The teachings of Kapila 1

 On Vidura's request, Maitreya continued to narrate the Bhagavata, speaking

about the descendants of Manu and especially of Devahuti and Ruci, who

married respectively Kardama and Daksha.

On Brahma's order, Kardama engaged in a long meditation on the bank of

the Bindu Sarovara, a wonderful lake surrounded by the Sarasvati river: it

was a very beautiful place, the abode of noble Rishis, in the middle of

scented forests full of flowers and resounding with the songs of auspicious

bird as well as deer, elephants, monkeys, lions and mongooses. When finally

Vishnu appeared to grant him a boon, Kardama offered him beautiful

prayers and asked him for a suitable bride. The Lord blessed him, and told

him that Svayambhuva Manu and his wife Satarupa were coming to that

place, traveling with their daughter Devahuti, in search of a good husband

for her. In the future, Devahuti would have nine daughters and Vishnu

himself would appear as her son Kapila.As Vishnu had predicted, as soon as Kardama had completed his

austerities, Svayambhuva Manu arrived at the ashrama, accompanied by his

wife and daughter, and was greeted with much honor. Svayambhuva told

the Rishi that his daughter Devahuti had heard much about him and had

decided to become his wife. Kardama was happy to accept the proposal, on

the condition that - after giving children to Devahuti - he would be free to

retire from family life to engage completely in spiritual meditation.

Devahuti accepted and the marriage was solemnized. Her parents bade her

farewell, leaving many gifts for her, and then returned to their capital,

Barhismati.

Devahuti lived in the ashrama of Kardama Muni, sincerely engaged in

taking care of her great husband, observing all the religious rituals and

working hard, even neglecting her own well-being and health. After some

time, Kardama noticed that the princess had neglected the proper care of

her own body, and so he became worried and saddened.

Comforted by her husband, Devahuti reminded him about his promise to

give her children, and also asked for a suitable house where she could raise

them. Immediately Kardama Muni created, out of his own mystic powers,

an airborne palace of wonderful beauty, and filled with all sorts of wealth.

The castle was seven stories high, had floors made with emeralds with

motifs of coral daisies, and was equipped by very valuable furniture,

decorated with all types of gems and garlands of scented flowers. There

were gardens and courtyards with swans and doves - both real and artificial

- and many works of art. Kardama's power also created one thousand

maidservants who bathed Devahuti in the Bindu Sarovara, massaging her

with costly oils and dressing her with wonderful clothes and royal

ornaments. Refreshed with delicious foods and tonic drinks, Devahuti

traveled with her husband in her flying mansion for many years, visiting the

valleys of mount Meru and those around the Manasa Sarovara lake, as well

as the gardens called Vaisrambhaka, Surasana, Nandana, Puspabhadraka

and Caitrarathya. They also traveled to various other planets, freely and

without any difficulty.

Devahuti gave birth to nine daughters, but as these would leave their home

to marry, she asked her husband for a son who could stay and take care of

her. After worshiping the Supreme Lord, Devahuti gave birth to Kapila, 

theavatara of Vishnu who expounded the teachings known as the Sankhya

philosophy.

The story of Varaha 2

 "The story of Hiranyaksha begins with his birth from Diti, the daughter of

Prajapati Daksha," Maitreya replied. "Diti strongly desired to have a child,

and she prayed her husband Kasyapa, son of Marici, to unite with her even

if the moment was inauspicious. Sunset is a moment of the day when the

forces of darkness stir and become more powerful - therefore it is better to

engage in religious ceremonies that will protect our awareness, keeping it

from sliding into the lower influences of matter. Kasyapa was sitting in

meditation after completing the fire ceremony and was offering homage to

Lord Shiva, who at that time travels around, accompanied by his retinue."

Diti, however, was agitated by sexual desire and had no intention to wait

any longer. Kasyapa consented to perform his conjugal duty, but warned

her that there would be negative consequences: the two children conceived

at that inauspicious time would be evil Asuras, tormentors of the universe,

and for this reason they would be killed by the Supreme Lord, Vishnu.

Later Diti repented for her lack of discipline, and Kasyapa said that the son

of one of those sons would be a great devotee of the Lord, blessed and

loved by all. Diti also tried to delay the birth of the two Asuras, but already

during the pregnancy the universe was gradually covered by a great

darkness, so that the Devas went to Brahma to ask him what was

happening.

Brahma explained that the problem had started when the four Kumaras had

gone to Vaikuntha to meet Lord Vishnu. After crossing the first six gates

and meeting many of the residents of Vaikuntha, who traveled in airplanes

together with their consorts, the Kumaras came to the seventh gate and its

two doormen Jaya and Vijaya. The two guards saw the Kumaras enter

without hesitation and stopped them, treating them as ordinary children.

Annoyed, the Rishis scolded the two guards for their narrow mindedness.

Such a mentality was characteristic of the material world, and that was the

place where they would soon end up.

At that very moment, Vishu arrived personally to solve the controversy.

After graciously accepting the prayers of the Kumaras, he declared he

approved the punishment that had been given to his servants. Directly

taking responsibility for the offense, he asked the Kumaras to allow the

doormen to return to his presence in Vaikuntha after expiating their

mistake by taking birth in the material world. The Kumaras repliedacknowledging the fact that everything always happens according to the

Lord's plan and that the curse against the two innocent doormen was due

to the influence of his illusory energy.

Thus Jaya and Vijaya fell from their positions and entered Diti's womb as

her two sons, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu.

The birth of the two twins was accompanied by many bad omens:

earthquakes, great fires, comets, meteorites, hurricanes and cyclones that

hid the light of the sun and the moon, immersing the entire universe in

deep darkness. The planets moved inauspiciously, often in retrograde path,

and there were many eclipses. Mars and Saturn became more powerful than

the other more peaceful planets such as Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. The

ocean moaned, agitated by huge waves. Dogs and jackals were restless and

continued to howl, wild donkeys ran around the land in herds, scaring the

birds and the cows.

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu were born already fully grown, with bodies

as strong as steel, decorated with crowns and other ornaments. They did

not fear anyone, and before them Indra and the other celestial beings fled

and went into hiding. Not finding any opponents to fight with, Hiranyaksha

ventured into the ocean and went to challenge the Deva Varuna in his

capital, Vibhavari. Not desiring to fight against the arrogant Asura, Varuna

convinced him to seek Vishnu, the Supreme and most powerful Being, and

fight with him.

Immediately Hiranyaksha went to search for Vishnu, and learning that he

was rescuing earth from the waters, he hastened to challenge him, insulting

and threatening him. Hiranyaksha had golden hair and terrifying tusks, and

wore a golden armor and other beautiful ornaments. He was equipped with

a huge mace and he rushed against the Lord without hesitation. Varaha

patiently tolerated the insults and first of all focused on rescuing the earth,

lifting her out of the water, like an elephant that is attacked by a crocodile

first of all thinks about his female's safety. Then he turned to face the

challenge, crushing the Asura's pride and threatening him.

The fight was terrible, and all the Devas and Rishis and the inhabitants of

the heavenly planets watched it anxiously. Both the opponents dealt many

heavy blows on one another and intoxicated by the smell of the blood, theybecame even more engrossed in the fight. Suddenly Varaha's mace slid off

his hand, and the Asura showed his chivalry by holding his attack.

Brahma was scared, and offering his prayers to the Lord, he asked him not

to play too long with his enemy, but to end the fight quickly. Then Varaha

smacked Hiranyaksha's mace off his hand and again offered the weapon

back to him. The Asura felt humiliated and grabbed a trident, that was soon

shattered to pieces by the Lord's disc. Enraged, Hiranyaksha tried all the

magic tricks he knew, evoking violent winds, darkness, hailstorms and a rain

of sand and stones. There was a shower of pus, hair, blood, excrements,

urine and bones, and armies of demons marched in full war gear. But the

Lord's Sudarshana disc dissipated all those terrifying illusions and Varaha

ended the fight with a hard slap just below the Asura's ear - and he fell

dead.

The story of Varaha 1

 Sukadeva continued to narrate the teachings of Maitreya to Vidura about

the creation of the universe. Maitreya said, "Svayambhuva Manu received

from Brahma the task to populate the earth and rule it, but there was a

problem. Earth had sunk into the Garbha Ocean, that is at the bottom of

the universe, and it had to be restored to its proper orbit."

While he was pondering this problem, Brahma sneezed and from his nostril

appeared a tiny boar, who soon grew so big that his body occupied the

entire sky. Immediately Brahma, the Rishis and Manu realized that it could

not be an ordinary creature; when Brahma guessed that it might be Vishnu,

the boar roared his approval and the echo of that powerful sound was

accompanied by the reciting of Vedic hymns by all the great Rishis.

The boar avatara, Varaha, flashed across the sky, bristling his hair and

scattering the clouds with his hooves and sparkling tusks. Then, running

merrily like an elephant, he entered into the waters, creating two enormous

waves, that seemed like arms of the ocean raised in prayer. Using his long

white tusks, he furrowed into the ocean bed searching for the earth, and

finally he found her and lifted her up. While he was restoring the earth to

her proper orbit, he was confronted by the asura Hiranyaksha and engaged

in battle with him, finally killing him with his divine mace. Happy at having

witnessed that wonderful adventure, all the Rishis contemplated the form

of Varaha with devotion and offered their respects and prayers to the Lord,

who had accepted earth a his beloved consort.

Vidura had listened carefully to Maitreya's discourse, and wanted to hear

more. "O great Rishi," he said, "why had the Asura Hiranyaksha appeared

to challenge Lord Varaha while he was rescuing Earth?"

Conversation between Maitreya and Vidura 4

 The most elementary particle that is at the base of creation is the atom,

almost invisible even after the dissolution of the bodies. The calculation of

time is therefore based as a fundamental measure by reference to atomic

time - the time in which an atom covers a particular space. An aggregate of

six atoms is large enough to be seen in the sunlight that penetrates through

a screen.

The time required for the integration of three of these aggregates of six

atoms (called trasarenus) is called truti, and is the shortest unit of time. One

vedha is composed by 100 trutis, while one lava consists of three vedhas, one

nimesa corresponds to three lavas, one kshana to three nimesas, one kastha to

five kshanas, one laghu to fifteen kasthas, one nadika or danda to fifteen laghus,

one muhurta to two dandas, and six or seven dandas form a quarter of the day

or night, according to the season. The instrument to measure one danda is

prepared with a copper container of six palas in weight: we make a hole with

a gold lancet weighing four masas and four angulas long. When the container

is put over water, it sinks in exactly one danda.

In each day and night of the human beings there are four praharas; fifteen

days and nights form one paksha, and a month is composed by two pakshas

- a white one and a black one. One human month equals to one day and

night on the Pitri planets. Two months of Earth's time constitute a season,

while six months are a complete movement of the sun from south to north

and vice versa. Two of these complete movements, that constitute one

complete cycle of the sun, correspond to one day and night of the heavenly

beings, but an entire year of the earth calendar. The human beings have a

duration of life of 100 of these years.

There are five different definitions for the orbits of the sun, the moon, the

stars and other celestial bodies, and all have specific cycles. A cycle of four

earth ages - Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali - constitutes 12,000 years of the

heavenly beings. Satya yuga lasts 4,800 heavenly years, Treta 3,600, Dvapara

2,400 years, and Kali 1,200. In the age of Satya the human beings follow the

principles of religion perfectly, but in each of the three subsequent ages,

one fourth of these principles become lost.

One thousand cycles of four ages constitute one day and one night for

Brahma; when his day is over there is a partial destruction of the universe,

in which the sun and the moon loose their radiance and the inhabitants of

the highest planets move to Janaloka because the rest of universe is

devastated by fire. When Brahma gets up in the morning, a new cycle of

creation begins. Within one day of Brahma there is a series of fourteen

Manus, each living a little more than 71 cycles of four ages. At each new

Manu there is a renovation of the seven Rishis, Indra and other celestial

beings and the residents of the higher planets. Brahma lives for 100 of his

years, 50 of which have already passed; the first cycle of ages in the second

half of Brahma's life was characterized by the appearance of the Lord in the

form of Varaha, the boar avatara.

At the beginning of creation Brahma generated the four great sages called

Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat Kumara. Brahma expected them to

generate descendants in turn, but the Kumaras were not interested in

procreation and chose to remain small boys forever, to avoid being

involved in the complications due to the fact of being older than others.

Brahma was not happy about this disobedience, and from his anger,

concentrated between his brows, Rudra appeared manifesting in eleven

forms that have the purpose to destroy the universe at the time of

dissolution.

Later Brahma generated, from various parts of his body, the Rishis named

Marici, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasistha, Kardama,

Daksa and Narada. In the same way he generated the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur,

Sama and Atharva), the secondary Vedas (Ayur, Dhanur, Gandharva, and so

on) and the fifth Veda (Puranas and Itihasas), together with the other forms

of knowledge and ritual ceremonies. Finally, he generated the first couple of

human beings - Svayambhuva Manu and Satarupa - who started to produce

a descendence through sexual union. Manu had two sons (Priyavrata and

Uttanapada) and three daughters (Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti). He gave

Akuti in marriage to Ruci Rishi, Devahuti to Kardama Rishi, and Prasuti to

Daksha Prajapati.

Conversation between Maitreya and Vidura 3

 Maitreya replied: "The Supreme Lord is never overcome by illusion, but the

individual beings are small enough to fall under her power, as in a

temporary dream. The misconception of identification with matter can be

gradually dissipated by meditating on the Lord, the transcendental Reality,

just like when we awaken from sleep we can return to the awareness of the

waking state by focusing on what really exists."

Vidura asked again: "Please tell me more about the secondary creation of

Brahma, of the Manus and their descendants, of the planets, the various

species, the divisions of society, the different methods of spiritual

realization, the prescribed rituals and the activities of the Lord when he

manifests in this world."

Maitreya congratulated Vidura for his excellent question and said that the

same subjects had been explained by Ananta Sankarshana to Sanat Kumara

and his three brothers, sons of Brahma. In turn, the Kumara handed down

the same teachings to Sankhyayana Muni, who gave them to Brihaspati and

Parasara, Maitreya's guru.

The Lord, the Supreme Soul of the universe, appears to be sleeping in the

water of the Ocean and generates the living beings through the power of

the external energy, the Kala shakti ("the black Power" or "the Power of

Time"), therefore his transcendental body has a dark blue complexion. The

aggregate of the selfish activities of the living beings manifests in the form

of a lotus bud growing from Vishnu's navel. Again the Lord enters that

lotus flower as Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, the Supreme Soul of all beings, and

generates the personification of the Vedic knowledge, Brahma.

After meditating for a long time, Brahma became able to see the Lord and

offered him beautiful prayers. With the Lord's blessing, Brahma established

himself firmly in spiritual consciousness, that enabled him to perceive the

presence of the Godhead in each being, and he started to shape the

fourteen inhabited planetary systems and the bodies of the various living

beings according to the different species.

There are nine subsequent stages in creation: the first is the mahat-tattva (the

total aggregate of matter), the second generates the sense of identification

with matter, the third manifests sense perception, the fourth manifests the

sense of cognition and action, the fifth manifests the archetypes of the

universal reality known as Devas, and the sixth manifests the sense of

ignorance. The secondary creation by Brahma starts from the seventh

phase, in which he manifests the immovable beings, such as the plants. The

eighth phase manifests the lower animals, including mammals and birds,

who are listed in 28 wide categories. The ninth and last phase of creation

manifests the human beings, the heavenly beings, the Rakshasas and

Yakshas, Gandharvas and Apsaras, Siddhas and Charanas and Vidyadharas,

and the various types of goblins and ghosts.

Conversation between Maitreya and Vidura 2

 Remembering the Lord, Uddhava was overwhelmed by an intense

sentiment of love, and wiping the tears from his eyes, he informed him

about the disappearance of Krishna and the destruction of his dynasty. The

two great devotees found comfort in discussing between themselves about

Lord Krishna and his activities during his mission.

Uddhava recalled the various stages of Krishna's life, up to the moment

when he had left his family and had gone to the bank of the river Sarasvati.

Sitting under a young banyan tree, Krishna appeared completely peaceful,

although he had abandoned all the comforts of his palaces. Uddhava had

followed him because he could not stay away from him, and this was how

Maitreya found them during his pilgrimage, and he remained in their

company to discuss about transcendental knowledge. So Uddhava advised

Vidura to search for Maitreya, who was a friend of Vyasa and thus older

than Vidura, to learn from him that same knowledge that had been

explained by Lord Krishna."

After spending some days in the company of Uddhava, talking about the

disappearance of Lord Krishna and his dynasty, Vidura traveled towards the

Ganges in search of Maitreya, who resided in Haradvara. When he arrived

in the presence of the great sage, Vidura asked him to explain how the Lord

incarnates in this world, and how we can serve the Lord with devotion.

Maitreya welcomed him affectionately, accepting him as the worthy son of

Vyasa and especially as the incarnation of Yamaraja, the Lord of Death, the

eternal companion of God.

He immediately started to explain how at the beginning of creation, Lord

Vishnu awakens material energy, manifesting the universal form. He first

created Brahma and the Devas - Agni, Varuna, the Asvini kumaras, Surya,

Vayu and the directions of space - as manifestations of his own divine

being, and gave them the knowledge and power to manifest and rule the

universe. After one thousand celestial years, material energy generated the

living beings according to their tendencies and identifications.

Vidura asked: "In what way the unchangeable Lord, who is transcendental

and always satisfied in himself, comes into contact with the material nature

and her activities without being touched by the influence of the gunas? How

does the individual soul, who is pure awareness, slide into ignorance and

remains trapped there? And since the Lord resides in the heart of all living

beings, why do living beings engage in activities that lead to sufferings and

disaster?"

Conversation between Maitreya and Vidura 1

 Parikshit Maharaja then asked Sukadeva to tell him about the circumstances

in which Vidura, the brother of Pandu and Dhritarastra, had met the sage

Maitreya and had discussed important spiritual topics with him. Sukadeva

continued to narrate: "The blind regent, Dhritarastra, had been degraded by

his desire to please his evil sons, and allowed them to commit many

offenses against the Pandavas. Duryodhana and his brothers tried many

times to murder their cousins, mistreated Draupadi in public, and stripped

Yudhisthira of all his possessions with a fixed dice game.

Vidura had admonished his brother and nephews many times, warning

them that such crimes would bring terrible consequences, also because the

Pandavas were powerful kshatriyas and were personally supported by Lord

Krishna. Instead of heeding his uncle's wise advice, Duryodhana insulted

him too, calling him the son of a maidservant, and ordering the guards to

throw him out of the palace.

Pained by those unwarranted offenses, Vidura did not wait to be mistreated

further, and he immediately left the court to visit many pilgrimage places,

such as Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura. He traveled alone as a humble

beggar, without depending on anyone, crossing through pure and sacred

regions. When he reached Prabhasa he learned about the death of all his

relatives in the battle and he turned west, towards the Sarasvati river, and

went to the eleven tirthas on her banks - Trita, Usana, Mahu, Prithu, Agni,

Asita, Vayu, Sudasa, Go, Guha and Sraddhadeva - visiting many temples

dedicated to the Lord.

Then he traveled through the wealthy western provinces of Surat, Sauvira,

Matsya and Kurujangala, and he finally came to the bank of the Yamuna

river, where he met Uddhava, the great devotee of the Lord, and asked him

for news about Krishna and the Yadu dynasty.