Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 11 Chapter 18:37-48

Book 11: Chapter 18

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 11: Chapter 18: Verses 37-48 For there is no longer any perception of difference in him; whatever there was has been uprooted by My realization (as the Self of all). What does appear (in him) at times (e.g., at the time of begging alms and taking meals etc., even now as a recurrence of what has already been set aside) will continue (by force of Prarabdha) till death. Thereafter he will get (indissolubly) united with Me. A man of self-control who has got disgusted with the pleasures of sense, which are (invariably) attended with sorrow, but who has not (yet) been instructed in the duties that enable one to realize Me should betake himself to a teacher given to contemplation. Full of reverence and devotion and free from censoriousness he should do service to the preceptor in a respectful mood, knowing him really to be Myself, till he realizes Brahma. He, however, who has not (yet) been able to control his six senses (including the mind, the internal sense); whose intellect, the controller of his senses, (too) is intensely fond of the pleasures of sense; who is destitute of wisdom and dispassion and (simply) makes his living by the triple staff (the emblem of a recluse); the impurities of whose heart have not yet been fully burnt and who has (thus) violated the duties of a Samnyasi and is deceiving the gods (by his ceasing to propitiate them through sacrificial performances which he would have otherwise done), his own self (by depriving himself of luxuries which he would have freely enjoyed as a householder) as well as Myself, dwelling in his heart, (by failing to realize Me) is deprived of this world as well as of the next. (To sum up.) control of the mind and the senses and harmlessness (mainly) constitute the righteous course of a mendicant (recluse): enduring hardships prescribed by the Sastras and inquiry into the truth, of an anchorite (dewelling in the woods): protection of living beings and performance of (the five great) sacrifices, of a householder: and rendering service to the preceptor, that of the celibate (who has gone through a second birth by being invested with the sacred thread and taught the Gayatri). Observing chastity (during the nights other than those in which he is permitted to copulate with his wedded wife), enduring hardships involved in the discharge of his rightful duties, purity (of body and mind), contentment and kindness to (all) created beings (-these) constitute the sacred duty even of a householder who seeks the bed of his wife (only) during the period following the courses favourable for conception (sixteen nights after their appearance); (whereas) My worship is the pious duty common to all. He who constantly worships Me through the performance of his duty as aforesaid, seeking no other reward (beyond My pleasure) begins to look upon all created beings as Myself and attains firm devotion to Me. Through unceasing Devotion, 0 Uddhava, he attains to Me, the supreme Ruler of all the worlds, responsible for the creation and destruction of all, the Source of the Vedas. He whose mind has thus been purified through the performance of his own duty and who has fully realized My divine character is equipped with (both) indirect and direct knowledge concerning Me and (eventually) attains to Me before long. This is the righteous course of those affiliated to a particular Varna (grade of society) and Asrama (stage in life), consisting of certain (definite) rules of conduct. The same Dharma, when characterized by devotion to Me (i.e., pursued as an offering to Me) proves to be of supreme value as a means to final beatitude. (Thus) I have told you, 0 good one, how a man wedded to his righteous course turns out to be a devotee and duly attains to Me, the Supreme. And this is what you asked Me (in particular). Thus ends the eighteenth discourse in Book Eleven of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita.