text stringlengths 0 182 |
|---|
with a person, he can confer upon him the states of ether Brahma or of Kesava or of Sakra with all the deities under him, or the |
sovereignty of the three worlds. Those men, O sire, who worship Bhava even mentally, succeed in freeing themselves from all |
sins and attain to a residence in heaven with all the gods. A person who raises houses to the ground and destroys tanks and |
lakes indeed, who devastates the whole universe, does not become stained with sin, if he adores and worships the illustrious |
Deity of three eyes. A person that is destitute of every auspicious indication and that is stained by every sin, has all his sins |
destroyed by meditating upon Siva. Even worm and insects and birds, O Kesava, that devote themselves to Mahadeva, are |
enabled to rove in perfect fearlessness. Even this is my settled conviction that those men who devote themselves to Mahadeva |
become certainly emancipated from rebirth. After this, Krishna again addressed Yudhishthira the son of Dharma in the |
following words. |
"Vishnu said, O Great King, 'Aditya, Chandra, Wind, Fire, Heaven, Earth, the Vasus, the Viswedevas, Dhatri, Aryyaman, |
Sukra, Vrihaspati, the Rudras, the Saddhyas, Varuna, Brahma, Sakra, Maruts, the Upanishads that deal with knowledge of |
Brahman, Truth, the Vedas, the Sacrifices, Sacrificial Presents, Brahmanas reciting the Vedas, Soma, Sacrificer, the shares of |
the deities in sacrificial offerings or clarified butter poured in sacrifices, Raksha, Diksha, all kinds of restraints in the form of |
vows and fasts and rigid observances, Swaha, Vashat, the Brahmanas, the celestial cow, the foremost acts of righteousness, the |
wheel of Time, Strength, Fame, Self-restraint, the Steadiness of all persons endued with intelligence, all acts of goodness and |
the reverse, the seven Rishis, Understanding of the foremost order, all kinds of excellent touch, the success of all (religious) |
acts, the diverse tribes of the deities, those beings that drink heat, those that are drinkers of Soma, Clouds, Suyamas, Rishitas, |
all creatures having Mantras for their bodies, Abhasuras, those beings that live upon scents only, those that live upon vision |
only, those that restrain their speech, those that restrain their minds, those that are pure, those that are capable of assuming |
diverse forms through Yoga-puissance, those deities that live on touch (as their food), those deities that subsist on vision and |
those that subsist upon the butter poured in sacrifices, those beings that are competent to create by fiats of their will the objects |
they require, they that are regarded as the foremost ones among the deities, and all the other deities, O descendant of Ajamila, |
the Suparnas, the Gandharvas, the Pisachas, the Danavas, Yakshas, the Charanas, the snakes, all that is gross and all that is |
exceedingly subtile, all that is soft and all that is not subtile, all sorrows and all joys, all sorrows that come after joy and all joy |
that comes after sorrow, the Sankhya philosophy, Yoga, and that which transcends objects which are regarded as foremost and |
very superior,--all adorable things, all the deities, and all the protectors of the universe who entering into the physical forces |
sustain and uphold this ancient creation of that illustrious Deity,--have sprung from that Creator of all creatures. All this that I |
have mentioned is grosser than that which the wise think of with the aid of Penances. Indeed, that subtile Brahma is the cause |
of life. I bow my head in reverence to it. Let that immutable and indestructible Master, always adored by us, grant us desirable |
boons. That person who, subjugating his senses and purifying himself, recites this hymn, without interruption in respect of his |
vow, for one month, succeeds in obtaining the merit that is attached to a Horse-sacrifice. By reciting this hymn the Brahmana |
succeeds in acquiring all the Vedas; the Kshatriya becomes crowned with victory, O son of Pritha; the Vaisya becomes |
successful in obtaining wealth and cleverness; and the Sudra, in winning happiness here and a good end hereafter. Persons of |
great fame, by reciting this prince of hymns that is competent to cleanse every sin and that is highly sacred and purifying, set |
their hearts on Rudra. A man by reciting this prince of hymns succeeds in living in heaven for as many years as there are pores |
in his body.'" |
SECTION XIX |
"Yudhishthira said, 'I ask, O chief of Bharata's race, what is the origin of the saying, about discharging all duties jointly at the |
time of a person's taking the hand of his spouse in marriage? Is that saying in respect of discharging all duties together, due |
only to what is laid down by the great Rishis in days of yore, or does it refer to the duty of begetting offspring from religious |
motives, or has it reference to only the carnal pleasure that is expected from such union? I he doubt that fills my mind in this |
respect is very great. What is spoken of as joint duties by the sages is in my consideration incorrect. That which is called in this |
world the union for practising all duties together ceases with death and is not to be seen to subsist hereafter. This union for |
practising all duties together leads to heaven. But heaven, O grandsire, is attained to by persons that are dead. Of a married |
couple it is seen that only one dies at a time. Where does the other then remain? Do tell me this. Men attain to diverse kinds of |
fruits by practising diverse kinds of duties. The occupations again, to which men betake themselves are of diverse kinds. |
Diverse, again, are the hells to which they go in consequence of such diversity of duties and acts. Women, in particular, the |
Rishis have said, are false in behaviour. When human beings are such, and when women in particular have been declared in the |
ordinances to be false, how, O sire, can there be a union between the sexes for purposes of practising all duties together? In the |
very Vedas one may read that women are false. The word 'Duty', as used in the Vedas, seems to have been coined in the first |
instance for general application (so that it is applied to practices that have no merit in them). Hence the application of that word |
to the rites of marriage is, instead of being correct, only a form of speech forcibly applied where application it has none.[187] |
The subject seems to me to be inexplicable although I reflect upon it incessantly. O grandsire, O thou of great wisdom, it |
behoveth thee to expound this to me in detail, clearly and according to what has been laid down in the Sruti. In fact, do thou |
explain to me what its characteristics are, and the way in which it has come to pass!'[188] |
"Bhishma said, 'In this connection is cited the old narrative of the discourse between Ashtavakra and the lady known by the |
name of Disa. In days of yore Ashtavakra of severe penances, desirous of marriage, begged the high-souled Rishi Vadanya of |
his daughter. The name by which the damsel was known was Suprabha. In beauty she was unrivalled on Earth. In virtues, |
dignity, conduct, and manners, she was superior to all the girls. By a glance alone that girl of beautiful eyes had robbed him of |
his heart even as a delightful grove in spring, adorned with flowers, robs the spectator of his heart. The Rishi addressed |
Ashtavakra and said,--Yes, I shall bestow my daughter on thee. Listen, however, to me. Make a journey to the sacred North. |
Thou wilt see many things there!'[189] |
"Ashtavakra said, 'It behoveth thee to tell me what I shall see in that region. Indeed, I am ready to execute whatever command |
may be laid upon me by thee.'" |
"Vadanya said, 'Passing over the dominions of the lord of Treasures thou will cross the Himavat mountains. Thou wilt then |
behold the plateau on which Rudra resides. It is inhabited by Siddhas and Charanas. It abounds with the associates of |
Mahadeva, frolicsome and fond of dance and possessed of diverse forms. It is peopled with also many Pisachas, O master, of |
diverse forms and all daubed with fragrant powders of diverse hues, and dancing with joyous hearts in accompaniment with |
instruments of different kinds made of brass. Surrounded by these who move with electric rapidity in the mazes of the dance or |
refrain at times altogether from forward or backward or transverse motion of every kind, Mahadeva dwells there. That |
delightful spot on the mountains, we have heard, is the favourite abode of the great Deity. It is said that that great god as also |
his associates are always present there. It was there that the goddess Uma practised the severest austerities for the sake of |
(obtaining for her lord) the three-eyed Deity. Hence, it is said, that spot is much liked by both Mahadeva and Uma. In days of |
yore there, on the heights of the Mahaparswa, which are situate to the north of the mountains sacred to Mahadeva, the sessions, |
and the last Night, and many deities, and many human beings also (of the foremost order), in their embodied forms, had adored |
Mahadeva.[190] Thou shalt cross that region also in thy northward journey. Thou will then see a beautiful and charming forest |
blue of hue and resembling a mass of clouds. There, in that forest, thou wilt behold a beautiful female ascetic looking like Sree |
herself. Venerable in age and highly blessed, she is in the observance of the Diksha. Beholding her there thou shouldst duly |
worship her with reverence. Returning to this place after having beheld her, thou wilt take the hand of my daughter in marriage. |
If thou wanteth to make this agreement, proceed then on thy journey and do what I command thee.'" |
"Ashtavakra said, 'So be it. I shall do thy bidding. Verily, I shall proceed to that region which thou speakest of, O thou of |
righteous soul. On thy side, let thy words, accord with truth.'" |
"Bhishma continued, "The illustrious Ashtavakra set out on his journey. He proceeded more and more towards the north and at |
last reached the Himavat mountains peopled by Siddhas and Charanas.[191] Arrived at the Himavat mountains, that foremost |
of Brahamanas then came upon the sacred river Vahuda whose waters produce great merit. He bathed in one of the delightful |
Tirthas of that river, which was free from mud, and gratified the deities with oblations of water. His ablutions being over, he |
spread a quantity of Kusa grass and laid himself down upon it for resting awhile at his ease.[192] Passing the night in this way, |
the Brahmana rose with the day. He once more performed his ablutions in the sacred waters of the Vahuda and then ignited his |
homa fire and worshipped it with the aid of many foremost of Vedic mantras.[193] He then worshipped with due rites both |
Rudra and his spouse Uma, and rested for some more time by the side of that lake in the course of the Vahuda whose shores he |
had reached. Refreshed by such rest, he set out from that region and then proceeded towards Kailasa. He then beheld a gate of |
gold that seemed to blaze with beauty. He saw also the Mandakini and the Nalini of the high-souled Kuvera, the Lord of |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.