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Shreemad
Bhagavatam
Canto
12
Chapters 1 to 5
Chapter One The Degraded Dynasties of Kali-yuga
1-2. Sukadeva Gosvami said: The last king mentioned in our previous enumeration of the future rulers of the Magadha dynasty was Puranjaya, who will take birth as the descendant of Brhadratha. Puranjaya’s minister Sunaka will assassinate the king and install his own son, Pradyota, on the throne. The son of Pradyota will be Palaka, his son will be Visakhayupa, and his son will be Rajaka.
3. The son of Rajaka will be Nandivardhana, and thus in the Pradyotana dynasty there will be five kings, who will enjoy the earth for 138 years.
4. Nandivardhana will have a son named Sisunaga, and his son will be known as Kakavarea. The son of Kakavarea will be Ksemadharma, and the son of Ksemadharma will be Ksetrajna.
5. The son of Ksetrajna will be Vidhisara, and his son will be Ajatasatru. Ajatasatru will have a son named Darbhaka, and his son will be Ajaya.
6-8. Ajaya will father a second Nandivardhana, whose son will be Mahanandi. O best of the Kurus, these ten kings of the Sisunaga dynasty will rule the earth for a total of 360 years during the age of Kali. My dear Pariksit, King Mahanandi will father a very powerful son in the womb of a sudra woman. He will be known as Nanda and will be the master of millions of soldiers and fabulous wealth. He will wreak havoc among the ksatriyas, and from that time onward virtually all kings will be irreligious sudras.
9. That lord of Mahapadma, King Nanda, will rule over the entire earth just like a second Parasurama, and no one will challenge his authority.
10. He will have eight sons, headed by Sumalya, who will control the earth as powerful kings for one hundred years.
11. A certain brahmana [Canakya] will betray the trust of King Nanda and his eight sons and will destroy their dynasty. In their absence the Mauryas will rule the world as the age of Kali continues.
12. This brahmana will enthrone Candragupta, whose son will be named Varisara. The son of Varisara will be Asokavardhana.
13. Asokavardhana will be followed by Suyasa, whose son will be Sangata. His son will be Salisuka, Salisuka ‘s son will be Somasarma, and Somasarma’s son will be Satadhanva. His son will be known as Brhadratha.
14. O best of the Kurus, these ten Maurya kings will rule the earth for 137 years of the Kali-yuga.
15-17. My dear King Pariksit, Agnimitra will follow as king, and then Sujyestha. Sujyestha will be followed by Vasumitra, Bhadraka, and the son of Bhadraka, Pulinda. Then the son of Pulinda, named Ghosa, will rule, followed by Vajramitra, Bhagavata and Devabhuti. In this way, O most eminent of the Kuru heroes, ten Sunga kings will rule over the earth for more than one hundred years. Then the earth will come under the subjugation of the kings of the Kanva dynasty, who will manifest very few good qualities.
18. Vasudeva, an intelligent minister coming from the Kanva family, will kill the last of the Sunga kings, a lusty debauchee named Devabhuti, and assume rulership himself.
19. The son of Vasudeva will be Bhumitra, and his son will be Narayana. These kings of the Kanva dynasty will rule the earth for 345 more years of the Kali-yuga.
20. The last of the Kanvas, Susarma, will be murdered by his own servant, Bali a low-class sudra of the Andhra race. This most degraded Maharaja Bali will have control over the earth for some time.
21-26. The brother of Bali, named Krishna, will become the next ruler of the earth. His son will be Santakarna, and his son will be Paurnamasa. The son of Paurnamasa will be Lambodara, who will father Maharaja Cibilaka. From Cibilaka will come Meghasvati, whose son will be Atamana. The son of Atamana will be Anistakarma. His son will be Haleya, and his son will be Talaka. The son of Talaka will be Purisabhiru, and following him Sunandana will become king. Sunandana will be followed by Cakora and the eight Bahus, among whom Sivasvati will be a great subduer of enemies. The son of Sivasvsati will be Gomati. His son will be Puriman, whose son will be Medasira. His son will be Sivaskanda, and his son will be Yajnasri. The son of Yajnasri will be Vijaya, who will have two sons, Candravijna and Lomadhi. These thirty kings will enjoy sovereignty over the earth for a total of 456 years, O favorite son of the Kurus.
27. Then will follow seven kings of the Abhira race from the city of Avabhrti, and then ten Gardabhis. After them, sixteen kings of the Kankas will rule and will be known for their excessive greed.
28. Eight Yavanas will then take power, followed by fourteen Turuskas, ten Gurundas and eleven kings of the Maula dynasty.
29-31. These Abhiras, Gardabhis and Kankas will enjoy the earth for 1,099 years, and the Maulas will rule for 300 years. When all of them have died off there will appear in the city of Kilakila a dynasty of kings consisting of Bhutananda, Vangiri, Sisunandi, Sisunandi’s brother Yasonandi, and Praviraka. These kings of Kilakila will hold sway for a total of 106 years.
32-33. The Kilakilas will be followed by their thirteen sons, the Bahlikas, and after them King Puspamitra, his son Durmitra, seven Andhras, seven Kausalas and also kings of the Vidura and Nisadha provinces will separately rule in different parts of the world.
34. There will then appear a king of the Magadhas named Visvasphurji, who will be like another Puranjaya. He will turn all the civilized classes into low-class, uncivilized men in the same category as the Pulindas, Yadus and Madrakas.
35. Foolish King Visvasphurji will maintain all the citizens in ungodliness and will use his power to completely disrupt the ksatriya order. From his capital of Padmavati he will rule that part of the earth extending from the source of the Ganga to Prayaga.
36. At that time the brahmanas of such provinces as Saurastra, Avanti, Abhira, Sura, Arbuda and Malava will forget all their regulative principles, and the members of the royal order in these places will become no better than sudras.
37. The land along the Sindhu River, as well as the districts of Candrabhaga, Kaunti and Kasmira, will be ruled by sudras, fallen brahmanas and meat-eaters. Having given up the path of Vedic civilization, they will have lost all spiritual strength.
38. There will be many such uncivilized kings ruling at the same time, O King Pariksit, and they will all be uncharitable, possessed of fierce tempers, and great devotees of irreligion and falsity.
39-40. These barbarians in the guise of kings will devour the citizenry, murdering innocent women, children, cows and brahmanas and coveting the wives and property of other men. They will be erratic in their moods, have little strength of character and be very short-lived. Indeed, not purified by any Vedic rituals and lacking in the practice of regulative principles, they will be completely covered by the modes of passion and ignorance.
41. The citizens governed by these low-class kings will imitate the character, behavior and speech of their rulers. Harassed by their leaders and by each other, they will all suffer ruination.
Chapter Two The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
1. Sukadeva Gosvami said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the age of Kali.
2. In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
3. Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brahmana just by his wearing a thread.
4. A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
5. A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
6. A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
7. As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
8. Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
9. Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
10. The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
11. The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
12-16. By the time the age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varnasrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of sudras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf sami trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
17. Lord Visnu-the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all-takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
18. Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brahmana of Sambhala village, the great soul Visnuyasa.
19-20. Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
21. After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vasudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
22. When Lord Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
23. When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
24. When the moon, the sun and Brhaspati are together in the constellation Karkata, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Pusya-at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Krta, will begin.
25. Thus I have described all the kings-past, present and future-who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
26. From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
27-28. Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the naksatra called Magha.
29. The Supreme Lord, Visnu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Krishna. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
30. As long us Lord Sri Krishna, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
31. When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Magha, the age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
32. When the great sages of the Saptarsi constellation pass from Magha to Purvasadha, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
33. Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Sri Krishna departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the age of Kali began.
34. After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
35. Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaisyas, sudras and brahmanas living in the various ages.
36. These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
37. Devapi, the brother of Maharaja Santanu, and Maru, the descendant of Iksvaku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalapa.
38. At the end of the age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varna and asrama, just as it was before.
39. The cycle of four ages-Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali-continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
40. My dear King Pariksit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
41. Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
42. [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
43. Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
44. My dear King Pariksit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
Chapter Three The Bhumi-gita
1. Sukadeva Gosvami said: Seeing the kings of this earth busy trying to conquer her, the earth herself laughed. She said: “Just see how these kings, who are actually playthings in the hands of death, are desiring to conquer me.
2. “Great rulers of men, even those who are learned, meet frustration and failure because of material lust. Driven by lust, these kings place great hope and faith in the dead lump of flesh called the body, even though the material frame is as fleeting as bubbles of foam on water.
3-4. “Kings and politicians imagine: ‘First I will conquer my senses and mind; then I will subdue my chief ministers and rid myself of the thorn-pricks of my advisors, citizens, friends and relatives, as well as the keepers of my elephants. In this way I will gradually conquer the entire earth.’ Because the hearts of these leaders are bound by great expectations, they fail to see death waiting nearby.
5. “After conquering all the land on my surface, these proud kings forcibly enter the ocean to conquer the sea itself. What is the use of their self-control, which is aimed at political exploitation? The actual goal of self-control is spiritual liberation.”
6. O best of the Kurus, the earth continued as follows: “Although in the past great men and their descendants have left me, departing from this world in the same helpless way they came into it, even today foolish men are trying to conquer me.
7. “For the sake of conquering me, materialistic persons fight one another. Fathers oppose their sons, and brothers fight one another, because their hearts are bound to possessing political power.
8. “Political leaders challenge one another: ‘All this land is mine! It’s not yours, you fool!’ Thus they attack one another and die.
9-13. “Such kings as Prthu, Pururava, Gadhi, Nahusa, Bharata, Kartavirya Arjuna, Mandhata, Sagara, Rama, Khatvanga, Dhundhuha, Raghu, Trnabindu, Yayati, Saryati, Santanu, Gaya, Bhagiratha, Kuvalayasva, Kakutstha, Naisadha, Nrga, Hiranyakasipu, Vrtra, Ravana, who made the whole world lament, Namuci, Sambara, Bhauma, Hiranyaksa and Taraka, as well as many other demons and kings who possessed great powers of control over others, were all full of knowledge, heroic, all-conquering and unconquerable. Nevertheless, O almighty Lord, although they lived their lives intensely trying to possess me, these kings were subject to the passage of time, which reduced them all to mere historical accounts. None of them could permanently establish their rule.”
14. Sukadeva Gosvami said: O mighty Pariksit, I have related to you the narrations of all these great kings, who spread their fame throughout the world and then departed. My real purpose was to teach transcendental knowledge and renunciation. Stories of kings lend power and opulence to these narrations but do not in themselves constitute the ultimate aspect of knowledge.
15. The person who desires pure devotional service to Lord Krishna should hear the narrations of Lord Uttamahsloka’s glorious qualities, the constant chanting of which destroys everything inauspicious. The devotee should engage in such listening in regular daily assemblies and should also continue his hearing throughout the day.
16. King Pariksit said: My lord, how can persons living in the age of Kali rid themselves of the cumulative contamination of this age? O great sages please explain this to me.
17. Please explain the different ages of universal history, the special qualities of each age, the duration of cosmic maintenance and destruction, and the movement of time, which is the direct representation of the Supreme Soul, the Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu.
18. Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, in the beginning, during Satya-yuga, the age of truth, religion is present with all four of its legs intact and is carefully maintained by the people of that age. These four legs of powerful religion are truthfulness, mercy, austerity and charity.
19. The people of Satya-yuga are for the most part self-satisfied, merciful, friendly to all, peaceful, sober and tolerant. They take their pleasure from within, see all things equally and always endeavor diligently for spiritual perfection.
20. In Treta-yuga each leg of religion is gradually reduced by one quarter by the influence of the four pillars of irreligion-lying, violence, dissatisfaction and quarrel.
21. In the Treta age people are devoted to ritual performances and severe austerities. They are not excessively violent or very lusty after sensual pleasure. Their interest lies primarily in religiosity, economic development and regulated sense gratification, and they achieve prosperity by following the prescriptions of the three Vedas. Although in this age society evolves into four separate classes, O King, most people are brahmanas.
22. In Dvapara-yuga the religious qualities of austerity, truth, mercy and charity are reduced to one half by their irreligious counterparts-dissatisfaction, untruth, violence and enmity.
23. In the Dvapara age people are interested in glory and are very noble. They devote themselves to the study of the Vedas, possess great opulence, support large families and enjoy life with vigor. Of the four classes, the ksatriyas and brahmanas are most numerous.
24. In the age of Kali only one fourth of the religious principles remains. That last remnant will continuously be decreased by the ever-increasing principles of irreligion and will finally be destroyed.
25. In the Kali age people tend to be greedy, ill-behaved and merciless, and they fight one another without good reason. Unfortunate and obsessed with material desires, the people of Kali-yuga are almost all sudras and barbarians.
26. The material modes-goodness, passion and ignorance-whose permutations are observed within a person’s mind, are set into motion by the power of time.
27. When the mind, intelligence and senses are solidly fixed in the mode of goodness, that time should be understood as Satya-yuga, the age of truth. People then take pleasure in knowledge and austerity.
28. O most intelligent one, when the conditioned souls are devoted to their duties but have ulterior motives and seek personal prestige, you should understand such a situation to be the age of Treta, in which the functions of passion are prominent.
29. When greed, dissatisfaction, false pride, hypocrisy and envy become prominent, along with attraction for selfish activities, such a time is the age of Dvapara, dominated by the mixed modes of passion and ignorance.
30. When there is a predominance of cheating, lying, sloth, sleepiness, violence, depression, lamentation, bewilderment, fear and poverty, that age is Kali, the age of the mode of ignorance.
31. Because of the bad qualities of the age of Kali, human beings will become shortsighted, unfortunate, gluttonous, lustful and poverty-stricken. The women, becoming unchaste, will freely wander from one man to the next.
32. Cities will be dominated by thieves, the Vedas will be contaminated by speculative interpretations of atheists, political leaders will virtually consume the citizens, and the so-called priests and intellectuals will be devotees of their bellies and genitals.
33. The brahmacaris will fail to execute their vows and become generally unclean, the householders will become beggars, the vanaprasthas will live in the villages, and the sannyasis will become greedy for wealth.
34. Women will become much smaller in size, and they will eat too much, have more children than they can properly take care of, and lose all shyness. They will always speak harshly and will exhibit qualities of thievery, deceit and unrestrained audacity.
35. Businessmen will engage in petty commerce and earn their money by cheating. Even when there is no emergency, people will consider any degraded occupation quite acceptable.
36. Servants will abandon a master who has lost his wealth, even if that master is a saintly person of exemplary character. Masters will abandon an incapacitated servant, even if that servant has been in the family for generations. Cows will be abandoned or killed when they stop giving milk.
37. In Kali-yuga men will be wretched and controlled by women. They will reject their fathers, brothers, other relatives and friends and will instead associate with the sisters and brothers of their wives. Thus their conception of friendship will be based exclusively on sexual ties.
38. Uncultured men will accept charity on behalf of the Lord and will earn their livelihood by making a show of austerity and wearing a mendicant’s dress. Those who know nothing about religion will mount a high seat and presume to speak on religious principles.
39-40. In the age of Kali, people’s minds will always be agitated. They will become emaciated by famine and taxation, my dear King, and will always be disturbed by fear of drought. They will lack adequate clothing, food and drink, will be unable to properly rest, have sex or bathe themselves, and will have no ornaments to decorate their bodies. In fact, the people of Kali-yuga will gradually come to appear like ghostly, haunted creatures.
41. In Kali-yuga men will develop hatred for each other even over a few coins. Giving up all friendly relations, they will be ready to lose their own lives and kill even their own relatives.
42. Men will no longer protect their elderly parents, their children or their respectable wives. Thoroughly degraded, they will care only to satisfy their own bellies and genitals.
43. O King, in the age of Kali people’s intelligence will be diverted by atheism, and they will almost never offer sacrifice to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme spiritual master of the universe. Although the great personalities who control the three worlds all bow down to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, the petty and miserable human beings of this age will not do so.
44. Terrified, about to die, a man collapses on his bed. Although his voice is faltering and he is hardly conscious of what he is saying, if he utters the holy name of the Supreme Lord he can be freed from the reaction of his fruitive work and achieve the supreme destination. But still people in the age of Kali will not worship the Supreme Lord.
45. In the Kali-yuga, objects, places and even individual personalities are all polluted. The almighty Personality of Godhead, however, can remove all such contamination from the life of one who fixes the Lord within his mind.
46. If a person hears about, glorifies, meditates upon, worships or simply offers great respect to the Supreme Lord, who is situated within the heart, the Lord will remove from his mind the contamination accumulated during many thousands of lifetimes.
47. Just as fire applied to gold removes any discoloration caused by traces of other metals, Lord Visnu within the heart purifies the minds of the yogis.
48. By one’s engaging in the processes of demigod worship, austerities, breath control, compassion, bathing in holy places, strict vows, charity and chanting of various mantras, one’s mind cannot attain the same absolute purification as that achieved when the unlimited Personality of Godhead appears within one’s heart.
49. Therefore, O King, endeavor with all your might to fix the Supreme Lord Kesava within your heart. Maintain this concentration upon the Lord, and at the time of death you will certainly attain the supreme destination.
50. My dear King, the Personality of Godhead is the ultimate controller. He is the Supreme Soul and the supreme shelter of all beings. When meditated upon by those about to die, He reveals to them their own eternal spiritual identity.
51. My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.
52. Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Visnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
Chapter Four The Four Categories of Universal Annihilation
1. Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, I have already described to you the measurements of time, beginning from the smallest fraction measured by the movement of a single atom up to the total life span of Lord Brahma. I have also discussed the measurement of the different millennia of universal history. Now hear about the time of Brahma’s day and the process of annihilation.
2. One thousand cycles of four ages constitute a single day of Brahma, known as a kalpa. In that period, O King, fourteen Manus come and go.
3. After one day of Brahma, annihilation occurs during his night, which is of the same duration. At that time all the three planetary systems are subject to destruction.
4. This is called the naimittika, or occasional, annihilation, during which the original creator, Lord Narayana, lies down upon the bed of Ananta Sesa and absorbs the entire universe within Himself while Lord Brahma sleeps.
5. When the two halves of the lifetime of Lord Brahma, the most elevated created being, are complete, the seven basic elements of creation are annihilated.
6. O King, upon the annihilation of the material elements, the universal egg, comprising the elemental amalgamation of creation, is confronted with destruction.
7. As annihilation approaches, O King, there will be no rain upon the earth for one hundred years. Drought will lead to famine, and the starving populace will literally consume one another. The inhabitants of the earth, bewildered by the force of time, will gradually be destroyed.
8. The sun in its annihilating form will drink up with its terrible rays all the water of the ocean, of living bodies and of the earth itself. But the devastating sun will not give any rain in return.
9. Next the great fire of annihilation will flare up from the mouth of Lord Sankarsana. Carried by the mighty force of the wind, this fire will burn throughout the universe, scorching the lifeless cosmic shell.
10. Burned from all sides-from above by the blazing sun and from below by the fire of Lord Sankarsana-the universal sphere will glow like a burning ball of cow dung.
11. A great and terrible wind of destruction will begin to blow for more than one hundred years, and the sky, covered with dust, will turn gray.
12. After that, O King, groups of multicolored clouds will gather, roaring terribly with thunder, and will pour down floods of rain for one hundred years.
13. At that time, the shell of the universe will fill up with water, forming a single cosmic ocean.
14. As the entire universe is flooded, the water will rob the earth of its unique quality of fragrance, and the element earth, deprived of its distinguishing quality, will be dissolved.
15-19. The element fire then seizes the taste from the element water, which, deprived of its unique quality, taste, merges into fire. Air seizes the form inherent in fire, and then fire, deprived of form, merges into air. The element ether seizes the quality of air, namely touch, and that air enters into ether. Then, O King, false ego in ignorance seizes sound, the quality of ether, after which ether merges into false ego. False ego in the mode of passion takes hold of the senses, and false ego in the mode of goodness absorbs the demigods. Then the total mahat-tattva seizes false ego along with its various functions, and that mahat is seized by the three basic modes of nature-goodness, passion and ignorance. My dear King Pariksit, these modes are further overtaken by the original unmanifest form of nature, impelled by time. That unmanifest nature is not subject to the six kinds of transformation caused by the influence of time. Rather, it has no beginning and no end. It is the unmanifest, eternal and infallible cause of creation.
20-21. In the unmanifest stage of material nature, called pradhana, there is no expression of words, no mind and no manifestation of the subtle elements beginning from the mahat, nor are there the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. There is no life air or intelligence, nor any senses or demigods. There is no definite arrangement of planetary systems, nor are there present the different stages of consciousness-sleep, wakefulness and deep sleep. There is no ether, water, earth, air, fire or sun. The situation is just like that of complete sleep, or of voidness. Indeed, it is indescribable. Authorities in spiritual science explain, however, that since pradhana is the original substance, it is the actual basis of material creation.
22. This is the annihilation called prakrtika, during which the energies belonging to the Supreme Person and His unmanifest material nature, disassembled by the force of time, are deprived of their potencies and merge together totally.
23. It is the Absolute Truth alone who manifests in the forms of intelligence, the senses and the objects of sense perception, and who is their ultimate basis. Whatever has a beginning and an end is insubstantial because of being an object perceived by limited senses and because of being nondifferent from its own cause.
24. A lamp, the eye that views by the light of that lamp, and the visible form that is viewed are all basically nondifferent from the element fire. In the same way, intelligence, the senses and sense perceptions have no existence separate from the supreme reality, although that Absolute Truth remains totally distinct from them.
25. The three states of intelligence are called waking consciousness, sleep and deep sleep. But, my dear King, the variegated experiences created for the pure living entity by these different states are nothing more than illusion.
26. Just as clouds in the sky come into being and are then dispersed by the amalgamation and dissolution of their constituent elements, this material universe is created and destroyed within the Absolute Truth by the amalgamation and dissolution of its elemental, constituent parts.
27. My dear King, it is stated [in the Vedanta-sutra] that the ingredient cause that constitutes any manifested product in this universe can be perceived as a separate reality, just as the threads that make up a cloth can be perceived separately from their product.
28. Anything experienced in terms of general cause and specific effect must be an illusion, because such causes and effects exist only relative to each other. Indeed, whatever has a beginning and an end is unreal.
29. Although perceived, the transformation of even a single atom of material nature has no ultimate definition without reference to the Supreme Soul. To be accepted as factually existing, something must possess the same quality as pure spirit-eternal, unchanging existence.
30. There is no material duality in the Absolute Truth. The duality perceived by an ignorant person is like the difference between the sky contained in an empty pot and the sky outside the pot, or the difference between the reflection of the sun
in water and the sun itself in the sky, or the difference between the vital air within one living body and that within another body.
31. According to their different purposes, men utilize gold in various ways, and gold is therefore perceived in various forms. In the same way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is inaccessible to material senses, is described in various terms, both ordinary and Vedic, by different types of men.
32. Although a cloud is a product of the sun and is also made visible by the sun, it nevertheless creates darkness for the viewing eye, which is another partial expansion of the sun. Similarly, material false ego, a particular product of the Absolute Truth made visible by the Absolute Truth, obstructs the individual soul, another partial expansion of the Absolute Truth, from realizing the Absolute Truth.
33. When the cloud originally produced from the sun is torn apart, the eye can see the actual form of the sun. Similarly, when the spirit soul destroys his material covering of false ego by inquiring into the transcendental science, he regains his original spiritual awareness.
34. My dear Pariksit, when the illusory false ego that binds the soul has been cut off with the sword of discriminating knowledge and one has developed realization of Lord Acyuta, the Supreme Soul, this is called the atyantika, or ultimate, annihilation of material existence.
35. Experts in the subtle workings of nature, O subduer of the enemy, have declared that there are continuous processes of creation and annihilation that all created beings, beginning with Brahma, constantly undergo.
36. All material entities undergo transformation and are constantly and swiftly eroded by the mighty currents of time. The various stages of existence that material things exhibit are the perpetual causes of their generation and annihilation.
37. These stages of existence created by beginningless and endless time, the impersonal representative of the Supreme Lord, are not visible, just as the infinitesimal momentary changes of position of the planets in the sky cannot be directly seen.
38. In this way the progress of time is described in terms of the four kinds of annihilation-continuous, occasional, elemental and final.
39. O best of the Kurus, I have related to you these narrations of the pastimes of Lord Narayana, the creator of this world and the ultimate reservoir of all existence, presenting them to you only in brief summary. Even Lord Brahma himself would be incapable of describing them entirely.
40. For a person who is suffering in the fire of countless miseries and who desires to cross the insurmountable ocean of material existence, there is no suitable boat except that of cultivating devotion to the transcendental taste for the narrations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes.
41. Long ago this essential anthology of all the Puranas was spoken by the infallible Lord Nara-Narayana Rsi to Narada, who then repeated it to Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa.
42. My dear Maharaja Pariksit, that great personality Srila Vyasadeva taught me this same scripture, Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is equal in stature to the four Vedas.
43. O best of the Kurus, the same Suta Gosvami who is sitting before us will speak this Bhagavatam to the sages assembled in the great sacrifice at Naimisaranya. This he will do when questioned by the members of the assembly, headed by Saunaka.
Chapter Five Sukadeva Gosvami’s Final Instructions to Maharaja Pariksit
1. Sukadeva Gosvami said: This Srimad-Bhagavatam has elaborately described in various narrations the
Supreme Soul of all that be-the Personality of Godhead, Hari-from whose satisfaction Brahma is born and from whose anger Rudra takes birth.
2. O King, give up the animalistic mentality of thinking, “I am going lo die.” Unlike the body, you have not taken birth. There was not a time in the past when you did not exist, and you are not about to be destroyed.
3. You will not take birth again in the form of your sons and grandsons, like a sprout taking birth from a seed and then generating a new seed. Rather, you are entirely distinct from the material body and its paraphernalia, in the same way that fire is distinct from its fuel.
4. In a dream one can see his own head being cut off and thus understand that his actual self is standing apart from the dream experience. Similarly, while awake one can see that his body is a product of the five material elements. Therefore it is to be understood that the actual self, the soul, is distinct from the body it observes and is unborn and immortal.
5. When a pot is broken, the portion of sky within the pot remains as the element sky, just as before. In the same way, when the gross and subtle bodies die, the living entity within resumes his spiritual identity.
6. The material bodies, qualities and activities of the spirit soul are created by the material mind. That mind is itself created by the illusory potency of the Supreme Lord, and thus the soul assumes material existence.
7. A lamp functions as such only by the combination of its fuel, vessel, wick and fire. Similarly, material life, based on the soul’s identification with the body, is developed and destroyed by the workings of material goodness, passion and ignorance, which are the constituent elements of the body.
8. The soul within the body is self-luminous and is separate from the visible gross body and invisible subtle body. It remains as the fixed basis of changing bodily existence, just as the ethereal sky is the unchanging background of material transformation. Therefore the soul is endless and without material comparison.
9. My dear King, by constantly meditating upon the Supreme Lord, Vasudeva, and by applying clear and logical intelligence, you should carefully consider your true self and how it is situated within the material body.
10. The snake-bird Taksaka, sent by the curse of the brahmana, will not burn your true self. The agents of death will never burn such a master of the self as you, for you have already conquered all dangers on your path back to Godhead.
11-12. You should consider, “I am nondifferent from the Absolute Truth, the supreme abode, and that Absolute Truth, the supreme destination, is nondifferent from me.” Thus resigning yourself to the Supreme Soul, who is free from all material misidentifications, you will not even notice the snake-bird Taksaka when he approaches with his poison-filled fangs and bites your foot. Nor will you see your dying body or the material world around you, because you will have realized yourself to be separate from them.
13. Beloved King Pariksit, I have narrated to you the topics you originally inquired about-the pastimes of Lord Hari, the Supreme Soul of the universe. Now, what more do you wish to hear?
Canto 12 Chapters 6 to 10 >
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