Srimad Bhagavatam · Canto 12 · Chapter 5
श्रीशुक उवाच अत्रानुवर्ण्यतेऽभीक्ष्णं विश्वात्मा भगवान् हरि: । यस्य प्रसादजो ब्रह्मा रुद्र: क्रोधसमुद्भव: ॥ १ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca atrānuvarṇyate ’bhīkṣṇaṁ viśvātmā bhagavān hariḥ yasya prasāda-jo brahmā rudraḥ krodha-samudbhavaḥ
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has elaborately described in various narrations the Supreme Soul of all that be — the Personality of Godhead, Hari — from whose satisfaction Brahmā is born and from whose anger Rudra takes birth.
त्वं तु राजन् मरिष्येति पशुबुद्धिमिमां जहि । न जात: प्रागभूतोऽद्य देहवत्त्वं न नङ्क्ष्यसि ॥ २ ॥
tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti paśu-buddhim imāṁ jahi na jātaḥ prāg abhūto ’dya deha-vat tvaṁ na naṅkṣyasi
O King, give up the animalistic mentality of thinking, “I am going to die.” Unlike the body, you have not taken birth. There was not a time in the past when you did not exist, and you are not about to be destroyed.
न भविष्यसि भूत्वा त्वं पुत्रपौत्रादिरूपवान् । बीजाङ्कुरवद् देहादेर्व्यतिरिक्तो यथानल: ॥ ३ ॥
na bhaviṣyasi bhūtvā tvaṁ putra-pautrādi-rūpavān bījāṅkura-vad dehāder vyatirikto yathānalaḥ
You will not take birth again in the form of your sons and grandsons, like a sprout taking birth from a seed and then generating a new seed. Rather, you are entirely distinct from the material body and its paraphernalia, in the same way that fire is distinct from its fuel.
स्वप्ने यथा शिरश्छेदं पञ्चत्वाद्यात्मन: स्वयम् । यस्मात् पश्यति देहस्य तत आत्मा ह्यजोऽमर: ॥ ४ ॥
svapne yathā śiraś-chedaṁ pañcatvādy ātmanaḥ svayam yasmāt paśyati dehasya tata ātmā hy ajo ’maraḥ
In a dream one can see his own head being cut off and thus understand that his actual self is standing apart from the dream experience. Similarly, while awake one can see that his body is a product of the five material elements. Therefore it is to be understood that the actual self, the soul, is distinct from the body it observes and is unborn and immortal.
घटे भिन्ने घटाकाश आकाश: स्याद् यथा पुरा । एवं देहे मृते जीवो ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते पुन: ॥ ५ ॥
ghaṭe bhinne ghaṭākāśa ākāśaḥ syād yathā purā evaṁ dehe mṛte jīvo brahma sampadyate punaḥ
When a pot is broken, the portion of sky within the pot remains as the element sky, just as before. In the same way, when the gross and subtle bodies die, the living entity within resumes his spiritual identity.
मन: सृजति वै देहान् गुणान् कर्माणि चात्मन: । तन्मन: सृजते माया ततो जीवस्य संसृति: ॥ ६ ॥
manaḥ sṛjati vai dehān guṇān karmāṇi cātmanaḥ tan manaḥ sṛjate māyā tato jīvasya saṁsṛtiḥ
The material bodies, qualities and activities of the spirit soul are created by the material mind. That mind is itself created by the illusory potency of the Supreme Lord, and thus the soul assumes material existence.
स्नेहाधिष्ठानवर्त्यग्निसंयोगो यावदीयते । तावद्दीपस्य दीपत्वमेवं देहकृतो भव: । रज:सत्त्वतमोवृत्त्या जायतेऽथ विनश्यति ॥ ७ ॥
snehādhiṣṭhāna-varty-agni- saṁyogo yāvad īyate tāvad dīpasya dīpatvam evaṁ deha-kṛto bhavaḥ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vṛttyā jāyate ’tha vinaśyati
A lamp functions as such only by the combination of its fuel, vessel, wick and fire. Similarly, material life, based on the soul’s identification with the body, is developed and destroyed by the workings of material goodness, passion and ignorance, which are the constituent elements of the body.
न तत्रात्मा स्वयंज्योतिर्यो व्यक्ताव्यक्तयो: पर: । आकाश इव चाधारो ध्रुवोऽनन्तोपमस्तत: ॥ ८ ॥
na tatrātmā svayaṁ-jyotir yo vyaktāvyaktayoḥ paraḥ ākāśa iva cādhāro dhruvo ’nantopamas tataḥ
The soul within the body is self-luminous and is separate from the visible gross body and invisible subtle body. It remains as the fixed basis of changing bodily existence, just as the ethereal sky is the unchanging background of material transformation. Therefore the soul is endless and without material comparison.
एवमात्मानमात्मस्थमात्मनैवामृश प्रभो । बुद्ध्यानुमानगर्भिण्या वासुदेवानुचिन्तया ॥ ९ ॥
evam ātmānam ātma-stham ātmanaivāmṛśa prabho buddhyānumāna-garbhiṇyā vāsudevānucintayā
My dear King, by constantly meditating upon the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva, and by applying clear and logical intelligence, you should carefully consider your true self and how it is situated within the material body.
चोदितो विप्रवाक्येन न त्वां धक्ष्यति तक्षक: । मृत्यवो नोपधक्ष्यन्ति मृत्यूनां मृत्युमीश्वरम् ॥ १० ॥
codito vipra-vākyena na tvāṁ dhakṣyati takṣakaḥ mṛtyavo nopadhakṣyanti mṛtyūnāṁ mṛtyum īśvaram
The snake-bird Takṣaka, sent by the curse of the brāhmaṇa, will not burn your true self. The agents of death will never burn such a master of the self as you, for you have already conquered all dangers on your path back to Godhead.
अहं ब्रह्म परं धाम ब्रह्माहं परमं पदम् । एवं समीक्ष्य चात्मानमात्मन्याधाय निष्कले ॥ ११ ॥ दशन्तं तक्षकं पादे लेलिहानं विषाननै: । न द्रक्ष्यसि शरीरं च विश्वं च पृथगात्मन: ॥ १२ ॥
ahaṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma brahmāhaṁ paramaṁ padam evaṁ samīkṣya cātmānam ātmany ādhāya niṣkale daśantaṁ takṣakaṁ pāde lelihānaṁ viṣānanaiḥ na drakṣyasi śarīraṁ ca viśvaṁ ca pṛthag ātmanaḥ
You should consider, “I am nondifferent from the Absolute Truth, the supreme abode, and that Absolute Truth, the supreme destination, is nondifferent from me.” Thus resigning yourself to the Supreme Soul, who is free from all material misidentifications, you will not even notice the snake-bird Takṣaka when he approaches with his poison-filled fangs and bites your foot. Nor will you see your dying body or the material world around you, because you will have realized yourself to be separate from them.
एतत्ते कथितं तात यदात्मा पृष्टवान् नृप । हरेर्विश्वात्मनश्चेष्टां किं भूय: श्रोतुमिच्छसि ॥ १३ ॥
etat te kathitaṁ tāta yad ātmā pṛṣṭavān nṛpa harer viśvātmanaś ceṣṭāṁ kiṁ bhūyaḥ śrotum icchasi
Beloved King Parīkṣit, I have narrated to you the topics you originally inquired about — the pastimes of Lord Hari, the Supreme Soul of the universe. Now, what more do you wish to hear?
