Agni Purana

ऋतुर्निदाघ आरुढ़ो दृष्टान्तं पश्य वाहनं । उपर्य्यहं यथा राज त्वमधः कुञ्जरो यथा ।। ३८०.

Ṛtu and Nidāgha mounted up: 'See the example, the vehicle; just as I am above and you are below, so is the king above and the elephant below.'

ऋतुः७ प्राह निदाघन्तं कतमस्त्वामहं वदे । उक्तो निदाघस्तन्नत्वा प्राह मे त्वं गुरुर्घ्रुवम् ।। ३८०.

Ṛtu said to Nidāgha: 'Which one am I, and which one are you?' Nidāgha, bowing, replied: 'You are certainly my teacher.'

नात्यस्माद्‌द्वैतसंस्कारसंस्कृतं मानसं तथा । ऋतुः प्राह निदाघन्तं ब्रह्मज्ञानाय चागतः । परमार्थं सारभूतमद्वैतं दर्शितं मया ।। ३८०.

The mind is not truly shaped by the impressions of duality; Ṛtu said to Nidāgha: 'I have come for the knowledge of Brahman; I have shown you the essential, nondual highest reality.'

ब्राह्मण उवाच निदाघोऽप्युपदेशेन तेनाद्वैतपरोऽभवत् । सर्वभूतान्यभेदेन ददृशे स तदात्मनि ।। ३८०.

The brāhmaṇa said: 'By that instruction, Nidāgha also became devoted to nonduality; he saw all beings as non-different from his own Self.'

अवाप मुक्ति ज्ञानात्स तथा त्वं मुक्तिमाप्स्यसि । एकः समस्तं त्वञ्चाहं विष्णुः सर्वगतो यतः ।। ३८०.

By knowledge he attained liberation; in the same way, you too will attain liberation. Since Viṣṇu is all-pervading, you and I are one and the same.

पीतनीलादिभेदेन यथैकं दृश्यते तमः । भ्रान्तिदृष्टिभिरात्मापि तथैकः स पृथक् पृथक् ।। ३८०.

Just as darkness appears as one, though seen as yellow, blue, and other colors due to differences, so too the Self, though one, is perceived as many by deluded vision.

संसाराज्ञानवृक्षारिज्ञानं ब्रह्मेति चिन्तय ।। ३८०.

Know that the knowledge which destroys the tree of worldly ignorance is called Brahman.

अग्निरुवाच गीतासारं प्रवक्ष्यामि सर्वगीतोत्तमोत्तमं । कृष्णोऽर्जुनाय यमाह पुरा वै भुक्तिमुक्तिदं ।। ३८१.

Agni said: I will declare the essence of the Gītā, the highest of all Gītās, which Kṛṣṇa once spoke to Arjuna, bestowing both enjoyment and liberation.

श्रीभगवानुवाच गतासुरगतासुर्वा न शोच्यो देहवानजः । आत्माऽजरोऽमरोऽभेद्यस्तस्माच्छोकादिकं त्यजेत् ।। ३८१.

The Blessed Lord said: Whether the life force has departed or not, the embodied one is not to be grieved for; the Self is ageless, immortal, and indestructible—therefore, abandon sorrow and the like.

ध्यायतो विषयान् पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते । सङ्गात् कामस्ततः क्रोधः क्रोधात्सम्मोह एव च ।। ३८१.

As a person contemplates sense objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment comes desire, and from desire, anger is born.

सम्मोहात् स्मृतिविभ्रंशो बुद्धिनाशात् प्रणश्यति । दुःसङ्गहानिः सत्सङ्गान्मोक्षकामी च कामनुत् ।। ३८१.

From anger comes delusion, from delusion loss of memory; from loss of memory, the destruction of intelligence, and by the ruin of intelligence, one is lost. Association with the wicked leads to harm; association with the good, to liberation, and the seeker of liberation abandons desire.

कामत्यागादात्मनिष्ठः स्थिरप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते । या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।। ३८१.

He who is established in the Self by abandoning desire is called one of steady wisdom. That which is night for all beings, in that the disciplined one remains awake.

यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः । आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते ।। ३८१.

That which beings are awake to is night for the sage who sees. One who is content in the Self alone has nothing to do.

नैव तस्य कृते नार्थो नाकृते नेह कश्चन । तत्त्ववित्तु महावाहो गुणकर्मविभागयोः ।। ३८१.

For him, there is no purpose in action done or not done in this world. O mighty-armed, the knower of reality understands the distinction between qualities and actions.

गुणा गुणेषु वर्त्तन्ते इति मत्वा न सज्जते । सर्वं ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यति ।। ३८१.

Recognizing that qualities act upon qualities, he is not attached. By the boat of knowledge alone, one crosses over all suffering.

ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात् कुरुतेऽर्जुन । ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गन्त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।। ३८१.

The fire of knowledge reduces all actions to ashes, O Arjuna. He who performs actions, having renounced attachment and established them in Brahman, is not bound.

लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा । सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानां सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।। ३८१.

He is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not wetted by water. He sees the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self.

न हि कल्याणकृतं कश्चिद्‌दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति । देवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया ।। ३८१.

No one who acts righteously ever comes to a bad end, dear one. For this divine power of Mine, made of qualities, is difficult to overcome.

मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतान्तरन्ति ते । आर्त्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ ।। ३८१.

But those who take refuge in Me alone cross over this illusion. O best of the Bharatas, the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise worship Me.

चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां ज्ञानी चैकत्वमास्थितः । अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते ।। ३८१.

Four kinds of people worship Me: the wise, who are established in unity. The imperishable Brahman is supreme; its own nature is called the Self.

भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्गः कर्मसंज्ञितः । अधिभूतं क्षरो भावः पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतं ।। ३८१.

The act of creation, the origin of beings, is called action. The perishable existence is called the field of beings, and the person is the presiding deity.

अधियज्ञोहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर । अन्तकाले स्मरन्माञ्च मद्भावं यात्यसंशयः ।। ३८१.

I alone am the Lord of sacrifice here in this body, O best of embodied beings. At the end of life, remembering Me, one attains My state without doubt.

यं यं भावं स्मारन्नन्ते त्यजेद्देहन्तमाप्नुयात् । प्राणं न्यस्य भ्रुवोर्मध्ये अन्ते प्राप्नोति मत्परम् ।। ३८१.

Whatever state one remembers at the end, when leaving the body, that state he attains. Placing the life-breath between the eyebrows at the end, he reaches My supreme state.

ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म वदन् देहं त्यजन्तथा । ब्रह्मादिस्तम्भपर्यन्ताः सर्वे मम विभूतयः ।। ३८१.

Uttering the single syllable 'Om', one relinquishes the body; from Brahma down to the smallest blade of grass, all are my manifestations.

श्रीमन्तश्चोर्जिताः सर्वे ममांशाः प्राणिनः स्मृताः । अहमेको विश्वरुप इति ज्ञात्वा विमुच्यते ।। ३८१.

All beings, endowed and exalted, are remembered as my portions; knowing that I alone am the form of the universe, one is liberated.

क्षेत्रं शरीरं यो वेत्ति क्षेत्रज्ञः स प्रकीर्त्तिः । क्षेत्रक्षएत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ।। ३८१.

He who knows the field as the body is called the knower of the field; the knowledge of the field and its knower, that is what I consider true knowledge.

इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतना धृतिः । एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् ।। ३८१.

Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, consciousness, and firmness—this, in brief, is called the field with its modifications.

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिसा क्षान्तिरार्जवं । आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थौर्य्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ।। ३८१.

Humility, absence of pretension, nonviolence, patience, straightforwardness, reverence for the teacher, purity, steadfastness, and self-restraint.

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च । जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनं ।। ३८१.

Detachment from sense objects, absence of egoism, and contemplation of the faults of birth, death, old age, disease, and suffering.