Activities of Kapila

Verse 1 (bhagavata.3.33.1)

मैत्रेय उवाच एवं निशम्य कपिलस्य वचो जनित्री सा कर्दमस्य दयिता किल देवहूतिः । विस्रस्तमोहपटला तमभिप्रणम्य तुष्टाव तत्त्वविषयाङ्कितसिद्धिभूमिम् ॥ 33.1 ॥

maitreya uvāca evaṁ niśamya kapilasya vaco janitrī sā kardamasya dayitā kila devahūtiḥ visrasta-moha-paṭalā tam abhipraṇamya tuṣṭāva tattva-viṣayāṅkita-siddhi-bhūmim

Maitreya said: Thus, having heard Kapila's words, Devahuti, dear wife of Kardama and mother of Kapila, the veil of illusion now lifted from her, bowed to Him and began to praise that Bhagavan who, through the truth of these principles, lays the very ground of liberation.

Verse 2 (bhagavata.3.33.2)

देवहूतिरुवाच अथाप्यजोऽन्तःसलिले शयानं भूतेन्द्रियार्थात्ममयं वपुस्ते । गुणप्रवाहं सदशेषबीजं दध्यौ स्वयं यज्जठराब्जजातः ॥ 33.2 ॥

devahūtir uvāca athāpy ajo ’ntaḥ-salile śayānaṁ bhūtendriyārthātma-mayaṁ vapus te guṇa-pravāhaṁ sad-aśeṣa-bījaṁ dadhyau svayaṁ yaj-jaṭharābja-jātaḥ

Devahuti said: That unborn Brahma, though himself sprung from the lotus of your own navel, meditates upon this very form of yours, lying within the waters of dissolution, pervaded by the elements, the senses and their objects — the true seed and stream of the very gunas themselves.

Verse 3 (bhagavata.3.33.3)

स एव विश्वस्य भवान्विधत्ते गुणप्रवाहेण विभक्तवीर्यः । सर्गाद्यनीहोऽवितथाभिसन्धिर् आत्मेश्वरोऽतर्क्यसहस्रशक्तिः ॥ 33.3 ॥

sa eva viśvasya bhavān vidhatte guṇa-pravāheṇa vibhakta-vīryaḥ sargādy anīho ’vitathābhisandhir ātmeśvaro ’tarkya-sahasra-śaktiḥ

You alone, dividing your energies through the flow of the gunas, carry on the creation and all else of this universe; yourself a non-doer, your resolve is never in vain — you are the Lord of all souls, possessed of a thousand unfathomable powers.

Verse 4 (bhagavata.3.33.4)

स त्वं भृतो मे जठरेण नाथ कथं नु यस्योदर एतदासीत् । विश्वं युगान्ते वटपत्र एकः शेते स्म माया-शिशुरङ्घ्रिपानः ॥ 33.4 ॥

sa tvaṁ bhṛto me jaṭhareṇa nātha kathaṁ nu yasyodara etad āsīt viśvaṁ yugānte vaṭa-patra ekaḥ śete sma māyā-śiśur aṅghri-pānaḥ

O Lord, that very You have been borne by my womb — how can this be, when this whole universe once rested within your own belly? Yet at the end of an age, you alone, a babe wrought of your own maya, lie upon a banyan leaf, sucking the toe of your own foot.

Verse 5 (bhagavata.3.33.5)

त्वं देहतन्त्रः प्रशमाय पाप्मनां निदेशभाजां च विभो विभूतये । यथावतारास्तव सूकरादयस् तथायमप्यात्मपथोपलब्धये ॥ 33.5 ॥

tvaṁ deha-tantraḥ praśamāya pāpmanāṁ nideśa-bhājāṁ ca vibho vibhūtaye yathāvatārās tava sūkarādayas tathāyam apy ātma-pathopalabdhaye

O all-pervading Lord, you have taken this body to still the sins, and for the flourishing, of those under your own command; just as the boar and your other forms are your descents, so this one too has come to reveal the path to the self.

Verse 6 (bhagavata.3.33.6)

यन्नामधेयश्रवणानुकीर्तनाद् यत्प्रह्वणाद्यत्स्मरणादपि क्वचित् । श्वादोऽपि सद्यः सवनाय कल्पते कुतः पुनस्ते भगवन्नु दर्शनात् ॥ 33.6 ॥

yan-nāmadheya-śravaṇānukīrtanād yat-prahvaṇād yat-smaraṇād api kvacit śvādo ’pi sadyaḥ savanāya kalpate kutaḥ punas te bhagavan nu darśanāt

He whose very name, merely heard or chanted, whose mere obeisance or remembrance renders even a dog-eater fit at once to perform sacrifice — what then, O Lord, remains beyond the reach of one who beholds you face to face?

Verse 7 (bhagavata.3.33.7)

अहो बत श्वपचोऽतो गरीयान् यज्जिह्वाग्रे वर्तते नाम तुभ्यम् । तेपुस्तपस्ते जुहुवुः सस्नुरार्या ब्रह्मानूचुर्नाम गृणन्ति ये ते ॥ 33.7 ॥

aho bata śva-paco ’to garīyān yaj-jihvāgre vartate nāma tubhyam tepus tapas te juhuvuḥ sasnur āryā brahmānūcur nāma gṛṇanti ye te

Oh, how wondrous — that even a dog-eater, upon whose tongue-tip your name has come to rest, is thereby greater than the greatest; those who utter your name have, as it were, already performed austerity, offered sacrifice, bathed at every sacred river and studied the Veda entire.

Verse 8 (bhagavata.3.33.8)

तं त्वामहं ब्रह्म परं पुमांसं प्रत्यक्स्रोतस्यात्मनि संविभाव्यम् । स्वतेजसा ध्वस्तगुणप्रवाहं वन्दे विष्णुं कपिलं वेदगर्भम् ॥ 33.8 ॥

taṁ tvām ahaṁ brahma paraṁ pumāṁsaṁ pratyak-srotasy ātmani saṁvibhāvyam sva-tejasā dhvasta-guṇa-pravāhaṁ vande viṣṇuṁ kapilaṁ veda-garbham

You alone I take to be the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Person, perceived within the mind turned inward, who by your own effulgence have annihilated the very flow of the gunas — to you, Vishnu, the repository of the Veda, known here by the name Kapila, I offer my obeisance.

Verse 9 (bhagavata.3.33.9)

मैत्रेय उवाच ईडितो भगवानेवं कपिलाख्यः परः पुमान् । वाचाविक्लवयेत्याह मातरं मातृवत्सलः ॥ 33.9 ॥

maitreya uvāca īḍito bhagavān evaṁ kapilākhyaḥ paraḥ pumān vācāviklavayety āha mātaraṁ mātṛ-vatsalaḥ

Maitreya said: Thus praised, Bhagavan, the Supreme Person known by the name Kapila, most tender toward his mother, spoke to her in these grave and steady words.

Verse 10 (bhagavata.3.33.10)

कपिल उवाच मार्गेणानेन मातस्ते सुसेव्येनोदितेन मे । आस्थितेन परां काष्ठामचिरादवरोत्स्यसि ॥ 33.10 ॥

kapila uvāca mārgeṇānena mātas te susevyenoditena me āsthitena parāṁ kāṣṭhām acirād avarotsyasi

Kapila said: My dear mother, established upon this very path I have taught you, so easy to follow, you shall soon reach that supreme and final goal.

Verse 11 (bhagavata.3.33.11)

श्रद्धत्स्वैतन्मतं मह्यं जुष्टं यद्ब्रह्मवादिभिः । येन मामभयं याया मृत्युमृच्छन्त्यतद्विदः ॥ 33.11 ॥

śraddhatsvaitan mataṁ mahyaṁ juṣṭaṁ yad brahma-vādibhiḥ yena mām abhayaṁ yāyā mṛtyum ṛcchanty atad-vidaḥ

Hold faith in this teaching of mine, embraced by the knowers of Brahman, by which you shall attain Me, the very form of fearlessness; those who do not know it meet only death, again and again.

Verse 12 (bhagavata.3.33.12)

मैत्रेय उवाच इति प्रदर्श्य भगवान्सतीं तामात्मनो गतिम् । स्वमात्रा ब्रह्मवादिन्या कपिलोऽनुमतो ययौ ॥ 33.12 ॥

maitreya uvāca iti pradarśya bhagavān satīṁ tām ātmano gatim sva-mātrā brahma-vādinyā kapilo ’numato yayau

Maitreya said: Thus, having shown that venerable, Brahman-knowing mother of his the path of the self, Kapila, with her leave, departed from that place.

Verse 13 (bhagavata.3.33.13)

सा चापि तनयोक्तेन योगादेशेन योगयुक् । तस्मिन्नाश्रम आपीडे सरस्वत्याः समाहिता ॥ 33.13 ॥

sā cāpi tanayoktena yogādeśena yoga-yuk tasminn āśrama āpīḍe sarasvatyāḥ samāhitā

She too, taken up now in bhakti-yoga through the yoga-teaching given by her son, remained settled there in that hermitage — the very crown of the Sarasvati — absorbed in samadhi.

Verse 14 (bhagavata.3.33.14)

अभीक्ष्णावगाहकपिशान्जटिलान्कुटिलालकान् । आत्मानं चोग्रतपसा बिभ्रती चीरिणं कृशम् ॥ 33.14 ॥

abhīkṣṇāvagāha-kapiśān jaṭilān kuṭilālakān ātmānaṁ cogra-tapasā bibhratī cīriṇaṁ kṛśam

From constant bathing her once curling, dark locks matted and turned grey, and through fierce austerity her body grew thin, clothed now in rough garments.

Verse 15 (bhagavata.3.33.15)

प्रजापतेः कर्दमस्य तपोयोगविजृम्भितम् । स्वगार्हस्थ्यमनौपम्यं प्रार्थ्यं वैमानिकैरपि ॥ 33.15 ॥

prajāpateḥ kardamasya tapo-yoga-vijṛmbhitam sva-gārhasthyam anaupamyaṁ prārthyaṁ vaimānikair api

Prajapati Kardama's own household life, brought to such splendor through austerity and yoga, was without equal, coveted even by the gods who journey through the sky in their vimanas.

Verse 16 (bhagavata.3.33.16)

पयःफेननिभाः शय्या दान्ता रुक्मपरिच्छदाः । आसनानि च हैमानि सुस्पर्शास्तरणानि च ॥ 33.16 ॥

payaḥ-phena-nibhāḥ śayyā dāntā rukma-paricchadāḥ āsanāni ca haimāni susparśāstaraṇāni ca

There were beds white as the foam of milk, ivory furnishings covered with gold, seats wrought of gold, and cushions soft to the touch.

Verse 17 (bhagavata.3.33.17)

स्वच्छस्फटिककुड्येषु महामारकतेषु च । रत्नप्रदीपा आभान्ति ललना रत्नसंयुताः ॥ 33.17 ॥

svaccha-sphaṭika-kuḍyeṣu mahā-mārakateṣu ca ratna-pradīpā ābhānti lalanā ratna-saṁyutāḥ

Upon walls of clear crystal and great emeralds, jeweled lamps shone bright, and women adorned with gems moved gracefully about.

Verse 18 (bhagavata.3.33.18)

गृहोद्यानं कुसुमितै रम्यं बह्वमरद्रुमैः । कूजद्विहङ्गमिथुनं गायन्मत्तमधुव्रतम् ॥ 33.18 ॥

gṛhodyānaṁ kusumitai ramyaṁ bahv-amara-drumaiḥ kūjad-vihaṅga-mithunaṁ gāyan-matta-madhuvratam

The household garden was lovely with flowering trees, rich with many a celestial tree, where pairs of birds sang and intoxicated bees hummed their song.

Verse 19 (bhagavata.3.33.19)

यत्र प्रविष्टमात्मानं विबुधानुचरा जगुः । वाप्यामुत्पलगन्धिन्यां कर्दमेनोपलालितम् ॥ 33.19 ॥

yatra praviṣṭam ātmānaṁ vibudhānucarā jaguḥ vāpyām utpala-gandhinyāṁ kardamenopalālitam

When she entered that pool, fragrant with lotuses, where Kardama had tended her with such loving care, the attendants of the celestial beings would sing in her honor.

Verse 20 (bhagavata.3.33.20)

हित्वा तदीप्सिततममप्याखण्डलयोषिताम् । किञ्चिच्चकार वदनं पुत्रविश्लेषणातुरा ॥ 33.20 ॥

hitvā tad īpsitatamam apy ākhaṇḍala-yoṣitām kiñcic cakāra vadanaṁ putra-viśleṣaṇāturā

Leaving behind that life so greatly desired — one even Indra's own consorts would have longed for — her face grew a little downcast, stricken with grief at parting from her son.

Verse 21 (bhagavata.3.33.21)

वनं प्रव्रजिते पत्यावपत्यविरहातुरा । ज्ञाततत्त्वाप्यभून्नष्टे वत्से गौरिव वत्सला ॥ 33.21 ॥

vanaṁ pravrajite patyāv apatya-virahāturā jñāta-tattvāpy abhūn naṣṭe vatse gaur iva vatsalā

When her husband had gone to the forest, and she was then also stricken by separation from her son, though she had already known the truth, she became, like a cow whose calf is lost, filled with tender grief.

Verse 22 (bhagavata.3.33.22)

तमेव ध्यायती देवमपत्यं कपिलं हरिम् । बभूवाचिरतो वत्स निःस्पृहा तादृशे गृहे ॥ 33.22 ॥

tam eva dhyāyatī devam apatyaṁ kapilaṁ harim babhūvācirato vatsa niḥspṛhā tādṛśe gṛhe

O dear Vidura, meditating ever upon that very son of hers, the divine Bhagavan Hari Kapila, she before long grew wholly indifferent even to that splendid home.

Verse 23 (bhagavata.3.33.23)

ध्यायती भगवद्रूपं यदाह ध्यानगोचरम् । सुतः प्रसन्नवदनं समस्तव्यस्तचिन्तया ॥ 33.23 ॥

dhyāyatī bhagavad-rūpaṁ yad āha dhyāna-gocaram sutaḥ prasanna-vadanaṁ samasta-vyasta-cintayā

That form of Bhagavan which her son had shown her as the object of meditation, its countenance ever joyful, she meditated upon — now taking it whole, now dwelling in thought upon its several parts.

Verse 24 (bhagavata.3.33.24)

भक्तिप्रवाहयोगेन वैराग्येण बलीयसा । युक्तानुष्ठानजातेन ज्ञानेन ब्रह्महेतुना ॥ 33.24 ॥

bhakti-pravāha-yogena vairāgyeṇa balīyasā yuktānuṣṭhāna-jātena jñānena brahma-hetunā

Through the unbroken flow of devotion, through powerful renunciation, through the knowledge born of duties rightly performed, and through the very cause that is realization of Brahman —

Verse 25 (bhagavata.3.33.25)

विशुद्धेन तदात्मानमात्मना विश्वतोमुखम् । स्वानुभूत्या तिरोभूतमायागुणविशेषणम् ॥ 33.25 ॥

viśuddhena tadātmānam ātmanā viśvato-mukham svānubhūtyā tirobhūta- māyā-guṇa-viśeṣaṇam

— with a heart now purified, through her own direct realization, all the distinctions bred by maya's gunas having vanished away, she came, within her own self, to behold that all-facing Supreme Soul.

Verse 26 (bhagavata.3.33.26)

ब्रह्मण्यवस्थितमतिर्भगवत्यात्मसंश्रये । निवृत्तजीवापत्तित्वात्क्षीणक्लेशाप्तनिर्वृतिः ॥ 33.26 ॥

brahmaṇy avasthita-matir bhagavaty ātma-saṁśraye nivṛtta-jīvāpattitvāt kṣīṇa-kleśāpta-nirvṛtiḥ

Her mind became fixed upon that Bhagavan, Brahman itself, dwelling as the very self within all beings, and, freed from the jiva's unhappy condition, her every affliction spent, she attained supreme bliss.

Verse 27 (bhagavata.3.33.27)

नित्यारूढसमाधित्वात्परावृत्तगुणभ्रमा । न सस्मार तदात्मानं स्वप्ने दृष्टमिवोत्थितः ॥ 33.27 ॥

nityārūḍha-samādhitvāt parāvṛtta-guṇa-bhramā na sasmāra tadātmānaṁ svapne dṛṣṭam ivotthitaḥ

Ever established in unbroken trance, wholly turned away from the illusion bred by the gunas, she forgot her own body just as one who has awakened forgets the body seen within a dream.

Verse 28 (bhagavata.3.33.28)

तद्देहः परतः पोषोऽप्यकृशश्चाध्यसम्भवात् । बभौ मलैरवच्छन्नः सधूम इव पावकः ॥ 33.28 ॥

tad-dehaḥ parataḥ poṣo ’py akṛśaś cādhy-asambhavāt babhau malair avacchannaḥ sadhūma iva pāvakaḥ

Nourished by others, and free of all mental anxiety, her body did not waste away, but shone rather like a fire wrapped in smoke, or covered over with dust.

Verse 29 (bhagavata.3.33.29)

स्वाङ्गं तपोयोगमयं मुक्तकेशं गताम्बरम् । दैवगुप्तं न बुबुधे वासुदेवप्रविष्टधीः ॥ 33.29 ॥

svāṅgaṁ tapo-yogamayaṁ mukta-keśaṁ gatāmbaram daiva-guptaṁ na bubudhe vāsudeva-praviṣṭa-dhīḥ

Devahuti, her thoughts wholly sunk in Vasudeva, remained unaware of her own body, absorbed in austerity and yoga, its hair let loose and its garments disarrayed, protected all the while by providence.

Verse 30 (bhagavata.3.33.30)

एवं सा कपिलोक्तेन मार्गेणाचिरतः परम् । आत्मानं ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं भगवन्तमवाप ह ॥ 33.30 ॥

evaṁ sā kapiloktena mārgeṇācirataḥ param ātmānaṁ brahma-nirvāṇaṁ bhagavantam avāpa ha

Thus, by the path Kapila had shown her, she soon attained that Supreme Self, Bhagavan Himself, the very extinguishing of material existence in Brahman.

Verse 31 (bhagavata.3.33.31)

तद्वीरासीत्पुण्यतमं क्षेत्रं त्रैलोक्यविश्रुतम् । नाम्ना सिद्धपदं यत्र सा संसिद्धिमुपेयुषी ॥ 33.31 ॥

tad vīrāsīt puṇyatamaṁ kṣetraṁ trailokya-viśrutam nāmnā siddha-padaṁ yatra sā saṁsiddhim upeyuṣī

O brave Vidura, the place where she attained perfection was that most sacred field, renowned throughout the three worlds, known by the name Siddhapada.

Verse 32 (bhagavata.3.33.32)

तस्यास्तद्योगविधुतमार्त्यं मर्त्यमभूत्सरित् । स्रोतसां प्रवरा सौम्य सिद्धिदा सिद्धसेविता ॥ 33.32 ॥

tasyās tad yoga-vidhuta- mārtyaṁ martyam abhūt sarit srotasāṁ pravarā saumya siddhidā siddha-sevitā

O gentle one, the mortal elements, released from her body through that yoga practice, became a river — the foremost of all rivers, granting perfection, and resorted to by those who seek perfection.

Verse 33 (bhagavata.3.33.33)

कपिलोऽपि महायोगी भगवान्पितुराश्रमात् । मातरं समनुज्ञाप्य प्रागुदीचीं दिशं ययौ ॥ 33.33 ॥

kapilo ’pi mahā-yogī bhagavān pitur āśramāt mātaraṁ samanujñāpya prāg-udīcīṁ diśaṁ yayau

Meanwhile the great yogi Bhagavan Kapila, having taken leave of his mother, departed from his father's hermitage toward the northeast direction.

Verse 34 (bhagavata.3.33.34)

सिद्धचारणगन्धर्वैर्मुनिभिश्चाप्सरोगणैः । स्तूयमानः समुद्रेण दत्तार्हणनिकेतनः ॥ 33.34 ॥

siddha-cāraṇa-gandharvair munibhiś cāpsaro-gaṇaiḥ stūyamānaḥ samudreṇa dattārhaṇa-niketanaḥ

Praised on his way by Siddhas, Charanas and Gandharvas, by sages and by throngs of Apsaras, and offered oblation and a place to dwell by the ocean itself, he arrived there.

Verse 35 (bhagavata.3.33.35)

आस्ते योगं समास्थाय साङ्ख्याचार्यैरभिष्टुतः । त्रयाणामपि लोकानामुपशान्त्यै समाहितः ॥ 33.35 ॥

āste yogaṁ samāsthāya sāṅkhyācāryair abhiṣṭutaḥ trayāṇām api lokānām upaśāntyai samāhitaḥ

Praised by the teachers of Sankhya, he remains there even now, established in yoga, absorbed in trance for the peace and deliverance of all three worlds.

Verse 36 (bhagavata.3.33.36)

एतन्निगदितं तात यत्पृष्टोऽहं तवानघ । कपिलस्य च संवादो देवहूत्याश्च पावनः ॥ 33.36 ॥

etan nigaditaṁ tāta yat pṛṣṭo ’haṁ tavānagha kapilasya ca saṁvādo devahūtyāś ca pāvanaḥ

My dear son, O sinless Vidura, what you asked of me I have now told — this dialogue between Kapila and Devahuti is itself most purifying.

Verse 37 (bhagavata.3.33.37)

य इदमनुशृणोति योऽभिधत्ते कपिलमुनेर्मतमात्मयोगगुह्यम् । भगवति कृतधीः सुपर्णकेताव् उपलभते भगवत्पदारविन्दम् ॥ 33.37 ॥

ya idam anuśṛṇoti yo ’bhidhatte kapila-muner matam ātma-yoga-guhyam bhagavati kṛta-dhīḥ suparṇa-ketāv upalabhate bhagavat-padāravindam

Whoever hears this even once with faith, or expounds this confidential teaching of the sage Kapila on the yoga of the self, fixing his mind upon Bhagavan, attains the lotus feet of the Lord who bears the banner of Garuda.