|
Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 4: Chapter 23: Verses 15-28
King Prthu practises asceticism and departs for the other world
Directing the breath higher up by stages to the crown of the head and free from (all cravings), he merged the air of his body in the cosmic air, the solid part of the body in the earth, the fire in the cosmic fire, the appertures (in which the various senses are located) in ether and the liquid part of his body in water--each in its own source. He (then) merged earth in water, water in fire, fire in the air, and the air in ether. He (further) merged the mind in the senses (by which it is drawn in the life of varied experience) and the senses in the subtle elements from which they severally proceed; and carrying these (the above-mentioned ether as well as the senses and the mind as merged in the subtle elements) higher still (by the ego and withdrawing them into the same), merged them along with the ego in the Mahat-tattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence). He merged the Mahat-tattva (the ground of all its evolutes) in the Jiva (the embodied soul), conditioned by Maya; and established in his true Self (Brahma), by force of wisdom and dispassion the mighty Prthu, who was till now a Jiva conditioned by Maya, cast off the condition (of Jivahood) attaching to the Self. The great queen Arci, his consort, had followed him to the forest, though (very) delicate and unfit even to tread on the rough soil with her feet. Though exceedingly emaciated through devoted participation in the austerities (reposing on the bare ground and so on) and sacred duties of her husband, her (personal) services to the latter and by nourishing her body with the food (bulbs, roots and fruits etc.) taken by Rsis (hermits), she did not feel miserable (all the same), gratified as she was by the touch of the hand of her beloved spouse and the attention received from him. Finding the body of the sovereign of the entire globe and her own beloved lord bereft of consciousness and all other signs (of life), that virtuous lady wept for a while and then placed it on a pyre on the ridge of the hill. Having performed the rites (suited to the occasion), she bathed in the waters of a stream; and after offering water (through her hollowed palms) to (the spirit of) her husband, who had performed noble deeds, and bowing to the divinities who stood in the heavens (witnessing the scene from their aerial cars), she thrice went round the (funeral) fire clockwise (as a mark of respect to her departed husband) and entered into it, contemplating on the feet of her lord. Seeing the pious lady follow her husband, Prthu, the foremost among heroes, goddesses and gods, capable of conferring boons (on their votaries) applauded her in their thousands. Raining down flowers on that peak of Mount Mandara, they spoke to one another (as follows) in the midst of a flourish of celestial trumpets. The goddesses said : Oh, blessed is this wife, who thus waited upon her husband (Prthu), the king of kings, with all her being even as Sri (the goddess of beauty and prosperity), the Consort of Bhagavan Visnu, waits upon Him, the Lord of sacrifices. Following her husband, the son of Vena, that virtuous lady will surely ascend to Vaikuntha. See how by virtue of her remarkable deed, which cannot easily be conceived of, she is passing beyond us (the heavenly region) ! What other position could be beyond the reach of those mortals who, though their span of life on this earth is so uncertain, attain spiritual wisdom, which indeed leads to God-Realization ? Alas he has been (badly) deceived and is proving his own enemy, who, having attained with great difficulty the human state, capable of yielding (the fruit of) liberation, becomes a slave to the pleasures of sense.
|
|
