[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Instructions in the Vishnu Purana
Last chapter, Book 1 of the Vishnu Purana
----------
Maitreya - But, Muni, describe to me fully the four varieties of Brahman, and
what is the supreme condition.
Parasara - That, Maitreya, which is the cause of a thing is called the means
of affecting it; and that which is the desire of the soul to accomplish is the
thing to be effected. The operations of the Yogi who is desirous of liberation,
as suppression of breath and the like, are his means: the end is the supreme
Brahman, whence he returns to the world no more. Essentially connected with,
and dependent upon, the means employed for emancipation by the Yogi, is
discriminative wisdom(Vijnana); and this is the first variety of condition of
Brahman. The second sort is knowledge that is to be acquired by the Yogi
whose end is escape from suffering, or eternal felicity. The third kind is
the ascertainment of the identity of the end and the means, the rejection of
the notion of duality. The last kind is the removal of whatever differences may
have been conceived by the first three varieties of knowledge, and the
consequent contemplation of the true essence of soul. The supreme condition of
Vishnu, who is one with wisdom(Jnana), is the knowledge of Truth; which requires
no exercise(NirvyApAra), which is not to be taught(anAkheyaM), which is
internally diffused(vyAptimAtraM), which is unequalled; the object of which is
self-illumination; which is simply existent(sattAmAtraM), and is not to be
defined(alakshhaNaM); which is tranquil(PrashAntaM); fearless, pure; which is
not the theme of reasoning (durvibhAvyaM); which stands in need of no support
(asamshritaM). Those Yogis who, by the annihilation of ignorance, are resolved
into this four-fold Brahman, lose the seminal property, and can no longer
germinate in the ploughed field of worldly existence. This is the supreme
condition, that is called Vishnu- perfect, perpetual, universal, undecaying,
entire, and uniform: and the Yogi who attains this supreme spirit Brahman,
returns not to life again; for there he is freed from the distinctin of virtue
and vice, from suffering...
There are two states of this Brahman; one with, and one without shape; one
perishable and one imperishable; which are inherent in all beings. The
imperishable is the supreme being; the perishable is all the world. The blaze of
fire burning on one spot diffuses light and heat around; so the world is nothing
more than the manifested energy of the supreme Brahman; and inasmuch as,
Maitreya, as the light and heat are stronger or feebler as we are near to the
fire, or far off from it, so the energy of the supreme is more or less intense
in the beings that are less or more remote from him. Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva
are the most powerful energies of the Lord; next to them are the inferior
deities, then the attendant spirits, then men, then animals, birds, insects,
vegetables; each becoming more and more feeble as they are farther from their
primitive source. In this way, illustrious Brahmana, this whole world, although
in essence imperishable and eternal, appears and disappears, as if it was
subject to birth and death.
The supreme condition of Brahman, which is meditated by the Yogis in the
commencement of their abstraction, as invested with form, is Vishnu, composed
of all the divine energies, and the essence of Brahman, with whom the mystic
union is sought, and which is accompanied by suitable elements, is effected
by the devotee whose whole mind is addressed to that object. This Hari, who is
the most immediate of all the energies of Brahman, is his embodied shape,
composed entirely of his essence; and in him, is the universe; and he, the
supreme Lord of all, comprising all that is perishable and imperishable, bears
upon him all material and spiritual existence, identified in nature with his
ornaments and weapons.
Maitreya - Tell me in what manner Vishnu bears the whole world, abiding in his
nature, characterised by ornaments and weapons.
Parasara - Having offered salutation to the mighty and indescribable Vishnu, I
repeat to you what was formerly related to me by Vashishta. The glorious Hari
wears the pure soul of the world, undefiled, and void of qualities, as the
Kaustabha gem. The chief principle of things(Pradhana) is seated on the eternal,
as the Srivastava mark. Intellect abides in Madhava, in the form of his mace.
The Lord supports egotism(Ahamkara) in its two-fold division, into elements
and organs of sense, in the emblems of his conch-shell and his bow. In his
hand Vishnu holds, in the form of his discus, the mind, whose thoughts(like the
weapon) fly swifter than the winds. The necklace of the deity, Vaijayanthi,
composed of five precious gems,is the aggregate of the five elemental rudiments.
Janarddana bears the faculties both of action and of perception. The bright
sword of Achyuta is holy wisdom, concealed at some seasons in the scabbard of
ignorance. In this manner soul, nature, egotism, the elements, the senses, mind,
ignorance, and wisdom, are all assembled in the person of Hrishikesa. Hari, in
a delusive form, embodies the shapeless elements of the world, as his weapons
and his ornaments, for the salvation of mankind.(a representation of one mode of
Dhyana, in which the conception of a thing is attempted to be rendered more
definite by thinking upon its types; or in which, at least, the thoughts are
more readily concentrated by being addressed to an emblem, instead of the truth.
Thus the Yogi here says to himself,"I meditate upon the jewel of Vishnu's brow,
as the soul of the world; upon the gem on his breast, as the first principal of
things", and so on: and thus through a perceptible substance, proceeds to an
imperceptible idea). Pundarikaksha, the Lord of all, assumes nature, with all
its products, soul and all the world. All that is wisdom, all that is ignorance,
all that is, all that is not, all that is everlasting, is centred in
Madhusudana, the Lord of all creatures. The supreme, eternal Hari is time, with
its divisions of seconds, minutes, days, months, seasons, and years; he is the
seven worlds, the earth, the sky, heaven, the world of patriarchs, of sages, of
saints, of truth: whose form is all worlds; first born before the first born;
the supporter of all beings, himself self-sustained: who exists in manifold
forms, as gods, men and animals; and is thence the sovereign Lord of all,
eternal: whose shape is all visible things; who is without shape or form: who is
celebrated in the Vedanta as the Rg, Yajus, Sama and Atharva Vedas...
The Vedas and their divisions; the institutes of Manu and other law
givers; traditional scriptures and religious manuals(Akhyani and
Anuvada); poems and all that is said or sung; are the body of
the mighty Vishnu, assuming the form of sound. All kinds of substances, with or
without shape, here or elsewhere, are the body Vishnu. I am Hari. All that I
behold is Janarddana; cause and effect are from none other than him. The man who
knows these truths shall never again experience the afflictions of worldly
existence.
Thus, Brahmana, has the first portion of the purana been duly revealed to you:
listening to which, expiates all offences. The man who hears this purana obtains
the fruit of bathing in the Pushkara lake(the lake Pokher in Ajmer) for twelve
years, in the month of Kartik. the gods bestow upon him who hears this work the
dignity of a divine sage, of a patriarch, or of a spirit of heaven.
------------
