Chapter 147

“The Rishis said, ‘O wielder of Pinaka, O tearer of the eyes of Bhaga, Othou that art worshipped by all the universe, we desire to hear the gloryof Vasudeva.’

“Maheswara said, ‘Hari is superior to the Grandsire himself. He is theEternal Purusha. Otherwise called Krishna, he is endued with thesplendour of gold, and shines with effulgence like a second sun.Possessed of ten arms, he is endued with great energy, and is the slayerof the foes of the gods. Having a whorl on his breast, he has curly locksof hair on his head. He is worshipped by all the deities. Brahman hasrisen from his abdomen. I have sprung from his head, All the luminariesin the firmament have sprung from his hair. From the bristles on his bodyhave sprung all the gods and Asuras. From his body have sprung the Rishisas also all the eternal worlds. He is the veritable abode of theGrandsire and the abode of all the gods besides. He is the Creator ofthis whole Earth, and He is the Lord of the three worlds He is also theDestroyer of all creatures mobile and immobile. He is verily the foremostof all the deities. He is their master. He is the chastiser of all foes.He is possessed of omniscience. He exists in everything. He is capable ofgoing everywhere. He is of universal extent (pervading as he doeseverything). He is the Supreme Soul. He is the urger of all the senses.He covers the universe. He is the Supreme Lord. There is nothing in thethree worlds that is superior to him. He is Eternal. He is the slayer ofMadhu, and is otherwise called Govinda. The giver of honours, He willcause all the kings of Earth to be slain in battle, for achieving thepurposes of the deities, taking birth in a human form. The deities,abandoned by Him, are unable to accomplish their purposes on earth.Without obtaining him as their leader they cannot do anything. He is theleader of all creatures and is adored by all the gods[582]. Within theabdomen of this Master of the gods who is ever devoted to theaccomplishment of their purposes, of this one who is identical withBrahma and who is always the refuge of the regenerate Rishis, residesBrahma (the Grandsire). Indeed, the latter dwells happily in Hari’s bodywhich is the abode. I myself, that am called Sarva, also reside happilyin that happy abode of mine. All the deities too reside in happiness inHis body. Endued with great effulgence, he has eyes that resemble thepetals of the lotus. Sri dwells within Him and He dwells alwaysassociated with her. The bow called Saranga and the discus (calledSudarsana) are his weapons, together with a sword. He has the enemy ofthe snakes (viz., Garuda) sitting on his standard. He is distinguished byexcellent conduct, by purity (of both body and mind), by self-restraint,by prowess, by energy, by the handsomest form, by tallness andwell-proportioned limbs, by patience, by sincerity, by affluence, bycompassion, by excellence of form, and by might. He shines, endued withall celestial weapons of wonderful form and make. He has Yoga for hisillusion. He is possessed of a thousand eyes. He is free from every stainor fault. He is high-minded. He is endued with heroism. He is an objectof pride with all his friends. He is dear to all his kinsmen andrelatives and they are dear to him. He is endued with forgiveness. He isfree from pride or egotism. He is devoted to the Brahmanas and is theirleader. He dispels the fears of all persons afflicted with fear. Heenhances the joys of all his friends. He is the refuge of all creatures.He is ever engaged in protecting and cherishing the distressed. Possessedof a thorough acquaintance with all the scriptures, and every kind ofaffluence, He is worshipped by all beings. Con-versant with all duties,He is a great benefactor of even enemies when they seek His protection.Conversant with policy and endued with policy, He is an utterer of Brahmaand has all His senses under perfect control. For doing good to thedeities, Govinda will take birth in the race of the high-souled Manu.Verily, endued with high intelligence, He will take birth in theauspicious and righteous race of that Prajapati. Manu will have a son ofthe name of Anga. After Anga will come Antardhaman. From Antardhaman willspring Havirdhaman, that lord of all creatures, free from every stain.Havirdhaman will have an illustrious son of the name of Rachinavarhi. Hewill have ten sons having Prachetas for their first. Prachetas will havea son named Daksha who will be regarded as a Prajapati. Daksha will begeta daughter who will be named Dakshayani. From Dakshayani will springAditya, and from Aditya will spring Manu. From Manu will spring adaughter named Ila and a son to be named Sudyumna. Ila will have Vudhafor her husband, and from Vudha will spring Pururavas. From Pururavaswill spring Ayu. From Ayu will spring Nahusha, and Nahusha will beget ason named Yayati. From Yayati will spring a mighty son of the name ofYadu, Yadu will beget Kroshtri. Kroshtri will beget a mighty son to benamed Vrijinivat. From Vrijinivat will spring Ushadgu the unvanquished.Ushadgu will beget a son of the name of Chitraratha. Chitraratha willhave a younger son of the name of Sura. Indeed, in the race of thesemighty men, of energy celebrated over all the world, possessed ofexcellent conduct and diverse accomplishments, devoted to the performanceof sacrifices and pure in behaviour,–in the pure race honoured by theBrahmanas, Sura will take his birth. He will be a foremost Kshatriya,endued with great energy, and possessed of great fame. Sura, that giverof honours, will beget a son, the spreader of his race, of the name ofVasudeva, otherwise called Anakadundhuvi. Vasudeva will have a son of thename of Vasudeva. He will have four hands. He will be exceedinglyliberal, and will honour the Brahmanas greatly. Identical with Brahma, hewill like and love the Brahmanas, and the Brahmanas will like and lovehim, that scion of Yadu’s race will liberate many kings immured in theprison of the ruler of the Magadhas, after vanquishing that ruler namedJarasandha in his capital buried among mountains. Endued with greatenergy, he will be rich with the jewels and gems of all the rulers of theearth. Indeed, in energy he will be unrivalled on earth, possessed ofgreat prowess, he will be the king of all kings of the earth. Foremostamong all the Surasenas, the puissant one, residing at Dwaraka, will ruleand protect the whole earth after vanquishing all her lords, conversantas he will be with the science of polity. Assembling together, do ye alladore Him, as ye adore the Eternal Brahman, with speech, floral wreaths,and excellent incense and perfumes. He who wishes to see me or theGrandsire Brahma should first see the illustrious Vasudeva of greatpuissance, If He is seen I am seen, as also the Grandsire Brahman, thatforemost of all the gods. In this I do not deem there is any difference.Know this, ye Rishis of ascetic wealth! That person with whom thelotus-eyed Vasudeva becomes gratified, all the deities with Brahmaamongst them will also become gratified with. That man who will seek theprotection of Kesava will succeed in earning great achievements andvictory and Heaven. He will be an instructor in religion and duties, andwill earn, great religious merit. All persons conversant with religionand duties should, with great alacrity, bow down unto that Lord of allthe gods. By adoring that puissant one, one will acquire great merit.Endued with great energy, that god, with the desire of benefiting allcreatures, created millions of Rishis for the sake of righteousness.Those millions of Rishis, thus created by that great Ordainer are noresiding on the mountains of Gandhamadana, headed by Sanatkumara andengaged in the observance of penances. Hence, ye foremost of regenerateones, that foremost of all eloquent persons, the righteous Vasudevashould be adored by all. The illustrious Hari, the puissant Narayana, isverily, the foremost of all beings in Heaven. Adored, he adores, andhonoured he honours; unto them that make offerings to him, he makesofferings in return. Worshipped, he worships in return, if seen always,he sees the seers always. If one seeks His refuge and protection, Heseeks the seeker as his refuge in return. Ye foremost of all righteousones, if adored and worshipped, He adores and worships in return. Eventhis is the high practice of the faultless Vishnu. Even this is the vowthat is practised by all righteous people, of that first of all deities,that puissant Lord of all creatures. He is always worshipped in theworld. Verily, that Eternal Being is worshipped by even the deities.Those persons that are devoted to Him with the steadiness of a vow becomeliberated from calamity and fear in proportion to his devotion. Theregenerate ones should always worship Him in thought, word, and deed. Theson of Devaki should be seen by them with reverence and in order to seeHim with reverence they should address themselves to the performance ofpenances. Ye foremost of ascetics, even this is the path that I show untoyou. By beholding Him, ye will have behold all the foremost of deities, Itoo bow my head in reverence unto that Lord of the universe, thatGrandsire of all the worlds, that mighty and vast boar. By beholding Himone beholds the Trinity. Ourselves, i.e., all the deities, reside in Him.He will have an elder brother who will become known over all the world asVala. Having a plough for his weapon, in form he will look like a whitehill. In fact, he will be endued with might capable of uplifting thewhole earth. Upon the car of that divine person a tall palmyra,three-headed and made of gold, will form his proud standard. The head ofthat mighty-armed hero, that Lord of all the worlds, will be shaded bymany high-souled snakes of vast bodies. All weapons of attack and defencewill also come to him as soon as he will think of them. He is calledAnanta (Infinite) Verily, that illustrious one is identical with theimmutable Hari. Once on a time the mighty Garuda, the son of Kasyapa, wasaddressed by the deities in these words, ‘Do thou, O puissant one, see ifthis one has any end!’ Though possessed of great energy and might,Garuda, however, failed to find out the end of this illustrious one whois identical with the Supreme Soul. Supporting the whole earth on hishead, he resides in the nether regions. He roves through the universe asSesha, filled with great joy. He is Vishnu, He is the illustrious Ananta.He is the supporter of the earth. He that is Rama is Hrishikesa. He thatis Achyuta is Ananta, the bearer of the earth. Both of those foremost ofall creatures are celestial and endued with celestial prowess. One ofthem is armed with the discus and the other with the plough. They deserveevery honour and should be seen, I have, through my kindness for you,have thus declared to you the nature of Vasudeva. Even this, ye asceticspossessed of wealth of penances, is Righteousness, I have declared allthis to you so that ye may, with reverence and care, worship Krishna,that foremost one of Yadu’s race.”