Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 6 Chapter 5:14-26

Book 6: Chapter 5

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 6: Chapter 5: Verses 14-26 Narada subjected to an execration (by Daksa) The intellect of a Jiva, which is imbued with the three Gunas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) and which takes the shape of the various objects of senses (colour, taste and so on) is like a wanton woman appearing in various (attractive) guises and possessed of (many alluring) qualities. What can be gained in this world through useless (feverish) activities by him who has not risen above such a diversified intellect (and attained discrimination)? (Again,) what is to be gained here through useless (indiscriminate) acts by the man who does not recognize himself as having fallen from his greatness through identification with such an intellect and follows, like the husband of an unchaste woman, its courses (in the shape of joy and sorrow and so on)? What can be achieved throughuseless actions by the man who is so forgetful (under the sway of Maya) that he fails to recognize the frightfulness of (the river of) Maya, that (alternately) brings about (both) creation and destruction (thus flowing both forward and backward) and acquires (great) impetuosity (in the shape of an unusual outburst of anger, pride and other undesirable impulses) near the ghats and banks of its stream (in the shape of meditation, worship and other spiritual practices). The Purusa (the Lord dwelling in the body of every human being as the Inner Controller) is the wonderful mirror (ground and illuminator) of the twenty-five categories (constituting the human personality, viz., the soul, the Unmanifest or primordial matter, the Mahat-tattva or the principle of cosmic intelligence, the ego, the five subtle elements, the mind and the ten Indriyas and the five gross elements). Without knowing Him as presiding over the (aforesaid) collectionof causes and effects, what is to be gained here through useless actions (that are done with the consciousness that the doer is a free agent, and which, therefore, tend to veil one's true nature). Ignoring (refraining from the study of and refusing to follow) the body of teachings establishing the existence of God, which not only distinguishes Spirit from matter (even as a swan, according to the traditional belief, instinctively separates milk from water where the two are mixed), but further enables one to perceive the true nature of bondage and liberation, what can be achieved here through useless actions (that tend to direct one's mind towards the external world)? (Again,) what will be gained here through useless actions (whose fruit is swept away by the ravages of Time) by him who has no knowledge of the wheel of Time, which is (ever) revolving, sharp-edged and independent and destroys the whole creation (and who resorts to various activities under the belief that their fruit is eternal). How can he who does not know the precepts of his (second) father, the Sastra (which invests him with a second body in the shape of the sacred thread and whose advice is as salutary as that of a father—precepts that turn him away from worldly activity—and who has faith in the path of worldly activity (which has reference to the three Gunas, i.e., the world of matter), proceed to act in conformity with such precepts Thus resolved, 0 king (Pariksit), the Haryaswas, who were (all) of one mind, went round the sage (from left to right, as a mark of respect) and took to the path (leading to God-Realization) which does not bring one back to the mortal plane. Having fixed his undivided mind on the lotus-feet of Lord Visnu (the Controller of the senses) as revealed in the notes of the gamut, which stand as a symbol of the (all-pervading) Brahma (and lead to its realization), the sage (Narada) went about the spheres. Having heard of the straying of his virtuous sons (from the path of worldly activity) at the instigation of Narada, Daksa fell a sorrowing and felt (much) distressed. (Indeed) it is a source of grief to have good children. (23) Fully consoled by Brahma (who was not born of a mother's womb), Daksa begot through Pancajani (his wife) a thousand sons more, known as the Sabalaawas. (24) Expressly enjoined by (their) father to beget children, they made a firm resolve to practise austerities and repaired to (the lake) Narayanasara, where their elder brothers had achieved their object (in the shape of God-Realization or divine love). (25) Their mind thoroughly cleansed of (all) impurities through a mere bath in that lake, they practised great austerity there, muttering the most sacred syllable 'OM' (a symbol or appellation of the highest Reality).