Verse 1

In plain words

32. The Purāṇas and the Avatāras "To put these ten characteristics briefly: from milking the milk right up to making the lump of butter, every task that has to be done is necessary. These names only mark the course that befits each stage of the work; but of them all, the principal thing is the lump of butter itself! It is for that alone that all the ten kinds of characteristics above have to be gone through. Likewise, the description of sarga, visarga and the rest exists only for realizing the principle of āśraya. It is this very thing that the Śruti has described, place by place — by one statement here and another there, by its purport, and in its direct form." So Śuka explained. No Purāṇa Surpasses the Bhāgavata Purāṇa Parīkṣit Mahārāja, thinking to ask yet another question, prayed: "Lord! You have given me to understand that my questions are connected with the Purāṇas. If so, which Purāṇa do you wish to tell me? Delight me by telling me the ten characteristics that must be in that Purāṇa." At this Śuka, ready again to explain, said: "Mahārāja! Listen. I have thought to tell you the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa. In it are the answers to all the questions you have asked. There is no other Purāṇa that surpasses it. Of the ten characteristics it contains, I shall tell you the proper meaning of the first, sarga. Listen with an attentive mind.

An Explanation of the Purāṇa-Characteristics: Sarga, Visarga and the Rest "When the guṇas sattva, rajas and tamas are in equilibrium, that is Prakṛti. When, in that Prakṛti, from the Mūla-Prakṛti there arise the five elements — earth, water, fire, air and ether; the five tanmātras — sound, touch, form, taste, smell and the rest; the five organs of action — speech, hand, foot, anus and genitals; the five organs of knowledge — ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose; and Manas together with the two, mahat and Ahaṅkāra — when these three principles arise, then that is called sarga. "Now the second, visarga: visarga is the name given to sarga itself in its particularized form. The bringing forth of countless jīvas who perform karmas of every varied kind is called visarga. This pertains to the Virāṭ Puruṣa. "Sthāna means this: whatever object is born in the world, if some bounds are not set for it, it will go to waste. So setting bounds for the objects that have come forth, and making sure that those objects do not overstep their respective bounds — that is what is called sthāna. Let us take an example. There is a machine. If you turn its key, it can run. But only if it is driven within bounds can it run under control. Otherwise it goes wherever it pleases and meets with an accident. Such control is what is called sthāna. "Poṣaṇa, to put it simply, may be called divine grace itself. All the works of creation go on through poṣaṇa alone. If you plant a tree and do not give it the nourishment it needs, it will not grow, will it! "Next, manvantara: a night and day of eight yāmas is called a day. Thirty days make a human month. Twelve months make a human year. This human year is a single day for the gods. Such days

three hundred and sixty of them make one year of the gods. A thousand such divine years make the Kali-yuga; two thousand make the Dvāpara-yuga; three thousand the Tretā-yuga; four thousand the Kṛta-yuga. To these yugas two hundred belong as their sandhi and sandhyāṃśa. Twelve thousand such divine years are called one mahāyuga. When a thousand such mahāyugas have passed, that is one day of Brahmā. In a day of Brahmā fourteen Manus succeed one another. Each Manu lasts somewhat more than seventy mahāyugas. This is what is called a manvantara. "Ūti means karma-vāsanā — it is the vāsanā of karma that is called ūti. That is, one has to take up each particular birth according to the vāsanās of one's previous karma. It is not that God commands, 'Take this birth,' 'Take that birth.' To Him all are equal! All the differences arise according to each one's own karma. This is what is called ūti. "Īśānukathā means the qualities and līlās of Īśvara, and the stories of the experiences of those who are His devotees: these are called īśānukathā. "Next, the characteristic called nirodha: when God withdraws all His powers and absorbs them into Himself, He takes to yoga-nidrā. That is what is called nirodha. "Mukti means releasing from bondage the jīva that is bound by ajñāna; that is what is called Mukti. That is, to leave behind the feeling of the anātma and to stand firm in the feeling of the Ātma — that is Mukti. "As for āśraya: even Mukti must rest upon someone as its support, must it not! Without a support nothing can stand. For the whole universe, the Paramātma alone is the support. He by whom this world of the moving and the unmoving is born, grows and perishes — that

Paramātma alone is the support of Mukti; and so āśraya means the Paramātma itself. One must know that the Ātma which knows the ādhibhautika, the ādhidaivika and the ādhyātmika is the support of everything. The Paramātma Alone Is the Witness of All On hearing this, Parīkṣit Mahārāja said: "Lord! Tell me what is meant by the ādhyātmika, the adhidaivika and the adhibhautika." To this question that Parīkṣit Mahārāja asked, Śuka, joyfully ready to speak of them once more, replied: "Mahārāja! I am looking at an object. That object is the adhibhūta. But what, do you think, is the one that sees? You may take it to be the eyes. If so, where did the eyes get the power to see? From the Sun, who is the presiding deity of the eyes: without the Sun the eyes cannot see, can they! In darkness there is no light of the Sun, and so the eyes cannot see. Therefore the Sun is the adhidevatā of the eyes. The jīva, which is the witness of the eye and the other senses, is the adhyātma puruṣa — the jīva as the adhyātma puruṣa; the Sun and the other deities as the gods presiding over the senses; and all this — these are the ādhibhautika, the visible objects. If any one of these is absent, the other cannot be known. What sees the object is the eyes, through the jīvātma. If there are no objects, then even though the presiding deity of the eye and the jīva are present, they cannot see. These three have a mutual relation, an interdependence. He who stands as the witness of these three — He alone is the Ātma. These, then, are the ten characteristics found in the Bhāgavata and the other Purāṇas. Tell me, what else do you wish to know? I am ready to tell you, gladly, seeking only your joy." Then Parīkṣit said: "Lord! I have been able to understand the ten characteristics of the Purāṇa, and I have also been able to understand that the Paramātma, whose very nature is the Ātma, is the witness of all. How that Paramātma, the witness, having taken many Avatāras,

wandered in the world, taught Dharma, and made known the mystery of His own birth and karma — I wish to hear the secret of the Avatāras such as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, of Him who in līlā takes a body of human form. Do not think, 'The time is short, is it not?'; so that the time that remains may be made holy by hearing the story, let me hear the characteristics of those divine Avatāras, quench my thirst and give me contentment." So he prayed. The Inner Principle of the Avatāras Is Oneness! Śuka said: "Mahārāja! I too had thought to speak of those very divine Avatāras. Listen. O King! All the Avatāras of the Lord are excellent, all are holy histories, all are full and complete. To the hearer, each seems more than the other like a stream of rasa, a holy thing. They resound, and they display joy. But the inner principle is oneness! It is not difference. It is only that, according to each time and occasion, He descends assuming bodies fitted to the purpose of each particular task and deed. "Even so, it must be said that only the Avatāras of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa — who came for the purpose of giving human beings habits within their reach and fit to be practised, of bringing them joy, and of making known the principle of the Ātma — are the crown jewels of the human world. Those two Avatāras alone have been able to find a place in the world today in the form of worship. The rest came for their particular tasks and withdrew then and there. "These two Avatāras are forms of surpassing beauty. Divine radiances that could captivate even men dance and play in these forms. No one, however stony his heart, can see those forms without being captivated. Even ṛṣis and rākṣasas — those who had restrained all their senses, renounced all attachment, and forgotten their very bodies —

even they, on seeing these dark-hued Ones, could not hold their minds steady. How much more divine and sweet the histories of such divine Avatāras must be, I cannot describe." So saying, Śuka shed tears of joy; for a while he closed his eyes, remembering those divine forms, and then said: "O King! Listen. If I go on telling the details of Rāma's story, there will not be time enough for Kṛṣṇa's story. So I have resolved to choose briefly and offer you only the principal matters."