(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.7 – 6.1.19)
- 1. Rajah Parikshit said: You, worshipful Sir, have at first expounded the means for emancipation from transmigratory existence, following the method of gradual release. It consists in practising divine communion through different disciplines and attaining to Brahma’s realm, and from there attaining release from embodied existence at the time of the Pralaya along with Brahma himself.
- 2. You have also described the life of involvement in Samsara—how, driven by the forces of Karma, the Jiva is born repeatedly in different spheres, all of which are constituted of the evolutes of the three Gunas of Prakriti.
- 3. The various purgatories which await evil-doers, were described, besides Manvantaras, the period of rule of the Manus, the first of whom was Swāyambhuva. (See footnote in the Prologue to the 4th Skandha.)
- 4. Descriptions of the dynasties of Uttānapāda and Priyavrata, as well as accounts of continents, regions, oceans, mountains, rivers, gardens and forests were given.
- 5. Besides, you have already discoursed to me on subjects like the divisions, characteristics, and dimensions of the earth, the galaxies, the heavens, and the nether worlds, and all other regions. 6. Now it behoves you, O holy one, to explain how man can save himself from the sufferings of the purgatory described by you.
- 7. Sri Suka said: Unless a man does expiations even here in this world for the sins he has committed by his mind, speech and organs, he is sure to undergo the fierce sufferings of the purgatories I described to you.
- 8. Therefore, long before death, sufficiently early in life, when the mind and the body have not become decrepit, man should do expiations for whatever sins he had done, according to their seriousness, just as a physician skilled in diagnosis treats diseases with remedies appropriate to the prevailing condition.
- 9. The Rajah said: Even after understanding from experience and instruction that something is sinful, men are found to commit the same sin in spite of themselves. Of what use then are these expiations? (They are not able to erase the sinful tendency.)
- 10. For some time man may abstain from sin, but a little later, he indulges in it in spite of expiations. I therefore feel that expiations are useless, like bathing and cleaning an elephant whose habit it is to spray dust on its back always.
- 11. Sri Suka said: Avidya (ignorance) is the ultimate source of all Karma, including expiations. Expiations can therefore wash off only the effects of particular sinful acts, but not the tendency to commit them, so long as ignorance, their source, persists. (This can be ultimately effaced only by the knowledge of God.)
- 12. A man who is on wholesome diet does not fall ill. In the same way, O King, one who practises spiritual disciplines gradually attains purification of mind and, through that, the knowledge of God.
- 13-14. By means of austerity, celibacy, control of the mind, control of the senses, charity, practice of virtues like kindness, truth etc., and of disciplines like Japa, worship etc., a man of righteousness and faith overcomes even great sins committed by body, words and mind, just as a fire destroys a grove of reeds.
- 15. There are some rare persons who, endowed with intense and unadulterated devotion, resign themselves completely to Vāsudeva and thereby eradicate sin utterly like the sun dissipating mist.
- 16. The purification effected by austerity and other disciplines is not so complete as by dedication of all one’s faculties to Krishna, achieved through the service of His devotees.
- 17. This path of devotion, which is without any risk and which is comparatively easy to practise, is the best suited for men in general. For, those who follow this path can draw on the support of great devotees who are extremely devoted to Narayana and are disposed to help others.
- 18. O King! The expiations performed by men who are not devoted to Narayana fail to cleanse them entirely, like water, a liquor pot.
- 19. If a man, with a feeling of passionate attachment, unites his mind with Krishna’s feet even once, he will not see Yama or his emissaries with noose in hand, even in dream.