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2024-03-29, 10:07 AM |
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Chapter
16: King
Citraketu
Meets
the
Supreme
Lord
(1) The son of Vyâsa said: 'The devarishi
oh King, then brought the deceased son of the king [who was called
Harshas'oka, or 'jubilation and lamentation'] before the mind's eye of
the
lamenting relatives and addressed him. (2)
S'rî Nârada said: 'Oh living soul, all good fortune to you,
behold
your mother, father, friends and relatives who, lamenting over you, are
greatly distressed. (3) To
complete
your life you may reenter your body and in the midst of your kin enjoy
all pleasures of life in accepting the award of your father's royal
throne.'
(4) The individual
soul said: 'In which of all
those births wherein I because of my karma have been wandering among
the
gods, the animals and the human beings, were these people here my
father and mother? (5) In the course of time
eventually all people become each other's friends, family members,
enemies,
neutrals, well-wishers, indifferent or envious ones [compare B.G. 3:
27]. (6) Just as means of exchange
like gold pass
from one person to the other, the same way the individual soul passes
through different species of life by
different fathers [see also B.G.
2:
22]. (7) One always sees that the ties one has in
human society with
matters [like money or the other sex] are temporary; as long as one
relates to it one claims ownership.
(8)
So
too the eternal, individual soul identifies himself in a certain birth
with his body for as long as he is situated in it, even though he
actually has no specific material identity. (9) This
living entity is [factually] eternal, imperishable and most
subtle, it constitutes the
self-effulgence of all the different embodiments, the master who
manifests himself as this
material world by means of the gunas [see also 4.29: 29]. (10)
It is not of like and dislike or of mine and thine. It
is the one witness to the different sorts of
intelligence and performers of good and bad deeds [see also B.G. 9:
29]. (11) The
[original] soul is not of the happiness and harm resulting from
fruitive actions; perfectly neutral residing in the heart he is the
Lord overseeing cause and effect [B.G. 2:
47].'
(12) The son of Vyâsa continued: 'Thus having
spoken the living soul went away. His relatives, astonished [about what he had said], then
cut the bond of their affection for him and
gave up their lamentation. (13) The
difficult to forsake affection that leads
to lamentation, illusion, fear and distress, was by the family
of the son given up when they with the performance of the proper rites
removed the body. (14) Oh King Parîkchit, those
who
had
killed the child were, bereft of their bodily
luster, very
ashamed of having murdered the boy. Remembering what the brahmin
[Angirâ] had stated, they performed according to the directions of the
priests at the
river the Yamunâ the atonement for having killed
the baby. (15) Citraketu,
spiritually awakened by the words of the two brahmin souls,
thus emerged liberated from the dark well of his familial attachment
the way an elephant emerges from a mud pool. (16) After
taking a bath in the Yamunâ as
was prescribed and piously
performing oblations of water while controlling his mind and
senses with gravity, he offered the two sons of Brahmâ his
obeisances.
(17) Bhagavân Nârada who was very pleased with him
being such a surrendered devotee in control of himself, next, as he had promised, disclosed the following knowledge [of the Lord in the form of a
prayer]. (18-19) 'Oh my Lord, my obeisances unto You, the
Supreme Lord
Vâsudeva. Let me meditate upon Pradyumna [the Lord of
intelligence], Aniruddha [the Lord of the mind] and Sankarshana [the
Lord of the ego, see also 4.24: 35-37]. All
my respects for the full manifestation of wisdom, the embodiment of
supreme bliss who is the Self of delight and peace whose vision is
turned away from the dual world. (20)
The waves of the material
ocean calm down by the
realization of Your personal bliss. My reverences unto the Supreme Controller of the Senses; my
respects for You whose expansions are unlimited. (21) May
He, the
One without a second who, being completely spiritual, cannot be
expressed in words, be caught in a form or be comprehended by the mind, may He who is transcendental to cause and
effect, protect us. (22) The way all pottery is created from earth,
consisting of earth and returning to earth, everything is born from
Him, existing by Him and vanishing in Him. Him, the Supreme Brahman
[the Absolute Truth] I offer my obeisances. (23)
I bow before Him who, having expanded
outside and inside as vast as the
sky, by the
mind, the intelligence, the senses and the life airs cannot be touched
or known. (24) The
body, the senses, the
life air, the
mind
and intelligence are all parts that are penetrated [by the supporting,
connecting and ruling principle of Brahman]; they, just like iron that
[cannot be forged
if it] is not heated, without that support cannot engage in activities
and acquire the status of
a[n independent] seer. (25)
My obeisances unto You my Lord, oh Supreme Personality, most perfect
Supersoul and master of all mystic powers whose feet are embraced and
caressed by the
multitude of lotus bud hands of the topmost devotees. All my respects
for You who are
situated in the highest position.'
(26) S'rî S'uka said: 'After Nârada had imparted the
knowledge to this fully
surrendered devotee, he together
with
Angirâ left for the abode of Brahmâ oh King. (27) Citraketu then chanted with great
concentration and only drinking
water, for one week the prayer
that was communicated by Nârada. (28) Strictly
keeping
to
the
instructions
he,
by
carefully
practicing
these
prayers,
after
these
seven
days
and
nights
achieved the mastery of the
Vidyâdharas ['the ones founded in knowledge'] oh ruler of man. (29) By
dint of that spiritual
exercise for his mind he, having found the enlightened course, thus in a
few days only reached the shelter
of the lotus feet of the God
of all gods, Lord S'esha [Anantadeva or Sankarshana, see 5.25]. (30) He
saw Him, his Master and
Controller,
with
His smiling lotus face, reddish eyes and skin as fair as a white lotus.
Clad in blue silk and with a glittering helmet, armlets, a belt and
bangles, He was
situated in the midst of His most perfect devotees. (31) The sight of Him
destroyed all his sins so
that he, contented and pure at heart, could approach Him like
a
full-blown
bhakta. Moved from
within by love he with tears in
his eyes and his hairs
standing on end, offered the Original Personality of God his obeisances. (32) He at
the lotus
feet of the Lord of the Verses, wetted that resting
place with his tear drops over and over and was, because his voice was
choked by his love,
for a long time unable to utter a single letter of the alphabet and
offer prayers. (33)
By intelligently controlling his
mind and the senses that
are
lead
by the external world, this king
recovered his speech and then addressed the
personification
of devotional service and the scriptures, the teacher of all.
(34) Citraketu said: 'Oh Unconquerable One, You are
conquered by those who are of self-control. You give Yourself in utter compassion to those devotees, who as surrendered souls
were conquered by You and always sing Your glories with
minds free from desire. (35) Supposing
their
separate
existence
the
creators
of
this
universe
who
are
[only]
a
part
of
a
part of You,
in vain compete with each other for Your dominion that consists of the
creation, maintenance and
dissolution of this cosmic manifestation, oh Supreme Lord. (36) Without
Yourself
having
a
beginning,
an
in
between
or
an
end,
You
from
the
smallest
material
unit to the
complete of the universal manifestation have Your existence in the
beginning, in the end and in between; that which is constant in the beginning and in the end is
there also in the middle of the existence of all. (37) This
egg shaped universe
consisting of the seven
layers of the earth element and the rest, each of which measures the
tenfold of the preceding one [see 3.26: 52], is but
insignificant compared to the millions of such universes that exist in
the cosmos. Therefore You are [called] unlimited. (38) Eager
to enjoy like animals,
man worships only parts of You [the demigods] but not
the Supreme of You, oh Controller. The benedictions they bring are
finished
when their end is reached, just as it is with politicians [B.G. 7:
20-23, S.B. 2.3:
10]. (39) A
mind ruled by lust [the lesser god] does, just like
fried seed, not lead to growth and healing in You oh Supreme One.
But in the full
knowledge of Your Supreme Self a person is not affected by the network
of the
modes and the duality of their material qualities [compare B.G. 4:
9]. (40) They
who on the path of liberation are of worship were conquered by You, oh Unconquerable One, when You [as their teacher] spoke about the
process of devotional service. They are the faultless ones who do not
crave for material happiness, they are the great sages satisfied from
within [see also 1.2: 6]. (41) Engaged
a
different
way
[in
demigod
worship]
one
lacks
in
consciousness
and
arrives
in
human
society
thus
at
the
'I'
and
'mine' and the 'me' and 'you' [of the false ego]. In approaches other
than Yours one is as a
result of the deviating vision impure
in one's conduct, time bound
and full of adharma [compare B.G. 18:
66]. (42) In what sense is
it beneficial for oneself, for others, or for whatever purpose to be
turned against oneself [one's own body] or against others
in one's religiosity? Such a
practice of human self-betrayal
raises Your anger, torments one's fellow man and contravenes the dharma
[see
B.G. 16: 17, 17: 19 and
S.B. 1.2:
8]. (43) Your
view defining the process of
devotional service is free from inconsistencies. They who following
that
course are equal towards all living beings whether they move or not
move, is certainly a civilized person [an Âryan]. (44) This
absence of internal
conflict in
You oh my Lord, puts an end to the sins of anyone who sees You [Your
devotees and Your book] before his eyes. Only but once
hearing Your name forthwith delivers even the lowest among man from the
misery of material
existence. (45) Seeing
You
now
here
before
us
oh
Supreme
Lord,
has
removed
the
contaminations
from
our
mind.
Why
would
it
be
different from what the great rishi of enlightenment
[Nârada], Your devotee has said? (46)
O Unlimited
one,
You as the Supersoul of all the world, know everything that each living
entity does out here. What we know compares to the light of fireflies
relative to the sun of You as our
teacher of transcendence. (47)
All obeisances unto You oh Lordship of the persistence, the ending and
creation of the universe. The position of You as the transcendental
swan, the ascetic of the highest order, is beyond the ken of those who
unify in a false notion, a material notion of independence. (48) The
senses
gathering
knowledge
perceive in pursuance of Your perception and they who endeavor to rule the universe
do so to the example of Your endeavoring. Let
there be my obeisances unto You, the Supreme Lord with the thousands of
hoods, by whom the gigantic universe You carry on a single hood,
appears
[as insignificant as] a mustard seed.'
(49) S'rî S'ukadeva said: 'Oh best of the Kurus, the Supreme
Lord Ananta Deva very pleased
about thus being worshiped by
Citraketu the king of the
Vidyâdharas, then replied. (50) The
Supreme
Lord
said:
'From
directly
seeing
Me
and
from
the
worship
with
the
prayer
that
Nârada and Angirâ have disclosed to you, you now
have attained perfection oh King.
(51) I as
the
Supersoul of all, as the cause of the manifestation, have expanded in
different forms and exist in both the eternal forms of the spiritual
sound vibrations and the Supreme Brahman [compare B.G. 7:
4-5]. (52)
The living
entity expanded into the world and the world expanded
within
the living entity. These two [the world and the living entity] are
pervaded
by Me as also made by Me [compare B.G. 9: 4]. (53-54) A
person sleeping
sees in his dream the entire world within himself, but upon
awaking he finds himself lying down somewhere. Likewise one must
consider the different states of consciousness and conditions of
life
of the living
entities as manifestations of
the illusory potency of the Self, knowing which one
should always remember their Supreme Creator and Witness [see
bhajan Radha
Krishna Bol]. (55) Know
Me as that [all-pervading] Soul, as
the Supreme Spirit free from the modes of matter by whom the sleeping
[bewildered] person at that time is able to recognize what belongs to
the
dream and what to his happiness. (56) When
the person
remembers [himself, his spirit soul, his jîva, as
the one] joining both the states of consciousness of being asleep and
being awake,
he may reach beyond that spiritual knowledge and arrive at the Supreme
Brahman [the knowing principle] that is
transcendental. (57)
The living entity having forgotten about this spiritual nature of My
position, leads because of that a materially conditioned life in
separation from the Supersoul, because of which it wanders from one
body to the
next, from one death to another. (58) Achieving
in
this
world
a
human
birth
offers
one
the
chance
to
arrive
at
self-realization
with the [support of this] spiritual knowledge and wisdom, but they who fail to pick up that
knowledge will never find peace and happiness. (59) Thinking
of
the
trouble
of
toiling
in
this
world
and
then
achieving
the
opposite
of
what
was
intended
-
and then remembering how one is freed from fear by
ridding oneself of one's desire for material things, one should, thus
knowing better, desist from that [karmic] desire. (60) Husband and wife
[being materially motivated] perform activities for the sake of their happiness and to be
free from misery, but these
actions have no effect because
they do not put an end to the [material] happiness and distress [that
follow one another, see also B.G. 2: 14, 4: 20, 9: 31]. (61-62) Those
who
consider themselves very smart but realize this way the opposite of
what
they wanted, find it extremely difficult to understand [too 'subtle' or
hard to grasp] what it means to
be of progress with the soul and [as a soul] to exist apart from the
three states
[of unconsciousness, sleep and waking]. Someone who personally
experienced
it or has understood it from listening to others, should, now he by dint of his own
power of judgment in
spiritual knowledge and wisdom has
freed himself from materialism, with the resulting full
satisfaction,
become My devotee [*]. (63) The
realization of the insight of this
qualitative notion of the oneness of the [individual] soul and the
transcendence [of the Lord], constitutes - all things considered - the
ultimate goal of life for capable and intelligent human beings who
unite in [bhakti-]yoga. (64)
If you with faith, not concluding differently, accept these words of
Mine oh King, you will soon find your perfection in the full
[awareness] of spiritual knowledge and its wisdom [its practical
application].'
(65) S'rî S'uka
said: 'After the Supreme Lord, the Teacher of the Universe, thus had
assured Citraketu, He, Lord Hari, the Soul of All, disappeared from
sight.'
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