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Though Thou pervadest them all from of old, having brought them all about, yet Thy special manifestation in them is relatively greater or smaller, according to the nature of the things created by Thee even as fire, though one and the same, burns differently accord- ing to the character of the fuel. Those that are of pure intellect follow the one Real amidst the many unreal forms. The (perceiving) Purusha in all beings is said to be Thy part only. Knowing this to be the truth about Jivas, wise men worship Thy feet. "Brahma and other Jivas did not know Thy end. Even Thou dost not know Thy own end. For Thou art endless. Drawn by the wheel of time, the BrahmAandas, with their Avaranas, (outer circles) roll on to- gether in Thy middle, even as if they were dust particles in the air. The Srutis fructify in Thee (have Thee, for their end and goal.) (Though they cannot directly speak of Thee) their words are directed towards Thee, by discarding every thing else." (Though the Vedas treat of Indra and other Devas, they ultimately lead to Brahma, by saying "Brahma is not this, not this," in the Upanishads.) THE RESTORATION OF BRAHMAN BOYS TO LIFE. SKANDHA X. CHAP. 89. At Dvaraka a Brahman lost his son at birth. He took the dead child to the palace and placed it at the gate, blaming the king for his misfortune. For the sins of kings visit themselves upon their sub- jects. In this way nine sons died one after another and the Brahman did the same with all of them and, when the ninth son died, Arjuna was sitting with Krishna and he heard the reproaches of the Brah- mana. Arjuna promised the Brahmana that he would protect his son this time, or would otherwise enter the fire for breach of his promise. The son was born again. And Arjuna was there with his famous bow. But lo! the child wept and it rose up high and disappeared, The Brah- mana taunted Arjuna for making promises he had not the power to keep. Stung by these words, the Pandava went to Yama Loka. He went to Indra Loka. He went to the regions of Agni, Nirriti, Chandra, Vayu and Varuna. He went to Rasatala. He went to Svarga. But the Brahmana boy was no where to be found. He then made preparations for entering the fire. Sri Krishna made him desist. He said:—"I shall Purnendu Narayana Sinha, M. A., B. L. 379 show you the Brahmana’s sons. Do not disregard yourself. Those that blame us now shall sing our glory hereafter." Krishna and Arjuna went towards the west. They crossed the seven oceans and the seven Dvipas. They crossed the Loka-aloka and entered the regions of chaotic darkness. The horses could not pro- ceed further. So by Krishna’s order the glowing Chakra, Sudarshana, pierced through the darkness and the horses followed the track. Infi- nite, endless, divine light then spread out. Arjuna re-opened his eyes. They then entered the regions of primal water. They found one house glittering with gems and stones. The thousand-headed Ananta was sitting in that house. Seated upon Ananta was the Supreme Purusha, the Lord of the Lords. Krishna and Arjuna saluted Him. The Purusha then smiled and said:—"I brought the Brahmana boys that I might see you both. For the protection of Dharma on the Earth, you have in- carnated as my parts (Kala.) Kill the Asuras that oppress the Earth and come back soon to me. Filled are your own desires, O you Rishis, Nara and Narayana. But for the preservation of the Universe, do that which others may follow." Krishna and Arjuna said "Om". They brought back the Brahmana boys and restored them to their father. THE LINE OF KRISHNA. SKANDHA X. CHAP. 90. Vajra was the son of Aniruddha. Prati-bahu was the son of Vajra. Su-bahu was the son of Prati-bahu. Upasena was the son of Su-bahu. Bhadra-sena was the son of Upasena. END OF THE TENTH BRANCH. THOUGHTS ON THE MATHURA LILA. Kansa was killed and all good men that had fled from Mathura re- turned to it. Krishna fast developed Himself as Ishvara. He restored his Guru’s son to life. 380 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana Uddhava, the embodiment of Bhakti Yoga mixed with wisdom, was the messenger of Krishna to the Gopis. It was through him that Sri Krishna sent words of wisdom, which He himself could not have spoken to them at Vrindavana. For the Gopis would have spurned such words from Him, so great was their personal love for Him. Kr- ishna now placed another ideal before them for meditation. They were now to seek Him, not as the lovely Krishna, playing upon the flute, but as the all-pervading Atma to be known by discriminating wisdom. He asked the Gopis to meditate on this ideal, and He now returned to them as the all-pervading immutable principle in the Uni- verse. In the stories of Jarasandha, Yavana and Muchukunda we find the historical Krishna. Jarasandha was an incongruous combination of materiality and spirituality, (the two parts which Jiva put together). He was the per- former of Vedic Yajnas, the supporter of Brahmanas, the representa- tive of the old state of things. Naturally therefore he was the most powerful king of his time and the most powerful enemy of Krishna. Vaishnavism had to fight hard with orthodox Brahmanism. Vaish- nava kings were put to death in large numbers. Krishna could not kill him on account of his connection with Brahmanas and with Vedic Yajnas. He even feigned a retreat and fled away to Dvaraka. Dvaraka was a spiritual centre on earth, created by Krishna, for the perfor- mance of His mission as Avatara. The town was washed away as soon as Krishna disappeared. It will be interesting to know the future mission of Muchukunda. But the Bhagavata is silent about it. THOUGHTS ON THE DVARAKA At Dvaraka, we find Sri Krishna as the Lord of the Universe, a Kalpic Avatara, and as such something more than the historical Krishna. Sri Krishna as an Avatara. It is time that we should know something definitely of Sri Krishna as an Avatara. To restore the Brahmana boys, Sri Krishna went with Arjuna to the abode of Purusha. Purusha smiled and said:—"I brought the Brah- Purnendu Narayana Sinha, M. A., B. L. 381 mana boys, that I might see you both. For the protection of Dharma on the Earth, you have incarnated as my parts (Kala). Kill the Asuras that oppress the Earth and come back soon to Me. Satiated are your own desires, O you Rishis, Nara and Narayana, but for the preserva- tion of the universe do that which others may follow." The Purusha is the Virat Purusha of our universe, the Second Pu- rusha or the Second Logos. When the first Purusha woke up, the process of transformation went on and the material creation was completed. The materials could not however unite to form individual bodies. Purusha infused the material creation and became known as the Second Purusha or Virat Purusha, As regards this Virat Purusha, the Bhagavata Purana says as follows:— "He is the resting place and eternal seed of all Avataras. Brahma is His part, Marichi and other Rishis are parts of His part. Devas, animals and men are brought into manifestation by parts of His part." Bhagavata I. 3-5. "He is the primal, unborn Purusha, who in every Kalpa creates, preserves and destroys self (objective) as self (nominative), in self (locative), by self (instrumental)." II. 6 XXXVIL. "He is the primal Purusha Avatara of the Supreme." IIL. 6 XL. He is also called the Thousand-Limbed and the Egg-born. IL. 5, XXXV., II. 6, VI. This Virat Purusha upholds the manifested universe. All materi- als are in Him and all individuals take their rise from Him and end in Him. He is the one ocean of endless bubbles which have their be- ginning and end in Him. The Avataras also all rest on the bosom of Virat Purusha. We have looked at Virat Purusha from the standpoint of the First Purusha. Now let us proceed upwards from below. The Brihat Aranayaka Upanishad thus speaks of Virat Purusha, at the beginning of the Fourth Brahmana of the first chapter:— "This was before soul, bearing the shape of a man. Looking round he beheld nothing but himself. He said first:—’This am I’ Hence the name of I was produced. And, because he as the first of all of them consumed by fire all the sins, therefore he is called Purusha. He verily consumes him who, before this, strives to obtain the state of Prajapati, 382 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana he, namely who, thus knows." The following is the commentary of Sankaracharya. "This was before the soul." The soul is here defined as Prajapati, the first born from the Egg, the embodied soul, as resulting from his knowledge and works in accordance with the Vedas. He was what? "This," produced by the division of the body, "was the soul" not sep- arated from the body of Prajapati, "before" the production of other bodies. He was "also bearing the shape of man", which means that he was endowed with head, hands and other members, he was the Vi- raj, the first born. "Looking round reflecting who am I, and of what nature, he beheld nothing but himself", the fulness of life, the organ- ism of causes and effects. He beheld only himself as the Universal soul. Then, endowed with the recollection of his Vedic knowledge in a former birth, "he said first: This am I" viz., Prajapati, the universal soul. "Hence," because from the recollection of his knowledge in a former world he called himself I, therefore his name was I "And be- cause he"—Prajapati in a former birth, which is the cause, as the first of those who were desirous of obtaining the state of Prajapati by the exercise of reflection on works and knowledge viz.