Site menu |
|
Login form |
|
Search |
|
Our poll |
|
Statistics |
Total online: 1 Guests: 1 Users: 0 |
|
Welcome, Guest · RSS |
2024-04-27, 8:25 AM |
|
Chapter
24: Matsya,
the Lord's Fish
Incarnation
(1) The honorable king said: 'Oh powerful one, I
would like to hear the story about that first incarnation of the Lord
whose deeds are so wonderful, in which He poses as a fish [or Matsya,
see also 2.7:
12, 5.18: 24-28 and 6.9:
23]. (2-3) For
what purpose did the Controller
accept the form of a fish? It is a form that is certainly
not the most favorable one in the world. To operate in that slow mode
must be as hard as the life of someone tormented by the laws of
karma! Oh mighty sage, please tell us as good as you can everything
about the activities of Lord Uttamas'loka ['the One glorified'], for to
hear
about Him makes the entire world happy [B.G. 4:
7].'
(4) S'rî
Sûta Gosvâmî said: "The mighty son of
Vyâsadeva thus upon the
request of
Vishnurâta ['Vishnu-sent'] told him everything there was to know
about the deeds of
Lord Vishnu in the form of a fish.
(5) S'rî
S'uka
said:
'For
the
sake
of
the
cows,
the
brahmins,
the
enlightened
souls,
the devotees as also the Vedic literatures, the Supreme
Controller assumes in His incarnations [all kinds of] forms for
the purpose of protecting the dharma. (6) Even though the Lord
assumes forms among higher or lower living beings, He [Himself], just
like moving air, is therewith not of a higher or lower nature, for
being intent upon the modes He is transcendental to the modes. (7)
During the previous day
of Brahmâ [the previous kalpa] there was at its end an
inundation because of which all the existing worlds were
submerged in the ocean oh
King. (8)
At the moment Brahmâ felt sleepy and wanted to lie down to rest, the Vedic knowledge most powerfully emanated from his mouth. Hayagrîva who happened to be nearby
then took it away [see 2.7:
11 and 5.18:
6]. (9) Understanding Hayagrîva's Dânava
course of action the Supreme Lord Hari, the
Controller, [thereupon] assumed the form of a fish. (1o) When
that happened there was some saintly king called Satyavrata, a
great personality and devotee of Lord Nârâyana, who in his
penances had developed the austerity of subsisting on water only. (11)
During this day of Brahmâ
he as a son of the sungod became known as
S'râddhadeva. Lord Hari entrusted him with the position of Manu
[see 6.6: 40 and 8.13: 1]. (12) When he one
day was sitting at the Kritamâlâ river, performing
oblations of
water, in his palm full of water some kind of a small fish manifested
itself. (13) Satyavrata,
the
master of Dravidades'a oh son of Bharata, threw the little fish
together with the handful of water into the river. (14)
It appealed to
the most compassionate king and said: 'The river water is very scaring
oh
protector of the poor, why do you throw Me, so small, before the
voracious aquatics oh King?'
(15) Most pleased to show it his personal favor he, not
knowing that he held the form of Matsya, decided to offer the
fish protection. (16) The great
leader hearing its pitiable words mercifully put it in a
jug full of water and took it home. (17)
But in a single night it expanded
in the water of that pot so that it, not feeling comfortably
anymore, said to the great leader: (18)
'I do not like it here, this
water pot is a difficult place for Me, please consider
a more spacious refuge where I can live with pleasure.'
(19) He then took it
out and placed it in a bucket full of water, but thrown in there it
grew within a
second to the length of three cubits [2.10 meters]. (20)
[It said:] 'This bucket is
unsuitable for Me to live
happily, please
give Me, who sought your shelter, a much bigger place!'
(21) The king removed
it from there and threw it in a lake that was immediately filled
by its body when He instantly grew into a gigantic fish. (22)
'This water
you have
put Me in does not accommodate Me oh King, I'm a large
aquatic, you better put Me in an expanse of water that suits Me
more permanently.'
(23) Thus requested he brought Matsya to bigger and
bigger reservoirs until he finally threw the giant into the ocean. (24) Thrown there it said to the king: 'In this
place there are dangerous,
powerful aquatics that will eat
Me oh
hero, please do not put Me in here!'
(25) Thus
perplexed
by
the fish that addressed him in agreeable terms he said: 'Who are
You who in this fish form is bewildering us? (26) I've never seen or heard of such a powerful
aquatic like You are. Your Lordship has expanded to
hundreds of miles in a single day! (27)
You must be the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Himself, the imperishable Lord
Nârâyana who has
assumed the form of a marine animal to
show all living beings Your mercy. (28)
I offer You, the
Most Excellent Personality of Maintenance, Creation and Destruction my
obeisances. Oh Almighty One, unto surrendered devotees like us You are
the
Supreme Lord and the Highest Destination. (29) Everything You do in Your incarnations is
the cause of the welfare of all living beings. I'd like to know for
what purpose Your Lordship has assumed this form. (30) As
opposed to [the worship of] others who are differently embodied [the demigods], one never worships Your lotus feet in vain,
oh
Lotus
petal-eyed
One.
For
You
are
the
friend,
the
dearest
and original Soul of everyone, You who now
have manifested that so very wonderful body for us Your devotees.'
(31) S'rî S'uka
said: 'Having spoken thus that
master of man, Satyavrata, was addressed by the Master of the
Universe, the Lord who, as the one love of the devotees desiring to
benefit them, at the end of the
yuga for the sake of enjoying His pastimes had assumed the form of a fish in the water of the
great flood. (32)
The Supreme Lord said: 'On the seventh day from today oh
subduer of the enemies, this threefold creation of earth, ether and
heaven will be flooded by the all-devouring ocean. (33) When
the three
worlds are submerged in the waters of annihilation, a very big boat will appear that I have sent to you.
(34-35) Collect
all higher and lower kinds of herbs and seeds before you get on that huge boat together
with
the
seven sages and all kinds of
living beings. Then travel
undaunted the ocean of the flood with no other illumination but
the light of the rishis.
(36) When that
boat
is
being
tossed
about
by
the
very
powerful
wind,
you can attach it with the great serpent [Vâsuki] to My horn, for
I will be near you. (37) I will drag you and the sages on the boat, with Me over the waters throughout
the night of Brahmâ oh My best one. (38) With My support, upon your inquiries, in your heart the full knowledge will
be revealed of My glory that is known as the
Supreme Brahman [see also B.G. 5:
16, 10:
11].'
(39) After
thus having instructed
the king the Lord disappeared from there. The king then awaited
the time about which the Master of the Senses had spoken. (40)
The saintly king spread kus'a
grass with its tips pointed to the east and then facing northwards
sat down to meditate upon the feet of the Lord who had assumed the form
of a
fish. (41)
Then
there were huge
clouds in the sky incessantly showering rain. The ocean swell and began to flood on all
sides so that the earth was inundated. (42) Meditating
on
what
the
Lord
had
said
he
saw
a
boat coming near. He got up, took the herbs and creepers and got on board together with the leading brahmins. (43) The
sages were very pleased and said to him: 'Oh King meditate upon Kes'ava
['the
Lord with the black curls'], for He will save us from this impending
danger and set things right.'
(44) After the king had meditated, the Lord
appeared in the great ocean as a golden
fish measuring a million yojanas that had a single horn. (45)
Glad
that he, like the Lord had told him before, could fasten the boat to
the horn using the serpent for a rope, he praised the Killer of Madhu. (46) The
king said: 'Since time immemorial ignorance about the knowledge of the
soul has been the root cause of
the material bondage that is accompanied by so much suffering and
hardship. By
the grace of the process of devotional service [and Your devotee] You
can be attained oh Lord who are the supreme spiritual master [see 7.5: 23-24]. (47) He
who is born accepts in his
desire to be happy unwisely different bodies as a result of
his karma [see 4.29
and B.G. 4:
5, 6:
45 and 16:
20], but his profit minded
plans bring him only grief. That karmic matter is cleared
up by rendering service to Him, our guru in the core of the heart,
by whom the hard knot of
the impure mind is cut. (48) Just like a piece of ore in touch
with fire gets purified, a person by
that
service
can
get
rid
of
all
the impurity as a consequence of his ignorance so that he can revive
his original identity [his mode of service or varna]. May He
who is Inexhaustible in this respect be our Supreme Controller,
the Guru of the Gurus. (49) Neither
the
demigods,
nor
the
gurus,
nor
other
people individually or else
group wise
are able to offer but one ten-thousandth of Your grace. I therefore
surrender
to Him, the Lord, to You who are the shelter. (50) The
way the blind are lead by the blind, ignorant people accept an
unenlightened person as their guru. We desirous to know our destination, have accepted Your Lordship whose knowledge is like the
[rising] sun, as our spiritual master, as the seer of all that can be
seen. (51) An
ordinary person following
the directions of an ordinary
man is of surrender to impermanent
matters as the goal of life and [thus] of an ignorance that cannot be
overcome, but by Your eternal, pure knowledge a person very soon achieves his original position [of service]. (52) You are
the dearmost
well-wisher, the controller, the original soul and spiritual master of all worlds. You are the
spiritual knowledge, the fulfillment of all desires and the One
situated in the heart who cannot
be known by people who in the grip of lust have a foggy intelligence. (53)
May by my surrender to You, the Greatest of
All who is worshiped by the gods, the Supreme Controller for
understanding the
real purpose of life, by my surrender to the light of Your meaningful
words of
instruction, the knots fixed in the heart be cut through oh Supreme
Lord. Please tell me about Your refuge [see also B.G. 4:
34].'
(54) S'rî S'uka
said: 'The Supreme Lord, the Original
Person who had assumed the form of a fish, thus being addressed explained
the Absolute
Truth to the king while they were moving through the great ocean. (55) Through
the analytical [sânkhya,
matter
versus
spirit] perspective of [bhakti-]yoga,
practically
applied in a
collection of divine old stories,
the
holy king Satyavrata thus got acquainted with the mysteries of self-realization in all its forms. (56)
Sitting in the
boat with the sages, he free from doubt listened to the knowledge of
self-realization [âtma-tattva] and the eternal absolute
spirit [brahma] as explained by
the Supreme Lord. (57) When the last inundation had ended the Lord after [thus] having put an end to the
darkness that was caused by
Hayagrîva, handed over all
the
Vedic
records
to Brahmâ when he
woke up. (58) King
Satyavrata enlightened in the
spiritual knowledge and its practical
wisdom, by the mercy of
Lord Vishnu became in this
period the Manu called Vaivasvata.
(59) When someone hears this great story describing
Satyavrata the saintly king and the Matsya incarnation
with the one horn, he will be delivered from all reactions to sin. (60) Anyone
who
daily
glorifies
the
personal
appearance
of the Lord will have
success in all
his endeavors and will return home, back to Godhead. (61)
I offer my
obeisances to Him, the Cause of All Causes, He who posing as a great
fish explained to Satyavrata the Vedic knowledge and put an
end to the darkness of the Daitya, He who returned the Vedic records
that were stolen from the mouths of Lord Brahmâ who lay deep
asleep in the waters of the flood.'
Thus the
eighth
Canto of the S'rîmad Bhâgavatam ends named:
Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations.
|
|