Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 9 Chapter 19:16-29

Book 9: Chapter 19

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 9: Chapter 19: Verses 16-29 Yayati's Renunciation One desirous of happiness should speedily get rid of the thirst for pleasure, which is productive of sorrow, nay, which cannot be easily given up by the evil-minded and which does not get worn out even though one's body grows old. A man should not sit close (even) to his mother, sister or daughter. (For) the powerful senses lead astray even a learned man. Full one thousand years have slipped by while I have been busy repeatedly enjoying the pleasures of sense. And yet each time (1 enjoy them) my thirst for them is renewed. Therefore, giving up this (thirst for pleasure) and fixing my mind on the Absolute, I shall roam about with deer, being rid of the pairs of opposites (such as joy and sorrow) and free from egotism. Knowing both that is seen and heard of as unreal and foreseeing transmigration and the degradation of his soul to follow from their thought (etc.), he who neither thinks of nor enjoys them is the knower of his self." Having spoken thus to his wife (Devayani) and returned Puru's youth to him, Yayati received (back) his own old age (from him), all craving for enjoyment having left him for good. He appointed Druhyu as the ruler in the south-eastern quarter, Yadu in the south, Turvasu in the west and Anu in the north. Having duly installed (on the throne) Puru, the worthiest, (though the youngest, of all his sons) as the suzerain lord of the entire globe and master of its wealth, and placing his elder brothers (Yadu and others) under his control, Yayati retired to the forest. He renounced in a moment the pleasures of the six senses (including the mind), constantly enjoyed (by him) for very many years through their objects, (even) as a bird leaves its nest when fledged. Having totally shaken off all attachment (to the body and whatever is connected with it) and dissociated himself from his subtle body (a product of the three Gunas), by virtue of his self-realization in that forest, the celebrated Yayati attained absorption into the supreme Brahma, known by the name of Vasudeva, which is free from the taint of Maya--a state which is obtainable (only) through devotion to the Lord. Hearing the (aforesaid) parable, Devayani took it as a taunt to herself; (nay) she thought it to be a joke uttered (by her husband) in the agony of love subsisting between a husband and a wife. Realizing the association of near and dear ones, who are (all) subject to the control of the Lord, as akin to the gathering of travellers in a place where water is supplied to the passers-by, and as having been brought about by the Lord's will (guided by their past Karma), Devayani (a scion of Bhrgu) renounced attachment to everything, regarding all to be as unreal as a dream, and focussing her mind on Sri Krsna, gave up her subtle body (attained Liberation like her husband). Hail, hail to You, the all-tranquil and all-pervading Lord Vasudeva, the Maker of this universe; the Indweller of all created beings. Thus ends the nineteenth discourse, in Book Nine of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita.