a u m (1)

n.a.v. SB 2.1.17

in ochtend-satsang

Sri Shuka [Shukadeva, son of Vyasa] said:

(1) This inquiry of yours for the good of all people is the best thing you can do, because this subject of study, oh King, carries the approval of the transcendentalists, and constitutes the supreme of all that is worth the attention.

(2) Oh Emperor, there are countless subject matters to hear about in human society, that are of interest to those who - attached to their household life - are materially engrossed, and are blind to the reality of the soul. (3) They spend their lives, oh King, with sleeping and making love during the night, and with making money and taking care of their family during the day. (4) Overly attached to the fallible allies of the body, the children, the wife and everything thereto, they - despite their experience - do not see the finality of these matters.

(5) For that reason, oh descendant of Bharata, Hé must be discussed, glorified and remembered, who as the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality, the controller and vanquishing Lord, frees those who are of desire from their anxieties.

(6) All this analyzing in the knowledge of yoga of one's particular nature and how a person after being born should attain the full awareness of the Supreme, in the end only concerns the remembrance of Narayana. (7) In general, it are the sages, who - free from the material modes - having mastered the prescriptions and restrictions, oh King, take pleasure in especially describing the glories of the Lord.

(8) This story called the Bhagavatam contains the essence of the Vedas, and was by me at the end of this Dvapara-yuga [the age of honoring monarchs] studied, under the guidance of my father Dvaipayana Vyasa. (9) Despite being fully accomplished in transcendence, the enlightened verses about the Lord's pastimes drew my attention, oh saintly King, and thus I studied them.

(10) I will recite it to you, because you, oh goodness, are a most sincere devotee. They who respectfully dedicate their full attention to it, very soon will realize an unflinching [onwankelbaar] faith in Mukunda [Krishna as the Lord granting liberation].

-

(11) For both those who crave free from piously exercising respect, and for yoga practitioners who are free from fear and doubts, oh King, the according to tradition repeating of the name of the Lord constitutes the approved method. (12) What is the use of spending one's years as an ignoramus in this world without having [this] experience? The hour one deliberately spends in service of the higher cause is the better one.

(13) The saintly king known as Khathvanga cast aside everything, when he knew that he had but a moment to live longer in this world, and thus experienced the full security of the Lord. (14) Oh member of the Kuru family, therefore also your life's duration that is limited to seven days, should inspire you to perform everything that traditionally belongs to the rituals for a next life.

(15) Facing the end of one's life, one should be free from the fear of death, by cutting - with the help of the weapon of non-attachment - with one's desires and everything material associated with them.

(16) In pious self control leaving one's home behind, one should head for a sacred place, and - properly cleansed - in solitude sit down, in a position in accordance with the regulations.

(17) The mind should then be turned to the three sacred transcendental letters [A-U-M]. Regulating one's breath one thus should get the mind under control, so that the primary cause of the absolute Spirit is not forgotten.

(18) With the intelligence as the driver, the [horses of the] senses with the help of the mind should be led away from their objects. The mind that is motivated for results should for that purpose consciously be fixed on the auspicious cause.

(19) Not allowing to be distracted by the outside world, one thereafter consecutively focusses one's mind on the different parts of His body. One should thereto not think of anything else but the refuge of the Supreme Lord Vishnu who thus pacifies the mind.

(20) Because of the passion and inertia of nature, the mind is always agitated and bewildered, but one will get that under control in the concentration of the ones pacified, in the focus that puts an end to all impurity. (21) They who, fixed in the habit of such a systematic remembrance, seek unification and hold on to this devotion will soon be of success under the shelter of the yoga that approves this.