53- The Greatness of Purushottama (Contd.)

Mohini said:

1-2. O leading sage, kindly narrate to me what I ask about the ancient Being; as to how those idols were formerly made by Indradyumna and in what manner was Mädhava pleased with him; O, Bràhmana. elucidate everything to me, as I am eager to hear about it.

Vasu said

3. O lady of beautiful eyes, listen, I shall recount the ancient story of the origin of the idols, the mythological tradition that is on a par with the Vedas.

4. When the great Sacrifice commenced and the mansion had been built, king Indradyumna began to worry about the idols day and night.¹

1. VV. 4-9 are selected Verbatim from BM. P. 48.4-12. Thus NP. 4, 5, 6, NP 7, 8,9 -BMP 10, 11, 11.

5. He pondered: ‘‘By what means can I see Purush0ttama the lord of the Devas, the conceiver and creator of the worlds and the cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution of the worlds?”

6, The king who was anxious and worried could not sleep properly by day or by night. He did not enjoy the various worldly pleasures nor was he interested in taking bath or bedecking himself.

7. “On the surface of the earth three types of idols befitting Vishnu and marked with all characteristics are seen. Viz.: the idols made of stone, of wood or of metals.

8. The idols made of these three, when installed shall give pleasure. They shall be the beloved of the deity and worshipped by the Devas”. —Thus the king pondered over in his mind.

9. After worshipping Purush0ttama in accordance with the injunctions in the scripture ‘Pañcharätra’, the anxious ruler of the Earth began to eulogise him.

Indradyumna prayed:¹

1. This prayer by Indradyumna—vv. 10-68 (the end of the chapter) is a prolonged quotation (with a few deletions) from BM. P. ch. 51. 1-59 which is also the prayer by Indradyumna.

10. O Väsudeva, obeisance be to you, O cause of liberation, homage to you, O lord of all the worlds, save me from the ocean of births (and deaths) and the worldly existence.

11. Hail to you, O Purush0ttama, resembling a pure silken garment, O Samkarshana, obeisance be to you. Rescue me, O supporter of the earth.

12. Obeisance be to you (the deity) with the golden womb; Bow to you, the shark-emblemed lord. O lover of Rati, obeisance to you. Save me, O destroyer of Shambara.

13. Hail to you (the deity) resembling the cloud (in complexion); salute to you (the deity) favourably disposed to the devotees. O Aniruddha, obeisance be to you. Redeem me. Be the bestower of boons.²

2. VV. 10-13 are salutations to the four (manifestations of Vishnu). The NP. is depicted by the Pañcharätra Ägama.

14.Bow to you the seat of residence of the Devas. Obeisance to you who arc dear to the Devas. O Nârâyana, obeisance be to you, protect me who have sought refuge in you.

15. Hail to you, O most excellent one among powerful beings; Obeisance to you O ploughshare-armed one. Bow to you, the most excellent one among the Devas. Obeisance to you the lotus-born.

16. O four-faced god, O creator of the universe; protect me, O great-grandfather of the universe, obeisance to you, who have the lustre of the blue cloud. Hail to you, one worshipped by the gods.

17. Redeem me, O Vishnu. O lord of the universe, rescue me who am immersed in the ocean of worldly existence—O deity resembling the fire of dissolution, obeisance to you, the destroyer of the Daityas.

18-19. O Narasimha of great prowess, protect me, O deity of blazing eyes. O great boar, just as the earth that was formerly sunk into the waters had been lifted up from the nether-worlds, so also you rescue me from the ocean of misery. O Krishna the forms of your limbs (your ancillary forms) that bestow boons have been eulogised by me.

20-22. You and these viz. Baladeva and others are stationed in separate forms. O lord, O lord of the Devas, Garuda and others are your ancillaries. So also are the guardians of the quarters along with their weapons, such as Väsava (Indra) and others. O Achyuta, O lord of the universe, O lord of the Devas with large eyes expressing delight, all your forms, these and others, have been mentioned by learned men—all have been worshipped and eulogised and bowed to by me.

23-25. Grant ye unto me that boon which bestows virtue, love, wealth and liberation. O Hari, your different forms e.g. Samkarshana and others that have been glorified are related to your worship. Hence, they have been incorporated in you, O lord of Devas. No factual difference exists between you and these forms of yours. The different forms of yours have been mentioned so, only in a secondary sense. How can man call you who are the non-dualistic one, as dualistic?

26. O Hari, you are but one, the pervader of all, of the nature of consciousness and unsullied: Your highest form is that which is devoid of existence as well as non-existence.

27-28a. It is unsmeared, free from impurities, subtle, firm, steady and eternal. It is devoid of all conditioning characteristics-: It is pure existence only and is well stabilised. Even a Deva does not know about it. O lord, how can I, a human being know it?

28b-30a. The other form of yours, that which is yellow robed, four-armed, wearing the conch, discus and iron club, having coronet and armlets, embellished with Šhrivatsa in the chest and bedecked in garlands of sylvan flowers, is worshipped by the Devas and others that are dependent on you.

30b-32. O lord, the most excellent one among all gods, the bestower of fearlessness (or Moksha) on the devotees, save me, O deity of beautiful lotus-like eyes, rescue me who am immersed in the ocean of worldly existence and mundane affairs. O lord of Devas, O lord of Kamala, O Madhusüdana, excepting you I do not see anyone else in whom I can seek refuge. Be pleased. I am over-whelmed by hundreds of ailments and old age; I am afflicted by many miseries.

33. I am confounded, sometimes delighted and sometimes aggrieved; I have been bound by the nooses of Karman. I have fallen into the extremely fierce and terrible ocean of worldly existence.

34-35. O lord, I am deluded by your Mäyä for a long time. I have been wandering (in the ocean of mundane existence) which is very difficult to cross, the ocean with worldly objects as its waters, which is highly agitated with passion and hatred; which is deep due to the whirlpools of sense-organs, and is turbulent due to the billows of greedy thirst and grief which has neither receptacle nor a support which is actually insignificant but heavily moving to and fro.

36-37a. I am born again and again in thousands of species of creatures. O Janärdana, in this world thousands and ten thousands of different births have been undergone by me.

37b-38a The Vedas have been learned by me along with their ancillaries. The different kinds of scriptures, the Itihäsas the Purànas and many kinds of arts and crafts have been learned by me.

38b-39a, Dissatisfaction and satisfaction have been met with by me. Many times I have hoarded wealth. Many times I have spent (squandered) much. O lord of the universe, decline and increase, rise and fall I have faced in my life.

39b-40. I have experienced association with and separation from wives, friends and kinsmen. Different kinds of fathers and mothers have been seen by me. Many sorrows have been experienced by me and many happy occasions too.

41.Relatives, sisters, brothers and kinsmen have been acquired by me. I have occupied the bellies of women, bellies that are slimy due to faeces and urine.

42. O lord, while staying in the womb, great misery has been experienced by me. Miseries have been experienced during childhood as well as during haughty youth.

43-44a. O Hrushikešha, miseries have been experienced in the course of old age by me. Those miseries that are usually experienced at death, in the secret path of Yama’s abode, and in the hell, full of tortures, have been experienced by me.

44b-46. I have been born again and again in various species, such as those of germs, insects, trees, elephants, horses, deer, birds, buffaloes, cows, and every other wild animal. I have been born in the wombs of Brähmanas, Kshatriyas Vaišyas as well as Šüdras. I have been born in the abodes of rich Vaišhyas, Kshatriyas, pious ascetics (Bràhmanas), of kings and kings’ servants and other embodied beings.

47. O Lord, I have been born in their houses again and again, O lord, I had worked as a slave for the servants of many men.

48. I have attained poverty or affluence. Many have been killed by me. I have been killed by many others. Things belonging to me have been destroyed. Many have been caused to be killed by me.

49-50a. Things have been given to me by others and things have been given by me to others. I have suffered by what has been done by fathers, friends mothers and wives and have been delighted too (by what they did). On many occasions, due to misery my face has been washed by my tears.

50b-51a. O lord, there is no such spot among the Devas, animals, human beings, the mobile and immobile beings, where I have not been.

51b-54. O lord of the universe, sometimes I stayed in hell and sometimes in heaven. Sometimes in human worlds and sometimes in animal kingdom. Just as someone, in the mechanical device for lifting water fixed to a hole falls up and down or remains in the middle, so also O excellent one among Devas, I have had recourse to the series of my Karmans. Thus in this wheel of worldly existence, that is very terrible and that causes hairs to stand on their ends, I have been whirling for a long time. I do not sec the end thereof.

55. O Hari, I do not know what I am doing. All my sense-organs are worn out and agitated. I have been over-whelmed by grief and greed. I am a terrified fugitive. I have lost consciousness.

56. O lord, utterly maimed and crippled, I have now sought refuge in you. Save me, O Krishna, rescue me who am immersed in the ocean of worldly existence.

57. O lord of the universe, be merciful if you consider me that I am your devotee. Excepting you, I have no other kinsmen who will be worrying for my sake and take my care.

58. O Lord, after resorting to you as the lord, I have no fear from anywhere either in life or death or about my wellbeing.

59. How can there be good states and liberation from the bondage of worldly existence in the case of those base men who do not duly worship you, O lord?

61. O what use is their nobility of birth, or good conduct or learning or even life, if they have no devotion to Kešhava, the creator of the universe?

61. Those who have Asuraic character and those who are deluded and those who censure you, do fall into the terrible hell and are born again and again.

62. O lord, those who are of evil activities and those who speak ill of you are base men. They do not have any way of escape from the hellish ocean.

63. O Hari, where I am destined to be born as a result of my Karmans, may my devotion to you be ever unimpaired.

64. By propitiating you, the great one, Daityas, human beings, and others too in a body have attained the greatest Siddhi. O lord, who would not like to worship you?

65. Even Brahma and others are not competent to eulogise you who are beyond Prakruti. O lord, out of my ignorance, I too have eulogised you imperfectly.

66. Hence, forgive my guilt if you have mercy towards me. O Hari, even if others commit offence, good men forgive them.

67-68. Hence, O lord of the Devas, be pleased. With devotion I have resorted to your affection. O lord, you have been eulogised by me with the mind full of devotion. May that be fruitful. O Vásudeva, obeisance be to you.