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2024-04-26, 8:44 PM |
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 Chapter 15: Description of the
Kingdom of God
(1) Maitreya said: 'Diti was afraid that
she by the power of [the seed of] the great Prajâpati for the
time of a
century would destroy the power of others and distress the God-fearing
people. (2) The
world was deprived of light because of this [threat] and thus the local
authorities who saw their power diminished consulted with the
creator of the universe [Lord Brahmâ] about the darkness that
expanded in all directions. (3) The demigods said: 'You, oh mighty one, must be knowing about this darkness we are so very afraid
of. Your supreme divinity is not affected by time and thus nothing is hidden for you. (4) Oh
god
of gods, sustainer of
the universe, you as the crown jewel of all the guardians of the
spiritual and material worlds know about the intentions of all living
beings. (5) We offer you whose strength is found in wisdom our
obeisances. Having obtained this body composed of external energy and
in acceptance of your distinguished mode [of passion], we pay our
respects oh unseen source. (6) The
ones who are unfaltering in their devotion meditate upon you, the
origin of all beings, the absolute consisting of the true and untrue
and the self in which all worlds are connected. (7)
For those who are mature in the practice of
yoga and have attained your mercy in controlling the senses and mind by
means of their breath, there is no defeat in any way. (8) Him
whose
directions are the lead for all living entities the way a rope is the
lead for a bull, him under whose
authority offerings are presented, that most important personality,
you, we
offer our obeisances. (9) Because
of this darkness we
cannot get around to our prescribed duties. We ask you to act to
our good fortune
oh great Lord, please grant us
surrendered souls, the magnanimous mercy of your glance. (10)
Oh god, this semen of Kas'yapa deposited in the womb of Diti, causes
complete darkness in all directions like a fire loaded with too much
firewood.'
(11) Maitreya
said: 'Oh
mighty-armed one, he,
the
self-born
one
who
in
the
prayers
was
addressed
as
the
Supreme
Lord,
with
a
smile satisfied
the
godly ones and gave a reply in sweet words. (12) Brahmâ
said:
'They who before you were born from my mind and are headed by Sanaka
[Sanâtana, Sanandana en
Sanat-kumâra], traveled
free from expectations the distances between the people of the
spiritual and material worlds. (13) One day they who are free
from all material contamination entered
Vaikunthha, the eternal abode of Vishnu, the Supreme Lord,
the realm for which one prays in
all the worlds. (14) All the persons living there have the same
form as the Lord of Vaikunthha and live free from any desire because
of
their
devotional
service
of
continuous
worship
of
the
Supreme
Personality.
(15) The Lord
of all Fortune, the
original person who is understood through
the sciptures, dwells there as the personification of
the religious principles in order to accept
in His goodness our purity to the
greater
happiness of us who belong to Him. (16) In that
realm
where everything is spiritual and personal, there are
forests that for the sake of happiness yield to all desires with
[desire] trees full of splendid flowers and
fruits throughout all the seasons. (17) Living in palaces with their wives
the devotees free from all
inauspicious
qualities are always singing
there about the
Supreme Lord, and try to ignore the mind blowing fragrance that is
carried by the wind of the
mâdhavî flowers that full of nectar are blossoming in the
midst of
the water. (18) When
the king of the bumblebees loudly sings
the glories of the Lord, the tumult of the pigeons, cuckoos, cranes,
cakravâkas
and gallinules, swans,
parrots, partridges and peacocks stops for a while. (19) The
fragrant
mandâra, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka, arna, punnâga,
nâgakes'ara, bakula, lily and pârijâta, all
agree that the tulsî plant
[the basil plant the Lord adorns Himself with and] which in the
form of a garland is appreciated [by Him] for her smell, best of them
all honors the good spirit of renunciation out there. (20) By
simply being of obeisance
to the Lord His feet the
devotees earned the palaces standing everywhere that are made of lapis
lazuli with emeralds and
gold whose [female] inhabitants have large hips and beautiful
smiling faces. But they, with
their friendly laughing and joking, with their minds absorbed in Krishna never
give rise to any lust. (21) In
that house of
the Lord [sometimes], reflected in the crystal clear walls inlaid with
gold, the Goddess of Fortune is seen who is free from all faults. She
then assumes a
beautiful form with tinkling [bangles at her] feet and playing with a
lotus flower; and that grace of
her is something for which the other ladies manifest themselves with
the greatest zeal as true scrubwomen. (22) They
surrounded
by maidservants worship in their gardens on coral banks
to ponds with pellucid, nectarean water the Supreme Lord with
tulsî and
imagine, seeing the beauty reflected in the water of the goddess her
locks, that the Lord kisses her face. (23) How
unfortunate are they who never get to this Vaikunthha creation
of the Vanquisher of All Sin, but rather hear about other subject
matters phrased
in bad words that kill one's intelligence. Alas, such persons far
removed from the
values of life are, devoid of all shelter, cast into the deepest
darkness. (24) They who are not of worship for the
Supreme Lord and have not realized
the
human
way
of
life and aquired
knowledge about the Absolute and the proper code of
conduct [dharma] the way
we [Lord Brahmâ and the demigods] desired it, are alas bewildered
by His omnipresent, illusory energy. (25) [But]
following in the footsteps of [me] the chief of
the demigods they will go to Vaikunthha, the realm
situated above mine, who attracted to each other in discussions about
the Lord His desirable, supreme qualities and glories feel ecstacy,
have tears in their eyes and shiver with their bodies, and thus keep
Yamarâja [the
Lord of death] at a distance.'
(26) [Brahmâ continued:] 'When the sages [headed by Sanaka] by
dint of their spiritual potency reached Vaikunthha,
they experienced a transcendental ecstacy they never had experienced
before. It was the place, radiating with the palaces of the most
deserving and learned devotees, where the teacher of the universe rules
who is the object of worship in all the worlds. (27)
After passing there through six gates
without taking much interest, they at the seventh gate ran into
two demigods of the same age who carried valuable maces, bracelets,
earrings, helmets and beautiful garments. (28) Placed
around
their
necks
there
was
between
their
four
blue
arms
a
garland
of
forest
flowers
with
intoxicated bees around them. But looking about with their arched
eyebrows, restless breathing and reddish eyes they seemed somewhat
agitated. (29) Seeing the both of them standing at the gate
the sons of Brahmâ, as they did before, passed without taking any
notice the golden and diamond doors; they were the great
sages who on their own accord moved everywhere without being checked or
doubted. (30) When
they saw them, four naked boys of
age who had realized the truth of the self but who looked as if they
were not older than five years, the two gatekeepers in disregard of the glory and the etiquette, in an attitude offensive to the Lord wrongfully blocked their way with their staffs. (31) Being faced with the
slight hindrance of the two doorkeepers who refused
them before the eyes of the inhabitants of Vaikunthha, despite of them
being by far the fittest of the Lord, their eyes in
their eagerness to see their most beloved one suddenly turned red out of anger ['the younger brother of lust'].
(32) The sages said: 'Who are the
two of you, who by dint of their actions in the past have attained the
service of
the Supreme Lord? Whoever of the devotees
who in Him are without anxiety and enmity, can be as falsely engaged as you? Who in the world is of such a
crude mentality that betrays the confidence? (33) No one
here is strange to the
Supreme Personality who
contains all in
His abdomen; the living entity has its place in the Supersoul the way
the small portion of air in one's lungs is part of the air outside. As
a sober person seeing the two of you dressed up like
inhabitants of Vaikunthha, like awakend people who discriminate between
body and soul, one wonders how such a terrible thing can exist. How in
the world could this have risen with Him? (34) Therefore,
in
order
to
secure
the
grace
of
the
Lord
of
Vaikunthha,
according
to
our
opinion
the
appropriate measure for you antipathethic minds who see
things in opposition, is that
the both of you depart from here for the material world where one lives
with this threefold sinfulness that is the enemy of the
living being [lust, anger and greed, see B.G. 16: 21].'
(35) The two [doorkeepers] who understood that a
terrible brahmin curse had been pronounced by them, a curse that cannot
be countered by any weapon, at once stricken with fear for the devotees
of the Lord fell down to grasp their feet in great anxiety. (36) 'Let
it be so
that you have punished us for our
sins.
A lack of respect for great sages like you cannot go unpunished. But we
pray that we, with a bit of your infinite compassion for our
repentance, not in a state of illusion will lose the memory
of the
Supreme Lord when we have to descend in the material world.'
(37) That very moment the
Supreme Lord from whose navel the
lotus sprouted learned about
the offense against the righteous sages and came to their delight
to the place accompanied by His
Goddess of Fortune, walking with
the very same lotus feet that are
sought by the hermits and the wise.
(38) Seeing Him
coming forward with all His associates and paraphernalia, the sages, now seeing the one whom they
always had been
looking for, fell into
ecstasy over the
sight of the câmaras [fans of
yak-tail] that like
beautiful
swans
waved a cool breeze that moved the pearls of His white
umbrella, making them look like drops of water to a reflected moon. (39)
Blessing all with His auspicious face as the
desirable shelter, He affectionately looked upon them and touched them
expanding in their hearts. With His blackish skin and His broad
chest decorated by the Goddess of Fortune, He spread the good fortune
as the culmination of the spiritual worlds and the abode of the soul. (40) Covered by yellow cloth He had a brightly shining
girdle
around His hips and humming bees about His garland of forest flowers.
On His
wrists he had lovely bracelets and while one of His hands rested on the
shoulder of the son of Vinatâ [Garuda] He waved with another one
a
lotusflower. (41) Shining brigther than lightening, the
decoration of His
alligator shaped earrings completed the countenance of His cheeks and
straight nose. He wore a gem-studded crown, carried a charming
most precious
necklace between His stout arms and the Kaustubha jewel adorned
His neck. (42) With
His presence He outshone the smiles of the Goddess of Beauty thus thought His devotees in their
meditation. The sages could not
get enough of the
sight of the very beautiful figure so worshipable for me and for S'iva
as also for all of you, and that made them joyously bow down their
heads. (43) When
the breeze, carrying the
fragrance of tulsî leaves from the toes of the lotus feet,
entered
their nostrils, they experienced an inner transformation, even though
they in body and mind were devoted to [the impersonal realization of]
words. (44) Thereafter
looking
up
they
saw
His
face
that
resembled
the
inside
of
a
blue
lotus
and
also saw the even more beautiful jasmine flower lips
smiling.
Thus having achieved their life's aim they again looked down at the
ruby red nails of His lotus feet and then meditated upon their shelter. (45)
For those people who seek liberation in this
world by the paths of yoga He is the object of meditation approved by
the great ones. With the display of His human form pleasing the eyes
He, eternally present as the Connecting One, is praised as the
perfection
of the eight achievements, a perfection that cannot be achieved by
others [the
so-called eight perfections or siddhis are: animâ:
smallness,
mahimâ: greatness, garimâ:
weight, laghimâ: lightness, prâpti: free
access, prâkâmyam: doing at wish, vas'itva:
control over the elements and îs'itvam: lordship over
all].
(46) The Kumâras said: 'Even
though You
are seated in the heart You are not manifest to the ones far removed
from the soul. Today, oh
Unlimited One, we
see
You
face
to
face,
You
who
through
our
ears
reached
our
inner
being
when
we heard our father [Brahmâ] describe
the mysteries of Your appearance. (47) You
oh
Supreme Lord
who with Your personality consisting of pure goodness, brings delight
to all [who are like us], we at
present know as the ultimate reality of the soul. This reality one may,
according to the
understanding of the sages who
are not interested in a material life, grasp by Your grace in steadfast devotional service with a heart free from attachments. (48) They [who follow this practice] do not even care about Your imperishable
beatitude [kaivalya,
enlightenment] or about any other minor form of happiness with which they may fear the frowning of
Your eyebrows.
They, oh Supreme One, take shelter of Your lotus feet and the
narrations
about Your pure glories so worthy to be sung by the very expert
knowers of Your rasas [the emotional mellows one may have with
You]. (49)
From the sinful lives we desired we may be of
low births and have minds busy like bees, but if we may be engaged at
Your
lotus feet and fill our ears
with Your
transcendental qualities, our
words will become as beautiful as the tulsî leaves at Your
mercy. (50) We obtained so much satisfaction
from
seeing this eternal form that You manifested oh Lord of great renown.
Let us therefore offer our obeisances to You, the Supreme Personality
of
Godhead who is recognized by spiritual persons like us and not by those
who are not
spiritual.'
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