Category: SrimadBhagavatam

Srikrishnāya namah.

Prithu continued, “O Lord of the universe! Goddess Lakshmi has eternally been serving Your lotus feet. Now I am eager to offer those services to You. Definitely this will lead to rivalry between us. Being compassionate towards the down-trodden, You accept their trivial services considering them as highest. O Lord, being a form of completeness, You take delight in Your own original form. Why then would you need Goddess Lakshmi?

O Lord, You are beyond the activities of the trigunās. For this reason Mahatmas continue to serve You even after obtaining Self-realization. They do not seek anything apart from serving Your lotus feet. O Lord of all Lords, You ask me, a mere servant, to seek boons. Such words when uttered by You trap people into delusion. It bewilders them. Tied to the rope called Vedic injunctions, human beings repeatedly perform fruitive actions seeking some rewards”.

Entertaining a desire, performing actions so as fulfill that desire, in the process falling into difficulties, again developing newer desires so as to come out of those difficult situations, corresponding actions towards it- in this way it is an endless cycle! If at all the desire is completely fulfilled the person doesn’t stop with it. Very quickly he creates newer desires. If at all his desire remains unfulfilled, he will distance from God. He will declare ‘of what use is it to worship this God when he does not fulfill our desires’. As a result, he sinks to lower depths.

“Therefore, O Lord, please save us. Do not allow one desire after another to crop up in our minds. Please transform us such that we are distanced from these repeated desires. This is because if we entertain desires You will decide whether You want to fulfill them or not. If you fulfill them we will end up entertaining more desires. If you don’t fulfill, we will distance from You. Both outcomes are unhealthy. Both amount to ill-treating You. Therefore, it is better not to have any desire at all!”

Swamiji explains: Let us assume You decide to fulfill my desire and give me the best reward. What will You give? You will ensure that I am reborn in the home of the richest person on earth or in the home of a king or in an extremely influential family. I will be famous. So I will become totally egoistic and will commit heinous mistakes due to which I will slip. In my pride, I will forget You. I could acquire demonic tendencies due to my pride. Therefore, fulfilling my desires only leads me towards becoming even more egoistic.

Every time I get a newer desire I will say, “O Lord, this is the only desire left. I do not have any more desires”. In this way whether You fulfill my desires or not I am in trouble. Please do not even raise the possibility of seeking boons. I seek to stay away from these desires in the first place.

Why am I swimming only within these limited thoughts connected to my house, family, bodily pains, my sufferings, home tasks? I am unable to come out of them. O God, every time I ask You to fulfill desires connected to my life or my family, You immediately fulfill them. But what is the net benefit? I continue to remain trapped in these worldly bondages.

O Lord, You have come and are standing here before me only because I have performed many meritorious deeds. The strength of those deeds could pull You towards me. After You have come to me, why should I seek fulfillment of trivial desires? Anyway, when You have come to offer me something, why can’t I ask for the most supreme desire?

Unfortunately, such wisdom fails to arise. This is what Prithu is trying to say to the Lord. I am explaining the same to you in a present-day language so that you grasp.

“O Lord, deluded by Your illusion, the ignorant person distances from his original form and forgets it. Considering himself to be the body he asks fulfillment of bodily and worldly desires. There is nothing apart from that which he asks”.

Swamiji explains: ‘O Lord, I have pain in my right knee. If this pain is removed, it is equal to liberation’- he prays. Suppose this desire is not fulfilled, he will say, ‘Of what use is the prayer? You are not listening to my prayer. You are a stone. You are heartless. You are inefficient”- due to cursing in this manner he sinks into hell. Let us assume the pain in the right leg is removed. He then prays, ‘O Lord, these days my left knee hurts. Please help’.

In other words, you are not serving God/ Guru. You want God/ Guru to be at your service. When you approach Him and offer him a little money, you expect him to fold his hands and be at your service- ‘O devotee, please command me. What am I supposed to do? I will act per your command’. In fact you want Him to bow before you instead of you bowing before him. Pleased with the flowers and money you offer you expect him to use his supernatural powers and solve your worldly problems. This is nothing but trading with God. For every rupee or 10,000 rupees that is offered you expect fulfillment of one desire. You expect some problem to be solved.

There is not even one who says- ‘Wow, I am blessed to see You. I am happy that I have this chance of worshipping You. I offer back to You whatever You have blessed me with.’

Prithu says, “O Lord, the moment you ask me to seek boons, I am trapped in delusion. If I ask for a boon it will once again trap me in this world. All the penance done so far will be wasted only to fulfill that one desire of mine. Thousands of persons have chanted mantras and performed limitless penance during this Yagna. All this will be used only for fulfilling one desire. Even position of Indra is not permanent. Why should I desire it when it is impermanent? O Lord, I seek the permanent position of merging into You. I seek that ultimate bliss”.

Sadly no one prays in this manner. First they will explain all their problems and then finally conclude by asking for liberation. Even after hearing so much about it, we shamelessly seek that our problems are all resolved and then lastly we ask for liberation. Do you not realize that after one problem is resolved, another problem will lift its head? What is the guarantee that this is the last problem? What is the guarantee that this problem has a solution? What you seek is solution for a problem that cannot be solved. You are destined to go through that experience.

Falling in this trap of desires, the human being remains distant from his original form. This is the absolute truth! If not, why does he seek fulfillment of desires instead of seeking to merge into You? Forgetting all problems, forgetting all pains, at every moment one should pray, “O Lord, I seek only You. I only want to merge into You”. How many ever times you go to Guru/ God you should repeat the same prayer. O Lord, can you transform me to pray in this way?

Distancing from you, I am involved in all other activities. It is like making all the marriage arrangements, getting the bride ready, booking the marriage hall when they are yet to find a groom.

Haraye namah

Srihari continued, “The dharma known as protecting citizens bestows auspiciousness upon the king. The king obtains 1/6^th share in the meritorious deeds performed by the citizens. He enjoys that merit in heavenly worlds. Contrary to this, the king who extracts labour and taxes from citizens simply without offering them any protection or without striving for their wellbeing will take on the sins of his citizens. His merit (punya) gets transferred to his subjects.

Therefore, follow the dharma that has been prescribed by the Maharishis. Treat everyone equally. Maintain equipoise. The responsibility to rule the kingdom is obtained hereditarily.  Rule the citizens and the country wisely. Before long, accomplished saints will come to your house to bless you.

O King, I am pleased with your exemplary character and qualities. Seek any boon. I am easily obtained by those who have a balanced outlook towards both happiness and sorrows. I will never be satisfied by the limitless yogas, yagnas, pujas, penance and other rituals performed by those who lack good character and qualities!”

Hearing these nectarous words uttered by Lord Srihari, who pervades and illumines everything in the creation, Prithu was supremely happy. He dedicatedly accepted the Lord’s orders upon his head.

Indra who was ashamed of his actions fell on Prithu’s feet. Discarding feelings of enmity, Prithu lovingly lifted him up and embraced him. With a heart that was overflowing with devotion, Prithu lovingly and reverentially worshipped Srihari, who exists in the form of this world. He held on to the Lord’s lotus feet.

Srihari is the friend of saints. He who is under the grip of his devotees was getting ready to leave. Yet his compassionate gaze was fixed upon Prithu. Hence He did not leave.

Emperor Prithu understood that the Lord was not departing purely due to love towards him. He folded his hands and offered obeisance. However, as his eyes were filled completely with tears of joy, his vision was blurred. Hence he could not see the Lord clearly. He just stood there with his folded hands and mentally embraced the Lord.

Gently he wiped his tears. The Lord rested his hand on Garuda’s raised shoulders. He had rested his lotus feet on the ground. Emperor Prithu was not satisfied even after looking at the Lord for a long time. He said,

“O Lord, You are the God for even Devatas who grant boons. Trapped by the senses, living beings who consider themselves to be the body, entertain desires. Intelligent persons however never seek to fulfill their desires in the form of boons from You. This is because sensory pleasures can be enjoyed even by the sinners in hell. Hence I do not seek such boons from You, the Lord who bestows liberation!

O Lord, Mahatmas retain your lotus feet in their heart. The nectar called Your lotus feet drips from the lips of such saints in the form of Your divine stories. I do not seek that liberation in which such nectar is absent. Therefore, O Lord, please bless me with the joy that is obtained when your stories are listened to with 10 lakh ears. To me, this is the most important boon.

O Lord, we living beings have a very wavering instable mind. We have forgotten the path of Supreme Knowledge. The nectar called the lotus feet drips from the mouths of great saints. Even when the air which carries these droplets of nectar touches the skin it gives great satisfaction. It gives us a chance to remember You. Therefore, O Lord, I do not seek any boons.

O Lord, You have a pure reputation! Barring a fool who has animal tendencies, any person who even accidently listens to your divine stories due to associating with saints, will automatically crave to hear them again and again”.

To be frank even a fool appreciates divine story. He will think it’s so nice. I wish I could listen from the beginning once again’. A person who is totally of animal tendencies will not want to listen to such stories. He cannot understand the greatness that is hidden within Your divine stories. Even after listening to Your glories he fails to appreciate them. This is due to his dull-wittedness. This is because he seeks to go back to the demonic ways. He wants to go back to hell. So he would have begun the preparations now by demonstrating his animal tendencies. The person whose body does not horripilate upon hearing the Lord’s name, who does not feel, ‘I wish I could hear this story again’ is undoubtedly a fool. Such a person cannot relish the joy contained in those stories. This is the meaning of Prithu’s statement.

“Mother Goddess Lakshmi also desired to listen to Your divine glories, which explain all your divine qualities. Just like Goddess Lakshmi’s great enthusiasm, I too seek to listen to Your divine glories”.

Time and again one should listen to the Lord’s glories. He should recollect them again and again. He should chant the divine names repeatedly.

“O Lord, who is the shelter for the trigunas! Both Goddess Lakshmi and me will quarrel to get a chance to serve You as our sole Lord. Our minds are permanently fixed at Your lotus feet. Hence please ensure that we both do not quarrel and that there is no enmity between us”.

Haraye namah.

Srikrishnāya namah.

The Supreme Lord said, “Wise, noble persons do not get angry at other living beings. Neither do they seek to cheat others. Such persons are the most supreme amongst humans. This is because they realize that the gross body is different from the Self (atma).

Coming under the spell of My illusion, if people like you also entertain malicious feelings towards others, then the benefits accrued from serving elders for extended periods of time gets nullified. All your good efforts will be reduced to a sheer waste of time.

Ataḥ kāyam imaṁ vidvān avidyā-kāma-karmabhiḥ

Ārabdha iti naivāsmin pratibuddho ’nuṣajjate

As the human being fails to realize that inherently he is a state of completeness, desires arise in him. In his attempt to fulfill those desires, he performs fruitive actions due to which he gets this gross body. The intelligent person who realizes this profound truth gives up feelings of ‘I and mine’ as well as attachment towards this gross body.

A person who does not associate with his gross body automatically ceases to have attachments with objects connected to it such as house, property, children, spouse etc.

Bodies are many but Self is one. Self is non-dual. It is unconnected to virtue or sin (punya-pāpa). It is eternally pure. It inherently illumines. It is the shelter for the trigunas but yet its existence is independent of the trigunas. It is all-pervading. It is the eternal witness for all actions.

Ya evaṁ santam ātmānam ātma-sthaṁ veda pūruṣaḥ

Nājyate prakṛti-stho ’pi tad-guṇaiḥ sa mayi sthitaḥ

The original Self makes itself visible to living beings in the form of feelings of ‘I’ (egoism). The person who realizes that this Self is different from the gross body remains in his original form (atma rupa). He remains firmly established in Parabrahma. Even though he is living in this body which is composed of the trigunas, he is unconnected to the virtues and sins that accrue on account of the body.

O King, the mind of the person who, giving up desires in totality completes his assigned duties with absolute dedication and meditates upon me without any expectation, gradually turns pure.

The yoga practitioner who has a pure mind will be unaffected by the joys and sorrows that arise due to the trigunas. He will be in a state of equipoise. He will realize that the Lord pervades everything and hence will be freed from worldly bondages. He obtains liberation which is the ultimate peace.  He will be totally established in Me, the Self. This is known as advaita (non-dual) state.

The Self is changeless and is merely a witness. The person who realizes that such Self is beyond the body, senses and mind crosses this samsāra (worldly bondages) and attains liberation. In other words, the person who recognizes his original form obtains liberation.

How can a person who considers his body to be his Self understand these topics? If their focus is only upon their pain and other bodily afflictions then how can they be taught about the Self (atma)? On the other hand the person who understands that he inherently is the Self can obtain liberation from this world and its bondages. Bondages mean repeated births. Birth means actions. Actions include both meritorious and sinful activities. As a result of sinful actions the person has to be re-born. As a result of meritorious actions also he has to be re-born.

Therefore along with performing meritorious actions the person should strive to learn about the Self. This will pave the way to liberation!

A person normally listens to such topics for a certain fixed time during the day, say for about an hour or so. Thereafter he gets involved in frutitive actions for the rest of the day i.e. he will be focused upon material possessions, attachments and accompanying sorrows. Of what use are the couple of hours spent on spiritual lessons? Hence it is imperative that in all times and under all circumstances the person should focus only on the Self!

The person who believes this gross body to be his real Self, will endlessly experience the joys-sorrows and attachments that arise due to the trigunas birth after birth. Contrary to this, the person who is totally established in the Self will neither bloat during prosperity nor shrink at times of sorrows and losses. He will remain as a witness in all situations.

Therefore, subduing the mind and the senses, learn to treat happiness and sorrows equally.  Treat the worthy, mediocre and worthless persons equally. Protect all living beings in this creation of mine”.

Janārdhanāya namah.

Those impure disguises which Indra had donned for the purposes of stealing the horse represent sin. This is stated in the Shastras. Those who do not have the ability to walk on the path of knowledge (jnana yoga) accept these sinful disguises. In order to disrupt Prithu’s Yagnas, Indra donned many disguises. Those who accepted these sinful disguises are Pākhanḍas.

Carried away by their disguises, people consider them to be ascetics who are bound by dharma. Although externally the actions of these Pākhanḍa’s appear righteous, their path is unrighteous.Some Pākhanḍās are naked. Some wear red clothing. Some others hold skulls, bones, and have long matted hair. All these people have great expertise in attracting people towards them. They have great debating skills. Influenced by their arguments, people get easily fooled.

The venerable Emperor Prithu came to know of Indra’s repeated attempts in stealing his sacrificial horse. In fury he took up his bow and readied the arrow intending to kill Indra. The glow on his angry face created extreme fear in every heart. Enemies of Prithu did not have the capacity to handle his dexterity and speed.

The priests who saw him aiming his arrow at Indra intervened and said, “O King, you are supremely wise. In this sacrificial hall, no animal apart from the sacrificial horse should be killed. Indra is trying to disrupt your Yagna and thus is your enemy. Due to your righteous deeds, his popularity has already diminished. Using powerful Vedic hymns we shall call him here and then shall forcibly throw him into the sacrificial homa fire”. They thus pacified Prithu.

Holding the sacrificial ladle in their hands, the angry priests were about to begin chanting of the appropriate Vedic hymns, when Lord Brahma arrived there. He stopped them and then said,

“Just because Indra is causing impediments in your Yagna, you plan to perform another Yagna and destroy him. Killing Indra is not a justifiable act, is it? Indra’s another name is Yagna. He is none other than an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. All Devatas who are invoked in the Yagna are his different manifestations. Therefore, it is incorrect to harm Indra.

O Vedic scholars, by attempting to disrupt Prithu’s Yagna, Indra has undoubtedly committed serious mistakes in aspect of the dharma prescribed by our Mahatmas. Through his various disguises he has created a new path of imposters (pākhanḍa). Understand this clearly. If you do not understand Indra’s intention, Prithu will end up performing only 99 Ashwamedha Yāgas”.

Lord Brahma then said to Prithu, “O King, you have successfully completed many good deeds. Moreover, you know the path of liberation (moksha dharma). Is it right for you to seek completion of the 100^th Ashwamedha Yāga with fruitive intentions? Why do you seek the result of completing 100 Yāgas?

Therefore, stop with this 99^th Yagna. Indra is also another of your forms. Both of you are incarnations of that Supreme Lord. Hence please maintain friendly relation with him. Enmity between you is not acceptable. May you be blessed with auspiciousness!

O king, do not get agitated in this matter. Please adhere to my words with respect. When destiny creates impediments, one should not get agitated. It means, one should not ponder about those tasks in which impediments are being faced due to destiny. By thinking about it the mind will be filled with extreme anger. This extreme anger will push the person into darkest areas of spiritual ignorance (ajnana).

Due to these pākhanḍa activities created by Indra, many deviations have arisen in dharmic path. Hence please stop this Yagna that has become a cause of irritation to the Devatas. By stealing the horse Indra has cheated you. The pākhanḍas whom he has created are already attracting the people towards their unrighteous path. See how people are following them.

O son of Vena! At the time when righteousness had declined among people due to Vena’s evil deeds, seizing a right opportunity you incarnated from Vena’s body to set right the situation. O king, you are an incarnation of Srihari. Please ponder about the origin of this creation. Please fulfill the desire of the Prajāpatis.  You are supremely efficient. Please put an end to this pākhanḍa path that has become immensely popular due to Indra’s actions”.

Prithu abided by the orders of Lord Brahma. He maintained friendly relations with Indra. He took the avabruta snana, the obligatory bath taken at the time of conclusion of the Yagna, and concluded his Yagna. All the Devatas showered Prithu, who had performed many Yagnas, with plentiful boons. They blessed him profusely.

After this Prithu gave plentiful dakshinas to the priests who had conducted the Yagna. The priests who were pleased showered many blessings upon him. They said, “O king, you are supremely powerful. All the Devatas, fore-fathers, Maharishis and humans accepted your worship. Duly honoured by you they are very satisfied”.

With this the nineteenth chapter of the fourth canto comes to an end.

Fourth Canto Chapter Twenty

Maitreya Maharishi said, “At the time when the priests were extolling Prithu, the Supreme Lord who is the embodiment of all Yagnas and who resides in Vaikunṭha, appeared there along with Indra. He said,

“O King, for your 100^th Ashwamedha Yāga, Indra created impediments. He now begs pardon. Please forgive him. In this world, wise, noble persons do not get angry with other living beings”.

Srikrishnaya namah

“Yatra yajña-patiḥ sākṣād bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ

Anvabhūyata sarvātmā sarva-loka-guruḥ prabhuḥ

The Supreme Lord exists in the form of Yagna. He is the Lord of all Yagnas. He is the father of all the worlds. He is the repository of all energies. Such Lord Mahavishnu appeared in the Yagna being performed by Prithu.

Along with Him, Brahma, Rudra, the Guardian-deities of the world and their subordinates together with their troops arrived. Gandharvas, Apsarasās and Maharishis extolled His greatness.

Accomplished siddhas, celestials such as vidhyādharas, the devotees belonging to the demon race, Yakshas, Srihari’s primary attendants Nanda and Sunanda, Maharishi Kapila, Nārada Maharishi, Dattātreya who is the leader of great Yogis, Maharishi Sanaka and his brothers as well as other ardent devotees who desired to serve Him, accompanied Srihari to the sacrificial hall.

Mother Earth ensured that all ingredients necessary for purposes of Yagna were available in plenty. Like the wish-fulfilling cow Kāmadhenu, she ensured that all necessities of Prithu were taken care of.

Milk, curd, pānakam, ghee and other liquids flowed like rivers. Oceans supplied precious gems and pearls.  Mountains supplied 4 types of edible substances i.e. foods that can be tasted through the tongue, foods that could be chewed, juices that could be sipped and foods that could be drunk. Vassal kings presented many royal gifts.

Prithu dedicatedly conducted the Yagna in a grand manner while worshipping that Supreme Lord who cannot be understood through any visible direct proofs (pratyakshāsi pramāna). Indra, the Lord of heaven, could not tolerate Prithu’s prosperity and the grand manner in which he was conducting the Yagnas. He created obstacles.

While Prithu was engrossed in worshipping Srihari during the 100^th Ashwamedha Yāga, Indra, the Lord of heaven, who was filled with feelings of jealousy, invisibly stole the sacrificial horse. He disguised as a pākahnḍa so that he could not be recognized. Taking the sacrificial horse, he quickly disappeared through the path of the skies.

Pākhanḍa is an imposter who fools people by disguising as a righteous religious person and who presents his unrighteous activities as righteous. His actions are all unrighteous. But he projects them as if they are righteous, so much so that others get carried away by his activities and accept them as dharmic.

The venerable Sage Atri who noticed Indra’s dishonest activity instantly alerted Prithu’s son. Prithu’s son, who was a supreme warrior, was angered. Screaming ‘wait, wait’ he chased Indra. However, seeing Indra who was disguised like a saint with Vibhuti on his forehead and with long braids, Prithu’s son mistook him for a righteous person and hence did not direct his arrow towards Indra.

Noticing this hesitancy in releasing the arrow, Maharishi Atri cautioned him and said, “My son, this Indra is the worst among all Devatas. He has arrived here solely for disrupting this Yagna. Therefore, go ahead and kill him”.

Hearing this Prithu’s son was even more infuriated with Indra. Just as the vulture Jatayu furiously attacked Ravana, he pounced upon Indra who was fleeing at the great speeds. Indra then abandoned his disguise. Leaving the horse there he became invisible. Prithu’s son, the great hero, returned back to the sacrificial hall with the horse.

Appreciating his might and valour, the Maharishis named him Vijitāśva. Vijitāśva means ‘conqueror of the horse’.

Indra however did not give up. He now created impenetrable darkness and then stole the horse that was tied with the help of golden ropes to a pole and quickly fled. Maharishi Atri again pointed out to Vijitāśva that Indra was fleeing with the horse. As Indra had once again disguised himself as a righteous religious ascetic and was holding a staff with a skull, Vijitāśva hesitated to kill him.

Seeing this, Maharishi Atri once again advised Vijitaśva to kill Indra. With this he was angered and instantly he readied his bow. Indra immediately gave up his disguise. Leaving the horse he disappeared. The valourous Vijitāśva returned back with the horse to the sacrificial hall.

Those impure disguises which Indra had donned for the purposes of stealing the horse, symbolize sin. This is stated in the Shastras.

Janārdhanāya namah.