Puṇḍarīka Nārada Saṃvāda

The Narasiṃha Purāṇa tells this episode in its 64th chapter. Puṇḍarīka was a brāhmaṇa who lived the life of a brahmacārī (a student who keeps strict discipline). He left his family, visited the great tīrthas (sacred waters) and came to the Śālagrāma kshetra (holy place) on the Cakranādī, which is also called the Gaṇḍakī. There he settled in deep devotion to Vishṇu. Nārada came to him and gave him the highest teaching of Brahmā. After long tapas (austerity), Puṇḍarīka saw Bhagavān Vishṇu, who took him straight to Vaikuṇṭha.

Puṇḍarīka, the ideal brahmacārī

Puṇḍarīka was learned and kept every rule of brahmacarya with perfect discipline. He controlled his mind and senses. He did sandhyāvandana (the prayers at the junctions of the day) with care. He mastered the Vedas, the Vedāṅgas and the śāstras. Morning and evening he tended the sacred fire with offerings of samidh (fuel sticks). He meditated on Vishṇu in the way of the great Nārada and was always engaged in tapas. He served his guru and his parents with sincerity and lived only on alms (bhikshā). He also practised prāṇāyāma (breath control) and the study of Vedānta without a break. His conduct made everyone love him.

Because of this long practice, a deep vairāgya (turning away from worldly life) grew in his mind toward saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death). He gave up his parents, his mother’s relatives, his friends and his kinsmen, and went wandering over the earth. He lived on śāka (leaves and vegetables), roots and fruits. He was sure that youth, beauty, length of life and wealth all perish, and he saw the three worlds as a lump of clay.

He decided to visit all the great tīrthas, one after another, with discipline and steady purpose. These were the Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Gomatī, Gaṇḍakī, Śatadrū, Payoshṇī, Sarayū, Sarasvatī, Prayāga and Narmadā, and the tīrthas of Gayā, the Vindhya and the Himavat.

Arrival at Śālagrāma kshetra

On his way, Puṇḍarīka came to the Śālagrāma kshetra on the Cakranādī. This is the river whose stones carry the cakra-marks of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The place was home to ṛshis who had realised the truth, and its āśramas were famous in the Purāṇas. The waters of the Cakrakuṇḍa there awaken the memory of past lives. The animals that lived there carried cakra-marks on their bodies. The place was peaceful and wide, and people passed through it at all times.

Puṇḍarīka bathed in the Devahada tīrtha and the Cakrakuṇḍa and honoured the other tīrthas of the kshetra. The power of the place made his mind deeply pure. With that pure mind he fixed himself in dhyāna (meditation) and settled alone at Śālagrāma. He lived on śāka and fruit, calm in all things, and practised yoga as the rules lay down. His mind was wholly given to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, and he wanted nothing but his grace.

Nārada comes with the highest teaching

After many years at Śālagrāma, Nārada came to see Puṇḍarīka. Nārada is the divine ṛshi who is always the servant of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Puṇḍarīka welcomed him with great joy. He offered arghya and pādya (water for the hands and feet) and the other forms of welcome. Then he put to Nārada the question that had long filled his mind:

“O Nārada, chief of munis! The śāstras are many. The duties to be done are many. The paths of dharma are many, and the world looks confusing. Some say satya (truth) is highest. Some say tapas. Some say sāṃkhya and others say yoga. Some say jñāna (knowledge), others patience, others compassion. Which of these is truly the highest? Please teach me, so that I may cross saṃsāra.”

Nārada answered that he would tell what Brahmā himself had taught him, when he once asked Brahmā the same question in Brahmaloka. This is the heart of Brahmā’s teaching.

• This creation is not matter alone. The 25th tattva (principle), beyond Prakṛti, is the Ātman, the individual ātmā. The one on whom it rests is Nārāyaṇa. His name comes from nāra (the primal waters, the ātmās), so he is “the one who rests on nāra“. At creation the whole universe comes out of Nārāyaṇa. At pralaya (dissolution) everything goes back into him.
• Nārāyaṇa is Parabrahma, Paraṃjyoti (the highest light) and Paramātmā. Everything that is seen and heard, within and without, is filled by Mādhava.
• Those who repeat Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya in the mind, with the mind fixed on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, do not need to give gifts, go to tīrthas, do tapas or perform yajña. Meditation on Nārāyaṇa is the highest jñāna.
• Many roads lead to one city. In the same way all the śāstras, however much they differ, lead in the end to Acyuta. The one path is to give oneself directly to Nārāyaṇa.
• The different śāstras describe Vishṇu in different ways, as atomic, as beyond all, as infinite and so on, because words cannot reach the highest. When all the śāstras are looked at together, it is clear that Nārāyaṇa alone is dhyānārhya (worthy of meditation).
• Those who know Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya, the imperishable brahmapadārtha (the word that points to Brahman), and repeat it even at the last moment of life, reach Vishṇupada, the abode of Vishṇu.

Nārada ended with these words: “Therefore, Puṇḍarīka, give yourself to the ārādhanā of Acyuta. Who else gives what is asked? Who else gives his own divine abode even to those who only remember him in passing? The Ashṭāksharī (the eight-syllable mantra) alone fulfils every purpose. What need is there of many mantras and vratas (vows)? Outward marks are not dharma. These are saffron robes, matted hair, the tridaṇḍa (the triple staff), a shaved head and ornaments. The one who has taken shelter in Acyuta reaches the presence of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, even if he was before unkind, wicked or full of pāpa (sin). How much more, then, one who has won over his senses and is always in meditation on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa!”

Darśana of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Vaikuṇṭha

After Nārada left, Puṇḍarīka went on with his tapas at Śālagrāma. He recited the Ashṭāksharī, Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya, and prayed with folded hands: “Bhagavān Keśava! You are worthy of all meditation. You have no beginning and no end. Only yogins can see your form. You are Sarveśvara, the master of all. You alone are my refuge.” Because of his devotion, the wild animals of the place, lions, deer and tigers, gave up their natural enmity and lived together in peace near him.

One day Bhagavān Jagannātha appeared before Puṇḍarīka. He was lotus-eyed. He carried the conch, the discus and the mace, wore yellow silk and shone with the Kaustubha jewel. He sat on Garuḍa, who shone like the peak of Meru. Divine cāmaras (fly-whisks) were waved over him, and he was adorned with garlands of pearls. Puṇḍarīka was overcome with devotion and awe. He bowed with his head lowered and his arms folded.

Bhagavān Jagannātha was pleased with Puṇḍarīka’s long service and honest devotion. He said: “O Vatsa (my child)! I am glad of your devotion. Ask for any vara (boon) you wish.”

Puṇḍarīka answered: “O Mādhava! I am dull-minded. How can I know what is truly good for me? You alone know. So give me whatever is truly good for me. That is my only prayer.”

Bhagavān Jagannātha was very pleased with this surrender that asked for nothing for itself. He said: “May good come to you! Come with me to my abode. Take a form equal to mine and stay at my side.”

The divine kettle-drums sounded and flowers fell like rain. Indra, the devas and the siddhas all saw this and praised it. The siddhas, gandharvas and kinnaras sang of Puṇḍarīka’s glory. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa mounted Garuḍa with Puṇḍarīka beside him and left for Vaikuṇṭha.

The teaching of the episode

The Narasiṃha Purāṇa gives this episode as the answer to Bhāradvāja’s question about the highest path among many competing views. Sūta, speaking to the assembly of Bhāradvāja, presents Nārada’s words to Puṇḍarīka as the upadeśa (teaching) of Brahmā himself, the highest teaching from the highest authority. The conclusion is plain. Nārāyaṇa is the one final reality. The Ashṭāksharī, Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya, is a path that is enough in itself. Honest devotion and meditation lead to Vishṇu-sāyujya (union with Vishṇu).

Sources

• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 64