 Site menu |
|
| Login form |
|
| Search |
|
| Our poll |
|
| Statistics |
Total online: 1 Guests: 1 Users: 0 |
|
| Welcome, Guest · RSS |
2024-04-20, 11:17 AM |
|
Chapter 4: The Activities of
Nara-Nârâyana and the other Avatâras described
(1)
The honorable king [Nimi] said: 'Please tell
us of the activities of each of these self chosen appearances, by which
the Lord performed, is performing and will perform in this world [see
also 2.7].'
(2) S'rî Drumila said: 'Indeed, he who tries
to enumerate the unlimited transcendental qualities of the Unlimited
One is certainly a person with the intelligence of a child; somehow may
one in time count the particles of dust of the earth, but not so the
qualities of the Reservoir of all Potencies [see also 10.14: 7, 10.51: 38]. (3) When the Original Personality of Godhead
Nârâyana entered His plenary expansion, the from Himself
generated body of the universe created out of the five material
elements, became He thus known as the Purusha [see also 1.3: 1]. (4) Within this elaborate three-world body of
His are there from His senses both the senses of action and perception
of the embodied beings, is there from His nature the spiritual
knowledge and from His tradition strength and ability. He is the prime
mover [the original doer ànd non-doer] who by the goodness and
the other qualities is of creation, destruction and maintenance [see
B.G. 3: 27,
13: 30 and S.B. 6.17: 19, 3.26:
7, 3.27:
2, 3.32: 12-15, 10.46: 41, 10.83: 3]. (5) In the beginning manifested He in the
creation of this universe through the mode of passion the One
commanding the hundreds [of sages: Lord Brahmâ]; in the
maintenance as the protector of dharma of the twice-born He became
Vishnu, the Lord of Sacrifice and for the annihilation in the mode of
ignorance He became Rudra [Lord S'iva]; thus is He the Original Person
always of creation, maintenance and destruction among the created
beings [see also 2.10: 41-46, 4.29: 79, 4.30: 23].
(6)
As Nara-Nârâyana, the best of
sages perfectly of peace, was He born from Mûrti the daughter of
Daksha and wife of Dharma [*].
Standing for the cessation of all material work did He, who even lives
today and whose feet are being served by the greatest of sages, speak
about and perform Himself the work to be done [see B.G. 9:
27 and also 2.7:
6, 4.1: 49-57, 5.19:
9]. (7) Lord Indra afraid thinking 'He wants to
usurp my kingdom', engaged Cupid who going to Badarikâs'rama with
his associates the Apsaras, with his arrows, the glances of the women
and the gentle breeze of spring, not knowing His greatness, attempted
to pierce Him. (8) The Original
Godhead understanding the offense committed by Indra, spoke free from
pride laughingly to those who were trembling: 'Please fear not, o
mighty Madana [Lord of Love], o god of the wind and wives of the
demigods, please accept these gifts from Us, do not deny this âs'rama
your grace'.
(9) O god of men [Nimi], after He who Brings
Fearlessness had spoken this way, bowed the gods ashamed to Him,
begging with their heads down for compassion saying: 'O Almighty One,
such a grace is not so unusual with You, the Supreme One Unchanging to
whose feet in great numbers bow down the ones sober and self-satisfied
[see also 1.7: 10]. (10) For those who
serve You to transcend their material worlds of living and reach Your
abode, are there many hindrances created by the enlightened souls [or
the demigods], but for the other type of devotee, the devotee who in
sacrifices is offering and allots those God-conscious ones their share,
there is no such thing because he with You as his Protector with his
foot steps over the head that [with those gods] was formed by that
obstacle [see also 9.4: * and 10.2: 33]. (11)
Some try to defeat the hunger, thirst and other physical conditions
that with us in time by the seasons might occur, by controlling their
breath, tongue and sexual urges, but [because of that frustration] they
fall victim of anger and thus waste the benefit of their difficult
austeristies. With their penance rendered useless they are like people
who crossed over limitless oceans just to drown in a calf's hoofprint
[see B.G. 17: 5-6, 6.1: 16 and compare 5.8:
23 and 10.12: 12].'
(12) With them thus offering praise manifested He
before their eyes [a host of] women most wonderful in appearance, who
all nicely decorated performed reverential service to the Almighty One
[see also 2.7: 6]. (13) Seeing these
women were the followers of the godly bewildered by the magnificence of
their beauty and fragrance which rivaled that of the goddess of fortune
en were they defeated in their opulence. (14)
To those who bowed down before Him said the Lord of All Lords with a
faint smile: 'Please choose any of these ladies suitable as an ornament
of heaven.'
(15) Vibrating 'om' to that, offered those
servants of the demigods the Lord their obeisances and returned they to
heaven with placing Urvas'î, the best of the Apsaras, in front of them. (16) Bowing down to Lord Indra in his assembly
told they him, as the residents of the three heavens were listening,
about the strength of Nârâyana. He was perplexed. (17) Acyuta in the form of the [transcendental]
swan speaking about selfrealization, Dattâtreya, the Kumâras and Rishabha, is the father, the Supreme Lord Vishnu who for the welfare
of the entire world by His expansions descends into this world [B.G. 14:
4]. By Him, the killer of Madhu, were in His horse-incarnation [Hayagrîva] the original texts of the Vedas brought
back. (18) In His fish-incarnation [Matsya] were Vaivasvata Manu [Satyavrata], the planet earth, and the herbs protected;
in His boar-incarnation [Varâha] delivering the earth from the waters, was the demoniac son
[Hiranyâksha]
of Diti killed; as a tortoise [Kurma]
He held the mountain when the nectar was being churned upon His back
and [as Vishnu] He freed the king of the elephants [Gajendra] who surrendered to Him in his distress
because of the crocodile. (19)
He delivered from [a laughing] Indra the ascetic sages [the Vâlakhilyas] who offering prayers had fallen [into the
water of a cow's hoofprint]; He delivered Indra from the darkness of
having killed Vritrâsura; He delivered the wives of the demigods
imprisoned in the asura palace [by Bhaumâsura]; as Nrisimhadeva He killed Hiranyakas'ipu, the asura king, in order to bring
the saintly devotees fearlessness. (20)
For the sake of the God-fearing He killed the daitya leaders in
the battle between the gods and the demons [see 8.10], by His various appearances [the ams'a-avatâras] during the reign of each Manu He protects all the worlds
and as Lord Vâmana took He on the pretext of charity the earth
away from Bali
to return her to the sons of Aditi.
(21) As Lord Paras'urâma rid He the earth
of the members of the ruling class and destroyed He as the fire that He
descending from Bhrigu was, twenty-seven times over the dynasty of Haihaya. As the husband of Sîtâ [Râmacandra] subdued He the ocean and killed He Ten-head
[Râvana]
along with the soldiers of Lankâ. When one tells the stories
about the glories of Him who is always victorious, is the contamination
of the entire world annihilated. (22)
The Unborn Lord [as Krishna] taking His birth in the Yadu-dynasty,
will, in order to diminish the burden of the earth, perform deeds even
difficult for the godly to perform; as [the Buddha] will He by
speculative arguments bewilder the ones unfit to perform the vedic
sacrifices and at the end of Kali-yuga will He [as Lord Kalki] put an
end to all the low-class rulers. (23)
Of the so very glorious Lord of the Living Being [the Lord of the
Universe Jagadîs'vara] thus described, o mighty-armed one, there
are innumerable appearances and activities just like these.'
|
|
