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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 4: Chapter 7: Verses 28-36
Completion of Daksa's Sacrifice
The superintending priests said : Tormented by desire and oppressed by the heavy burden of body (which is regarded as the self) and house (which is called one's own), this company of ignorant folk has been traversing the path. of transmigration, which is devoid of any shelter and difficult to tread on account of great hardships, where the fierce serpent of Death ever lies in wait (to devour them), nay, which tantalizes the way-farers with the mirage of sensuous pleasures, and is full of pitfalls in the form of pairs of opposites (such as pleasure and pain, heat and cold etc.), and which is fearful on account of carnivorous animals in the form of wicked people and is surrounded by the wild fire of grief. When will this crowd resort to Your feet for shelter, O Lord affording protection to all ?
Rudra said : Your charming feet, O Bestower of boons ! confer on those who are actuated by some desire all the blessings sought for in this world; nay, they deserve to be worshipped with reverence even by hermits who are not attached to enjoyments. If ignorant folk dub me as one who has cast to the winds all the rules of decorum-me whose mind is fixed on Your feet, by Your supreme grace I pay no heed to it.
Bhrgu said : Brahma and other embodied beings, who have been deprived of Self-Knowledge by Your incomprehensible Maya (deluding potency) and sleep in the darkness of ignorance, are unable to know even to this day Your reality, which permeates their own
self. Therefore, be gracious to them, since You are the friend, nay, the very Self of Your suppliants.
Brahma said : Your reality is not what the diva perceives through the senses, which cognize the distinctive characteristics of objects, since You are the very Ground of knowledge, the objects of sense-perception and the senses, and, therefore, distinct from this illusory world of matter.
Indra said : This personality of Yours, O immortal Lord, which has manifested the universe and is distinguished by eight long and stout arms, holding weapons in readiness to exterminate the enemies of gods, brings delight to our soul and eyes.
The Priests' wives said : This sacrifice, which was evolved by Brahma (the lord of created beings) as a means of worshipping You, has been wrecked today by Lord Siva, who was angered by Daksa. Threrefore, O Embodiment of sacrifices, hallow this sacrifice of ours, which `has been robbed of all joy and festivity and wears the (desolate) appearance of a crematory, (by casting a look at it) with Your eyes, lovely like a pair of lotuses.
The sages said : Singular are Your doings, O Lord, in that while You perform deeds Yourself, You are not affected by them. You do not think much even of Laksmi (the supreme goddess) whom everyone worships for the sake of prosperity, even though She Herself remains ever waiting on You.
The Siddhas said : Scorched by the wild fire of afflictions and oppressed by the thirst for sensuous enjoyment, this elephant of our mind has plunged into the river of pure nectar in the shape of Your stories and thinks no more of that forest conflagration nor comes out of the river, like one that has attained (oneness with) Brahma. The sacrificer's wife said : Welcome is Your visit (to this sacrifice). O Lord; be gracious to me. Hail to You, O Abode of Sri (the goddess of beauty and prosperity); may You and Your beloved Spouse, Goddess Laksmi, protect us. Without You, O supreme Ruler (of the universe), a sacrifice, though complete in all its limbs, does not present a charming look any more than a man who is left without a head, a mere trunk, though perfect in all other limbs.
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