Vāmanāya namah

Prahlāda continued, “The veil called spiritual ignorance (avidya), which is without beginning, creates this wheel known as samsāra, which consists of 16 spokes known as 5 organs of perception, 5 organs of action, 5 life-forces and mind. This body which predominantly consists of mind is subtle in existence.

This subtle body, which is in the form of the impressions of past actions, is created due to the will of the Supreme Lord, when the illusionary energy is agitated by time”.
The illusionary energy consists of the three attributes of Nature. A disturbance within these attributes leads to the emergence of the subtle body.

“It is almost impossible to conquer this mind which is filled with desires and which believes in performing fruitive activities specified in the Vedas for fulfilment of these desires. Such person, who considers himself to be different from You, can never cross this subtle body which exists in the form the wheel of samsāra.

O Lord, although You, who are the energy of awareness (Consciousness), eternally exist within the intellect, joys-sorrows, attachments and other qualities of intellect (buddhi) fail to touch You.

You, the embodiment of the time, have retained the cause and effects of this entire universe within Your control. I am being crushed by the wheel of samsāra that consists of 16 spokes and which emerges due to spiritual ignorance that has no beginning. Please accept me, who has totally surrendered unto You. Please take me near You.

O Lord, I am aware of the longevity, opulence and powers of Guardian-deities who reside in Heaven. When my father laughed violently due to anger, these Guardian-deities were drained of their power and opulence. O Lord, You playfully killed my father who was powerful enough to grab the powers and opulence o Guardian-deities and control them all. O Supreme Lord, I seek to associate only with You.

I, who possess the discriminatory knowledge of permanent and impermanent objects in this creation, completely reject these worldly comforts, longevity, powers, opulence, spiritual accomplishments and sensory pleasures, all of which are impermanent. This is because, You who are the embodiment of time, ultimately destroy everything.

O Lord, please place me amidst Your dearest devotees because I want to reach that supreme plane wherein joys and sorrows do not exist. These mirages called sensory pleasures sound appealing to the ears. This gross body which is so dear to a person is the birth place for all diseases. Although the human being is aware of their trivialness he still desires them. He undergoes immense pain to acquire trivial sensory comforts which are comparable to tiny droplets of honey and using them he temporarily abates the fire called desires. In this process, he fails to understand the true essence of life!”

Temporarily he puts out the fire called lust and other desires. His efforts can never permanently subside these desires. He simply fulfils these desires but, in no way does he inch towards dispassion. Why does he not think- ‘I am impermanent and this wasteful desire is also impermanent. Why do I desire anything?’ At every step he demands liberation but then why does he not realize his mistake?

“O Lord, I who am filled with traits of passion (rajas), have been born amidst these demons who predominantly have traits of ignorance (tamas). What position can I, an insignificant living entity, have in front of Your divine unending supreme compassion? Notwithstanding this, O Lord, You have placed Your lotus hand upon my head. You have blessed me with that supreme fortune, which has not been bestowed upon Lord Brahma, Rudra and even upon Goddess Lakshmi.

Only the ignorant human beings perceive differences and consider one person to be superior while another to be inferior. They differentiate between rich and poor, noble and ordinary persons. You are the Self for this creation. O Lord, You, who are the well-wisher for everyone in this creation, do not entertain any feelings of differentiation. You protect everyone and shower knowledge upon everyone in a way that is appropriate to him/her. However, the subtle impressions of their past actions (karma vasana) prevent them from grasping such knowledge”.

Although You go and teach them in a manner suitable to them, in a language they understand, they still fail to grasp the knowledge. We are the unfortunate beings who fail to grasp the knowledge You shower. We are at fault.

Achutaya namah