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The Sixth Book. Chapter 28

The Sixth Book

Chapter Xxviii

On Nradas Getting The Feminine Form

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1-11.
Nrada said :-- O Thou whose only wealth consists in asceticism! I am now describing to you all those good stories; hear attentively. O Muni! This My and Her Power are incomprehensible even by those who are the foremost amongst the Yogins. This whole Universe, moving and non-moving, from Brahm to the blade of grass, is enchanted by that Unborn and Incomprehensible My; therefore no one can escape from the hands of that My. One day I wanted to see Hari, of wonderful deeds, and went out with lute in my hand from Satyaloka, to the lovely Sveta Dvpa (the residence of Visnu) singing the beautiful Sma hymns in tune with the seven Svaras. I saw there Gaddhara, the Deva of the Devas, with four arms holding disc in one of his hands. He resembled a newly-formed rain-cloud of Syma colour. He was illumined with the lustre of the Kaustubha jewel in his breast. He was wearing an yellow apparel. His head was beautified with a lustrous crown. Thus the Bhagavn Nryana was playing in amorous movements with the daughter of the ocean, fully capable to give one delight and enjoyment. Seeing me, the lovely Dev Kamal, dear to Vsudeva, full of youth and beauty, decorated with ornaments, endowed with all auspicious signs, superior to all the women, went away at once (to another room) from the presence of Janrdana. The breast of Laksm Dev was becoming visible even through the cloth thrown over it; therefore she went hurriedly to the inner compartment. Seeing this I asked Janrdana, the Deva of the Devas, the Lord of the worlds, and holding a garland of forest grown flowers thus :-- "O Bhagavn! O Slayer of Mura! O Padmanbha! Why has Kamal Dev, the Mother of all the Lokas, on seeing me coming here, gone out of Your presence. O Lord of the worlds! I am not a rogue nor a cheat; I have conquered my passions and am become an ascetic; I have conquered even My. Therefore O Deva! What is the cause of the departure of the Kamal Dev from here? Kindly explain this to me."

12-20.
Nrada said :-- O Dvaipyana! Hearing my words, expressive of my pride, Janrdana smiled and spoke to me in words sweet like the sound of a lute :-- "O Nrada! The rule in such cases is this :-- The wife of any man whatsoever ought not to stay before any other male outsider than her husband. O Nrada! It is very hard to conquer My; even those, who by Prnyma have conquered their Prna Vyu, their organs of senses and their food, even those Smkhya Yogins and the Devas are not able to conquer My. The words that you have just now uttered that you

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have conquered My are not fit to come out of your mouth; for by your knowledge of music, it seems that you are enchanted with the sounds of the music. Brahm, I, Siva, and the other Munis, none of us has been able as yet to conquer that Unborn My; how, then, can it be possible that you or any other man can conquer that My! Any embodied being, be he a Deva, a human being, or a bird, no one is able to conquer that My Unborn. Whoever is endowed with the three Gunas, be he a knower of the Vedas, or a Yogin, or conqueror of his passions, or all knowing, is not able to conquer My. The Great Time (Kla) though formless, is one form of My and fashions this universe. All the Jvas are subservient to this Kla, be he a good literary person, or of a mediocre nature, or an illiterate brute. This Kla sometimes makes even a religious man that knows Dharma confounded and deluded; so you know the nature of My is very incomprehensible and Her ways mysterious." (Note: This Kla is of the fourth dimension, time and space.)

21-23. O
Dvaipyana! Thus saying, Visnu stopped. I was greatly astonished and asked that Eternal Vsudeva, the Deva of the Devas, the Lord of the World, "O Lord of Ram! What is the form of My? How is She? What is the measure of Her strength? Where She resides? Whose substratum is She? Kindly tell these to me. O Preserver of the Universe! I am greatly desirous to see My; Shew Her to me quickly. O Lord of Ram! I am very eager to know My. Be graciously pleased to describe tome the glory of My."

24-36.
Visnu said :-- My resides everywhere throughout this whole Universe; Her nature consists of the three Gunas; She is the substratum of all; She is omniscient, and acknowledged by all; invisible, and of diverse forms. O Nrada! If you want to see My, then come quickly and mount with me on Garuda; we both will go elsewhere and I will shew you that My, invincible by those who have not conquered themselves. O Son of Brahm! Dont be depressed when you see My. Thus saying, Janrdana Hari remembered Garuda and instantly he came to Hari. Janrdana mounted on him and gladly made me also get up on his back and took me with Him. In a moment Garuda, went, at his command, with the speed of wind to the forest where the Bhagavn desired to go. Mounting on Garuda we passed and saw on our way beautiful forests, nice lakes, rivers, towns, villages, huts of cultivators, towns close to the mountains, huts for cow-keepers in cowsheds, the beautiful hermitages of the Munis, lovely Jhils, tanks and lakes beautified with big lotuses, flocks of ewes, packs of wild boars, etc., till, at last, we came to a place close to Kanauj. I saw there a beautiful divine tank; nice lotuses blossomed there, spreading their sweet fragrance all around; the bees

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were making lovely humming noise and ravishing away the minds of men; various flowers, lilies, etc., were beautifying the place; Geese, Krandavas, and Chakravkas and other acquatic fowls were playing with their cackling noise, the water was very sweet like milk; the tank was defying, as it were the ocean. Seeing such a wonderful tank, the Bhagavn told me :-- "O Nrada! See, how beautiful is this deep tank with its clear waters, and adorned all over with lotuses! The sweet voiced flamingoes are roaming on the lake making lovely sounds!

37-54.
We will bathe in this tank and then go to the city Kanauj. Thus saying, He made me descend quickly from Garuda and He himself also got down. Then the Bhagavn smilingly caught hold of my fore-finger and repeatedly praising the glory of the tank took me to its bank. We rested a while on the cool umbrageous beautiful bank when Sr Bhagavn said :-- "O Muni! Better bathe you first in this tank; next I will bathe in this very holy pool of water. O Nrada! Look! Look! How clear crystal-like is the water of this pool like the heart of a saint; see how it smells also fragrantly in contact with the lotuses on it." When the Bhagavn spoke thus to me; I kept my lute and deer skin aside and gladly went to the edge of the tank. Washing then my hands and feet I tied my hair lock and, taking Kusa grass, I performed my chaman and, purifying myself, began to bathe myself in that tank. While I was bathing, Hari was looking at me; by the time I took a dip, I saw that I quitted my male form and got a beautiful female form. Hari took away, then, my deer skin and lute and mounting on Garuda went away in a moment to His own residence. Getting the female form and decorated with excellent ornaments, my memory of my previous male form vanished at once; I forgot all about my famous lute and forgot also Jaganntha, the Deva of the Devas. I then came out of the tank in that enchanting woman form, saw the pool of water filled with clear limpid water and adorned with lotuses. Seeing that, I began to think :-- "What is this?" and I became very much astonished. While I was thus meditating in my woman form, a king, named Tladhvaja, came there, all on a sudden, on a chariot, accompanied by numerous elephants and horses. The King looked like a second Cupid; he was decorated with various ornaments on his various limbs; he was just entering into his youth and he looked very enchanting. The King saw me at once and looking at me decked with divine ornaments and my moon-like face, was greatly astonished and asked me :-- "O Kalyni! Who are you? Are you the daughter of a man or of a Nga (serpent) or of a Gandharva or of a Deva? I see you are now in your youth; why are you alone here? O Lovely-eyed!

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Has any fortunate person married you? Or are you still unmarried? Speak all these truly to me. O Fair-haired One! What are you looking at in this tank? O One enchanting, as it were, like the Cupid! What is your desire? Say, O Slanting-eyed! My mind is ravished to hear your cuckoo-like voice. O One of thin waist! Choose me as your husband and enjoy various excellent things as you like."

Here ends the Twenty-eighth Chapter of the Sixth Book on Nradas getting the feminine form in the Mahpurnam Sr Mad Dev Bhgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vysa.
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