Vishnu Purana — Amsha 2 — Chapter 16
ViP 2 16.1
ऋभुर् वर्षसहस्रे तु समतीते नरेश्वर निदाघज्ञानदानाय तद् एव नगरं ययौ ॥
ṛbhur varṣasahasre tu samatīte nareśvara nidāghajñānadānāya tad eva nagaraṃ yayau //
But when a thousand years had passed, O lord of men, Ṛbhu went to that same city to bestow knowledge on Nidāgha.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.2
नगरस्य बहिः सो ऽथ निदाघं ददृशे मुनिः महाबलपरीवारे पुरं विशति पार्थिवे ॥
nagarasya bahiḥ so 'tha nidāghaṃ dadṛśe muniḥ mahābalaparīvāre puraṃ viśati pārthive //
Then, outside the city, that sage saw Nidāgha, while the king was entering the town amid a great retinue of forces—
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.3
दूरे स्थितं महाभागं जनसंमर्दवर्जकम् क्षुत्क्षामकण्ठम् आयान्तम् अरण्यात् ससमित्कुशम् ॥
dūre sthitaṃ mahābhāgaṃ janasaṃmardavarjakam kṣutkṣāmakaṇṭham āyāntam araṇyāt sasamitkuśam //
the greatly fortunate one standing at a distance, avoiding the crush of people, his throat wasted with hunger, coming from the forest with firewood and kuśa grass.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.4
दृष्ट्वा निदाघं स ऋभुर् उपगम्याभिवाद्य च उवाच कस्माद् एकान्ते स्थीयते भवता द्विज ॥
dṛṣṭvā nidāghaṃ sa ṛbhur upagamyābhivādya ca uvāca kasmād ekānte sthīyate bhavatā dvija //
Seeing Nidāgha, Ṛbhu approached him, greeted him, and said: "Why do you stand apart here in solitude, O twice-born?"
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.5
भो विप्र जनसंमर्दो महान् एष नरेश्वरे प्रविविक्षौ पुरं रम्यं तेनात्र स्थीयते मया ॥
bho vipra janasaṃmardo mahān eṣa nareśvare pravivikṣau puraṃ ramyaṃ tenātra sthīyate mayā //
"Sir brahmin, this great crush of people is (gathered) for the king, who is about to enter the lovely city; that is why I stand here."
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.6
नराधिपो ऽत्र कतमः कतमश् चेतरो जनः कथ्यतां मे द्विजश्रेष्ठ त्वम् अभिज्ञो मतो मम ॥
narādhipo 'tra katamaḥ katamaś cetaro janaḥ kathyatāṃ me dvijaśreṣṭha tvam abhijño mato mama //
"Which one here is the ruler of men, and which the other people? Tell me, best of brahmins; I consider you one who knows."
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.7
यो ऽयं गजेन्द्रम् उन्मत्तम् अद्रिशृङ्गसमुच्छ्रितम् अधिरूढो नरेन्द्रो ऽयं परिलोकस् तथेतरः ॥
yo 'yaṃ gajendram unmattam adriśṛṅgasamucchritam adhirūḍho narendro 'yaṃ parilokas tathetaraḥ //
"This one who has mounted the lordly elephant in rut, towering like a mountain peak—he is the king; the rest is the surrounding crowd."
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.8
एतौ हि गजराजानौ युगपद् दर्शितौ मम भवता न विशेषेण पृथक्चिह्नोपलक्षणौ ॥
etau hi gajarājānau yugapad darśitau mama bhavatā na viśeṣeṇa pṛthakcihnopalakṣaṇau //
"Both of these lordly beings have been shown to me by you at once, without distinction, unmarked by separate signs.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.9
तत् कथ्यतां महाभाग विशेषो भवतानयोः ज्ञातुम् इच्छाम्य् अहं को ऽत्र गजः को वा नराधिपः ॥
tat kathyatāṃ mahābhāga viśeṣo bhavatānayoḥ jñātum icchāmy ahaṃ ko 'tra gajaḥ ko vā narādhipaḥ //
So tell me, greatly fortunate one, what the difference between these two is; I wish to know which here is the elephant and which the ruler of men."
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.10
गजो यो ऽयम् अधो ब्रह्मन्न् उपर्य् अस्यैव भूपतिः वाह्यवाहकसंबन्धं को न जानाति वै द्विज ॥
gajo yo 'yam adho brahmann upary asyaiva bhūpatiḥ vāhyavāhakasaṃbandhaṃ ko na jānāti vai dvija //
"This elephant is below, O brahmin, and above this very one is the king. Who indeed does not know the relation of the borne and the bearer, O twice-born?"
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.11
जानाम्य् अहं यथा ब्रह्मंस् तथा माम् अवबोधय अधःशब्दनिगद्यं किं किं चोर्ध्वम् अभिधीयते ॥
jānāmy ahaṃ yathā brahmaṃs tathā mām avabodhaya adhaḥśabdanigadyaṃ kiṃ kiṃ cordhvam abhidhīyate //
"I know it as you say, O brahmin—yet instruct me thus: what is to be designated by the word 'below,' and what is called 'above'?"
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.12
इत्य् उक्तः सहसारुह्य निदाघः प्राह तम् ऋभुम् श्रूयतां कथयाम्य् एष यन् मां त्वं परिपृच्छसि ॥
ity uktaḥ sahasāruhya nidāghaḥ prāha tam ṛbhum śrūyatāṃ kathayāmy eṣa yan māṃ tvaṃ paripṛcchasi //
Thus addressed, Nidāgha suddenly climbed up (on him) and said to that Ṛbhu: "Let it be heard; I shall explain this that you ask me.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.13
उपर्य् अहं यथा राजा त्वम् अधः कुञ्जरो यथा अवबोधाय ते ब्रह्मन् दृष्टान्तो दर्शितो मया ॥
upary ahaṃ yathā rājā tvam adhaḥ kuñjaro yathā avabodhāya te brahman dṛṣṭānto darśito mayā //
“As I am above, like the king, and you below, like the elephant — this illustration has been shown by me for your understanding, O brahman.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.14
त्वं राजेव द्विजश्रेष्ठ स्थितो ऽहं गजवद् यदि तद् एव त्वं ममाचक्ष्व कतमस् त्वम् अहं तथा ॥
tvaṃ rājeva dvijaśreṣṭha sthito 'haṃ gajavad yadi tad eva tvaṃ mamācakṣva katamas tvam ahaṃ tathā //
“If you are (above) like the king, O best of the twice-born, and I stand like the elephant, then tell me just this: which one are you, and which am I?”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.15
इत्य् उक्तः सत्वरस् तस्य प्रगृह्य चरणाव् उभौ निदाघः प्राह भगवान् आचार्यस् त्वम् ऋभुर् ध्रुवम् ॥
ity uktaḥ satvaras tasya pragṛhya caraṇāv ubhau nidāghaḥ prāha bhagavān ācāryas tvam ṛbhur dhruvam //
Addressed thus, Nidāgha quickly took hold of both his feet and said: “You are surely the venerable teacher Ṛbhu.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.16
नान्यस्याद्वैतसंस्कारसंस्कृतं मानसं तथा यथाचार्यस्य तेन त्वां मन्ये प्राप्तम् अहं गुरुम् ॥
nānyasyādvaitasaṃskārasaṃskṛtaṃ mānasaṃ tathā yathācāryasya tena tvāṃ manye prāptam ahaṃ gurum //
“No one else's mind is so refined by the discipline of non-duality as a teacher's; therefore I think that I have obtained in you my guru.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.17
तवोपदेशदानाय पूर्वशुश्रूषणादृतः गुरुस् ते ऽहम् ऋभुर् नाम्ना निदाघ समुपागतः ॥
tavopadeśadānāya pūrvaśuśrūṣaṇādṛtaḥ gurus te 'ham ṛbhur nāmnā nidāgha samupāgataḥ //
“To give you instruction, honouring your former attendance (upon me), I, your guru, Ṛbhu by name, have come, O Nidāgha.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.18
तद् एतद् उपदिष्टं ते संक्षेपेण महामते परमार्थसारभूतं यद् अद्वैतम् अशेषतः ॥
tad etad upadiṣṭaṃ te saṃkṣepeṇa mahāmate paramārthasārabhūtaṃ yad advaitam aśeṣataḥ //
“So this has been taught to you in brief, O great-minded one — that non-duality which is the very essence of the highest truth, in full.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.19
एवम् उक्त्वा ययौ विद्वान् निदाघं स ऋभुर् गुरुः निदाघो ऽप्य् उपदेशेन तेनाद्वैतपरो ऽभवत् ॥
evam uktvā yayau vidvān nidāghaṃ sa ṛbhur guruḥ nidāgho 'py upadeśena tenādvaitaparo 'bhavat //
Having spoken thus, the learned guru Ṛbhu went away from Nidāgha; and Nidāgha too, through that teaching, became devoted to non-duality.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.20
सर्वभूतान्य् अभेदेन ददृशे स तदात्मनः तथा ब्रह्म ततो मुक्तिम् अवाप परमां द्विजः ॥
sarvabhūtāny abhedena dadṛśe sa tadātmanaḥ tathā brahma tato muktim avāpa paramāṃ dvijaḥ //
He saw all beings as not different from himself, and likewise as Brahman; thereupon that twice-born attained the highest liberation.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.21
तथा त्वम् अपि धर्मज्ञ तुल्यात्मरिपुबान्धवः भव सर्वगतं जानन्न् आत्मानम् अवनीपते ॥
tathā tvam api dharmajña tulyātmaripubāndhavaḥ bhava sarvagataṃ jānann ātmānam avanīpate //
“So you too, O knower of dharma, be one to whom self, enemy and kinsman are alike, knowing the Self to be all-pervading, O lord of the earth.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.22
सितनीलादिभेदेन यथैकं दृश्यते नभः भ्रान्तदृष्टिभिर् आत्मापि तथैकः सन् पृथक् पृथक् ॥
sitanīlādibhedena yathaikaṃ dṛśyate nabhaḥ bhrāntadṛṣṭibhir ātmāpi tathaikaḥ san pṛthak pṛthak //
“As the one sky is seen as differentiated into white, blue and the rest, so the Self also, though one, (is seen) as separate and separate by deluded sight.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.23
एकः समस्तं यद् इहास्ति किंचित् तद् अच्युतो वास्ति परं ततो ऽन्यत् सो ऽहं स च त्वं स च सर्वम् एतद् आत्मस्वरूपं त्यज भेदमोहम् ॥
ekaḥ samastaṃ yad ihāsti kiṃcit tad acyuto vāsti paraṃ tato 'nyat so 'haṃ sa ca tvaṃ sa ca sarvam etad ātmasvarūpaṃ tyaja bhedamoham //
“One is whatever there is here in its entirety: that is Acyuta; nor is there anything else higher than that. He am I, and he are you, and he is all this — all this has the nature of the Self: abandon the delusion of difference.”
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.24
इतीरितस् तेन स राजवर्यस् तत्याज भेदं परमार्थदृष्टिः स चापि जातिस्मरणाप्तबोधस् तत्रैव जन्मन्य् अपवर्गम् आप ॥
itīritas tena sa rājavaryas tatyāja bhedaṃ paramārthadṛṣṭiḥ sa cāpi jātismaraṇāptabodhas tatraiva janmany apavargam āpa //
Thus addressed by him, that foremost of kings abandoned (the notion of) difference, gaining the vision of the highest truth; and he too, having obtained awakening through the recollection of his (former) births, attained release in that very birth.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
ViP 2 16.25
इति भरतनरेन्द्रसारवृत्तं कथयति यश् च शृणोति भक्तियुक्तः स विमलमतिर् एति नात्ममोहं भवति च संसरणेषु मुक्तियोग्यः ॥
iti bharatanarendrasāravṛttaṃ kathayati yaś ca śṛṇoti bhaktiyuktaḥ sa vimalamatir eti nātmamohaṃ bhavati ca saṃsaraṇeṣu muktiyogyaḥ //
Thus, whoever tells and whoever hears, endowed with devotion, this excellent story of Bharata the king of men, he becomes of stainless mind, does not fall into delusion about the Self, and becomes fit for liberation amid his transmigrations.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition