29 - On unfolding the mystery and secret of Reality

1. O best and noblest of birds, I shall now tell you the narrative as sequel to Pravaha, hear attentively. At the beginning of creation Dharma was born of the body of Brahma. 

2. He came to be known as Dharma because he sustained the noble by gentle treatment. He became the son of the solar deity and attained the designation of Yama.¹

1. As a god, Yama is assigned the duty of ruling over the Dead. He is called the father of the Dead. He admonishes the sinners and appreciates the virtuous. Since he administers Justice according to traditional law he is known as Dharmaraja. 

When the life span of a living being is at an end, he sends his agents who bring the departed souls to the city of Yama. From there he sends the holy souls to heaven and the sinful souls to hell.

Since he admonished the sinners the learned call him Yama. 

Lord Krishna said: 

3-4. After Prahlada came Ganga who became the wife of Varuna. She was inferior to Prahlada. She was superior to Varuna in glory, though in form she was inferior to him. 

To Vishnu who bestows supreme knowledge on men Yama is friendly. 

5. Ganga¹ is so called because she purifies the world by her waters. The devotees call her Vishnupadi out of devotion for her.

1. This information on the holy river of North India is peculiar to this Purana. The spirited enthusiasm displayed in the description and the narrative of this river indicates that the writer of this section might have lived on its bank.

6. Formerly, she forced her way out of the nails of the left feet of Vishnu whose symbol is sacrifice. In the beginning she broke through the upper part of the cosmic egg. 

7. She rushed into the belly of the lord the destroyer of the sins of the people and purified herself by contact with the filament of his lotus-feet. She destroys impurities by her very sight, touch, bath and creates devotion for the feet of Vishnu. She is as white in complexion as the rays of the moon. Her eyes resemble those of the fish. She is worthy of worship. Whosoever remembers her as rising from the feet of Hari attains liberation. 

8. Indra too, who drank in the heap of breath pressed, with hands, by the wind-god was not able to bear her upon his head. 

Knowing that Ganga had emerged from the feet of lord Hari, Shiva, the chief among the devotees of Vishnu moved by devotion at heart, took her up with reverence upon his head which though inauspicious became auspicious by her touch. 

9. O lord of birds, Ganga had four forms. As the wife of chief physician Janendra she was called Abhishechani. 

10. In her second form she became the wife of Shantanu. As the wife of Sushena, a monkey-chief, she was called Sushena. 

11. Being the wife of Mandūka she was called Mandūkini. 

12. Parjanya was born to Ganga from Aditya. He is called Parjanya (a cloud) since the rains (release of water) are symbols of detachment. 

13. The word Parjanya is derivable from Panchajanya meaning a conch by omitting the word pancha and retaining Janya. It is symbolical of the idea that one should expel the six aberrations Kama, Krodha etc. from his interior and meditate upon atman with detachment not impaired by affection or hatred. 

14. One should never nourish his own sexual organ but should ever devote oneself to the phallic emblem of Shiva. One should not attach oneself to the vagina of a woman. If he gives up his thought on vagina he becomes detached and attains liberation. 

15. Parjanya is always detached. O best of birds, Parjanya is, therefore, Yama. In this way sage Sharabha too is called antaka. He too is Yama. 

16. O lord of birds, Sharabha is one on whose body the hair glisten brightly. Sharabha is a cloud. The wife of Yama is Shyamala. She is also the wife of Kali. 

17-18. She who with an awareness makes up her mind is called Shyāmala. 

I shall now tell you about obstacles to one's devotion for Vishnu. One should keep them aside, throw them away just as one puts excretion in an iron vessel and throws it away or just as one throws off cloth burnt by fire or abandons battle which has no aim or the treatment of a physician which occasions pain to the patient. 

19. The devotees of Hari should dissociate from those who are devoid of devotion for Vishnu and as such are considered to be inferior in society. He should avoid their company. 

20-21. The following are not dear to the bow-wielding lord Krishna but they are deer to the mistress of Kali, those who are averse to the reciters of the Puranas, a delapidated pond, a worne-out garment, an old girdle, an old blanket, an old sacred thread, a house of which the inmates are always engaged in quarrel, or a house which contains a woollen canopy or a house which is full of woods and grass and is therefore shabby in appearance. All these are not dear to the bow-wielding lord but they are dear to the consort of Kali. 

Grains of corn-Yavanala cooked in a vessel of bell-metal, husks of corn, oil-cake, gourd, wood-apple, a great quantity of butter-milk devoid of taste, pungent and hot-all these are dear to the consort of Kali.

22-23. Bad face, censure of the noble, disrespect for the good, torture of children, stealing of rice, cloth, etc at the house of one's husband, or wearing loose hair on the head or addiction to gambling and quarrels—all this is endearing to the consort of Kali. 

24-25. Since she avoided all these, she was called Shyāmala. She became the consort of Vasudeva known as Devaki. The consort of the moon was called Rohiņi who was superior to Ashvini and others. 

26. Holding rope in her hand, she could ascend a place, she was called Rohiņi. Samjna was the consort of Aditya. She was of the very nature of Narayana. 

27. Because she knowing made up her mind she was called Samjna, the consort of the solar deity. Virat is the presiding deity of the universe, therefore, he is called Virat. 

28. The six rivers Ganga, etc., are equal in merit to one another, each one of the group being neither superior nor inferior to the other. They purify the principal Agni. The river Ganga is always auspicious. 

29. Even by the knowledge of the sanctity of these purifying streams a devotee attains merit. Lord Keshava is extremely pleased thereby. Svaha, the consort of Agni is inferior to Ganga but superior to Samjna. 

30. Svaha is identical with Svahakara, the presiding deity of the mantras. 

31. Budha, the son of the lunar deity was more intelligent than Svaha, the consort of Agni. He became the presiding deity of the Vedas. Since he established Kingdom with great intelligence he was called Budha. 

The noble Abhimanyu was born of Arjuna and Subhadra. He contains the amshas of Krishna, moon, Yama, Ashvins and Hara. 

32. Budha, the son of the moon is inferior to Svaha. He is devoted to the lotus feet of Vishnu. 

33. Nama, the wife of Ashvins, is also called USA. She is inferior to Budha and to Svaha (the wife of Agni) by ten percent virtues

34. The wife of Nakula was the daughter of the king of Magadha and the wife of Sahadeva was the daughter of Shalya the two together with USA, the wife of Ashvins wait upon Vishnu possessed of sixfold virtue. O lord of birds, hence, also she is called USA. O noble bird, now I shall tell you about those which come after. 

35. A spiritual power (energy) in the form of earth moves slowly but ceaselessly. That power is called Shanaishchara. It is inferior to Usha by ten per cent virtues. 

36. Pushkala or Pushkara¹ of the form of activity is the twin brother of Shani. He presides over law and order. He is comparatively gentle and inferior to Shanaishchara by ten percent virtues. 

37. Since he delights Vishnu by his devotion and sports in the Pushkara lake¹ He is known as Pushkala among the people.

1. Pushkara or Pushkala-a holy place of pilgrimage in Ajmer. The present text refers to Pushkara lake which was sacred to Brahma who performed penance here. The Garuda Purana refers to Pushkala, the twin-brother of Shanaishchara who abides in the pool and propitiates Vishnu by his wondrous sports.

38. O lord of birds, now I shall tell you about those activities which are delightful to the lord. A person should rise early in the morning and remember lord Hari Narayana. 

39. He should bow to Tulasi and remember Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. At the call of nature, while evacuating bowels he should remember Keshava of the form of apāna. 

40. At the time of purification he should remember Trivikrama, sipping waters of the Ganges. At the time of cleansing the teeth, he should remember Hari pervading the moon. 

41. At the washing of the mouth he should remember Madhava. At the itching of cows, he should remember Govardhana. 

42. At the milking of cows, or when the fruits of meritorious actions accomplished in the several previous births are ripened or at the touch of cows he should remember Gopala-vallabha (the beloved of cowherds-lord Shri Krishna.

43-44. In the house where there is no cow or the holy Basil plant in the courtyard where the inmates do not celebrate any festival for the Gods, where there is no recitation of the narrative of Vishnu, one should never stay even for a moment, for association with the inmates of that house will lead to misery. 

45. He who does not keep a cow at home, is unaware of the art of milking it or is averse to nourishing it, passes his life in vain. 

46. He who does not give mouthful of food to the cow or does not tend it properly, can never pass a good, comfortable life. He is like an outcaste in the village. 

47. When the calf is sucking the breast he should remember the boy Krishna; when the milk is being churned he should remember Hari sucking. 

48. When he bathes in waters mixed with the particles of earth from the sacred places of pilgrimage he should also remember Hari. When he puts sect marks on the forehead he should remember the twelve names of lord Vishnu beginning with Keshava. 

49. In practising certain positions (mudras) of his fingers he should remember lord Vishnu adorned with conch, disc, mace, lotus, meteor, etc. 

50. In the evening when he performs Sandhya he should remember Rama. While performing a Shraddha he should remember Achyuta, Ananta and Govinda. 

51. In the performance of five sacrifices Prana, etc., he should remember Aniruddha. When he offers oblations to the fire he should remember Vasudeva. 

52. When he goes on fast he should remember Hari pervading Vayu. When he wears dress, he should remember Upendra. 

53 When he puts on new sacred thread he should remember Vamana Narayana. When he waves lights before an idol he should remember Parashurama. 

54. When he goes on fast or at the time of Vaishvadeva or other sacrifices or at the time of besmearing body with the holy ashes he should remember Narayana, Parasurama and Jamadagnya. 

55. When he thrice utters the name of sacred places of pilgrimage he should remember Krishna, Rama and Vyasa respectively. When he pours water out of the conch he should remember Mukunda. 

56. When he offers undiluted food to Govinda, at each mouthful of food he should remember Govinda. When he partakes of food, at each core of the eatable he should remember Achyuta concentratedly. 

57. Whan he partakes of Vegetables he should remember Dhanvantari. When he eats food offered by another he should remember Panduranga.

58. When he eats butter he should remember the dancing Krishna. When he eats curd, he should remember the premeval lord. 

59. When he drinks milk he should remember Gopala Krishna, lord Shrinivasa, Vishnu. When he eats food fried in the oil or ghee he should remember Vyankațesha. 

60. When he partakes of grapes, pomegranates, banana, mango, orange, cocoanut or other fruits he should remember Balakrishna. When he drinks a good drink, he should remember Nrusimha. 

61. When he drinks the ambrosial waters of the Ganges he should remember Vishnu, the source of Ganga. 

62. When he is on the verge of death he should remember the attribute less and the omnipresent Narayana and his Vehicle Garuda. When he kisses his son and other boys he should remember Krishna holding Venu in his hands. 

63. When indulging in intercourse with his consort he should remember Vishnu playing with the Gopi’s' pair of breasts. 

64. When he is going to sleep he should remember Hari as the incarnation of Vyasa. 

65. When he sings devotional songs he should remember Hari playing upon Venu. He should always utter the name Hari. 

66. When he plucks the leaves of Tulasi he should utter 'Rama, Rama'. When he cuts off a leaf he should remember Kapila, an incarnation of Hari. When he circumambulates Hari pervading Garuda he should remember Hari with concentration. 

67. When he bows to Vishnu, the lord of lords, he should remember Vishnu pervading Shesha. When he is in council with his ministers he should remember Narasimha Narayana. 

68-69. When an undertaking is accomplished he should remember lord Vasudeva Hari. When he has accomplished activities as are endearing to lord Pushkara, he secures the affection of Hari. 

70. Therefore, o lord of birds, he who hears with faith this incomparable narrative of Pushkara, in all its details, is attracted to Dharma which creates devotion for the lord.