Sukadeva's Final Teaching to Parikshit

Verse 1 (bhagavata.12.5.1)

श्रीशुक उवाच अत्रानुवर्ण्यतेऽभीक्ष्णं विश्वात्मा भगवान् हरिः । यस्य प्रसादजो ब्रह्मा रुद्रः क्रोधसमुद्भवः ॥ १ ॥

śrī-śuka uvāca atrānuvarṇyate ’bhīkṣṇaṁ viśvātmā bhagavān hariḥ yasya prasāda-jo brahmā rudraḥ krodha-samudbhavaḥ

Shri Shuka said: In this scripture, again and again, is described Bhagavan Hari, the Soul of the universe, from whose grace Brahma is born, and from whose anger Rudra arises.

Verse 2 (bhagavata.12.5.2)

त्वं तु राजन् मरिष्येति पशुबुद्धिमिमां जहि । न जातः प्रागभूतोऽद्य देहवत्त्वं न नङ्क्ष्यसि ॥ २ ॥

tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti paśu-buddhim imāṁ jahi na jātaḥ prāg abhūto ’dya deha-vat tvaṁ na naṅkṣyasi

But you, O King, must give up this animal-like notion, 'I am about to die.' Unlike the body, you were never born, nor did you fail to exist before, and today you will not perish as the body does.

Verse 3 (bhagavata.12.5.3)

न भविष्यसि भूत्वा त्वं पुत्रपौत्रादिरूपवान् । बीजाङ्कुरवद् देहादेर्व्यतिरिक्तो यथानलः ॥ ३ ॥

na bhaviṣyasi bhūtvā tvaṁ putra-pautrādi-rūpavān bījāṅkura-vad dehāder vyatirikto yathānalaḥ

Having been, you will not cease and take birth again in the form of sons and grandsons, as a seed becomes a sprout and produces seed once more; for you are distinct from the body and its instruments, just as fire is distinct from the fuel that feeds it.

Verse 4 (bhagavata.12.5.4)

स्वप्ने यथा शिरश्छेदं पञ्चत्वाद्यात्मनः स्वयम् । यस्मात् पश्यति देहस्य तत आत्मा ह्यजोऽमरः ॥ ४ ॥

svapne yathā śiraś-chedaṁ pañcatvādy ātmanaḥ svayam yasmāt paśyati dehasya tata ātmā hy ajo ’maraḥ

Just as in a dream a person may see even his own head being severed, and yet remains the witness of it, so too, while awake, one sees that this body is made of the five elements — for it is the self that watches; and therefore the self is unborn and undying.

Verse 5 (bhagavata.12.5.5)

घटे भिन्ने घटाकाश आकाशः स्याद् यथा पुरा । एवं देहे मृते जीवो ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते पुनः ॥ ५ ॥

ghaṭe bhinne ghaṭākāśa ākāśaḥ syād yathā purā evaṁ dehe mṛte jīvo brahma sampadyate punaḥ

Just as, when a pot is shattered, the space that was within it becomes simply space again, as it always was, so too, when the body dies, the living being returns once more to its nature as Brahman.

Verse 6 (bhagavata.12.5.6)

मनः सृजति वै देहान् गुणान् कर्माणि चात्मनः । तन्मनः सृजते माया ततो जीवस्य संसृतिः ॥ ६ ॥

manaḥ sṛjati vai dehān guṇān karmāṇi cātmanaḥ tan manaḥ sṛjate māyā tato jīvasya saṁsṛtiḥ

It is the mind that fashions the bodies, qualities and actions belonging to the self; and that mind, in turn, is fashioned by Maya. From this arises the soul's wandering through samsara.

Verse 7 (bhagavata.12.5.7)

स्नेहाधिष्ठानवर्त्यग्निसंयोगो यावदीयते । तावद्दीपस्य दीपत्वमेवं देहकृतो भवः । रजःसत्त्वतमोवृत्त्या जायतेऽथ विनश्यति ॥ ७ ॥

snehādhiṣṭhāna-varty-agni- saṁyogo yāvad īyate tāvad dīpasya dīpatvam evaṁ deha-kṛto bhavaḥ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vṛttyā jāyate ’tha vinaśyati

So long as the oil, the vessel, the wick and the flame remain joined together, so long does the lamp remain a lamp. In just this way, worldly existence, arising from identification with the body, is born and destroyed through the workings of passion, goodness and ignorance.

Verse 8 (bhagavata.12.5.8)

न तत्रात्मा स्वयंज्योतिर्यो व्यक्ताव्यक्तयोः परः । आकाश इव चाधारो ध्रुवोऽनन्तोपमस्ततः ॥ ८ ॥

na tatrātmā svayaṁ-jyotir yo vyaktāvyaktayoḥ paraḥ ākāśa iva cādhāro dhruvo ’nantopamas tataḥ

But the self, self-luminous, stands beyond both the manifest body and the unmanifest subtle body, untouched by this. Like space itself, it remains the unchanging ground beneath it all — fixed, and comparable only to the infinite.

Verse 9 (bhagavata.12.5.9)

एवमात्मानमात्मस्थमात्मनैवामृश प्रभो । बुद्ध्यानुमानगर्भिण्या वासुदेवानुचिन्तया ॥ ९ ॥

evam ātmānam ātma-stham ātmanaivāmṛśa prabho buddhyānumāna-garbhiṇyā vāsudevānucintayā

Therefore, O lord of yourself, through an intellect made pregnant with right reasoning, and through constant remembrance of Vasudeva, examine by the self alone the self that abides within.

Verse 10 (bhagavata.12.5.10)

चोदितो विप्रवाक्येन न त्वां धक्ष्यति तक्षकः । मृत्यवो नोपधक्ष्यन्ति मृत्यूनां मृत्युमीश्वरम् ॥ १० ॥

codito vipra-vākyena na tvāṁ dhakṣyati takṣakaḥ mṛtyavo nopadhakṣyanti mṛtyūnāṁ mṛtyum īśvaram

Takshaka, sent forth by the brahmana's word, will not burn your true self; for the agents of death can never burn one who is himself the very lord and death of death.

Verse 11 (bhagavata.12.5.11)

अहं ब्रह्म परं धाम ब्रह्माहं परमं पदम् । एवं समीक्ष्य चात्मानमात्मन्याधाय निष्कले ॥ ११ ॥

ahaṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma brahmāhaṁ paramaṁ padam evaṁ samīkṣya cātmānam ātmany ādhāya niṣkale

'I am Brahman, the supreme abode; and Brahman, the highest state, is myself' — reflecting thus, and having fixed your self within that undivided, partless Self,

Verse 12 (bhagavata.12.5.12)

दशन्तं तक्षकं पादे लेलिहानं विषाननैः । न द्रक्ष्यसि शरीरं च विश्वं च पृथगात्मनः ॥ १२ ॥

daśantaṁ takṣakaṁ pāde lelihānaṁ viṣānanaiḥ na drakṣyasi śarīraṁ ca viśvaṁ ca pṛthag ātmanaḥ

you will not even see Takshaka biting at your foot, his venom-dripping mouths licking it — nor will you see the body, nor the universe, as anything separate from the Self.

Verse 13 (bhagavata.12.5.13)

एतत्ते कथितं तात यदात्मा पृष्टवान् नृप । हरेर्विश्वात्मनश्चेष्टां किं भूयः श्रोतुमिच्छसि ॥ १३ ॥

etat te kathitaṁ tāta yad ātmā pṛṣṭavān nṛpa harer viśvātmanaś ceṣṭāṁ kiṁ bhūyaḥ śrotum icchasi

Dear one, O King, I have now told you all that you yourself asked of me — the deeds of Hari, the Soul of the universe. What more do you wish to hear?