Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 10 Chapter 87:1-10

Book 10: Eighty-seven (Latter Half)

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 10: Chapter 87: Verses 1-10 A Song of Praise uttered by the Vedas (in their living form) Pariksit submitted : How can the Sruti texts, dealing as they do with the (three) Gunas (material phenomena), refer directly to Brahma (the Absolute), which is indefinable and beyond the (three) Gunas and transcends (both) the Cause (the Unmanifest) as well as the effect (the visible universe) ? Sri Suka replied: The almighty Lord evolved the intellect, senses, mind and the vital airs of the (innumerable) Jivas (embodied souls) for their enjoyment (of sense-delights), acts of being born and so on, for enjoying the delights of the various worlds and for final beatitude (in the shape of cessation of all speculation). (It is with the help of these that one can determine the real import of the Sruti texts, which as a matter of fact deal with Brahma alone). This indeed is the well-known secret of the Vedas relating to Brahma, treasured up by Sanaka and others (more ancient even than the ancient).Whosoever cherishes it (even now) will be shorn of identification with body etc., and attain blessedness. On this subject I shall narrate to you a story connected with the (divine sage) Narayana, and shall also reproduce (as follows) the dialogue between (the celestial sage) Narada and the sage Narayana. Going about the worlds, on one occasion, (the sage) Narada, beloved of the Lord, went to the hermitage of (the sage) Narayana in order to see the immortal seer, who has from the (very) beginning of the Kalpa (cycle) betaken Himself in this (land of) Bharatavarsa, for the prosperity and spiritual well-being of men, to (a life of) asceticism, coupled with piety, Self-Knowledge and dispassion. Bending low (with reverence), 0 jewel among the Kurus, Narada put this very question to the divine sage, who was seated there (in His hermitage) surrounded by sages inhabiting the village of Kalapa. In the midst of (other) Rsis, who were (all) listening, the divine Sage (Narayana) actually gave to him the following reply, which embodied (the gist of) a discussion bearing on (the topic of) Brahma, held among the ancient Rsis (Sanaka and others) of Janaloka (the fifth heaven). The divine Sage said : 0 Narada (son of Brahma, the self-born), of yore there took place a meeting, for exchange of views regarding (the true nature of) Brahma, in Janaloka, of sages born of Brahma's mind and dwelling in that sphere, who were all lifelong celibates (lit., who had directed the flow of their generative fluid upwards). On one occasion when you (0 Narada!) had departed to Swetadwipa to see Lord Aniruddha (the Ruler of that island, . a form of Lord Visnu), there ensued (among the Rsis of that sphere) a masterly and thorough discussion concerning Brahma (the Absolute), about which the Vedas (too) remain silent. There (in that assembly) arose the same question which you have (just) put to me.