Chapter 5 - Dialogue between Vidura and Maitreya—Tattvas and their Deities

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Śuka said:

1. At Haridvāra, Vidura, the most excellent among the Kurus, purified due to his devotion to Acyuta (Kṛṣṇa), fully satisfied^[1] with Maitreya’s straightforwardness, humility and compassion, approached Maitreya of unfathomable knowledge, who was seated there (unoccupied with any work) and asked him.

Vidura said:

2. May your Honour please explain to us what is proper to be done (i.e. the proper course of conduct) in this world, as (we find that) people do some (prescribed) acts for the sake of happiness, but they do neither get happiness nor the pacification or cessation of the other thing (i.e. misery) and are, on the contrary, subjected to misery again and again.

3. It is a fact that really auspicious devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa (like you) move about in this world with a view to be gracious to people who by their misfortune have become averse to Kṛṣṇa, and (consequently) unrighteous and extremely miserable.

4. Hence, Oh great saint, please advise us the course (of conduct leading) to happiness whereby the glorious Lord, installed in the hearts of men purified by devotion, imparts the ancient lore (based on the authority of the eternal Vedas) leading to the direct realisation of the true nature of the Soul.

5-9. Oh best among Brāhmaṇas! Please describe (explain) to us: What deeds the Lord, the controller of the māyā consisting of three guṇas (or the Lord of the three worlds the self-dependent, performs after taking incarnation; how he, though devoid of activity (or free from desires) created this (universe) in the beginning; how he, having stabilised it (in its existence) arranges for its maintenance; how he abstains from worldly activities by withdrawing it (the universe) into the vacuum (ākāśa) in his bosom and sleeps in the cave, viz., his yoga-māyā; how this Lord of Yoga, of unimaginable powers, though he is one, entered this (universe) and became many (in the form of Brahmā and others); the actions he does for the well-being of Brāhmaṇas, cows and gods as part of his sports in different incarnations; for in spite of hearing the nectarlike (sweet) deeds of the Lord, who is at the head of persons of auspicious fame, (persons whose name is auspicious to utter); (Describe to me) with what first principles (Tattvas like mahat etc.) the master of the protectors of this world (like Indra etc.), created and regulated the different regions along with their guardians, and those regions beyond the Lokāloka mountains^[2]—regions in which all the different classes of beings are distinguished from each other (as god, man etc.) according to the function of their Karmas. (Explain to me) how Nārāyaṇa, the self-created creator of the universe, created differences among beings, according to their inborn nature, deeds (karma), form and name.

10. Oh respected sage! I have often heard from Vyāsa, duties prescribed for the twice-born (higher) castes and lower castes. But with the exception of the ambrosial flood of the episodes of Kṛṣṇa, we are satiated with hearing matters which result in insignificant pleasure.

11. Who would feel fed up with the (description of the) episodes of Kṛṣṇa of holy feet—episodes which are glorified by learned persons (like Nārada) in your assemblies. For as soon as he (Kṛṣṇa) enters a man’s ears (i.e. Kṛṣṇa’s stories are (heard), he cuts asunder (man’s) attachment to the house (worldly life) which involves him in mundane existence.

12. Even your friend, the venerable dark sage (Vyāsa) composed the Bhārata (the Mahābhārata) with a desire to describe the excellences of the Lord. In it (the Mahābhārata), the mind of men is certainly attracted to the stories of Hari through repetition of the lower types of pleasures.

13. The ever-increasing inclination to listen (to the stories of Kṛṣṇa) engenders (a sense of) aversion to other objects of pleasure, in the faithful. It quickly destroys all the miseries of a man who finds happiness in constantly meditating over the feet of Hari.

14. I feel pity for those ignorant people (who do not understand the teaching of the Mahābhārata) who due to their sins, feel aversion to the stories of Hari and (hence) are the pitiable of the pitiables. The vigilant (blinkless) god Time diminishes (destroys) the life of those who waste their time in wasteful verbal, physical and mental activities.^[3]

15. Oh Kauṣārava! Just as the essence (honey) is picked up from flowers, so you extract (the select) narratives from the stories of Hari who bestows happiness. Oh friend of the afflicted! Please recite to us, for our good, the story of Hari of hallowed fame.

16. Please describe to me the superhuman acts performed by the Almighty who, with the power of Māyā under his control, for the creation, sustenance and destruction of the universe, has taken (different) incarnations.

Śrī Śuka said:

17. The revered sage Kauṣārava who was thus requested by Vidura for the final beatitude of men, replied to him with great respect.

Maitreya said:

18. Oh virtuous one! For rendering great favour to people, you have made an excellent query. You, whose heart is set on Hari, will hereby spread your fame in the world.

19. Oh Vidura! There is nothing surprising in this about you who are born of Vyāsa, you who have resorted to Lord Hari with devotion, fixed on him only.

20. You are god Yama, the controller of all subjects who, due to the curse of Māṇḍavya, were born from Vyāsa of the female servant who served as his brother’s (Vicitravīrya’s) wife.

21. Your honour was always esteemed (loved) by the Lord (Kṛṣṇa) and his followers. When he was about to depart (from this world), he instructed me to impart knowledge to you.

22. Now I shall describe to you in serial order the sportive actions of the Lord which were exhibited by his Yoga-māyā, and which comprise within them the preservation, origination and destruction of the universe.

23. The Lord, the supreme soul of all the souls (jīvas)^[4] and their master, was all alone before (the creation of) this (universe). When the will of the Supreme Lord viz. Māyā disappears^[5] (or when he wills to be alone), existent as he is as a cause, he is not perceived separately as a seer or anything to be seen, (though) he was comprehended by various conjectures^[6] (while the gross creation existed).

24. Verily (though) he was then this (only) Seer and the only illuminator^[7] he saw nothing (due to non-existence of the universe). He whose powers (such as Māyā etc.) are asleep (unmanifested)^[8] but whose sight was wakeful (not asleep) regarded himself as if he were not-existent.

25.^[9] Oh highly virtuous (Vidura)! That is verily the potency of this Seer (God) which is of the nature of both cause and effect (or which is essentially the very soul of the visible and invisible). It is called Māyā (the principle of phenomenality). It is by this power, that the all-pervading Lord created the universe.

26. (When) the commotion of Guṇas (attributes) is caused into Māyā through the power or effect of Time^[10], Viṣṇu, the possessor of perfect intellectual power, inseminates into her his own image or the individual soul through Puruṣa who is his own part (aṃśa) controllingprakṛti^[11].

27. Then under the impelling force of Time, the mahat- tattva was generated from avyakta (i.e. Māyā).^[12] It is of the nature of vijñāna which dispels the darkness of ignorance and manifests the universe lying within the body of the self.

28. And it (the mahat-tattva) being under the power of his aṃśa or (the resemblance of the Supreme Spirit as the efficient cause) the three attributes (guṇas as the material cause) and Time (as the driving force) and within the range of sight of the Lord, manifested itself into another form (called ‘Ahaṃkāra’—self-sense or ego-hood) with a desire to create this universe.

29. From the mahat-tattva undergoing modifications was born ahaṃkāra (ego-hood) which is the substratum of the effect (viz. adhibhūta), the cause (viz. adhyātma) and the doer (viz. adhidaiva)^[13], and which consists of the elements (bhūtas) sense- organs (indriyas) and the mind (manas) which also implies gods.

30. The ego-hood (ahaṃkāra) is of three types—Vaikārika (characterised primarily by the guṇa, sattva), taijasa characterised by the guṇa, rajas) and tāmasa (characterised by the guṇa, tamas). From the principle of ego-hood undergoing modifications, the mind was produced from the vaikārika type of I-ness (ahaṃkāra). Deities (presiding over sense-organs) are the products of the sāttvika type of ego-hood. The perception of the objects of senses is due to these (deities).^[14]

31. The cognitive and conative sense organs are the products of the taijasa type of ego-hood^[15]. From the tāmasa ego-hood was evolved the subtle element (tanmātrā) viz. sound wherefrom was produced the sky (ākāśa) which is the body of the ātman (or the means of knowing Atman).

32.^[16] When due to its union with Time (Kāla), the Māyā-power and his part (or intelligent image—aṃśa), Ākāśa (space) was viewed by the Lord,the subtle element (tanmātrā) of touch was produced from the space (ākāśa). It (touch) underwent modifications and produced Air (vāyu).

33. Vāyu though possessing great force, underwent modifications in combination with space (ākāśa) and created the subtle element of rūpa (wherefrom was produced) light, the eye (illuminator) of the world.

34. When viewed by the Lord, the light, in conjunction with Vāyu and due to the influence of Time, Māyā and Aṃśa (his part or intelligent form) created water with taste (as its main characteristic).

35. And water in combination with light was seen by Brahmā and underwent modification and through the influence of kāla, māyā and aṃśa developed into the earth with smell as its characteristic.

36. Oh excellent one (Vidura)! They (the learned ones) know that among the elements (bhūtas) beginning with space (ākāśa), every later evolute possesses the attributes of the previous ones according to its rank (in the evolutionary process), due to its connection with previous bhūtas.^[17]

37.^[18] These gods (presiding over mahat and other principles) who show the indexes of time, māyā and aṃśa^[19] and who are but parts (kalās = aṃśas) of Viṣṇu were unable to create (the universe) due to separateness (unrelatedness), they with folded hands, spoke to the Omnipresent Lord.

Gods said:

38. Oh Lord! We bow to your lotus-like feet which are like an umbrella cooling down the heat of those who resort to it. Recluses, taking shelter under them, instantly ward off the great misery of this worldly existence (saṃsāra) even from a distance.

39. Oh Supreme Lord! The Creator^[20] and controller of the universe! In this worldly existence, beings, affected by three types of miseries, do not get happiness. Hence, Oh Supreme Soul! we are resorting to the shade of your feet which impart knowledge.

40. We take shelter of your sanctifying feet which are the source of the (Gaṅgā) holiest of all the rivers, the waters of which remove sins—the feet which the sages in their detached minds, seek with the help of birds in the form of the Vedas whose nests (dwelling places) are in your lotus-like face.

41. We come for shelter to the place (lit. foot-stool) of your lotus-like feel, concentrating on them in our hearts purified by faith and devotion (with unattached karma-yoga and become self-controlled by knowledge which is reinforced by non- attachment.

42. Oh Lord! You have taken re-incarnation for the creation, sustenance and destruction of the universe. All of us have come to resort to your lotus- like feet, the contemplation of which gives Liberation (state offearlessness) to your men (devotees).

43. Oh Supreme Lord! We adore your lotus-like feet which in spite of your residence in their bodies (as antar-yāmin), are far distant (and hence not accessible) to those men who have a foolishly obstinate attachment to the contemptible body as ‘I’, and to their houses and property as ‘mine’.^[21]

44. Oh Lord of Lords who are praised by the greatest! It is well-known that those whose minds are carried away by sense-organs which are attracted by external objects^[22], do not therefore, see those devotees who have taken resort to the glory of your gracious foot-steps.^[23]

45. Oh God! Those whose minds are purified by deep devotion generated by drinking the nectar of your stories, get knowledge, the strength of which lies in non-attachment (to the world) and easily attain to Vaikuṇṭha.

46. So also other wise persons, having conquered the most powerful Prakṛti by their power of Samādhi-Yoga (Yoga in which mind is to be concentrated on the soul—ātman) enter into you—the Puruṣa. Theirs is (a path of) hardships. But there is no (such) (harsh) exertion in your service.

47. Therefore, Oh Primitive Being, all of us who have been created serially by you, for the creation of the world, and who possess the three separate guṇas (viz. sattva, rajas and tamas) as our characteristic, are not able (to coordinate our activities) to present to you your instrument of sports, viz. the universe.^[24]

48. Oh unborn Lord! (Manage thus) that we may offer you your entire oblations at the proper time, and we shall be able to eat our food (i.e. enjoyments as our enjoyment is really your enjoyment) and that these beings (worlds) staying in their own places, may present offerings to us both, and may certainly enjoy their own food without difficulty.

49. Oh God! You are the primary cause of (us) gods along with our descendants (or along with effects); you are the changeless, primeval Puruṣa presiding over all. You who are unborn, have deposited your semen, viz. the all-knowing^[25] principle called mahat, in your beginningless power called Māyā which is the source of attributes (like sattva, rajas) and actions (like birth etc.)^[26]

50. Oh Supreme Soul! What should we, mahat and others, do for you to achieve the object for which we are born? Oh God! For the execution of work assigned to us, grant unto us, who are dependant on your grace, your own eye (the power of knowledge) along with your power (of action).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

v.l. sauśīlya-guṇābhitṛpta [guṇābhitṛptam]—Adj. qualifying Maitreya: Maitreya was satisfied with humility and other qualities of Vidura.

[2]:

Lokāloka—‘A mythical belt of mountains bounding the outermost of seven seas encircling the world and separating this world from the regions of darkness’ DHM./80;—ASK. 820.

[3]:

The winkless god Time condemns as useless their advocacy etc. for the establishment of their particular philosophical stance (sva-svamata-sthāpana)—V C.

[4]:

ātmanām ātmā—The Master who enters into individual souls to sustain them—Bhāgavata Candrikā (ii) He who is like the orb of the Sun to the individual souls who are like the solar rays (emanating from the orb)—Kramasandarbha.

[5]:

ātmecchānugatam [ātmecchānugata]—(i) When there was the manifestation of his Will to create the universe—Bhāgavata Candrikā (ii) When he willed to create the universe.—Padaratnāvalī

[6]:

nānā-matyu palakṣitaḥ—(i) He is implied by the ideas like Vaikuṇṭha (Viṣṇu’s region)—Kramasandarbha. (ii) He is cognised by various thoughts about actions (effects) and objects—Siddhāntapradīpa

[7]:

eka-rāṭ—(i) Of uninterrupted uniform light—Bhāgavata Candrikā

(ii) The Almighty possessing all powers—Kramasandarbha.

[8]:

supta-śakti [śaktiḥ]—(i) Whose power in the form of sentience and non-sentience is in a subtle state—Bhāgavata Candrikā According to Padaratnāvalī, this power is Māyā. (ii) Whose powers like Prakṛti and others lie dormant—Siddhāntapradīpa

[9]:

Of the Lord, the Seer of entities possessing existence, Māyā is the power (śakti), as it is an attribute of the Lord (not distinct from him). It is Prakṛti having the nature of both sentience and non-sentience (cetanā—cetanātmikā). It existed in a subtle form in his person. It is by this power (as the cause) that he created this sentient and non-sentient universe as the effect and remained untouched by the deficiencies of the world—Bhāgavata Candrikā For the convenience of translation the terms cit and acit are rendered as ‘sentient’ and ‘non-sentient’. In Rāmānuja’s philosophy acit as miśratattva and sattvaśūnya is inert (jaḍa) while as śuddha sattva it is ajaḍa (non-inert, immaterial) but is different from the Soul and God who are also ajaḍas (For details vide A. Senagupta—Philosophy of Rāmānuja, pp. 78 ff.

[10]:

kālavṛttyā—The fate (adṛṣṭa) of individual souls necessary for the fruition of their karams [karmas?]—Padaratnāvalī

[11]:

As usual Padaratnāvalī puts forth his usual theory of creation that Viṣṇu in the form of Puruṣa, manifested out of his (Viṣṇu’s) original form (mūla-rūpa), impregnated both the kinds of māyās making the intelligent māyā to guide the creation while the non-intelligent māyā to change in form.

[12]:

Padaratnāvalī explains: From māyā (a synonym of avyakta) which was infused with power by the Lord, was produced Mahattattva (viz. the body of the four-faced Brahmā). Being impelled by Time (Kāla)—the Puruṣa who knows the destiny of every being and who urges on the creation of the universe—Brahmā who is the vijñānātmā who (through the grace of Nārāyaṇa) dispels the darkness of ignorance and exhibits the universe in the body of Soul and thinks that it is his body.

[13]:

1.29.b: (Ahaṃkāra) which is the cause of the effect (viz. the body,) the cause (viz. the organs of senses) and kartātmā (the doer of the above two), and these result in the form of elements (bhūta), organs of senses etc.—Bhāgavata Candrikā

[14]:

The term deva literally means ‘that which reveals’. They reveal the objects of senses; therefore they are called devas. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa adopted the Vedic doctrine of spiritism and extended Godhood to cover all principles of creation from mahat to the subtle elements (tanāmtrās [tanmātrās?]). So there were as many gods as there were principles of creation. Vide below 3.5.38—For details Bhattacharya The Philosophy of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.290-93.

[15]:

Bhāgavata Candrikā states that taijasa ego-hood does not produce anything per se unless it is in union with the sāttvika or tāmasa ego-hood. Subodhinī explains that knowledge is predominantly Sāttvika and action is tāmasa. Hence both types of organs are produced by rājasa ego-hood with their help. Subodhinī adds buddhi and prāṇa to the list of sense organs, stating this to be implied by ca the last word in 31.a

[16]:

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa has adopted the doctrine of causation (at-kāryavāda) to explain evolutionary process. Accordingly, the effect can have no quality which is not already in existence in the material cause. Hence it presupposes a subtle form of each element with a potential quality serving as the intermediary of the causal relation between one element and another. This subtle element is technically called tanmātrā (unit-potential). For details—B. Bhattacharya The Philosophy of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata I.295-97.

[17]:

Thus Vāyu possesses the attribute sound of Ākāśa as well as its own special attribute Touch. The Earth (Pṛthvī) possesses its own attribute smell, as well as the special attributes of its previous evolutes, viz. sound (of ākāśa), touch (of Vāyu), etc.

[18]:

Padaratnāvalī explains: Brahmā and other gods presiding over Mahat and other principles, were created by Viṣṇu. They possess their ḥoḍies due to Kāla, Māyā and Aṃśa and were parts (kalā or aṃśa) of Viṣṇu, and were in a way distinct from him. Due to their mutual unrelatedness, they could not lay the egg of the universe. (Hence) with their hands folded (to their heads) they prayed the Lord.

Siddhāntapradīpa explains: (The presiding deities of the principles called) mahat and others, (though) parts (kalā) of Viṣṇu and conditioned by the agitator Time (creating commotion by its influence), Māyā as the material cause, aṃśa (the individual soul) and form, were unable on their own to create the universe due to their unrelatedness. Hence they (deities) praised the Lord.

[19]:

According to Bhāvāratha Dīpikā, capacity of transformation (vikṛti), fickleness (vikṣepa) and sentience (cetanā) are the marks of Kāla, Māyā and Aṃśa.

[20]:

v.l. ṛte—No happiness is possible without resorting to your feet (Bhāvāratha Dīpikā).

[21]:

yatsānu....gehe—Relatives like wife, sons etc. and property or belongings are the ties of the body and house etc. -which are the product or effects of the inert matter—Bhāgavata Candrikā

[22]:

asat—false, vain—Siddhāntapradīpa

[23]:

Bhāvāratha Dīpikā explains the better reading patho.... lakṣyān, as follows: Those (whose minds are carried by sense organs) do not see the paths shown by your graceful footsteps viz. the path of the good or the ninefold path of devotion such as śravaṇa etc.

[24]:

sva-vihāra-tantra [tantram]—Executing the work assigned to us—(Bhāgavata Candrikā).

[25]:

Kavim [Kavi]—(i) Brahmā, the Samaṣṭi-Puruṣa—Bhāgavata Candrikā

(ii) The individual soul as samaṣṭi.

(iii) The Omniscient God knowing the past and future—Padaratnāvalī

[26]:

You have deposited your power of creating the universe and god Brahmā, (the samaṣṭi-Puruṣa) in Prakṛti, which is your own power (an attribute with no separate existence outside God)—the Power which is the cause of the organs of senses, both conative and cognitive—Bhāgavata Candrikā