Chapter Twenty-four Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva
1. The great sage Maitreya continued: Vijitasva, the eldest son of Maharaja Prthu, who had a reputation like his father’s, became emperor and gave his younger brothers different directions of the world to govern, for he was very affectionate toward his brothers.
2. Maharaja Vijitasva offered the eastern part of the world to his brother Haryaksa, the southern part to Dhumrakesa, the western part to Vrka and the northern part to Dravina.
3. Formerly, Maharaja Vijitasva pleased the King of heaven, Indra, and from him received the title Antardhana. His wife’s name was Sikhandini, and by her he begot three good sons.
4. The three sons of Maharaja Antardhana were named Pavaka, Pavamana and Suci. Formerly these three personalities were the demigods of fire, but due to the curse of the great sage Vasistha, they became the sons of Maharaja Antardhana. As such, they were as powerful as the fire-gods, and they attained the destination of mystic yoga power, being again situated as the demigods of fire.
5. Maharaja Antardhana had another wife, named Nabhasvati, and by her he was happy to beget another son, named Havirdhana. Since Maharaja Antardhana was very liberal, he did not kill Indra while the demigod was stealing his father’s horse at the sacrifice.
6. Whenever Antardhana, the supreme royal power, had to exact taxes, punish his citizens or fine them severely, he was not willing to do so. Consequently he retired from the execution of such duties and engaged himself in the performance of different sacrifices.
7. Although Maharaja Antardhana was engaged in performing sacrifices, because he was a self-realized soul he very intelligently rendered devotional service to the Lord, who eradicates all the fears of His devotees. By thus worshiping the Supreme Lord, Maharaja Antardhana, rapt in ecstasy, attained His planet very easily.
8. Havirdhana, the son of Maharaja Antardhana, had a wife named Havirdhani, who gave birth to six sons, named Barhisat, Gaya, Sukla, Krishna, Satya and Jitavrata.
9. The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, Havirdhana’s very powerful son named Barhisat was very expert in performing various kinds of fruitive sacrifices, and he was also expert in the practice of mystic yoga. By his great qualifications, he became known as Prajapati.
10. Maharaja Barhisat executed many sacrifices all over the world. He scattered kusa grasses and kept the tops of the grasses pointed eastward.
11. Maharaja Barhisat—henceforward known as Pracinabarhi—was ordered by the supreme demigod Lord Brahma to marry the daughter of the ocean named Satadruti. Her bodily features were completely beautiful, and she was very young. She was decorated with the proper garments, and when she came into the marriage arena and began circumambulating it, the fire-god Agni became so attracted to her that he desired her company, exactly as he had formerly desired to enjoy Suki.
12. While Satadruti was thus being married, the demons, the denizens of Gandharvaloka, the great sages, and the denizens of Siddhaloka, the earthly planets and Nagaloka, although highly exalted, were all captivated by the tinkling of her ankle bells.
13. King Pracinabarhi begot ten children in the womb of Satadruti. All of them were equally endowed with religiosity, and all of them were known as the Pracetas.
14. When all these Pracetas were ordered by their father to marry and beget children, they all entered the ocean and practiced austerities and penances for ten thousand years. Thus they worshiped the master of all austerity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
15. When all the sons of Pracinabarhi left home to execute austerities, they met Lord Siva, who, out of great mercy, instructed them about the Absolute Truth. All the sons of Pracinabarhi meditated upon the instructions, chanting and worshiping them with great care and attention.
16. Vidura asked Maitreya: My dear brahmana, why did the Pracetas meet Lord Siva on the way? Please tell me how the meeting happened, how Lord Siva became very pleased with them and how he instructed them. Certainly such talks are important, and I wish that you please be merciful upon me and describe them.
17. The great sage Vidura continued: O best of the brahmanas, it is very difficult for living entities encaged within this material body to have personal contact with Lord Siva. Even great sages who have no material attachments do not contact him, despite their always being absorbed in meditation to attain his personal contact.
18. Lord Siva, the most powerful demigod, second only to Lord Visnu, is self-sufficient. Although he has nothing to aspire for in the material world, for the benefit of those in the material world he is always busily engaged everywhere and is accompanied by his dangerous energies like goddess Kali and goddess Durga.
19. The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, because of their pious nature, all the sons of Pracinabarhi very seriously accepted the words of their father with heart and soul, and with these words on their heads, they went toward the west to execute their father’s order.
20. While traveling, the Pracetas happened to see a great reservoir of water which seemed almost as big as the ocean. The water of this lake was so calm and quiet that it seemed like the mind of a great soul, and its inhabitants, the aquatics, appeared very peaceful and happy to be under the protection of such a watery reservoir.
21. In that great lake there were different types of lotus flowers. Some of them were bluish, and some of them were red. Some of them grew at night, some in the day and some, like the indivara lotus flower, in the evening. Combined together, the lotus flowers filled the lake so full that the lake appeared to be a great mine of such flowers. Consequently, on the shores there were swans and cranes, cakravaka, karandava and other beautiful water birds standing about.
22. There were various trees and creepers on all sides of the lake, and there were mad bumblebees humming all about them. The trees appeared to be very jolly due to the sweet humming of the bumblebees, and the saffron, which was contained in the lotus flowers, was being thrown into the air. These all created such an atmosphere that it appeared as though a festival were taking place there.
23. The sons of the King became very much amazed when they heard vibrations from various drums and kettledrums along with other orderly musical sounds pleasing to the ear.
24-25. The Pracetas were fortunate to see Lord Siva, the chief of the demigods, emerging from the water with his associates. His bodily luster was just like molten gold, his throat was bluish, and he had three eyes, which looked very mercifully upon his devotees. He was accompanied by many musicians, who were glorifying him. As soon as the Pracetas saw Lord Siva, they immediately offered their obeisances in great amazement and fell down at the lotus feet of the lord.
26. Lord Siva became very pleased with the Pracetas because generally Lord Siva is the protector of pious persons and persons of gentle behavior. Being very much pleased with the princes, he began to speak as follows.
27. Lord Siva said: You are all the sons of King Pracinabarhi, and I wish all good fortune to you. I also know what you are going to do, and therefore I am visible to you just to show my mercy upon you.
28. Lord Siva continued: Any person who is surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the controller of everything—material nature as well as the living entity—is actually very dear to me.
29. A person who executes his occupational duty properly for one hundred births becomes qualified to occupy the post of Brahma, and if he becomes more qualified, he can approach Lord Siva. A person who is directly surrendered to Lord Krishna, or Visnu, in unalloyed devotional service is immediately promoted to the spiritual planets. Lord Siva and other demigods attain these planets after the destruction of this material world.
30. You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them. Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am.
31. Now I shall chant one mantra which is not only transcendental, pure and auspicious, but is the best prayer for anyone who is aspiring to attain the ultimate goal of life. When I chant this mantra, please hear it carefully and attentively.
32. The great sage Maitreya continued: Out of his causeless mercy, the exalted personality Lord Siva, a great devotee of Lord Narayana, continued to speak to the King’s sons, who were standing with folded hands.
33. Lord Siva addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the following prayer: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all glories unto You. You are the most exalted of all self-realized souls. Since You are always auspicious for the self-realized, I wish that You be auspicious for me. You are worshipable by virtue of the all-perfect instructions You give. You are the Supersoul; therefore I offer my obeisances unto You as the supreme living being.
34. My Lord, You are the origin of the creation by virtue of the lotus flower which sprouts from Your navel. You are the supreme controller of the senses and the sense objects, and You are also the all-pervading Vasudeva. You are most peaceful, and because of Your self-illuminated existence, You are not disturbed by the six kinds of transformations.
35. My dear Lord, You are the origin of the subtle material ingredients, the master of all integration as well as the master of all disintegration, the predominating Deity named Sankarsana, and the master of all intelligence, known as the predominating Deity Pradyumna. Therefore, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
36. My Lord, as the supreme directing Deity known as Aniruddha, You are the master of the senses and the mind. I therefore offer my obeisances unto You again and again. You are known as Ananta as well as Sankarsana because of Your ability to destroy the whole creation by the blazing fire from Your mouth.
37. My Lord, O Aniruddha, You are the authority by which the doors of the higher planetary systems and liberation are opened. You are always within the pure heart of the living entity. Therefore I offer my obeisances unto You. You are the possessor of semen which is like gold, and thus, in the form of fire, You help the Vedic sacrifices, beginning with catur-hotra. Therefore I offer my obeisances unto You.
38. My Lord, You are the provider of the Pitrlokas as well as all the demigods. You are the predominating deity of the moon and the master of all three Vedas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the original source of satisfaction for all living entities.
39. My dear Lord, You are the gigantic universal form which contains all the individual bodies of the living entities. You are the maintainer of the three worlds, and as such You maintain the mind, senses, body, and air of life within them. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
40. My dear Lord, by expanding Your transcendental vibrations, You reveal the actual meaning of everything. You are the all-pervading sky within and without, and You are the ultimate goal of pious activities executed both within this material world and beyond it. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto You.
