|
Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 10: Chapter 73: Verses 13-24
Krsna, mysterious are the ways of Time. Its potency is unfathomable; for it is one of Your many forms. It has deprived us of our fortune, and our pride has been shattered through Your grace. We now contemplate on Your sacred feet. Lord, we no longer seek the boon of sovereignty enjoyable through this ever decaying body, the nursery of ailments. We have realized that the pleasures of sovereignty are like a mirage. Nor do we crave for the posthumous enjoyments of heaven which sound attractive only to the ear. Pray tell us now the means whereby we may constantly remember You lotus-like feet, even though we may have to undergo a series of births. Krsna, You have descended on this earth through the agency of Vasudeva. You destroy the sins of those who come in contact with You and bring them deliverance. You are the Supreme Spirit. You exterminate the sufferings of those who bend low before You. 0 Govinda, the protector of cows, we offer our obeisances to You. Sri Suka resumed : Pariksit, when the kings now released from captivity praised in those words the merciful Lord, who affords shelter to those who seek it, He replied to them in sweet accents as below.
Bhagavan Sri Krsna said : As desired by you, 0 kings, you will henceforth entertain unwavering devotion to Me, the Universal Lord, who am the very Self of all. You deserve congratulation, 0 kings, for your resolution, and what you say is certainly true. For l have seen that excess of pride of wealth and power makes people mad. Haihaya, Nahusa, Vena, Ravana, Narakasura and many other gods, demons and kings fell from their position through the intoxication of wealth and power. Know that the body and everything connected with it is perishable inasmuch as it is subject to birth. Therefore, do not get attached to them. Carefully controlling your mind and senses, worship Me through sacrifices and protect your subjects in the righteous way. Beget children for the continuity of the family line, and not for enjoyment, and accepting with an equable mind, as a boon from Me, whatever experiences come to your lot in the shape of birth and death, pleasure and pain, gain and loss etc., live in the world with your mind devoted to Me. Remain indifferent to the body and everything connected therewith, take delight in the Self, practise Bhajana and observe religious vows. Thus fixing your mind steadily on Me, you will in the end attain to me, the Supreme Spirit. Sri Suka went on : Pariksit, thus instructing the kings, Bhagavan Sri Krsna, the almighty Lord of the universe, detailed a number of attendants, men and women, to give them a bath.
|
|
