Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 6 Chapter 16:41-54

Book 6: Chapter 16

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 6: Chapter 16: Verses 41-54 Citraketu realizes (his oneness with) the Supreme Spirit Deferential notions such as 'I' and 'you', 'mince' and 'Yours' do not disturb (the mind of) men treading on this parth, as they do in the case of (those following) other cults (such as the cult of lrituals). (Besides,) a ritual act which is performed dby none having a differential outlook is ideed impure (because charaterize by likes and dislikes), yields a pershablefruit and is fraught with sin (in the shape of violence etc.). What good can be expected either to oneself or to another and what object can be gained through a ritual which is harmful to one's own self as well as to others? On the other hand, pain is inflicted on You through self-mortification and sin is also incurred (as well as Your displeasure) through persecution of another. Your point of view (viz., that people should achieve the object of their life through devotion to You), with which as a matter of fact You preached the cult of Devotion-the cult which is exclusively followed by the worthy who regard the multitudes of living beings, both mobile and immobile,. as their very self-is never belied. It is not at all impossible, O Lord, that all the sins of men should be wiped out by Your (very) sight, when (it is known that) even an outcaste is freed from (the bondage of) birth and death by hearing Your name (only) once. Therefore, O Lord, we now have (all) the impurities of (our) heart (in the shape of sins and evil proclivities) wiped off by Your (very) sight. How could that which was predicted by the divine sage (Narada) Your (celebrated) devotee, be otherwise? All that is done by the people in this world, 0 infinite Lord, is known to You, the Soul of the universe. There is nothing in particular to be revealed to You, the Supreme Preceptor, just as there is nothing to be shown to the sun by fire-flies. Hail to You, the almighty God, the Controller of the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe, the purest of the pure, whose true nature cannot easily be understood by the sensually-minded strivers due to their notion of difference. The creators of the universe (Brahma and the other lords of creation) are active (only) when You (the Cosmic Person) are active (inspire them with activity); the senses of perception are able to perceive their objects (only) when You (their Controller) are disposed to perceive (the objective world); (and) the terrestrial globe appears on one of Your heads like a mustard seed. Obeisance be to You, that (celebrated) Lord with a thousand heads.Sri Suka went on : Duly extolled in this way and (highly) pleased, Lord Ananta spoke (as follows) to the said Citraketu, the chief of the Vidyadharas, O Pariksit (a scion of Kuru). The Lord said : You have fully achieved your purpose through the instruction which was given to you by the sages Narada and Angira about (the means of propitiating) Me and the prayer (taught by Narada) as well as by My sight. In fact, all created beings are (the same as) I; nay, I am the Self (the Inner Controller) as well the Creator of (all) living beings. The Veda (which, as the Word of God, is identified with the Supreme) and the transcendent Reality (revealed by the same) both are My eternal bodies. A man should recognize his own self as extending through (pervading) the (whole objective) universe (as the subject) and the universe as comprised in his own self (as the object of his experience). Nay, he should regard both (his own self as well as the universe) as pervaded by Me (the Prime Cause) and even so both as conceived in Me. (Just) as a man dreams himself as fast asleep and (also) perceives (in another dream forming part of the first dream) the world (in the form of mountains, forests and so on existing elsewhere) within himself and (again), on waking from the (second) dream, visualizes himself as lying (on a bed) in a part of a room (realizes himself as awake while still dreaming), (even) so, realizing awakeness and the other states of the mind (which is an adjunct of the Jiva) as mere products of the Maya (deluding potency) of the (Supreme) Self, (one should fix one's mind on the Supreme Spirit, the witness of these states.