Mahabharata: Volume 9 by Debroy Bibek

Author:Debroy, Bibek [Debroy, Bibek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789351186649
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2014-12-04T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 1649(321)

‘Yudhishthira asked, “If a person is in the status of garhasthya, brahmacharya, vanaprastha or a mendicant, and wishes to establish himself in success, which god should be worshipped? How can he certainly go to heaven? How can one obtain supreme benefit? What rites should one observe in offering oblations to the gods and the ancestors? Where does one go when one is emancipated? What is the essence of moksha? Having obtained heaven, how should one act, so as not to be dislodged from heaven? Who is the god of the gods? Who is the ancestor of the ancestors? What is superior to him?1088 O grandfather! Tell me this.”

‘Bhishma replied, “O unblemished one! O one who knows how to ask! The question you have asked me is about a mystery. Even if one speaks for one hundred years, one is incapable of answering this through arguments. O king! Without the favour of the gods or without resorting to the sacred texts, this fathomless mystery cannot be recounted. O slayer of enemies! I will recount it to you. In this connection, an ancient history is cited. This concerns a conversation between Narada and the rishi Narayana. My father told me that the eternal Narayana, the soul of the universe, was born in four forms as Dharma’s son. O great king! This happened in ancient times, during krita yuga, during Svayambhuva.1089 These were Nara, Narayana, Hari and Krishna. Out of these, Nara and Narayana travelled to the hermitage of Badari in their golden wagons and engaged in fierce austerities there.1090 These were beautiful, yoked to the elements and possessed eight wheels.1091 Those protectors of the worlds went there and because of the exertions that they undertook, became emaciated. The energy of their austerities was such that even the gods were unable to look at them. Only a god to whom they showed their favours was capable of seeing them. Narada was devoted to them in his heart and was goaded by a desire to see them. From the summit of the great mountain Meru, he descended on Gandhamadana and this was extremely wonderful. O king! Roaming through the worlds, he quickly went to the spot where the hermitage of Badari was. He was overcome by curiosity and went to the region where those two, the foundations of all the worlds, with the gods, the asuras, the gandharvas, the rishis, the kinnaras and the serpents, were based. Earlier, they were in one single form. However, they had been born in four different forms as Dharma’s offspring and had been reared by that great one. It was wonderful that Dharma had thus been honoured by those gods, Nara, Narayana, Hari and Krishna. For some reason, Krishna and Hari were elsewhere then. However, those two1092 wished to enhance dharma and were engaged in austerities there. This was the time for daily rites.1093 However, these two are the supreme refuge. What daily rites should they engage in? They are illustrious gods and the ancestors of all creatures.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.