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The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

o >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4




"The illustrious Sankara said, 'O dear Upamanyu, I am gratified with
thee. Behold me, O foremost of Munis, O learned Rishi, thou art firmly
devoted to me and well hast thou been tested by me. I have been very
highly pleased with thee in consequence of this thy devotion to Siva. I
shall, therefore, give thee today the fruition of whatever desires thou
mayst have in thy heart. Thus addressed by Mahadeva of great wisdom,
tears of joy came into my eyes and my hair stood on its end (through
emotion). Kneeling down unto him and bowing unto him repeatedly, I then,
with a voice that was choked with delight, said unto him,--O illustrious
god, it seems to me that I was hitherto dead and that it is only today
that I have taken my birth, and that my birth bath today borne fruit,
since I am staying now in the presence of Him who is the Master of both
the deities and the Asuras! Who else is more praiseworthy than I, since I
am beholding with these eyes of mine, Him of immeasurable prowess whom
the very deities are unable to behold without first paying hearty
worship? That which they that are possessed of learning and wisdom say is
the highest of all topics, which is Eternal, which is distinguished from
all else, which is unborn, which is Knowledge, which is indestructible,
is identical with thee, O puissant and illustrious one, thee that art the
beginning of all the topics, thee that art indestructible and changeless,
thee that art conversant with the ordinances which govern all the topics,
thee that art the foremost of Purushas, thee that art the highest of the
high. Thou art he that hadst created from thy right side the Grandsire
Brahma, the Creator of all things. Thou art he that hadst created from
thy left side Vishnu for protecting the Creation. Thou art that puissant
Lord who didst create Rudra when the end of the Yuga came and when the
Creation was once more to be dissolved. That Rudra, who sprang from thee
destroyed the Creation with all its mobile and immobile beings, assuming
the form of Kala of great energy, of the cloud Samvartaka (charged with
water which myriads of oceans are not capacious enough to bear), and of
the all consuming fire. Verily, when the period comes for the dissolution
of the universe, that Rudra stands, ready to swallow up the universe.
Thou art that Mahadeva, who is the original Creator of the universe with
all its mobile and immobile entities. Thou art he, who, at the end of the
Kalpa, stands, withdrawing all things into thyself. Thou art he that
pervadest all things, that art the Soul of all things, thou art the
Creator of the Creator of all entities. Incapable of being seen by even
any of the deities, thou art he that exists, pervading all entities. If,
O lord, thou hast been gratified with me and if thou wouldst grant me
boons, let this be the boon, O Lord of all the deities, that my devotion
to thee may remain unchanged. O best of the deities, let me, through thy
grace, have knowledge of the Present, the Past, and the Future. I shall
also, with all my kinsmen and friends, always eat food mixed with milk.
And let thy illustrious self be for ever present at our retreat.--Thus
addressed by me, the illustrious Maheswara endued with supreme energy,
that Master of all mobile and immobile, viz., Siva, worshipped of all the
universe, then said unto me these words.'

"The illustrious Deity said, 'Be thou free from every misery and pain,
and be thou above decrepitude and death. Be thou possessed of fame, be
thou endued with great energy, and let spiritual knowledge be thine. Thou
shalt, through my grace, be always sought for by the Rishis. Be thy
behaviour good and righteous, be every desirable attribute thine, be thou
possessed of universal knowledge, and be thou of agreeable appearance.
Let undecaying youth be thine, and let thy energy be like that of fire.
Wherever, again, thou mayst desire the presence of the ocean of milk that
is so agreeable to thee, there shall that ocean appear before thee (ready
for being utilised by thee and thy friends for purposes of thy food). Do
thou, with thy friends, always obtain food prepared with milk, with the
celestial nectar besides being mixed with it.[67] After the expiration of
a Kalpa thou shalt then obtain my companionship. Thy family and race and
kinsmen shall be exhaustless. O foremost of regenerate ones, thy devotion
to me shalt be eternal. And. O best of Brahmanas, I shall always accord
my presence to thy asylum. Live, O son, whithersoever thou likest, and
let no anxiety be thine. Thought of by thee, I shall, O learned Brahmana,
grant thee a sight of myself again.--Having said these words, and granted
me these boons, the illustrious Isana, endued with the effulgence of
millions of Suns, disappeared there and then. It was even thus, O
Krishna, that I beheld, with the aid of austere penances, that God of
gods. I also obtained all that was said by the great Deity endued with
supreme intelligence. Behold, O Krishna, before thy eyes, these Siddhas
residing here and these Rishis and Vidyadharas and Yakshas and Gandharvas
and Apsaras. Behold these trees and creepers and plants yielding all
sorts of flowers and fruits. Behold them bearing the flowers of every
season, with beautiful leaves, and shedding a sweet fragrance all around.
O thou of mighty arms, all these are endued with a celestial nature
through the grace of that god of gods, that Supreme Lord, that
high-souled Deity.'

"Vasudeva continued, 'Hearing these words of his and beholding, as it
were, with my own eyes all that he had related to me, I became filled
with wonder. I then addressed the great ascetic Upamanyu and said unto
him,--Deserving of great praise art thou, O foremost of learned
Brahmanas, for what righteous man is there other than thou whose retreat
enjoys the distinction of being honoured with the presence of that God of
gods? Will the puissant Siva, will the great Sankara, O chief of
ascetics, grant me also a sight of his person and show me favour.'

"Upamanyu said, 'Without doubt, O thou of eyes like lotus-petals, thou
wilt obtain a sight of Mahadeva very soon, even as, O sinless one, I
succeeded in obtaining a sight of him. O thou of immeasurable prowess, I
see with my spiritual eyes that thou wilt, in the sixth month from this,
succeed in obtaining a sight of Mahadeva, O best of all persons. Thou, O
foremost of the Yadus, wilt obtain from Maheswara and his spouse, four
and twenty boons. I tell thee what is true. Through the grace of that
Deity endued with supreme wisdom, the Past, the Future and the Present
are known to me. The great Hara has favoured these Rishis numbering by
thousands and others as numerous. Why will not the puissant Deity show
favour to thee, O Mahadeva? The meeting of the gods is always commendable
with one like thee, with one that is devoted to the Brahmanas, with one
that is full of compassion and that is full of faith. I shall give thee
certain Mantras. Recite them continuously. By this thou art certain to
behold Sankara.'

"The blessed Vishnu continued, 'I then said unto him, O regenerate one,
through thy grace, O great ascetic. I shall behold the lord of the
deities, that grinder of multitudes of Diti's sons. Eight days, O
Bharata, passed there like an hour, all of us being thus occupied with
talk on Mahadeva. On the eighth day, I underwent the Diksha (initiation)
according to due rites, at the hands of that Brahmana and received the
staff from his hands. I underwent the prescribed shave. I took up a
quantity of Kusa blades in my hand. I wore rags for my vestments. I
rubbed my person with ghee. I encircled a cord of Munja grass round my
loins. For one month I lived on fruits. The second month I subsisted upon
water. The third, the fourth and the fifth months I passed, living upon
air alone. I stood all the while, supporting myself upon one foot and
with my arms also raised upwards, and foregoing sleep all the while. I
then beheld, O Bharata, in the firmament an effulgence that seemed to be
as dazzling as that of a thousand Suns combined together. Towards the
centre of that effulgence, O son of Pandu, I saw a cloud looking like a
mass of blue hills, adorned with rows of cranes, embellished with many a
grand rainbow, with flashes of lightning and the thunder-fire looking
like eyes set on it.[68] Within that cloud was the puissant Mahadeva.
himself of dazzling splendour, accompanied by his spouse Uma. Verily, the
great Deity seemed to shine with his penances, energy, beauty,
effulgence, and his dear spouse by his side. The puissant Maheswara, with
his spouse by his side, shone in the midst of that cloud. The appearance
seemed to be like that of the Sun in the midst of racking clouds with the
Moon by his side. The hair on my body, O son of Kunti, stood on its end,
and my eyes expanded with wonder upon beholding Hara, the refuge of all
the deities and the dispeller of all their griefs. Mahadeva was adorned
with a diadem on his head. He was armed with his Sula. He was clad in a
tiger-skin, had matted locks on his head, and bore the staff (of the
Sanyasin) in one of his hands. He was armed, besides with his Pinaka and
the thunderbolt. His teeth was sharp-pointed. He was decked with an
excellent bracelet for the upper arm. His sacred thread was constituted
by a snake. He wore an excellent garland of diversified colours on his
bosom, that hung down to his toes. Verily, I beheld him like the
exceedingly bright moon of an autumnal evening. Surrounded by diverse
clans of spirits and ghosts, he looked like the autumnal Sun difficult of
being gazed at for its dazzling brightness. Eleven hundred Rudras stood
around that Deity of restrained soul and white deeds, then seated upon
his bull. All of them were employed in hymning his praises. The Adityas,
the Vasus, the Sadhyas, the Viswedevas, and the twin Aswins praised that
Lord of the universe by uttering the hymns occurring in the scriptures.
The puissant Indra and his brother Upendra, the two sons of Aditi, and
the Grandsire Brahma, all uttered, in the presence of Bhava, the
Rathantara Saman. Innumerable masters of Yoga, all the regenerate Rishis
with their children, all the celestial Rishis, the goddess Earth, the Sky
(between Earth and Heaven), the Constellations, the Planets, the Months,
the Fortnights, the Seasons, Night, the Years, the Kshanas, the Muhurtas,
the Nimeshas, the Yugas one after another, all the celestial Sciences and
branches of knowledge, and all beings conversant with Truth, were seen
bowing down unto that Supreme Preceptor, that great Father, that giver
(or origin) of Yoga. Sanatkumara, the Vedas, the Histories, Marichi,
Angiras, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, the seven Manus, Soma, the
Atharvans, and Vrihaspati, Bhrigu, Daksha, Kasyapa, Vasishtha, Kasya, the
Schandas, Diksha, the Sacrifices, Dakshina, the Sacrificial Fires, the
Havis (clarified butter) poured in sacrifices, and all the requisites of
the sacrifices, were beheld by me, O Yudhishthira, standing there in
their embodied forms. All the guardians of the worlds, all the Rivers,
all the snakes, the mountains, the celestial Mothers, all the spouses and
daughters of the celestials, thousands upon thousands and millions of
ascetics, were seen to bow down to that puissant Lord who is the soul of
tranquillity. The Mountains, the Oceans, and the Points of the compass
also did the same, the Gandharvas and the Apsaras highly skilled in
music, in celestial strains, sang and hymned the praises of Bhava who is
full of wonder. The Vidyadharas, the Danavas, the Guhyakas, the
Rakshasas, and all created beings, mobile and immobile, adorned, in
thought, word and deed, that puissant Lord. Before me, that Lord of all
the gods viz., Sarva, appeared seated in all his glory. Seeing that Isana
had showed himself to me by being seated in glory before my eyes, the
whole universe, with the Grandsire and Sakra, looked at me. I, however,
had not the power to look at Mahadeva. The great Deity then addressed me
saying, 'Behold, O Krishna, and speak to me. Thou hast adorned me
hundreds and thousands of times. There is no one in the three worlds that
is dearer to me than thou.' After I had bowed unto him, his spouse, viz.,
the goddess Uma, became gratified with me. I then addressed in these
words the great God whose praises are hymned by all the deities with the
Grandsire Brahma at their head.'

"The blessed Vishnu said, 'I saluted Mahadeva, saying,--Salutations to
thee, O thou that art the eternal origin of all things. The Rishis say
that thou art the Lord of the Vedas. The righteous say that thou art
Penance, thou art Sattwa, thou art Rajas, thou art Tamas, and thou art
Truth. Thou art Brahman, thou art Rudra, thou art Varuna, thou art Agni,
thou art Manu, thou art Bhava, thou art Dhatri, thou art Tashtri, thou
art Vidhatri, thou art the puissant Master of all things, and thou art
everywhere. All beings, mobile and immobile, have sprung from thee. This
triple world with all its mobile and immobile entities, has been created
by thee. The Rishis say that thou art superior to the senses, the mind,
the vital breaths, the seven sacrificial fires, all others that have
their refuge in the all-pervading Soul, and all the deities that are
adored and worthy of adoration. Thou, O illustrious one, art the Vedas,
the Sacrifices, Soma, Dakshina, Pavaka, Havi, and all other requisites of
sacrifice. The merit obtained by sacrifices, gifts made to others, the
study of the Vedas, vows, regulations in respect of restraint, Modesty,
Fame, Prosperity, Splendour, Contentment, and Success, all exist for
leading to thee.[69] Desire, Wrath, Fear, Cupidity, Pride, Stupefaction,
and Malice, Pains and Diseases, are, O illustrious one, thy children.
Thou art all acts that creatures do, thou art the joy and sorrow that
flow from those acts, thou art the absence of joy and sorrow, thou art
that Ignorance which is the indestructible seed of Desire, thou art the
high origin of Mind, thou art Puissance, and thou art Eternity.[70] Thou
art the Unmanifest, thou art Pavana, thou art inconceivable, thou art the
thousand-rayed Sun, thou art the effulgent Chit, thou art the first of
all the topics, and thou art the refuge of life.[71] The use of words
like Mahat, Soul, Understanding, Brahman, Universe, Sambhu, and Self-born
and other words occurring in succession (in the Vedas), show that thy
nature has been judged (by persons conversant with the Vedas) as
identical with Mahat and Soul. Verily, regarding thee as all this, the
learned Brahmanas win over that ignorance which lies at the root of the
world. Thou residest in the heart of all creatures, and thou art adored
by the Rishis as Kshetrajna. Thy arms and feet extend to every place, and
thy eyes, head, and face are everywhere. Thou hearest everywhere in the
universe, and thou stayest, pervading all things. Of all acts that are
performed in the Nimeshas and other divisions of time that spring in
consequence of the puissance of the Sun, thou art the fruit.[72] Thou art
the original effulgence (of the supreme Chit). Thou art Purusha, and thou
residest in the hearts of all things. Thou art the various Yogic
attributes of success, viz., Subtility and Grossness and Fruition and
Supremacy and Effulgence and Immutability.[73] Understanding and
intelligence and all the worlds rest upon thee. They that are devoted to
meditation, that are always engaged in Yoga, that are devoted to or firm
in Truth and that have subjugated their passions, seek thee and rest on
thee.[74] They that know thee for one that is Immutable, or one that
resides in all hearts, or one that is endued with supreme puissance, or
one that is the ancient Purusha, or one that is pure Knowledge, or one
that is the effulgent Chit, or one that is the highest refuge of all
persons endued with intelligence, are certainly persons of great
intelligence. Verily, such persons stay, transcending intelligence.[75]
By understanding the seven subtile entities (viz., Mahat, Ego, and five
subtile primal elements called Tanmatras), by comprehending thy six
attributes (of Omniscience, Contentment of Fullness, Knowledge without
beginning, Independence, Puissance that is not at fault at any time and
that is infinite), and being conversant with Yoga that is freed from
every false notion, the man of knowledge succeeds in entering into thy
great self.--After I had said these words, O Partha, unto Bhava, that
dispeller of grief and pain, the universe, both mobile and immobile, sent
up a leonine shout (expressive of their approval of the correctness of my
words). The innumerable Brahmanas there present, the deities and the
Asuras, the Nagas, the Pisachas, the Pitris, the birds, diverse
Rakshasas, diverse classes of ghosts and spirits, and all the great
Rishis, then bowed down unto that great Deity. There then fell upon my
head showers of celestial flowers possessed of great fragrance, and
delicious winds blew on the spot. The puissant Sankara then, devoted to
the good of the universe, looked at the goddess Uma and the lord of the
celestials and myself also, and thus spoke unto me,--We know, O Krishna,
that thou, O slayer of foes, art filled with the greatest devotion
towards us. Do what is for thy good. My love and affection for thee is
very great. Do thou ask for eight boons. I shall verily give them unto
thee, O Krishna, O best of all persons, tell me what they are, O chief of
the Yadavas. Name what thou wishest. However difficult of attainment they
be, thou shalt have them still.'"[76]



SECTION XV

"The blessed Krishna said, 'Bowing my head with great joy unto that mass
of energy and effulgence, I said these words unto the great Deity, with a
heart filled with gladness,--Firmness in virtue, the slaughter of foes in
battle, the highest fame, the greatest might, devotion to Yoga, thy
adjacence, and hundreds upon hundreds of children, these are the boons I
solicit of thee,--So be it,--said Sankara repeating the words I had
uttered. After this, the mother of the universe, the upholders of all
things, who cleanses, all things, viz., the spouse of Sarva, that vast
receptacle of penances said with a restrained soul these words unto
me,--'The puissant Mahadeva has granted thee, O sinless one, a son who
shall be named Samva. Do thou take from me also eight boons which thou
choosest. I shall certainly grant them to thee.--Bowing unto her with a
bend of my head, I said unto her, O son of Pandu,--I solicit from thee
non-anger against the Brahmanas, grace of my father, a hundred sons, the
highest enjoyments, love for my family, the grace of my mother, the
attainment of tranquillity and peace, and cleverness in every act!'

"Uma said, 'It shall be even so, O thou that art possessed of prowess and
puissance equal to that of a celestial. I never say what is untrue. Thou
shalt have sixteen thousand wives. Thy love for them and theirs also for
thee shall be unlimited. From all thy kinsmen also, thou shalt receive
the highest affection. Thy body too shall be most beautiful. Seven
thousand guests will daily feed at thy palace.'

"Vasudeva continued, 'Having thus granted me boons both the god and the
goddess, O Bharata, disappeared there and then with their Ganas, O elder
brother of Bhima. All those wonderful facts I related fully, O best of
kings, to that Brahmana of great energy, viz., Upamanyu (from whom I had
obtained the Diksha before adoring Mahadeva). Bowing down unto the great
God, Upamanyu said these words to me.'

"Upamanyu said, 'There is no deity like Sarva. There is no end or refuge
like Sarva. There is none that can give so many or such high boons. There
is none that equal him in battle.'"



SECTION XVI

"Upamanyu said, 'There was in the Krita age, O sire, a Rishi celebrated
under the name of Tandi. With great devotion of heart he adored, with the
aid of Yoga-meditation, the great God for ten thousand years. Listen to
me as I tell thee fruit or reward he reaped of such extraordinary
devotion. He succeeded in beholding Mahadeva and praised him by uttering
some hymns. Thinking, with the aid of his penances, of Him who is the
supreme Soul and who is immutable and undeteriorating, Tandi became
filled with wonder, and said these words,--I seek the protection of Him
whom the Sankhyas describe and the Yogins think of as the Supreme, the
Foremost, the Purusha, the pervader of all things, and the Master of all
existent objects, of him who, the learned say, is the cause of both the
creation and the destruction of the universe; of him who is superior to
all the celestials, the Asuras, and the Munis, of him who has nothing
higher, who is unborn, who is the Lord of all things, who has neither
beginning nor end, and who is endued with supreme puissance, who is
possessed of the highest felicity, and who is effulgent and
sinless.--After he had said these words, Tandi beheld before him that
ocean of penances, that great Deity who is immutable and undeteriorating,
who is without compare, who is inconceivable, who is eternal, and who is
without any change, who is indivisible, who is whole, who is Brahma, who
transcends all attributes, and who is endued with attributes, who is the
highest delight of Yogins, who is without deterioration, who is called
Emancipation, who is the refuge of the Mind, of Indra, of Agni, of the
god of wind, of the entire universe, and of the Grandsire Brahma; who is
incapable of being conceived by the Mind, who is without mutation of any
kind, who is pure, who is capable of being apprehended by understanding
only and who is immaterial as the Mind; who is difficult of
comprehension, who is incapable of being measured, who is difficult of
being attained by persons of uncleansed souls, who is the origin of the
universe, and who transcends both the universe and the attribute of
darkness; who is ancient, who is Purusha, who is possessed of effulgence,
and who is higher than the highest. The Rishi Tandin, desirous of
beholding Him who making himself endued with life-breaths, resides in
what results from it viz., Jiva, in the form of that effulgence which is
called the Mind, passed many years in the practice of the severest
austerities, and having succeeded in beholding Him as the reward of those
penances, he praised the great God in the following terms.'

"Tandi said, 'Thou art the holiest of holies[77] and the refuge of all, O
foremost of all beings endued with intelligence. Thou art the fiercest
energy of all kinds of energy. Thou art the austerest penance of all
penances. Thou, O puissant one, art the liberal giver of blessings. Thou
art the supreme Truth. Salutations to thee, O thou of a thousand rays,
and, O refuge of all felicity. Thou art the giver of that Nirvana which,
O puissant one, Yatis, standing in fear of birth and death, strive for so
hard. The Grandsire Brahma, he of a hundred sacrifices, (viz., Indra)
Vishnu, the Viswadevas, the great Rishis, are incapable of comprehending
thee and thy real nature. How then can persons like ourselves hope to
comprehend thee? From thee flows everything. Upon thee rests everything.
Thou art called Kala, thou art called Purusha, thou art called Brahma.
Celestial Rishis conversant with the Puranas, say that thou hast three
bodies viz., those pertaining to Kalas, those pertaining to Purusha and
those pertaining to Brahma or the three forms namely Brahma, Vishnu and
Rudra. Thou art Adhi-Purusha, (occupying the physical flame from head to
foot) thou art Adhyatma, thou art Adhibhuta, and Adhi-Daivata, thou art
Adhi-loka, Adhi-Vijnanam and Adhi-Yajna.[78] Men of wisdom, when they
succeed in knowing thee that residest in themselves and that art
incapable of being known by the very gods, become freed from all bonds
and pass into a state of existence that transcends all sorrow.[79] They
that do not wish to know thee, O thou of great puissance, have to undergo
innumerable births and deaths. Thou art the door of heaven and of
Emancipation. Thou art he that projectest all beings into existence and
withdrawest them again into thyself. Thou art the great giver. Thou art
heaven, thou art Emancipation, thou art desire (the seed of action). Thou
art wrath that inspires creatures. Thou art Sattwa, thou art Rajas, thou
art Tamas, thou art the nether regions, and thou art the upper regions.
Thou art the Grandsire Brahma, thou art Bhava, thou art Vishnu, thou art
Skanda, thou art Indra, thou art Savitri, thou art Yama, thou art Varuna,
Soma, thou art Dhatri, thou art Manu, thou art Vidhatri and thou art
Kuvera, the Lord of treasures. Thou art Earth, thou art Wind, thou art
Water, thou art Agni, thou art Space, thou art Speech, thou art the
Understanding, thou art Steadiness, thou art Intelligence, thou art the
acts that creatures do, thou art Truth, thou art Falsehood, thou art
existent and thou art non-existent. Thou art the senses, thou art that
which transcends Prakriti, thou art immutable. Thou art superior to the
universe of existent objects, thou art superior to the universe of
non-existent objects, thou art capable of being conceived, thou art
incapable of being conceived. That which is supreme Brahman, that which
is the highest entity, that which is the end of both the Sankhyas and the
Yogins, is, without doubt, identical with thee. Verily, rewarded have I
been today by thee in consequence of thy granting me a sight of thy form.
I have attained the end which the righteous alone attain to. I have been
rewarded with that end which is solicited by persons whose understandings
have been cleansed by Knowledge. Alas, so long I was steeped in
Ignorance; for this long period I was a senseless fool, since I had no
knowledge of thee that art the Supreme Deity, thee that art the only
eternal Entity as can be only known by all persons endued with wisdom. In
course of innumerable lives have I at last succeeded in acquiring that
Devotion towards thee in consequence of which thou hast shown thyself to
me. O thou that art ever inclined to extend thy grace to those that are
devoted to thee. He that succeeds in knowing thee is enable to enjoy
immortality. Thou art that which is ever a mystery with the gods, the
Asuras, and the ascetics. Brahman is concealed in the cave of the heart.
The very ascetics are unable to behold or know Him.[80] Thou art that
puissant deity who is the doer of everything and whose face is turned
towards every direction. Thou art the Soul of all things, thou seest all
things, thou pervadest all things, and thou knowest all things. Thou
makest a body for thyself, and bearest that body. Thou art an embodied
Being. Thou enjoyest a body, and thou art the refuge of all embodied
creatures. Thou art the creator of the life-breaths, thou possessest the
life-breaths, thou art one that is endued with life-breaths, thou art the
giver of the life-breaths, and thou art the refuge of all beings endued
with life-breaths. Thou art that Adhyatma which is the refuge of all
righteous persons that are devoted to Yoga-meditation and conversant with
the Soul and that are solicitous of avoiding rebirth. Verily, thou art
that Supreme Lord who is identical with that refuge. Thou art the giver
unto all creatures of whatever ends become theirs, fraught with happiness
or misery. Thou art he that ordains all created beings to birth and
death. Thou art the puissant Lord who grants success to Rishis crowned
with success in respect of the fruition of their wishes. Having created
all the worlds beginning with Bhu, together with all the denizens of
heaven, that upholdest and cherishest them all, distributing thyself into
thy well-known forms numbering Eight.[81] From thee flows everything.
Upon thee rests all things. All things, again, disappear in thee. Thou
art the sole object that is Eternal. Thou art that region of Truth which
is sought by the righteous and regarded by them as the highest. Thou art
that cessation of individual existence which Yogins seek. Thou art that
Oneness which is sought by persons conversant with the soul. Brahma and
the Siddhas expounding the mantras have concealed thee in a cave for
preventing the deities and Asuras and human beings from beholding
thee.[82] Although thou residest in the heart, yet thou are concealed.
Hence, stupefied by thee, deities and Asuras and human beings are all
unable to understand thee, O Bhava, truly and in all thy details. Unto
those persons that succeed in attaining to thee after having cleansed
themselves by devotion, thou showest thyself of thy own accord, O thou
that residest in all hearts.[83] By knowing thee one can avoid both death
and rebirth. Thou art the highest object of knowledge. By knowing thee no
higher object remains for one to know. Thou art the greatest object of
acquisition. The person that is truly wise, by acquiring thee, thinks
that there is no higher object to acquire. By attaining to thee that art
exceedingly subtile and that art the highest object of acquisition, the
man of wisdom becomes immortal and immutable. The followers of the
Sankhya system, well conversant with their own philosophy and possessing
a knowledge of the attributes (of Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas) and of those
called the topics of enquiry,--those learned men who transcend the
destructible by attaining to a knowledge of the subtile or
indestructible--succeed, by knowing thee, in freeing themselves from all
bonds. Persons conversant with the Vedas regard thee as the one object of
knowledge, which has been expounded in the Vedantas. These men, devoted
to the regulation of the breaths, always meditate on thee and at last
enter into thee as their highest end. Riding on the car made of Om, those
men enter into Maheswara. Of that which is called the Devayana (the path
of the deities) thou art the door called Aditya. Thou art again, the
door, called Chandramas, of that which is called the Pitriyana (the path
of the Pitris).[84] Thou art Kashtha, thou art the points of the horizon,
thou art the year, and thou art the Yugas. Thine is the sovereignty of
the heavens, thine is the sovereignty of the Earth, thou art the Northern
and the Southern declensions. The Grandsire Brahma in days of yore
uttered thy praises, O thou that art called Nilarohita (blue and red), by
reciting diverse hymns and urged thee to create living creatures.
Brahmanas conversant with Richs praise thee by uttering Richs, regarding
thee as unattached to all things and as divested of all forms. Adhyaryus,
in sacrifices, pour libations, uttering Yajushes the while, in honour of
thee that art the sole object of knowledge, according to the three
well-known ways.[85] Persons of cleansed understandings, that are
conversant with Samans, sing thee with the aid of Samans. Those
regenerate persons, again, that are conversant with the Atharvans, hymn
thee as Rita, as Truth, as the Highest, and as Brahma. Thou art the
highest cause, whence Sacrifice has flowed. Thou art the Lord, and thou
art Supreme. The night and day are thy sense of hearing and sense of
sight. The fortnights and months are thy head and arms. The seasons are
thy energy, penances are thy patience, and the year is thy anus, thighs
and feet. Thou art Mrityu. thou art Yama, thou art Hutasana, thou art
Kala, thou art endued with speed in respect of destruction, thou art the
original cause of Time, and thou art eternal Time. Thou art Chandramas
and Aditya. with all the stars and planets and the atmosphere that fills
space. Thou art the pole-star, thou art constellation called the seven
Rishis, thou art the seven regions beginning with Bhu. Thou art Pradhana
and Mahat, thou art Unmanifest, and thou art this world. Thou art the
universe beginning with Brahman and ending with the lowest forms of
vegetation. Thou art the beginning or original cause of all creatures.
Thou art the eight Prakritis.[86] Thou art, again, above the eight
Prakritis. Everything that exists, represents a portion of thy divine
Self. Thou art that supreme Felicity which is also Eternal. Thou art the
end which is attained to by all things. Thou art that highest existence
which is sought for by the Righteous. Thou art that state which is freed
from every anxiety. Thou art eternal Brahman! Thou art that highest state
which constitutes the meditation of persons learned in the scriptures and
the Vedangas. Thou art the highest Kashtha, thou art the highest Kala.
Thou art the highest Success, and thou art the highest Refuge. Thou art
the highest Tranquillity. Thou art the highest cessation of Existence. By
attaining to thee, Yogins think that they attain to the highest success
that is open to them. Thou art Contentment, thou art Success, thou art
the Sruti, and thou art the Smriti. Thou art that Refuge of the Soul
after which Yogins strive, and thou art that indestructible Prapti which
men of Knowledge pursue. Thou art, without doubt, that End which those
persons have in view that are habituated to sacrifices and that pour
sacrificial libations, impelled by specific desires, and that make large
presents on such occasions. Thou art that high End which is sought for by
persons that waste and scorch their bodies with severe penances with
ceaseless recitations, with those rigid vows and fasts that appertain to
their tranquil lives, and with other means of self-affliction. O Eternal
one, thou art that End which is theirs that are unattached to all things
and that have relinquished all acts. Thou, O Eternal one, art that End
which is theirs that are desirous of achieving Emancipation from rebirth,
that live in dissociation from all enjoyments, and that desire the
annihilation of the Prakriti elements. Thou art that high End, O
illustrious one, which is indescribable, which is stainless, which is the
immutable one, and which is theirs that are devoted to knowledge and
science. These are the live Ends that have been declared in the Vedas and
the Scriptures and the Puranas. It is through thy grace that persons
attain to those Ends, or, if they fail to attain to them, it is through
thy grace being denied to them.--It was thus Tandi, who was a vast heap
of penances, praised Isana. And he sang also that high Brahman which in
ancient days was sung by the Creator himself (in honour of Mahadeva).

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Various - "Punch, Or the London Charivari, Vol. 102, Feb. 13, 1892"

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