum and Absolute of all Souls. (53) With the description of the external affairs of Him, the Lord, in regular
devoted appreciation and attendance, the living entity will never become illusioned by the external energy.

Chapter 8: Questions by King Parîkchit

(1) The king asked: 'How did Nârada, being instructed by Lord Brahmâ, o brahmin, explain the modes and their
transcendence, and whom did he explain it to?' (2) This I wish to understand o best one: what is the reality of those who are
in the Absolute of the truth of the Lord who is so full of wonderful potencies and whose narrations are so beneficial to all the
worlds? (3) Please continue speaking, o you of great fortune, so that I, about to leave my body, freed from material
association, may put my thoughts to the Supreme of the soul, Lord S'rî Krishna. (4) Those who with faith, regularly take to
the matter and as well seriously endure in the endeavor, will after not too long a time see the Supreme Lord appear in their
hearts. (5) Thus receiving it through their ears from the love of their own liberation, this lotus [the Bhâgavatam] of Krishna
washes away the impurities like the waters of autumn do. (6) Once being cleansed will the person, who took to the shelter of
Krishna's feet, never give up that liberation, just like a traveler, who going through the miseries of life, will never give up his
home [see also B.G. 5: 17; 8: 16; 8: 21-28; 9: 3; 15: 3-4; 15: 6].

(7) As it is not a question of being material, o brahmin, can you, as you may know from your good self, tell me whether the
living being in the undertaking comes to the body accidentally or of some cause? (8) If He is in possession of the lotusflower
of this world, that as it were sprouted from His abdomen, then what is the difference between the Original Person to the
measure of this extent [of the Virâth Rûpa] and the situation that one speaks of with the many different embodiments? (9)
How could he who was not born from matter himself and who gave life to all the ones born with a material body, through
His mercy see His Form while being born from the lotusflower of the navel? (10) And also [how can it be that] He as the
Original Person maintaining, creating and annihilating the material worlds remains untouched by His own external energy
while resting as the Lord of all energies in the heart of everyone? (11) Before I heard you discuss the different worlds with
their governors as the different parts of the body of the Original Person, so what [can you tell] about those governors that by
the different systems are the different parts of Him?

(12) And what about the day of Brahmâ [a kalpa] and the periods between them [vikalpas], as also what to say about the
time measuring what one calls the past, future and present - and how about the lifespan allotted to embodied beings? (13) O
purest of the twice born, what may be the beginning of time and what about the way it, in terms of one's karma, is
experienced as being short or long? (14) Then again to what extent is one taken over by accruing [karma] to the different
modes of nature in the different life forms which are also certainly the result of one's desire. (15) Please describe us how life
underneath the earth, in the four quarters of heaven, in the sky, on the planets and about the stars, on the hills, in the rivers,
the seas and on the islands comes about and what are their inhabitants? (16) What is the extent and measure of the outer
space universe and the inner space, and what are their divisions? And what is the character and action of the great souls and
the vocations and age-groups of society? (17) What are the different ages, how long do they take and what is their nature and
which incarnation of the Lord performs what kind of wonderful activities in each and every age?

(18) What are the specific religious affiliations of human society in general and what are the duties of the three classes
[labor, trade and intellect] and their administration [the fourth class], as also, what would the obligations be to people in
distress? (19) And what is the number of elements of creation and what are their characteristics and interaction? What are
the rules and regulations of the devotional practice to the Original Person in the cultivation of yoga and what are the
different spiritual methods leading thereto? (20) What are the opulences of the yogamaster, where do they lead to, how do
the yogis detach from the astral body and what is the transcendental knowledge found in the religiosity about the historical
accounts and the vedic stories? (21) What is the specific order of all those transient living beings and how does it end? What
are the good deeds, rituals and also the regulative principles concerning the religion, the means of existence and the pleasing
of the senses? (22) How do all those who either live in union with the Lord or go against Him come about and what is the
conditioning of the ones liberated as also that of the ones that live undetermined?

(23) As surely as the independent Supreme Lord enjoys His pastimes from His own inner potency, He, correctly, gives them
up just the same, to the external of His capacity remaining a witness as the Almighty. (24) About all this and more that I
didn't ask you, o fortunate one, I've been wondering from the beginning. Please explain in accordance with the truth, o great
sage, what you want to tell me with us all having fallen at your feet. (25) Surely in these matters of factual knowing are you
as good as Brahmâ originating directly from the Lord, while others are only following to custom after what of borrowed
knowledge could be said. (26) I never get tired, o brahmin, of drinking, in hunger of my fasting, of the nectar of the Infallible
flowing from the ocean of your speech'."

(27) Sûta Gosvâmî said: "He [S'ukadeva] thus being questioned by the king on topics of the highest truth like these, was, as
the instrument of the Creator, very pleased in meeting this servant of Vishnu. (28) He said: 'This science of the Personality
of God called the Bhâgavatam consisting of the story in pursuance of the Vedas, was given to the spirit by the Supreme Lord
at the beginning of the age wherein the Creator found his existence.' (29) He then prepared himself to describe in full
whatever the king, the best of the dynasty of Pându, all asked in his, from the beginning to the end, continuing inquiries."

Chapter 9: Answering by Citing the Lord's Version

(1) S'uka said: 'Without the drive of the [Super-]soul, o King, there will never be any good in the spirited consciousness of
the beyond relating to the material body, which is then to the seer completely like in a dream. (2) Driven in matter the many
forms that appear to have manifested experience different sorts of enjoyment according the modes of the material world and
thus they think of 'I' and 'mine'. (3) Whenever indeed, in his own glory of transcendence to the time of the material energy,
he [the living entity] enjoys the freedom from misconceptions, then, in that fullness, he will give up those two. (4) 'The
reality of the soul is the goal of purification' is what the Supreme Lord factually told the Creator showing him His Form
when he was without any misunderstanding in vows and worship (5) He, the first godly person in the universe, as the
supreme spiritual teacher, began from his own divine position [on the lotus of the creation] to reflect on the matter of where
it came from and he could not figure out what the directions and the ways were of how all should be put together materially.

(6) Once when he was immersed in thinking thus, he heard two syllables being spoken which were the sixteenth [ta] and the
twenty-first [pa] of the spars'a-alphabeth and, joined together, became known as the wealth of the renounced order, o King
[tapas means penance]. (7) When he heard that, he looked all sides to see the speaker, but there was no one to be found and
from where he sat in his divine position he then thought it the best to pay attention to doing penance as he was instructed.
(8) With a spotless vision for a thousand godly years, he as the controller of both life and mind, enlightened all the worlds
executing such a penance in the past, being of all the ones doing penance the one of the severest practice.
(9) For him, the Supreme Lord being pleased by his penance, manifested His own abode [also called Vaikunthha, the place
without fear], beyond which no other world is found and which is worshiped as the place where the five miseries of material
life [ignorance, selfhood, attachment, hatred and death-fear] have completely ceased with persons who without illusion and
fear of existence are of perfect self-realization. (10) There, the mode of goodness prevails over the other two of passion and
slowness without them ever being mixed with it, nor is there the influence of time, the external energy - or what to say of
[the influence of] others; there both the enlightened and the unenlightened souls worship the Lord as devotees. (11) Sky-
bluish and glowing with lotuslike eyes, very attractive and youthful with yellowish dress, all of them there have the four arms
and the luster of pearls and effulgence of fine ornaments. (12) Some radiate like coral or diamonds, with heads blooming like
a celestial lotus with earrings and garlands. (13) That place, radiating with the rows of brilliant high rising, excellent
buildings and celestial ladies with electrifying complexions of the great devotees of the Lord, is as beautiful as a sky
decorated with clouds and lightning. (14) The goddess there is doing devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, being of
praise with the help of diverse paraphernalia and a following of dearmost associates who, moved by the company [of
Apsaras] that took to the shelter of the [everlasting season of] spring, are singing their songs. (15) There one surrounds the
Lord of the entire community of devotees, of the goddess, of the Universe and the sacrifice - the Almighty One, who is being
served in transcendental love by the foremost associates like Sunanda, Nanda, Prabala and Arhana. (16) The servitors
affectionately facing Him are intoxicated by the very pleasing sight of His smile, reddish eyes, His face with His helmet and
earrings, His four hands, yellow dress, His marked chest and the Goddess of Fortune at His side. (17) Seated on His highly
valuable throne He, accompanied by the opulence of His four [matter, original person, intellect and ego] sixteen [the five
elements, perceptive and working senses, and mind] and fivefold energies [sense objects of form, taste, sound, smell and
touch] and other personal prowesses He sometimes shows [the eight siddhis or mystic powers], verily enjoys His abode as
the Supreme Lord.

(18) The Creator of the Universe, who was overwhelmed by the sight of that audience, was in his heart full of ecstasy and
with his body full of divine love he bowed down with tears in his eyes before the lotus feet of the Lord - an example which is
followed by the great liberated souls. (19) Seeing him present before Him He thought the worthy great scholar suitable for
creating the lives of all living beings to His own control, and mildly smiling He addressed the beloved one with enlightening
words, very pleased shaking hands with His partner in divine love. (20) The Supreme Lord said: 'As opposed to My
contentment with those who do profit-minded service, am I completely satisfied about your long lasting penance to create
from your vedic expertise. (21) All my blessings to you, just ask Me, the giver of all benediction, whatever favor you wish
from Me, o Brahmâ, as the limit of My realization is the ultimate success of everyone's penances. (22) This enviable
perception of My abodes you may actually experience because of your submissive hearing in doing penance to the beyond.
(23) It was ordered by Me as you were perplexed in your duty. That penance directly affects My heart and soul and is to the
one engaged in it my factual identity, o sinless one. (24) By that penance I create, surely by that penance I withdraw and
again I, by that penance, maintain the cosmos; My power is found in strict penance.'

(25) Brahmâ said: 'Supreme Lord of all living beings, You are the director seated in the heart who unobstructed, by Your
superior intelligence, knows of all endeavors. (26) In spite of that I ask You, o Lord, please enlighten me in my desire to
know about Your being beyond and descending in Your form as we may know it, although You are yourself formless. (27)
And how do You by Your own potency, from Your own Self, combine and recombine the different forces in matters of
annihilation, generation, acceptance and maintenance? (28) O Mâdhava [master of all energies], please let me know in
proper terms of all those [forms] You infallibly enact with determination like a spider does in covering [its own web]. (29) As
the Supreme Lord teaching it me by Your acts I may, by Your mercy, thus never factually be entrapped in matter, even
though I acting as your instrument create the lives of the beings. (30) O Lord, like a friend does with a friend You have
accepted me for creating the different lives of the living entities; o my Lord, may all those who are born unperturbed in the
service of You never give rise to me being mad with imagination about it, o Unborn One.'

(31) The Supreme Lord said: 'The knowledge acquired about Me is very confidential and is realized in combination with
devotional service and its necessary paraphernalia; just try to take it up as I explain it to you. (32) Let that factual realization
be there by the causeless mercy of Me, as seen in the transcendental existence of My eternal form with its diverse
appearances and qualities. (33) I indeed existed before [your creation of these lives] and nothing else but the Supreme
would be the cause of the effect of all that is seen, while it is also I that is all that remains of these created; that is what I am.
(34) That which appears to be of value, is not what it seems without relating to Me - know that illusory energy of Mine to be
a reflection, to be darkness. (35) Just like the elements of the universe that appear in the minute as well as in the gigantic
before being engaged as well as thereafter, am I even so as well in them as not in them Myself. (36) No doubt must a person
in search of the soul to this extent inquire after the Reality of the Principle, in a direct as well as indirect manner, in
whatever time, space or circumstance. (37) If your concentration of mind remains fixed on this conclusion about the
Supreme you have no complacency to fear, nor in temporary loss nor at the end of your time."

(38) S'uka said: "After thus giving full instruction, disappeared the Unborn One, Lord Hari as He was seen in His
transcendental form of the Absolute by the leader of the living entities [Brahmâ]. (39) On the disappearance began
Brahmâjî, with folded hands unto the Lord, the objective of all senses, to shape the lives of all living beings that fill the
universe, exactly as he did before. (40) Thus once upon a time he, the father of all living beings and religious life, situated
himself with vow and respect for the sake of the welfare of the living beings, desiring it in the interest of their own good
qualities. (41) It is unto Him that Nârada, the most dear of the inheriting sons, is very obedient and ready to serve by the
good behavior of his meekness and sense-control. (42) With his desire to know about Vishnu, the Lord of all energies, the
great sage and first-class devotee, o King, very much pleased his Father [Lord Brahmâ]. (43) After seeing the satisfaction of
the great grandfather of the entire universe, Nârada Muni questioned him the same way you are questioning me. (44)
Thereupon this story of the Fortunate One [summarized in the four verses 33-36] was with its ten characteristics [see next
chapter], explained by the Supreme Lord who told it the son, the creator of the universe, with great satisfaction. (45) Nârada
instructed this Supreme of the Spirit, to the great sage, the meditative Vyâsadeva with his immense capacity, on the bank of
the Sarasvatî, o King. (46) All the things you've been asking me concerning the world of the Universal Form of the Original
Person and other matters, I shall now explain to you in great detail."

Chapter 10: The Bhâgavatam is the Answer to all Questions

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'In this [Bhâgavatam] there are [ten types of] statements about the following: the creation of the
universe, the secondary creation, the different worlds, support [by the Lord], the creative drive, the changes of Manus,
following divine instruction, returning to God, finding liberation and the Summum Bonum [description of the actions of
Lord Krishna]. (2) For the purpose of doing justice to the Summum Bonum the symptoms of the other nine in this
[Bhâgavatam] are described by vedic inference or either more direct explanations or summaries given by the great sages. (3)
The five gross elements, the objects of the senses and the senses themselves including the mind give rise to the
manifestation which is called the created universe [sarga] of the Creator, while the resultant activities of the interaction to its
modes is called the secondary creation [visarga]. (4) The stability of the worlds is the victory of the Lord of Vaikunthha, His
support is His causeless mercy, the reign of the Manus sets the perfection of duty and the creative drive is about the
propensity to fruitive labor. (5) The following to divine instruction as said deals with the various narrations describing the
activities of the Lord descending and the persons that are His followers. (6) Returning to God is about the resting in the
Original Person of souls along with the energies while liberation is about giving up other forms [of existence] for the sake of
the permanence of the constitutional Original One.
(7) He is of both the cosmic manifestation and its returning to God, the source from which all takes place and thus He is
called the reservoir of the Supreme Spirit or the Supersoul. (8) From being the personality in possession of his senses
[adhyâtmika] He is as well the controlling deity [adhidaivika] as the person separate therefrom perceived as an other
embodied living being [adhibhautika]. (9) The one who sees
that each one of the three is not understood in the absence of
one of the others, knows that He is the soul that is its own
shelter in this spiritual division.(10) As He [expanding in
space-time] separated the Universes, came He as the same
Original Person out of Himself to rest in the [causal] waters
desiring for the created the most pure of transcendence. (11) In
that residing in Himself for a thousand of His godly years, is
He in the matter of His own creation known by the name of
Nârâyana [the path, the lead of God relating to man], for He,
resting in the causal waters, emanated from the Original
Person. (12) The physical elements, the activities, the time and
surely also the living entities all exist by His mercy and cease to
exist on neglect. (13) Being on Himself He, from His mystic
slumber, desired the variety and thus generated the golden hue
of the seminal demigod to the created external energy perfect
in its three features.

(14) Let me now tell you about how the Lord, as the One only,
divided the potency of His Lordship in three deities ruling the
sensing, controlling and embodied beings.(15) Proceeding
from the ether within the body of the Original Person
generated the energy of the senses, the mental force and the
physical strength and then the life breath [the prâna] ruling
over each. (16) The in all living entities endeavoring senses
who follow the symptoms of life, find their peace the way all
subjects stop endeavoring in following a king as he stops. (17)
The living force being agitated generates from the Supreme
within hunger and thirst and at first, in order to quench that
thirst and still that hunger, the mouth was opened. (18) From
the mouth the palate generated showing the tongue after which
the various tastes manifested that could be relished by it. (19)
With the need to speak from the mouth of the Supreme there came the fire of as well vibrations as speeches, but because He
was at rest in the waters, for a very long time that remained suspended. (20) In the nostrils the movement of the respiration
was developed upon which from the nose its desire to function the sense to smell odors came about. (21) Being on Himself in
the darkness did, on the desire to observe all the coming manifestations of His transcendental body, for His vision the Sun
manifest to give all eyes the power of seeing. (22) From the wise desiring to understand from their realization that what He
wanted to know, the ears as well manifested to the direction of the power of hearing and its objects. (23) Of the desire to
experience the hard, soft, light, weight, heat and cold of all matter, the sense of touch was distributed over the skin with its
bodily hair and of having perceived through the touch of that skin the objects of perception from within and without, the
three controlling deities manifested as well.

(24) Desiring the different types of work, from them His hands manifested, but to give strength to the manipulation
depending on them [the gods and His hands], Indra, the king of the gods, came into being. (25) Wishing to control
movement the legs manifested, for the purpose of which the Lord of Sacrifice [Vishnu] Himself manifested motivating the
different human beings to the duties according their fruitive activities [karma]. (26) Desiring to taste the nectar of sexual
enjoyment appeared the genitals of the male and female organ and found the cherished of the lustful its existence that is the
shelter for the both of them [controlled by the Prajâpati]. (27) Desiring to evacuate the refuse of eatables first the opening of
the anus and then its sense came about after which Mitra, the controller over the excretion, came to give shelter to the both
of them. (28) Wishing to spread everywhere in different bodies, from the one body the navel manifested after which it
became the place wherefrom separated the arrest of the vitality and death were found. (29) In the want for food and drink
the abdomen with the rivers and seas of the intestines and arteries originated as also the source of the sustaining
metabolism of them. (30) Desirous to know His own energy the heart [as the seat of thinking] manifested after which the
mind, Candra the controller [the moon] and thus the reality of determination and desire were found. (31) The seven
elements of the nails, skin, flesh, blood, fat, marrow and bone are predominantly of earth, water and fire whereas the life
breath is there from the ether, the water and the air [see also kosha]. (32) The senses of the material ego are attached to the
modes of matter, which thus affect the mind after which all affection follows that shapes the intelligence and its deliberation
of soul.
(33) Of all this is the Supreme Lord His form, as I explained to you, known in the eight elements [of earth, water, fire, air,
ether, mind, intelligence and false ego] of all the worlds and such, that make for an unlimited external covering. (34)
Therefore there are, for the supreme of the finer than the finest, the featureless unmanifested, that is without a beginning,
without an intermediate stage and without an end and is thus eternal, the words for the mind to the transcendental. (35)
Neither of these forms about the Supreme Lord as I described to you are, because of their external manifestation, ever taken
for granted by the learned ones of consciousness. (36) He by His incarnations and activities, His transcendental qualities
and entourage, as the Supreme Lord of the Spirit, accepts in the pastimes of His forms the work of transcendence that is free
from material interest. (37-40) O King, know that all the happiness and distress and their mixture as experienced by the
members of the family of Brahmâ, the Manus, the godly, the wise, the inhabitants of Pitriloka [forefathers] and Siddhaloka
[the perfected], the Câranas [the venerable], Gandharvas [singers of heaven], Vidyâdharas [scientists], Asuras [the
unenlightened or the demons], Yakshas [treasure-keeper or evil spirits], Kinnaras [of superpowers] and angels, the snake-
like, the monkey-shaped Kimpurushas, the human beings, the inhabitants of Mâtriloka [of the place of the mother], the
demons and Pis'âcas [yellow flesh-eating demons], as also the ghosts, spirits, lunatics and evil spirits, the ones of good and
evil stars, as well as the birds, the forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the reptiles, those of the mountains, the moving
and standing living entities, the living entities born from embryos, from eggs, from heat [microorganisms] and from seeds,
and all others, whether they be in the water, land or the sky, is with all of them there as the result of deeds in the past
[karma].

(41) To the modes of goodness, passion and slowness we thus have the three of the godly, the human and the suffering ones
and even others, o King, when one divides it to moving in habits developed in each of the three in relation to the other two.
(42) Without doubt in this does He, the Maintainer of the entire universe, the Supreme Lord, assume the form of the
principles of righteousness, in order to reclaim, after the creation of the universes, the godless, the human and the godly
ones. (43) At the end of the era all that is with Him will be completely annihilated by fire in the form of Rudra [S'iva the
destroyer], the way in time the wind does with clouds. (44) With these features concerning the matter of creation and
destruction is by the great transcendentalists the Supreme Lord described, but the great devotees deserve to see more of the
most glorious than these features alone. (45) Never is in the matter of creation and so on the Supreme in the beyond
described as the engineer, for that [idea of having a Supreme position] is to counteract what by the material energy is
manifested. (46) This all but exemplifies the regulative principles by which the Creator operates for the duration of his time
[described as a day of Brahmâ] and the duration of the universes. Herein, in summary, is the generating of the entire
dispersed material creation given. (47) The exact measurement of the time to its form and symptoms of one day of Brahmâ
[kalpa] I will explain after first letting you know about this epoch of His descend [also called the Pâdma Kalpa]'."

(48) S'aunaka said: "O Sûta, you told us from your good self about Vidura, who is one of the best devotees, as he took to the
places of pilgrimage on this earth, leaving aside the relatives that are so difficult to give up.(49-50) O gentle one, please tell
us here about the new things Vidura discussed with Maitreya [a famous rishi] who is so full of transcendental knowledge
and anything else he asked His grace and got answered from him back then. Why did Vidura actually give up his activities
and his associates and why did he return home afterwards?"

(51) Sûta replied: "Please listen while I explain to you what the great sage [S'uka] spoke about in his answering according
the questions of King Parîkchit."