Chapter 345

“Nara and Narayana said, ‘Deserving art thou of the highest praise, andhighly favoured hast thou been, since thou hast beheld the puissantNarayana himself (in the form of Aniruddha). None else, not even Brahmahimself who was sprung from the primal lotus, has been able to beholdhim. That foremost of Purushas, endued with puissance and holiness, is ofunmanifest origin and incapable of being seen. These words that we sayunto thee are very true, O Narada. There exists no one in the universethat is dearer to him than one that adores him with devotion. It is forthis, O best of regenerate ones, that he showed himself unto thee. No onecan repair to that realm where the Supreme Soul is engaged in theobservance of penances, except we two, O foremost of regenerate persons.In consequence of that spot being adorned by Him, its splendour resemblesthe effulgence of a thousands Suns collected together.[1888] From thatillustrious Being, O Brahmana, from Him who is the origin of the Creatorof the universe, O foremost of all persons endued with forgiveness,springs the attribute of forgiveness which attaches to the Earth.[1889]It is from that illustrious Being who seek the welfare of all beings,that Rasa (Taste) hath arisen. The attribute of Rasa attaches to thewaters which are, again, liquid. It is from Him that Heat or Light havingthe attribute of form or vision has arisen. It attaches itself to the sunin consequence of which the Sun becomes able to shine and give heat. Itis from that illustrious and foremost of Beings that Touch also hasarisen. It is attached to the Wind, in consequence of which the Windmoves about in the world producing the sensation of touch. It is fromthat puissant Lord of the entire universe that Sound has arisen. Itattaches to Space, which, in consequence thereof, exists uncovered andunconfined. It is from that illustrious Being that Mind, which pervadesall Beings, has arisen. It attaches to Chandramas, in consequence ofwhich Chandramas comes to be invested with the attribute of displayingall the things. That spot where the divine Narayana, that partaker of thelibations and other offerings made in sacrifices, resides with Knowledgealone for his companion, has in the Vedas, been called by the name of theproductive cause of all things or Sat.[1890] The path that is theirs, Oforemost of regenerate persons, that are stainless and that are freedfrom both virtue and sin, is fraught with auspiciousness and felicity.Aditya, who is the dispeller of the darkness of all the worlds, is saidto be the door (through which the Emancipate must pass). Entering Aditya,the bodies of such persons become consumed by his fire. They then becomeinvisible for after that they cannot be seen by anybody at any time.Reduced into invisible atoms, they then enter (Narayana in manifestedform and residing in the middle of the region covered by Aditya) into theform of Aniruddha. Losing all physical attributes and being altogetherand transformed into Mind alone, they then enter into Pradyumna. Passingout of Pradyumna, those foremost of regenerate persons, including boththose that are conversant with Sankhya philosophy and those that aredevoted to the Supreme deity, then enter Sankarsana who is otherwisecalled Jiva. After this, divested of the three primal attributes ofSattwa, Rajas, and Tamas, those foremost of regenerate beings quicklyenter the Paramatma (Supreme Soul) otherwise called Kshetrajna and whichitself transcends the three primal attributes. Know that Vasudeva is Hewhen called Kshetrajna. Verily shouldst thou know that, that Vasudeva isthe abode or original refuge of all things in the universe. Only theywhose minds are concentrated, who are observant of all kinds ofrestraint, whose senses are controlled, and who are devoted to One,succeed in entering Vasudeva. We two, O foremost of regenerate ones, havetaken birth in the house of Dharma. Residing in this delightful andspacious retreat we are undergoing the austerest penances. We are thusengaged, O regenerate one, being moved by the desire of benefiting thosemanifestations of the Supreme Deity, dear to all the celestials, thatwill occur in the three worlds (for achieving diverse feats that areincapable of being achieved by any other Being). In accordance with suchordinances as are uncommon and as apply to us two only, O best ofregenerate persons, we are duly observing all excellent and high vowsfraught with the austerest penances. Thou, O celestial Rishi, endued withwealth of penances wert beheld by us in White Island when thou wertthere. Having met with Narayana, thou hast made a particular resolution,which is known to us. In the three worlds consisting of mobile andimmobile Beings, there is nothing that is unknown to us. Of good or evilthat will occur or has occurred or is occurring, that God of gods, Ogreat ascetic, has informed thee!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Having heard these words of Nara and Narayanaboth of whom were engaged in the practice of the austerest penances, thecelestial Rishi Narada joined his hands in reverence and became entirelydevoted to Narayana. He employed his time in mentally reciting, with dueobservances, innumerable sacred Mantras that are approved by Narayana.Worshipping the Supreme Deity Narayana, and adoring those two ancientRishis also that had taken birth in the house of Dharma, the illustriousRishi Narada, endued with great energy, continued to reside, thusemployed, in that retreat, called Vadari, on the breast of Himavat,belonging to Nara and Narayana, for a thousand years as measured by thestandard of the celestials.'”