Parva 1 Chapter 49: loka varṇanam - an account of the worlds

janamejaya queried vaiśampāyana: “O brahman, what did the god of gods, viṣṇu, do after going to the abode of brahma along with god brahma? kim arthe ca Adi-devena nītaḥ kamala-yoninā | viṣṇuḥ daitya-vadhe vṛtte devaiḥ ca kṛta-satkriyaḥ ||1-49-2 Why creator-brahma took viṣṇu to brahma’s abode, when viṣṇu stood worshipped by gods after the elimination of daityā-s? brahmaloke ca kiṁ sthānaṁ kaṁ vā yogam upāsta saḥ | kaṁ vā dadhāra niyamaṁ sa vibhuḥ bhūta bhāvanaḥ ||1-49-3 What is his position in brahma’s abode, what sort of Yoga he practised there and what sort of regulalions he observed? kathaṁ tasyā āsataḥ tatra viśvaṁ jagat idaṁ mahat | shriyam āpnoti vipulāṁ sura asuran arārchitām ||1-49-4 During this period of his stay in brahma’s abode how does this great universe attain prosperity which prosperity is much coveted either by the gods or demons…? kathaṁ svapiti gharma-ante budhyate ca ambuda-plave | kathaṁ ca brahma-lokasthaḥ dhuraṁ vahati laukikām ||1-49-5 What are the mechanics of his reposing on Milk Ocean at the end of the summer and waking up with the approach of rains? How does he, staying even for a while in the brahma’s abode, bear the burden the world – bhū bhāram…? caritaṁ tasya viprendra divyaṁ bhagavato divi | vistareṇa yathā tattvaṁ sarvam icchāmi veditum ||1-49-6 O vaiśampāyana, foremost of brāhmaṇa-s, I wish to hear true account of the celestial conduct of this lord nārāyaṇa in the land of gods… vaiśampāyana uvāca : vaiśampāyana relied śṛṇu nārāyaṇasya ādau vistareṇa pravṛttayaḥ | brahmalokaṁ yathā ārūḍho brahmaṇā saha modate ||1-49-7 kāmam tasya gatiḥ sūkṣmā devaiḥ api durāsadā | yat tu vakṣyāmi ahaṁ rājan tat me nigadataḥ śṛṇu ||1-49-8 Then vaiśampāyana replied the king: “Firstly hear at length about the imponderable deeds of nārāyaṇa before you listen how he rejoiced in brahma’s abode in the company of brahma… his course is very subtle which is unknown even to the gods… hear, O king, as I go on narrating it… eṣa lokamayo devo lokāḥ ca etanmayāḥ trayaḥ | esha devamayaḥ caiva devāḥ ca etanmayā divi ||1-49-9 nārāyaṇa is transposable with the triad of worlds or vice versa, as we don’t call a cloth as yarn, or pot as a clod, or vice versa… so also, he is the fabric of the heavens and gods, or vice versa… tasya pāraṁ na pashyanti bahavaḥ pāra-cintakāḥ | esha pāraṁ paraṁ caiva lokānāṁ veda mādhavaḥ ||1-49-10 Theo-hypothecators, say vedāntin-s, remained conjectural about the extreme beginning and ending of nārāyaṇa, but they carry on with the time-honoured knowledge of agreed significance of nārāyaṇa… asya deva-andhakārasya mārgitavyasya daivataiḥ | śṛṇu vai yat tadā vṛttaṁ brahma loke purātanam ||1-49-11 Here is a legend informing what has happened in of his - deva-andhakāra – god created tenebrosity, indistinctness, ambiguity – say his illusionistic deeds – viṣṇu māya – once he did in the abode of brahma… now you hear about it… sa gatvā brahmaṇo lokaṁ dṛṣṭvā paitāmahaṁ padam | vavande tān ṛṣīn sarvān viṣṇuḥ ārṣeṇa karmanā ||1-49-12 On his going to the abode of brahma he beheld the dignity of the grandparent brahma, and the sages attending him… then viṣṇu honoured all the sages customarily following vedic procedures… saḥ agniṁ prāk-savaṇe dṛṣṭvā hūyamānaṁ maharṣibhiḥ | avandata mahātejāḥ kṛtvā paurva-āhnikīṁ kriyām ||1-49-13 When great resplendent sages of brahma’s abode are performing morning time Vedic rituals, viṣṇu saw his own mirror-image surging up from the centre of the altar of fire in the early morning ritual, while the sages held it in reverence… it happened likewise in the ritual conducted in that pre-noon… sa dadarsha makheṣu ājyaiḥ ijyamānaṁ maharṣibhiḥ | bhāgaṁ yajṣiyam aśnānaṁ sva-deham a-paraṁ sthitam ||1-49-14 He further saw his own form placed most excellently in the midst of fire-altar, which when worshipped with ghee-oblations by great sages is devouring his share of the sacrificial offerings… abhivādya abhivādyānām ṛṣīṇāṁ brahma-varchasām | paricakrāma saḥ acintyo brahmalokaṁ sanātanam ||1-49- 15 Then, he who is beyond the comprehension, that nārāyaṇa began to range in the eternal abode of brahma going on saluting the worshipful sages of brahma energy, who are wide spread in that abode performing vedic rituals, and who all are seeing viṣṇu alone in the fire-altars available in their fore, because viṣṇu is yajṣa-swarūpa for them… sa dadarsha ucchritān yūpān ca ṣāla-agra vibhūṣitāṇ | makheṣu ca brahmarṣibhiḥ śataśaḥ kṛta-lakṣaṇān ||1-49-16 ājya-dhūmaṁ samāghrāya śṛṇvan vedān dvija īritān | yajṣaiḥ ijyaṁ tam ātmānaṁ pashyan tatra cacāra ha ||1-49-17 Going round the sacrificial halls he noticed tall sacrificial posts with tops adorned well, which posts again reflected his images… even the hundreds of items of ritual that are being used by sages are reflecting his entity… as he walked further smelling the smoke of fire-oblations and listening vedic chants recited by scholars, he has noticed himself mirrored in every item of ritual… ūcuḥ tam ṛṣayo devāḥ sadasyāḥ sadasi sthitāḥ | arghya-udyata-bhujāḥ sarve pavitra-antara-pāṇayaḥ ||1-49-18 The sages and the gods available in the assemblages of Vedic ritiual then addressed the visitor, viṣṇu, interspersing sacred grass in their fingers and placing a vessel with sacred water – arghya – water for canon-welcome, in the bowl of their palms that are a little upraised to their chest level, calling this to mind: deveṣu vartate yat vai tat hi sarvaṁ janārdanāt | yat pravṛttaṁ ca devebhyaḥ tat viddhi madhusūdanāt ||1-49-19 Whatever intrinsic factor of gods is there that is from janārdana… and whatever extrinsic factor emerges from the gods is the emanation from madhusūdana… scholars are aware of it… agnīṣomamayaṁ lokaṁ yaṁ viduḥ viduṣo janāḥ | taṁ somam agniṁ lokaṁ ca veda viṣṇuṁ sanātanam ||1-49-20 kṣīrāt yathā dadhi bhavet dadhnaḥ sarpiḥ bhavet yathā | mathyamāneṣu bhūteṣu tathā loko janārdanāt ||1-49-21 As to how curd comes from milk and butter from roiled curd, this universe is the roiled efflux from fire and soma, which in turn are the effluences churned out from the Almighty – the scholars recognise it like that… yatha indriyaiḥ ca bhutaiḥ ca paramātma abhidhīyate | tathā devaiḥ ca vedaiḥ ca lokaiḥ ca vihito hariḥ ||1-49-22 If the existence of ultramundane soul is asseverated with sense data, so śrīhari too is perceptible by way of gods, Veda-s and by the very existence of world… yathā bhūta indriya avāptiḥ vihitā bhuvi dehinām | tathā prāṇa īśvara avāptiḥ devānāṁ divi vaiṣṇavī ||1-49-23 As to how living beings are endowed with the faculties of senses, so the gods are endowed with viṣṇu’s basic endowments, namely prāṇa – here might, īśvara – aishvaryam, flourish in every way, from out of his basic attributes, like jṣāna – omniscience; bala omnipotence; aishvarya flourish; shakti creative power, vīrya immutability; and teja – self-effulgence… satriṇāṁ satra-phala-daḥ pavitraṁ paramātmavān | loka-tantra-dharo hi eṣa mantraiḥ mantra iva ucyate |1-49-24 This holy and supreme soul, who accords fruits of rituals to the performers, holds impalpable strings of the mechanics of worlds, like a puppeteer manipulating unseeable puppetry strings, as the hymns stowing inexplicable hymnal efficacy in hymns themselves… thinking in this way the sages addressed viṣṇu saying: ṛṣaya ūcuḥ: sages said svāgataṁ te suraśreṣṭha padmanābha mahādyute | idaṁ yajṣiyam ātithyaṁ mantrataḥ parigṛhyatām ||1-49-25 “O foremost of the celestials, O thou of great effulgence, O lotus-navelled deity, hast thou come with ease? Do thou accept this ritual guestship offered according to sacred hymns…? tvam asya yajṣa-pūtasya pātram pādyasya pāvanaḥ | atithiḥ tvaṁ hi mantra-uktaḥ sa dṛṣṭaḥ santatam mataḥ ||1-49-26 Though thou art inseparable from this holy water - arghya – in this sacred vessel, both sanctified in the sacrifice, we have to offer it to a guest customarily… and thou art always regarded as the distinguished guest mentioned in hymns and hast now become visible… tvayi yoddhum gate viṣṇau na prāvartanta naḥ kriyāḥ | a-vaiṣṇavasya yajṣasya na hi karma vidhīyate ||1-49-27 Ever since thy departure to combat demons, oh, viṣṇu, unstirred is our ritual activity for a vedic ritual without viṣṇu is unsanctioned… sa-dakṣiṇasya yajṣasya tvat prasūtiḥ phalaṁ bhavet | adya ātmānam iha asmābhiḥ ijyamānaṁ nirīkṣyase ||1-49-28 Whatever fruit of action in performing a Vedic ritual that is replete with donations is there, let that accrue to us, because we the officiators as well as conductors of vedic rituals in this abode of brahma, already received an unsurpassable donation from you, namely your divine revelation to us… incidentally you too have seen yourself in every bit of our vedic ritual and we too do not see none other than you either in our rituals or in our percipience…” so said sages to viṣṇu. evam astu iti tān sarvān bhagavān pratyapūjayat | mumude bahma lokastho brahmā lokapitāmahaḥ ||1-49-29 Saying "so he it" nārāyaṇa, in return, worshipped the brāhmaṇa-s while grandparent brahma abiding in his region, brahmaloka, is rejoiced for the successful visit of viṣṇu… --o)0(o-- iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi lokavarṇanaṁ nāma ekonapaṣcāśattamo'dhyāyaḥ Thus, this is the forty-ninth chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating an account of the worlds.