A Prose English Translation of Vishnupuranam / (Based on Professor H. H. Wilson's translation.)

by Unknown

SECTION VIII.

Parāçara said:—I have thus explained to you the third kind of worldly dissolution, that which is absolute and final which is liberation and resolution into eternal spirit. I have related unto you the primary and secondary creation, the families of patriarchs, the periods of the Manwantaras and the genealogical histories of the kings. I have described briefly to you, who were desirous of hearing it, the imperishable Vaishnava Purāna which destroys all sins, the most excellent of all sacred writings and the means of attaining the great end of man. If you have any thing else to ask, put the question and I will answer it.

Maitkeya said:—"Holy preceptor, you have indeed said unto me all I wished to know and I listened to it with devoted attention. O great saint, all my doubts have been removed and my heart has been purified. By thy favour, I have been acquainted with the account of creation, preservation and destruction. I have also learnt from you of Vishnu in his collective fourfold form; his three energies; and the three modes of apprehending the object of contemplation. By thy favour I have acquired a thorough knowledge of all this and there is nothing else worthy to be known when it is once understood that Vishnu and his world are not mutually distinct. By your kindness, O great Muni, you have removed all my doubts since you have instructed in the duties of the several tribes and in other deities; the nature of active life and discontinuance of action and derivation of all that exists from works. And I have nothing else to enquire of you, O Venerable Brahmin; and pardon me, if by answering to my questions you have been fatigued in any way. Pardon me for the trouble I have given you through that amiable quality of the virtuous which makes no distinction between a disciple and a child".

Parāçara said:—I have related to you this Purāna which is equally as sacred as the Vedas by hearing which all sins are expatiated. In this, have been described to you the primary and secondary creation, the families of the patriarchs, the Manwantaras, the regal dynasties; the celestials, Daityas, Gandharvas, serpents, Rākshasas, Yakshas, Vidhyidharas, Siddhas, and heavenly nymphs; ascetics, endowed with spiritual wisdom and practisers of devotion, the distinctions of four castes, and the actions of the most eminent amongst men; holy places on the earth, holy rivers and oceans, sacred mountains, and legends of the truly wise, the deities of the different tribes and observances enjoined in the Vedas. By hearing this, all sins are obliterated. In this also the glorious Hari has been revealed the cause of the creation, preservation and destruction of the world; the soul of all things and himself all things; by the repetition of whose name man is freed from all sins which fly to the wolves that are frightened by a lion. The repetition of his name with devout faith is the best remover of all sins, destroying them as fire purifies the metal from the dross. By the mere recollection of the name of Hari all the stains of Kali Yuga are removed and piety is increased. That Hari, who is all existing things, who is Hiranyagarbha, Indra, Rudra, the Adityas, the Aswins, the winds, the Kinnaras, the Vasus, the Sādhyas, Viswadevas the celestials, the Yakshas, serpents, Kikshasas, the Sidhas; Daityas, Gandharyas, Dānavas, nymphs, the stars, asterism, planets, the seven Rishis, the regents and warders of the quarters, men, Brāhmans and the rest, animals tame and wild, insects, birds, ghosts and goblins, trees, mountains, woods, rivers, oceans, legions living underneath the earth, the divisions of the earth and all perceptible object—he who is identical with all things, who knoweth all things, who is the form of all things being himself without form and who is everything from the mount Meru to an atom, he the glorious Vishnu and the destroyer of all sins, is described in this Purāna. The reward, which one obtains by hearing this Purāna, is equal to that obtained by the performance of a horse-sacrifice or by fasting at the holy places of Pryaga, Pushkara, Kurukshetra or Arbuda, Hearing this Purāna once only is as efficacious as offering oblations in a perpetual fire for one year.

The man, who having controlled his passions, bathes at Mathurā on the twelfth day of the month of Jyeshtha and beholds the image of Hari, obtains a great reward and so does he who with his mind devoted to Kesava, recites this Purāna. The man, who bathes in the river Jamunā, on the twelfth lunation of the light fortnight of the month in which the moon is in the mansion Jyeshtha, and who fasts and worships Achyuta in the city of Mathurā, receives the recompense of an uninterrupted horse-sacrifice. Beholding the ancestors of some eminent amongst men, attaining prosperity by the pious observances of their descendants, another man's parents and their parents exclaim, "If any of our descendants, having bathed in the Jamunā and fasted, worships Govinda in Mathurā, in the light fortnight of Jyestha, he will secure for us an elevated position". Having worshipped Janārddana in the light fortnight of Jyeshtha a man of good birth will offer cakes to his fortunate ancestors in the Yamunā. By reading with devotion one section of this Purāna one can acquire the same merit which he will reap by bathing in the Yamunā during the light fortnight of Jyeshtha, by giving gifts to the manes and worshipping Janārddana with a devoted merit. Those who have fallen into the ocean of worldliness and been stricken with terror, may be liberated by reading this Purāna which frees one from bad dreams and imperfections.

This Purāna was originally composed by the Rishi Nārāyana and was communicated by Brahmā to Ribhu; he described it to Pryabrata who again related it to Bhāguri. Bhāguri recited it to Tambamitra, and he to Dadicha, who gave it to Sāraswata. Bhrigu received it, who imparted it to Purukutsa and he taught it to Narmadā, The goddess gave it to the Nāga King, Dhritarashtra and to Purāna of the same race, by whom it was given to their king Vāsuki. He imparted it to Vatsa and he to Ashawtara from whom it successively proceeded the Kambala and Elapatra. When the ascetic Vedasiras descended to Pātāla, he there received the whole Purāna from the Nāgas and communicated it to Pramati. Pramati imparted it to the wise Jātukarna and he taught it to many other holy persons. By the blessing of Vasistha I have been acquainted with it and I have faithfully related it to you. O Maitreya, you will teach it at the end of the Kali age to Samika. Whoever hears this great mystery which removes the stain of Kali shall be freed from his sins. He who hears this every day acquits himself of his obligations to his manes, celestials and men. Hearing ten chapters of this Purāna one obtains the rare and great merit that a man acquires by the gift of a brown cow. He who hears the whole of this Purāna meditating on his mind, Achyuta, who is all things and of whom all things are made, who is the stay of the whole universe—the asylum of spirit; who is knowledge and that which is to be known; who is without beginning or end and the benefactor of the celestials—certainly obtains the reward which can be acquired by the uninterrupted celebration of the horse-sacrifice. He who recites and retains with faith this Purāna in the beginning, middle and end of which is described the glorious Achyuta, the lord of the universe in every stage—the master of all that is stationary or movable composed of spiritual knowledge acquires such purity as exists not in any world the eternal state of perfection which is Hari. The man who fixes his mind on Achyuta does not go to hell; he who meditates upon him considers even celestial bliss as an impediment; he, in whose mind he abides, thinks little of the region of Brahmā; for when present in the minds of those who are pure, he bestows upon them eternal freedom. What wonder is there that all sins shall be removed by chanting the name of this Vishnu? What else should be heard of but that Hari, whom, those devoted to acts worship with sacrifices continually as the god of sacrifice; whom those devoted to meditation contemplate as primary and secondary; composed of spirit; by obtaining whom man is not born, nor nourished nor subjected to death; who is both cause and effect; who as the progenitors receives the libations made to them; who, as the gods, accepts the offerings addressed to them, the glorious being who is without beginning or end; whose name is both Swāhā and Swadhā; who is the asylum of all spiritual power; in whom the limits of finite, things cannot be measured, and who, when he enters the ear destroys all sin.

Salutation unto the first of gods, Purusottama who is without end and beginning, without growth and decay and death, who is substance that knows no change. Salutation unto that undecaying Purusha, Vishnu who assumed sensible qualities, who though pure became as if impure, assuming various shapes, who is gifted with divine wisdom and who is the lord of the preservation of all creatures. Salutation unto him who is the instrument of meditative wisdom and active virtue, who confers enjoyments upon human beings; who is identical with three-fold qualities; who is without any change and is the cause of the evolution of the world and who is without any birth or decay. Salutations unto him who is called heaven, air, fire, water, earth and who confers all objects that satisfy sense, who benefits mankind, and who is perceptible, subtle, and imperceptible. May that unborn eternal Hari, who is seen in manifold forms, whose essence consists of both nature and spirit, confer humanity that blessed condition which is without birth or decay.

FINIS.