"'"Usanas said, 'I bow to that divine and illustrious and puissant Being
who holds this earth with the firmament in his arms. I shall speak to
thee of the pre-eminent greatness of that Vishnu whose head, O best of
the Danavas, is that Infinite place (called Emancipation).'
"'"While they were thus conversing with each other there came unto them the
great sage Sanatkumara of righteous soul for the purpose of dispelling
their doubts. Worshipped by the prince of Asuras and by the sage Usanas,
that foremost of sages sat down on a costly seat. After Kumara of great
wisdom had been seated (at his ease), Usanas said unto him, 'Discourse to
this chief of the Danavas on the pre-eminent greatness of Vishnu.'
Hearing these words, Sanatkumara uttered the following, fraught with
grave import, upon the pre-eminent greatness of Vishnu unto the
intelligent chief of the Danavas, 'Listen, O Daitya, to everything about
the greatness of Vishnu. Know, O scorcher of foes, that the entire
universe rests on Vishnu. O thou of mighty arms, it is He who creates all
creatures mobile and immobile. In course of Time it is He, again, who
withdraws all things and in Time it is He who once more casts them forth
from Himself. Into Hari all things merge at the universal destruction and
from Him all things again come forth. Men possessed of scriptural lore
cannot obtain him by such lore. Nor can He be obtained by Penances, nor
by Sacrifices. The only means by which He can be attained is by
restraining the Senses. Not that sacrifices are entirely useless towards
such an end. For one, by relying upon both external and internal acts,
and upon one's own mind, can purify (them) by one's own understanding. By
such means, one succeeds in enjoying infinity in the world.[1353] As a
goldsmith purifies the dross of his metal by repeatedly casting it into
the fire with very persistent efforts of his own, after the same manner
Jiva succeeds in cleaning himself by his course through hundreds of
births. Some one may be seen to purify himself in only one life by mighty
efforts. As one should with care wipe stains from off one's person before
they become thick, after the same manner one should, with vigorous
efforts, wash off one's faults.[1354] By mixing only a few flowers with
them, grains of sesame cannot be made to cast off their own odour (and
become at once fragrant). After the same manner, one cannot, by cleansing
one's heart only a little, succeed in beholding the Soul. When, however,
those grains are perfumed repeatedly with the aid of a large quantity of
flowers, it is then that they cast off their own odour and assume that of
the flowers with which they are mixed. After this manner, faults, in the
form of attachments to all our environments, are dispelled by the
understanding in course of many lives, with the aid of a large dose of
the attribute of the Sattwa, and by means of efforts born of
practice.[1355] Listen, O Danava, by what means creatures attached to
acts and those unattached to them attain the causes that lead to their
respective states of mind.[1356] Listen to me with undivided attention. I
shall, in their due order, discourse to thee, O puissant Danava, as to
how creatures betake themselves to action and how they give up
action.[1357] The Supreme Lord creates all creatures mobile and immobile.
He is without beginning and without end. Unendued with attributes of any
kind, he assumes attributes (when he chooses to create). He is the
universal Destroyer, the Refuge of all things, the Supreme Ordainer, and
pure Chit.[1358] In all creatures it is He who dwells as the mutable and
the immutable. It is He who, having eleven modifications for His essence,
drinketh this universe with His rays.[1359] Know that the Earth is His
feet. His head is constituted by Heaven. His arms, O Daitya, are the
several points of the compass or the horizon. The intermediate space is
His ears. The light of His eye is the Sun, and His mind is in the Moon.
His understanding dwells always in Knowledge, and His tongue is in
Water.[1360] O best of Danavas, the Planets are in the midst of His
brows. The stars and constellations are from the light of His eyes. The
Earth is in His feet, O Danava! Know also that the attributes of Rajas,
Tamas, and Sattwa are of Him. He is the fruit (or end) of all the modes
of life, and He it is who should be known as the fruit (or reward) of all
(pious) acts (such as Japa and Sacrifice, etc.).[1361] The Highest and
Immutable, He is also the fruit of abstention from all work. The Chandas
are the hair on His body, and Akshara (or Pranava) is His word. The
diverse orders (of men) and the modes of life are His refuge. His mouths
are many. Duty (or religion) is planted in his heart. He is Brahma; He is
the highest Righteousness; He is Sat and He is Asat;[1362] He is Sruti;
He is the scriptures; He is the Sacrificial vessel; He is the six and ten
Ritwijes; He is all the Sacrifices; He is the Grandsire (Brahman); He is
Vishnu; He is the twin Aswins; and He is Purandara;[1363] He is Mitra; He
is Varuna; He is Yama; He is Kuvera the lord of treasures. Although the
Ritwijes seem to behold Him as separate, He is, however, known to them as
one and the same. Know that this entire universe is under the control of
One divine Being.[1364] The Veda that is in the soul, O prince of
Daityas, regards the unity of various creatures. When a living creature
realises this unity in consequence of true knowledge, he is then said to
attain to Brahma. The period of time for which one creation exists or for
which it ceases to exist is called a Kalpa. Living creatures exist for a
thousand millions of such Kalpas. Immobile creatures also exist for an
equal period. The period for which a particular creation exists is
measured by many thousands of lakes (in the following way), O Daitya!
Conceive a lake that is one Yojana in width, one Krosa in depth, and five
hundred Yojanas in length. Imagine many thousands of such lakes. Seek
then to dry up those lakes by taking from them, only once a day, as much
water as may be taken up with the end of a single hair. The number of
days would pass in drying them up completely by this process represents
the period that is occupied by the life of one creation from its first
start to the time of its destruction.[1365] The highest Evidence (for all
things) says that creatures have six colours, viz., Dark, Tawny, Blue,
Red, Yellow, and White. These colours proceed from mixtures in various
proportions of the three attributes of Rajas, Tamas, and Sattwa. Where
Tamas predominates, Sattwa falls below the mark, and Rajas keeps to the
mark, the result is the colour called Dark. When Tamas predominates as
before, but the relations between Sattwa and Rajas are reversed, the
result is the colour called Tawny. When Rajas predominates, Sattwa falls
below the mark, and Tamas keeps to the mark, the result is the colour
called Blue. When Rajas predominates as before and the proportion is
reversed between Sattwa and Tamas, the result is the intermediate colour
called Red. That Colour is more agreeable (than the preceding one). When
Sattwa predominates, Rajas falls below the mark and Tamas keeps to the
mark, the result is the colour called Yellow. It is productive of
happiness. When Sattwa predominates and the proportion is reversed
between Rajas and Tamas, the result is the colour called White. It is
productive of great happiness.[1366] The White is the foremost colour. It
is sinless in consequence of its being free from attachment and aversion.
It is without grief, and free from the toil involved in Pravritti. Hence,
White, O prince of Danavas, leads to success (or Emancipation). Jiva, O
Daitya, having undergone thousands of births derived through the womb,
attains to success.[1367] That success is the identical end which the
divine Indra declared after having studied many auspicious spiritual
treatises and which has for its essence the apprehension of the Soul. The
end again that creatures obtain is dependent on their colour, and
colour, in its turn, depends upon the character of the Time that sets in,
O Daitya![1368] The stages of existence, O Daitya, through which Jiva
must pass are not unlimited. They are fourteen hundreds of thousands in
number. In consequence of them Jiva ascends, stays, and falls down as the
case may be.[1369] The end that is attained by a Jiva of dark hue is
very low, for he becomes addicted to acts that lead to hell and then has
to rot in hell.[1370] The learned say that in consequence of his
wickedness, the continuance (in such form) of a Jiva is measured by many
thousands of Kalpas.[1371] Having passed many hundred thousands of years
in that condition, Jiva then attains to the colour called Tawny (and
becomes born as an intermediate creature). In that condition he dwells
(for many long years), in perfect helplessness. At last when his sins are
exhausted (in consequence of his having endured all the misery they are
capable of bringing), his mind, casting off all attachments, cherishes
Renunciation.[1372] When Jiva becomes endued with the quality of Sattwa,
he then dispels everything connected with Tamas by the aid of his
intelligence, and exerts (for achieving what is for his good). As the
result of this, Jiva attains to the colour called Red. If the quality of
Sattwa, however, be not gained, Jiva then travels in a round of rebirths
in the world of men, having attained to the colour called Blue.[1373]
Having attained to that end (viz., Humanity) and having been afflicted
for the duration of one creation by the bonds born of his own acts, Jiva
then attains to the colour called Yellow (or becomes a Deity). Existing
in that condition for the space of a hundred creations, he then leaves it
(for becoming a human being) to return to it once more.[1374] Having
attained to the Yellow colour, Jiva exists for thousands of Kalpas,
sporting as a Deva. Without, however, being emancipated (even then), he
has to stay in hell, enjoying or enduring the fruits of his acts of past
Kalpas and wandering through nine and ten thousand courses.[1375] Know
that Jiva becomes freed from the hell (of acts) as represented by heaven
or godship. After the same manner, Jiva gets off from the other births
(corresponding with the other colours). Jiva sports for many long Kalpas
in the world of Devas. Falling thence, he once more obtains the status of
Humanity. He then stays in that condition for the space of a hundred and
eight Kalpas. He then attains once more to the status of a Deva. If while
in the status of humanity (for the second time) he falleth through (evil
acts as represented by) Kala (in the form of Kali), he then sinks into
the Dark colour and thus occupies the very lowest of all stages of
existence.
"'"'I shall tell thee now, O foremost of Asuras, how Jiva succeeds in
effecting his Emancipation. Desirous of Emancipation, Jiva, relying upon
seven hundred kinds of acts every one of which is characterised by a
predominance of the attribute of Sattwa, gradually courses through Red
and Yellow and at last attains to White. Arrived here, Jiva travels
through several regions that are most adorable and that have the Eight
well-known regions of felicity beneath them, and all the while pursues
that stainless and effulgent form of existence which is Emancipation's
self.[1376] Know that the Eight (already referred to and) which are
identical with the Sixty (subdivided into) hundreds, are, unto those that
are highly effulgent, only creations of the mind (without having any real
or independent existence). The highest object of acquisition with one
that is White of hue, is that condition (called Turiya) which transcends
the three other states of consciousness, viz., Wakefulness and Dream and
Dreamless slumber.[1377] As regards that Yogin who is unable to abandon
the felicities that Yoga-puissance brings about, he has to dwell (in one
and the same body) for one century of Kalpas in auspiciousness and after
that in four other regions (called Mahar, Jana, Tapas, and Satya). Even
that is the highest end of one belonging to the sixth colour, and who is
unsuccessful though crowned with success, and who has transcended all
attachments and passions.[1378] That Yogin, again, who falls off from
Yoga practices after having attained the measure of eminence described
already resides in heaven for a century of Kalpas with the unexhausted
remnant of his past acts (to be exhausted by enjoyment or endurance as
the case may be), and with the seven (viz., the five senses of knowledge
and mind and understanding) purged of all stains in consequence of their
predisposition or proneness towards the attribute of Sattwa. At the
expiry of that period, such a person has to come to the world of men
where he attains to great eminence.[1379] Turning back from the world of
men, he departs for attaining to new forms of existence that run higher
and higher in the upward scale. While engaged in this, he courseth
through seven regions for seven times, his puissance being always
increased in consequence of his Samadhi and the re-awakening from
it.[1380] The Yogin who is desirous of final Emancipation suppresses by
Yoga-knowledge the seven, and continues to dwell in the world of life,
freed from attachments; and taking those seven for certain means of
grief, he casts them off and attains afterwards to that state which is
Indestructible and Infinite. Some say that that is the region of
Mahadeva; some, of Vishnu; some, of Brahman; some, of Sesha; some, of
Nara; some, of the effulgent Chit; and some, of the All-pervading.[1381]
When universal destruction comes, those persons who have succeeded in
completely consuming by Knowledge their gross and subtle and karana
bodies, always enter into Brahma. All their Senses also which have action
for their essence and which are not identical with Brahma, merge into the
same. When the time of universal destruction comes, those Jivas who have
attained to the position of Devas and who have an unexhausted remnant of
the fruits of acts to enjoy or endure, revert to those stages of life in
the subsequent Kalpa which had been theirs in the previous one. This is
due to the similarity of every successive Kalpa to every previous one.
Those again whose acts, at the time of universal destruction, have been
exhausted by enjoyment or endurance in respect of their fruits, falling
down from heaven, take birth among men, in the subsequent Kalpa, for
without Knowledge one cannot destroy one's acts in even a hundred Kalpas.
All superior Beings again, endued with similar powers and similar forms,
revert to their respective destinies at a new creation after a universal
destruction, ascending and descending precisely in the same manner as
during the creation that is dissolved.[1382] As regards, again, the
person who is conversant with Brahma, as long as he continues to enjoy
and endure the unexhausted remnant of his acts of previous Kalpas, it is
said that all creatures and the two stainless sciences live in his body.
When his Chitta becomes cleansed by Yoga, and when he practises Samyama,
this perceptible universe appears to him as only his own fivefold
senses.[1383] Enquiring with a cleansed mind, Jiva attains to a high and
stainless end. Thence he attains to a spot which knows no deterioration,
and thence attains to eternal Brahma that is so difficult of
acquisition.[1384] Thus, O thou of great might, I have discoursed to
thee of the eminence of Narayana!'
"'"Vritra said, 'These words of thine, I see, perfectly according with the
truth. Indeed, when this is so, I have no (cause of grief). Having
listened to thy words, O thou of great powers of mind, I have become
freed from sorrow and sin of every kind. O illustrious Rishi, O holy one,
I see this wheel of Time, endued with mighty energy, of the most
effulgent and Infinite Vishnu, has been set in motion. Eternal is that
station, from which all kinds of creation spring. That Vishnu is the
Supreme Soul. He is the foremost of Beings. In Him this entire universe
rests.'"
"'Bhishma continued, "Having said these words, O son of Kunti, Vritra cast
off his life-breaths, uniting his soul (in Yoga, with the supreme Soul),
and attained to the highest station."
"'Yudhishthira said, "Tell me, O grandsire, whether this Janardana
(Krishna) is that illustrious and puissant Lord of whom Sanatkumara spoke
unto Vritra in days of old."
"'Bhishma said, "The Highest Deity, endued with the six attributes of
(puissance, etc.) is at the Root. Staying there, the Supreme Soul, with
his own energy, creates all these diverse existent things.[1385] Know
that this Kesava who knows no deterioration is from His eighth portion.
Endued with the highest Intelligence, it is this Kesava who creates the
three worlds with an eighth portion (of His energy). Coming immediately
after Him who lies at the Root, this Kesava who is eternal (compared with
all other existent things), changes at the end of each Kalpa. He,
however, who lies at the Root and who is endued with supreme might and
puissance, lies in the waters when universal destruction comes (in the
form of the potential Seed of all things). Kesava is that Creator of pure
Soul who courseth through all the eternal worlds.[1386] Infinite and
Eternal as He is, He fills all space (with emanations from Himself) and
courseth through the universe (in the form of everything that constitutes
the universe). Freed as He is from limitations of every kind such as the
possession of attributes would imply, he suffers himself to be invested
with Avidya and awakened to Consciousness, Kesava of Supreme Soul creates
all things. In Him rests this wondrous universe in its entirety."
"'Yudhishthira said, "O thou that art conversant with the highest object
of knowledge, I think that Vritra saw beforehand the excellent end that
awaited him. It is for this, O grandsire, that he was happy and did not
yield to grief (in view of his coming Death). He who is White of hue, who
has taken birth in a pure or stainless race, and who has attained to the
rank of a Sadhya, doth not, O sinless one, come back (into the world for
re-birth). Such a person, O grandsire, is freed from both hell and the
status of all intermediate creatures. He, however, who has attained to
either the Yellow or the Red hue, is seen sometimes to be overwhelmed by
Tamas and fall among the order of Intermediate creatures. As regards
ourselves, we are exceedingly afflicted and attached to objects that are
productive of sorrow or indifference or joy. Alas, what will the end be
to which we shall attain? Will it be the Blue or the Dark which is the
lowest of all hues?"
"'Bhishma continued, "Ye are Pandavas. Ye have been born in a stainless
race. Ye are of rigid vows. Having sported in joy in the regions of the
gods, ye shall come back to the world of men. Living happily as long as
the creation lasts, all of you at the next new creation will be admitted
among the gods, and enjoying all kinds of felicities ye will at last be
numbered among the Siddhas. Let no fear be yours. Be you cheerful."'"