Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 5 Chapter 18:21-32

Book 5: Chapter 18

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 5: Chapter 18: Verses 21-32 A description of (the various Varsas) of the terrestrial globe continued (Again,) she who exclusively desires to adore the lotus-feet of such a lord in You succeeds in attaining all the objects of her desire (and yet enjoys the fame of being a disinterested devotee). If, on the other hand, You are worshipped (by a woman) and approached with a longing to secure from You her sought for boon, You bestow (on her) that boon alone, with the result that on the said object of her longing being destroyed (in course of time) she feels much afflicted, O Lord ! (Even) Brahma (the birthless creator), Lord Siva (the all-powerful), gods (like Indra), demons and the like, whose mind is attached to the objects of senses, practise severe austerities for winning me (my grace), but fail to secure me-barring him who is devoted to You-inasmuch as my heart is fixed on You (alone), O invincible Lord ! Be pleased, O immortal Lord, to place on my head Your adorable lotus-like hand, which You have (so often) placed on the head of devotees. (I certainly enjoy Your esteem in that) You bear me by way of an emblem (in the form of a golden streak) on Your (blessed) bosom, O adorable one ! (Yet I am deprived of Your grace, which is the exclusive privilege of devotees-an anomaly which I am unable to understand. This is, however, no cause for wonder; for) who can (hope to) divine the raison d'etre of whatever is wrought by Your Maya (deluding potency), omnipotent as You are?" And in Ramyakavarsa, the (present) Manu (Sraddhadeva, a son of the sun-god, known by the name of Satyavrata in the sixth or Caksusa Manvantara) the ruler of that Varsa adores even now with an unceasing flow of great (exclusive and disinterested) devotion, the most beloved form of the Lord-the form of the Divine Fish-revealed to him before (at the end of the Caksusa Manvantara, when the three worlds were inundated by the ocean), and repeats the following (prayer):- "Hail to the Lord as revealed in His very first descent (on the material plane) and denoted by the mystical syllable OM ! Hail to Him who is an embodiment of Sattva (unmixed with Rajas and Tamas), and who is the very life-giving principle as well as (the source of) the potency of the Indriyas, the strength of mind and physical strength (too) !! Hail to the great (divine) Fish !!I" "Though Your form is unseen by (remains hidden from the view of) all the guardians of the spheres (Brahma and others). You move about (in the form of the vital airs) within and (as the atmospheric air) without (all living beings), making a loud noise (in the form of the Vedas and thereby proclaiming Your existence). You are that (supreme) Ruler who has brought this universe under control by means of (various) denominations (such as the Brahmana, which serve as a basis for the varied injunctions and interdlctions of the scriptures), even as a showman controls a wooden puppet (by a wire). Suffering from the fever of jealousy, the guardians of the (different) spheres (Indra and others) were unable without You (the life-giving principle) to protect the bipeds or quadrupeds, the mobile or the immobile creatures--(in short,) whatever is seen in this world-in spite of their striving severally as well as unitedly. Holding (by a cord) this earth-a storehouse of annual plants and creepers (etc.)-including myself (then known as Satyavrata) You, the birthless Lord, sported far and wide with (great) vigour in the ocean, that was, at the time of universal dissolution tumultuous with waves. Hail to such a Lord, the (inner) Controller of the multitudes of animate beings !" In Hiranmayavarsa, again, the Lord resides in (lit., having assumed) the form of the (Divine) Tortoise. Alongwith the denizens of this subdivision of the earth, Aryama, the lord of the hosts of manes, adores that most beloved manifestation of the Lord, and repeats this prayer:-"Hail, hail to You, the divine Tortoise, denoted by the mystical syllable OM and possessed of a form consisting entirely of Sattvaguna, whose position is not open to perception (because of Your staying under water)! Hail to the most ancient one !! Hail to the omnipresent Lord !!I Hail, hail to the Support of all !!!" "The objective world, manifested as it is by Your own Maya (creative energy) and observed in multitudinous forms, but whose extent cannot be correctly estimated because of its being falsely perceived, is (as a matter of fact) Your own manifestation (nothing apart from You). Your (essential) form, however, cannot be described (in words). Hail to You as such ! It is You alone that are called by the name of a mammal a sweat-born creature, an oviparous being, a plant, a mobile or immobile creature, a god, a Rsi (a superior class of human beings endowed with preternatural vision or clairvoyance), a Pitr (mane), an evil spirit, the world of the senses, the heaven-world (the celestial regions), the aerial world (the space intervening between heaven and earth and inhabited by beings endowed with an aerial body), the earth, a mountain, a river, an ocean, a Dwipa (one of the principal divisions of the terrestrial world), a heavenly body or planet, a star (and so on).