Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 4 Chapter 11:16-35

Book 4: Chapter 11

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 4: Chapter 11: Verses 16-35 Swayambhuva Manu intervenes and persuades Dhruva to cease fighting The male and the female are products of the five gross elements developed in the form Thus proceed the creation and preservation as well as the dissolution (of the universe) from a disturbance in the equilibrium of the three Gunas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) brought about by the Lord's own Maya (deluding potency) O king I As for God (the Supreme Person), who is (ever) free from the three Gunas ( modes of Prakrli), He serves only as an occasion for the transformation of these Gunas. It is due to Him that this universe, consisting of both cause and effect, (ever) remains in a state of flux even as iron is set in motion (by the presence of a loadstone). The Lord's energy is divided (in the form of the creative, protective and destructive powers) when the equilibrium of the three Gunas gets disturbed under the force of His energy known by the name of Time. That is how He creates this universe, though remaining a non-doer, and dissolves it even though a non-destroyer. The Lord's energy (in the shape of Time) is indeed hard to conceive. It is the same immortal Lord who as the Time-Spirit puts an end to the world, though endless Himself, and is the first Maker (of the universe), though Himself without beginning. It is He who creates the universe by begetting one individual through another and dissolves the same by destroying the destroyer Himself through Death.Equally entering all created beings as Death, the Supreme Being treats none as His own or as His enemy. Like particles of dust following a blast, all living beings follow the course of the Time- Spirit subject to their own destiny. The all-pervading Lord, who ever remains in His own natural state, cuts short as well as prolongs the life of a living being, a creature of its destiny, though Himself immune from such changes. Some (the followers of the Mimamsa school of thought) speak of Him as Karma (ritual), while others (the Carvakas or materialists) call Him by the name of Nature, 0 ruler of men. Some refer to Him as Kala (Time), others (the astrologers) as Destiny, while still other people give Him the appellation of Kama (Desire). No one, dear son, knows (even) the intention of the Lord, who is neither open to sense-perception nor to any other means of cognition and who is the fountain-head of manifold energies (such as Mahat-tattva or the principal of cosmic intelligence). Who, then, can know the Lord Himself, one's own origin ? It is not these Yaksas (attendants of Kubera, the Bestower of riches), my child, who slew your brother. It is God alone, dear son, who is responsible for a man's birth and death, It is He who creates the universe and it is He again who preserves and destroys it. Nevertheless, being free from egotism, He is neither attached to the modes of Nature nor to the functions (of creation etc., discharged by Him). United with His own energy known by the name of Maya, He evolves, protects and withdraws into Himself (all) living beings--He who is their Ruler and Protector, nay, their very Self. With all your being, dear son, resort to that Divinity alone, who is death itself (to those who are not devoted to Him) and Immortality (to His devotees), who is the ultimate resort of the (whole) universe and to whom (even) the creators of the world (Brahma and the other lords of created beings) bear offerings even as oxen, controlled by a string passed through their nostrils, bear loads (for their master). Cut to the quick by the (taunting) words of your stepmother, you left your (own) mother when a (mere) child of five; and, retiring to the woods, you succeeded in propitiating the Lord by means of your penance and by controlling your senses, and secured (for yourself) an abode higher than the three worlds (the earth, heaven and the intermediate region) ! With your eyes turned inward, seek, dear Dhruva, that Supreme Spirit, who fondly stays in a mind free from animosity, who is devoid of attributes, one (without a second), imperishable and ever free, and by whose presence this phenomenal world of diversity, though unreal, appears to exist. Then, by practising supreme devotion to the immortal Lord, who is the Inner Controller of all selves, who is pure and absolute Bliss and is possessed of all powers, you will gradually succeed in breaking asunder the hard knot of ignorance in the shape of (the notions of) "I" and "mine By dint of your vast learning, O king, curb your anger-which is the greatest impediment to (the attainment of) every blessing-even as a disease is controlled with the help of a medicine. May God bless you. A wise man who seeks (to attain) for himself the state of fearlessness should never allow himself to be overpowered by anger; for people are terribly afraid of the man who is swayed by it. You have committed a (great) offence against Kubera (the god of riches), the friend of Lord Siva (who lives on a mountain), in that you killed the Yaksas, though under provocation, thinking that it were they who had killed your brother. Propitiate him soon, my child, through submissiveness and polite words before the anger of exalted souls (like him) should destroy our race. Having thus admonished his grandson, Dhruva, and greeted by the latter, Swayambhuva Manu returned to his city along with the sages (who had accompanied him). Thus ends the eleventh discourse in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita.