Prayers By Rudra (Banasura's Battle)

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 10: The Summum Bonum

Chapter 63: Lord Kṛṣṇa Fights with Bāṇāsura

Text 34 - 44

Text 34

śrī-rudra uvāca

tvaṁ hi brahma paraṁ jyotir

gūḍhaṁ brahmaṇi vāṅ-maye

yaṁ paśyanty amalātmāna

ākāśam iva kevalam

Śrī Rudra said: You alone are the Absolute Truth, the supreme light, the mystery hidden within the verbal manifestation of the Absolute. Those whose hearts are spotless can see You, for You are uncontaminated, like the sky.

Text 35-36

nābhir nabho ’gnir mukham ambu reto

dyauḥ śīrṣam āśāḥ śrutir aṅghrir urvī

candro mano yasya dṛg arka ātmā

ahaṁ samudro jaṭharaṁ bhujendraḥ

romāṇi yasyauṣadhayo ’mbu-vāhāḥ

keśā viriñco dhiṣaṇā visargaḥ

prajā-patir hṛdayaṁ yasya dharmaḥ

sa vai bhavān puruṣo loka-kalpaḥ

The sky is Your navel, fire Your face, water Your semen, and heaven Your head. The cardinal directions are Your sense of hearing, herbal plants the hairs on Your body, and water-bearing clouds the hair on Your head. The earth is Your foot, the moon Your mind, and the sun Your vision, while I am Your ego. The ocean is Your abdomen, Indra Your arm, Lord Brahmā Your intelligence, the progenitor of mankind Your genitals, and religion Your heart. You are indeed the original puruṣa, creator of the worlds.

Text 37

tavāvatāro ’yam akuṇṭha-dhāman

dharmasya guptyai jagato hitāya

vayaṁ ca sarve bhavatānubhāvitā

vibhāvayāmo bhuvanāni sapta

Your current descent into the material realm, O Lord of unrestricted power, is meant for upholding the principles of justice and benefiting the entire universe. We demigods, each depending on Your grace and authority, develop the seven planetary systems.

Text 38

tvam eka ādyaḥ puruṣo ’dvitīyas

turyaḥ sva-dṛg dhetur ahetur īśaḥ

pratīyase ’thāpi yathā-vikāraṁ

sva-māyayā sarva-guṇa-prasiddhyai

You are the original person, one without a second, transcendental and self-manifesting. Uncaused, you are the cause of all, and You are the ultimate controller. You are nonetheless perceived in terms of the transformations of matter effected by Your illusory energy — transformations You sanction so that the various material qualities can fully manifest.

Text 39

yathaiva sūryaḥ pihitaś chāyayā svayā

chāyāṁ ca rūpāṇi ca sañcakāsti

evaṁ guṇenāpihito guṇāṁs tvam

ātma-pradīpo guṇinaś ca bhūman

O almighty one, just as the sun, though hidden by a cloud, illuminates the cloud and all other visible forms as well, so You, although hidden by the material qualities, remain self-luminous and thus reveal all those qualities, along with the living entities who possess them.

Text 40

yan-māyā-mohita-dhiyaḥ

putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu

unmajjanti nimajjanti

prasaktā vṛjinārṇave

Their intelligence bewildered by Your māyā, fully attached to children, wife, home and so on, persons immersed in the ocean of material misery sometimes rise to the surface and sometimes sink down.

Text 41

deva-dattam imaṁ labdhvā

nṛ-lokam ajitendriyaḥ

yo nādriyeta tvat-pādau

sa śocyo hy ātma-vañcakaḥ

One who has attained this human form of life as a gift from God, yet who fails to control his senses and honor Your feet, is surely to be pitied, for he is only cheating himself.

Text 42

yas tvāṁ visṛjate martya

ātmānaṁ priyam īśvaram

viparyayendriyārthārthaṁ

viṣam atty amṛtaṁ tyajan

That mortal who rejects You — his true Self, dearmost friend, and Lord — for the sake of sense objects, whose nature is just the opposite, refuses nectar and instead consumes poison.

Text 43

ahaṁ brahmātha vibudhā

munayaś cāmalāśayāḥ

sarvātmanā prapannās tvām

ātmānaṁ preṣṭham īśvaram

I, Lord Brahmā, the other demigods and the pure-minded sages have all surrendered wholeheartedly unto You, our dearmost Self and Lord.

Text 44

taṁ tvā jagat-sthity-udayānta-hetuṁ

samaṁ prasāntaṁ suhṛd-ātma-daivam

ananyam ekaṁ jagad-ātma-ketaṁ

bhavāpavargāya bhajāma devam

Let us worship You, the Supreme Lord, to be freed from material life. You are the maintainer of the universe and the cause of its creation and demise. Equipoised and perfectly at peace, You are the true friend, Self and worshipable Lord. You are one without a second, the shelter of all the worlds and all souls.