Sri Brahma Samhita

On that day to Payasvini he came,

He bathed; went to Adi-kesava's fane,

Thence from a group of great devotees pure,

The text Brahma-Samhita did procure.

With joy, the Master having thus acquired

That text, he trembled and wept and perspired,

Was stunned and with such ecstasy was filled,

His body with horripilation thrilled.

No concise comprehensive text is there,

That may with Brahma-Samhita compare;

Whence Govinda's great glory can be known;

In fewest words the endless truth is shown;

Among Vaisnava texts the essence true.

He had a copy made, thence did pursue,

His onward way in ecstasy divine,

Then came to Endless Padmanabha's shrine.

(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta. 2.9)

Sri Brahma Samhita

The Divine Supreme Ruler Krishna is,

Whose form consists of truth, consciousness, bliss;

Govinda is primal, beginningless,

The ultimate cause of causes, causeless. 1*

*All these are parts, the portions and aspects,

Of the Great Being, who the worlds protects

From Indra’s foes, but Krishna is the Lord,

From age to age incarnate and adored.

(SB.1.3.28)

There is a thousand petaled lotus bright,

A mighty region as Gokula hight;

The whorl whereof is sanctum sanctuary,

Derived of a part of infinity. 2

The lotus-whorl is formed as mystic sign;

A six point star and diamond stamen shine;

The six feet at the six star-points are there

Of the eighteen syllable mantra prayer,

Which represents the principal female,

Associated with the Supreme Male,

Who are wrought up with love and immense bliss;

The forms of joyful rapture in excess.

With meditation on the mantra fixed,

Let the Kama seed-mantra be prefixed. 3

Upon the petals there are situate

His primal emanations incarnate,

Upon the leaves surrounding there appear,

The Goddesses who are his consorts dear. 4

The lotus represents the enclosed ground,

By a perimeter on four sides bound,

Which represents the island glowing white,

Where four extended forms are situate.

On four sides of this wonderful design,

The four-fold human ends refulgent shine,

And four-fold branches of the Vedic lore.

Through mantra meditation thus adore.

In ten directions ten lances protend,

Above, below on each side to defend.

There the potent eight gems glistering shine,

And the eight yoga-perfections divine.

Moreover, in the ten directions round,

The ten sentinels guard the outer bound.

The associates shine of varied hue,

Some red, some white, some fair, and some dark blue.

Vested with beauty and power sublime,

Upon the wondrous lotus-yantra shine. 5

Some are of a dark hue and some are white,

As lotus-stalk and shining lazulite,

With glistening coronets upon the head,

And earrings dight and flowers garlanded.

(SB.2.9.12)

Illustrious the Deus there abides,

In ecstasy and immense bliss presides,

Who in his self-joy tastes such happiness,

To which mundane nature hath no access. 6

Although he doth not with the Great Goddess

Engage in direct amorous congress,

Yet while consorting with his own dear spouse,

He throws his glance, which is of time the cause. 7

The regulating principle is she,

His divine consort hight Rama-devi;

When of creation the season arrives,

A manifested projection contrives,

Which is the phallus, the symbol and sign

Of the Almighty God Shambhu divine.

The generative great divinity,

Joined with the generative potency,

And thus the phallus and yoni combine,

Impelled by the will of Hari divine;

Whereby the lower power doth project,

The Kama-seed and cosmic intellect. 8

The phallus and the yoni by congress,

Produce all creatures from the Great Goddess. 9

By vested power the Great God divine,

Assumes the emblem of the phallic sign,

Wherefrom by manifestation appears,

Almighty Vishnu, Lord of all the spheres. 10

The Being of a thousand heads replete,

A thousand flashing eyes, a thousand feet;

A thousand arms, and of the universe

The soul, who thousands of bright rays disperse. 11

The same is that Narayana who rests

Upon the causal sea and manifests

His emanated self upon the deep,

Sankarshana, resting in mystic sleep.

Whence thousands of diverse forms emanate,

While he reclines in contemplative state. 12

From out of his hair follicles proceeds,

Through Sankarshana, the potential seeds,

Which into golden eggs are thence disposed,

And by sheaths of five elements enclosed. 13

That same Great Vishnu into each imparts,

Of egg-like worlds, his emanated parts;

With thousand heads, integral with the whole,

The eviternal universal soul. 14 *

*The yogis see with their perfected eyes,

The Being of a thousand feet and eyes,

A thousand arms, a thousand faces bright,

A thousand heads, a most wonderful sight;

Thousands of ears and noses on each side,

And thousands of bright eyes dilated wide.

(SB.1.3.4)

From his left limb as Vishnu emanates,

From the right, Prajapati, who creates,

And from between his brow came into view,

Emblematic of the phallus, Shambhu. 15

He is the universal ego-sense,

Whence generations of beings commence. 16

Assuming then these three distinctive forms,

His playful sport of creation performs,

As with his Goddess Yoga-Nidra hight,

He takes his wonted amorous delight. 17

Then when he slumbered in mystic repose,

The will to create worlds and beings rose,

Then out of his depressed navel there came,

A golden lotus flower which became

The residence and wonderful abode,

Of Brahma, the great demiurgic god. 18

The elements that had erstwhile evolved,

Were in unmanifest nature dissolved,

Disunited in their several parts,

Until the binding agent power imparts,

And doth in them his conscious power infuse,

Whence generation of the world ensues.

Meantime the Supreme Primal Lord divine,

In love doth with his own consort combine. 19

When thus combined creation can begin,

Of all the worlds, which then he enters in,

And further his extended self imparts,

To all souls in the recess of their hearts. 20

This soul is bound from all eternity

In love, as superior potency. 21

The lotus which from Hari’s navel springs,

Is fraught with all the worlds and living things,

From which four-faced Brahma originates,

Who the four Vedic texts expatiates. 22

When Brahma thus was in his nascent state,

Began, inspired within, to cogitate,

On the impressions of past actions done,

The means to proceed with the creation.

But as he looked about he only saw

A profound darkness and was struck with awe. 23

Thereupon divine Sarasvati stood

Before Brahma and told him for his good,

The mantra hymn from which he would acquire,

The fulfilment of his cherished desire.

Before the hymn is spoken must proceed,

Utterance of the Kama mantra-seed,

Then in the dative case he should address

Krishna, Govinda, Lord of cowherdess;

And finally, as mantra rules require,

Pronounce the name of Svaha, wife of Fire. 24

This penance and meditation maintain,

And worship, and you shall perfection gain. 25

This meditation practised a long time,

To gain the grace of Govinda divine;

Krishna who in the white island abides,

And in the Supreme Goloka presides,

Where potencies as Goddesses appear,

To worship him from their respective sphere;

In grace the centre of that realm excels,

On the lotus of a thousand petals.

The ground is formed of wish-yielding gemstone,

Inside the whorl is an extensive throne,

Whereon is seated in sublime delight,

The Lord eternal of refulgent light.

Thus Brahma in his fond contemplation,

Perceived the Lord by this meditation,

Playing upon his flute music divine,

Whose lotus-face did with rare beauty shine,

Surrounded by his amorous lovesome brides,

Who offer worship to him on all sides. 26

Now, when the triple flute sound did begin,

The self-born felt that sound enter within

Himself, and thence the sound supernal came

Of the great hymn Gayatri, known to fame.

The lotus-born achieved his twice-born state,

Through the Primal Teacher initiate. 27

His mind was wakened by that three-fold sound,

And he perceived wisdoms’ ocean profound;

To please Lord Kesava he then addressed,

A holy hymn in words like these expressed. 28

The dwellings in whose realm, cunningly wrought,

Are fashioned of the gems that fulfil thought;

The arbours whereof, swaying in the breeze,

Abound with bounteous wish-granting trees;

The herds he tends in groves and on meadows,

Are all most generous wish-yielding cows;

On him a hundred thousand Lakshmis wait,

With ardent reverence in regal state;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 29

He on his charming flute doth sweetly play,

His eyes as lotus petals wide display;

Whose crown is decked with plume of peacock proud,

His handsome limbs are dark as monsoon cloud;

Whose unique lustre doth with beauty glow,

More than a million Cupids e’er could show;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 30

He is with swaying peacock feathers dight,

And with garlands of forest flowers bright;

Who holds a sweet toned flute in his soft hands;

Whose arms are decked with gem studded armbands;

Who is always absorbed in amorous play,

And doth the arts and skills of love display;

Whose handsome dark form, curved in places three,

Is manifest from all eternity;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 31

Whose every limb bears all the faculties

Of perception, and unrestricted sees,

Through the abysm of time and projects,

The world, and by his potency protects;

Whose form, illustrious, doth constitute,

Eternity and pure bliss absolute;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 32

He is but one and indivisible,

Without beginning and immutable;

Whose endless forms, ancient, of primal truth,

Maintain the charm of adolescent youth;

He is by Vedic study hardly known,

Perceived by the soul’s devotion alone;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 33

Those best sages who strive for supreme gain,

And practice for a million years maintain,

With mental faculty, swift as the wind,

To devout pious discipline resigned;

Yet rarely reach the foots’ proximity,

Of that ineffable Divinity;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 34

Though he is one his power generates,

And thus millions of egg-like worlds creates,

Within himself those egg-like worlds subsist,

And he within each atom doth exist;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 35

Those men with minds endued with sentiments,

Attain beauty and jeweled ornaments;

When his praises have been highly extolled,

And holy hymns as are in scripture told;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 36

Who always revels in pure bliss sublime,

And high raptures of ecstasy divine,

With his associated counterparts,

His consorts and his emanated parts;

And though he dwells forever and always

In Goloka, within all beings stays;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 37

He is perceived by fond devotions’ eye

What time his lovers love’s ointment apply;

Those sainted souls within their hearts always,

With affection upon his beauty gaze;

The which is lustrous dark and beautiful,

Most excellent and inconceivable;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 38

The varied forms of his incarnations,

Such as Rama, are his emanations;

But in his proper person he is shown

As Krishna and as illustrious known;

Who in the world discovers* his high state,

When he deigns in the world to incarnate;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 39

*Reveals.

In whom millions of egg-like worlds exist,

In whom diverse distinctive realms subsist;

As emanations of his puissant light;

Brahman of indistinct and endless might;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 40

Whose potency illusive procreates

And with three qualities proliferates,

And spreads out egg-like worlds severally,

As Vedic texts confirm and saints agree;

He is the stay of existence serene,

And is untrammelled existence supreme;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 41

He is the self of full bliss rapturous,

Embodiment of purest consciousness,

Who is reflected in the minds of those,

Who themselves in meditation repose;

Who glory in the world perpetuates,

When he victoriously incarnates;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 42

His own realm transcendent is known by name,

As Goloka, beneath which doth remain

The realms of Hari, Mahesh and Devi;

Descending in order respectively;

Through his devolved power they all fulfil

Their delegated office by his will;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 43

The shadow of his potency devolves,

The agency which all the world evolves;

Through generation, maintenance and then,

Involution to the prime state again;

And all this vast and wide worldly domain,

Is held under the sway of Durga’s reign,

Who as executive functionary,

Conducts herself by his supreme decree;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 44

As milk is transformed from its native state,

And thickens into curds coagulate;

And though thereby distinction it attains,

As one with its original remains;

E’en so, with certain functions to pursue,

He takes the form of the Great God Shambhu;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 45

As one lamp its bright light communicates

Its flames to other lamps, illuminates

With equal splendour of the first lit light,

And though distinctive still shines just as bright;

So doth the Mighty Lord Vishnu divine;

In multiple forms emanated shine;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purus divine. 46

Who rests upon the causal ocean deep,

Recumbent in sublime mystical sleep;

And endless egg-like worlds he multiplies,

Which out of his hair follicles arise;

And by receptive power he upholds

In his own endless form the endless worlds;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 47

The world-lords live and rise when he exhales,

And live and breath till he again inhales;

Emerging from his follicles of hair,

And merging back again to him repair;

That Great Vishnu, the end and origin

Of all things is yet but a part of him;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 48

As varied gems shine with the borrowed light,

When the suns’ rays illuminate them bright,

On likewise his power he delegates

To Brahma, who the egg-like worlds creates;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 49

Whose lotus-feet are held upon the crown,

Of the great lord of hosts when be bows down;

Who has the head of a wild elephant,

Upon the good of all the world intent,

And thereby gains the power to destroy,

Impediments that hinder and annoy;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 50

The fire, earth and sky, water and wind,

The directions and time and soul and mind;

These constituent parts from him evolve,

In whom they rest and into whom resolve;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 51

That lord of light and sovereign of the sky,

The chief of gods and universal eye,

Receives his orders from the Lord sublime,

And proceeds on the circling wheel of time;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 52

His innate power provides impetus,

For study, penance, sin and righteousness,

His power conferred doth all alike protect,

From Brahma to the lowliest insect;

Their manifest existence to fulfil,

He grants his gifts according to his will;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 53

All creatures are to fruits of action bound,

From Indra to the insect on the ground,

Impartially to all he distributes,

For their deeds, the enjoyment of the fruits;

But those who are to loving faith resolved,

Are from the bondage of action absolved;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 54

Those moved by anger, love and affection,

Fear, tenderness and amorous passion,

Delusion, and reverent attitude,

And sentiments of divine servitude;

To each according as they contemplate,

He grants a form befitting to their state;

I worship that Govinda, Lord of kine,

The Great and Primal Purusa divine. 55 *

* Whether from love or fear, oneness or rage,

In friendship or affection they engage,

Their minds on him intent, preoccupied,

Are automatically purified.

(SB.10.29.15)

Him as a thunderbolt the wrestlers viewed,

As the best of all men the men conclude;

The females there saw Cupid in person,

The cowherds saw their own dear relation;

The kings saw the chastiser who annoys,

His parents saw their own beloved boys;

The Bhoja king saw death approach, and then

The ignorant saw just a worldly man;

The yogis saw the Supreme Truth adored,

The Vrishni clan beheld their cherished Lord;

Thus each according to his sentiment,

Viewed Krishna as he with his elder went.

(SB.10.43.17)

There the Supreme Male Being plays love-sports

With Goddesses who are his dear consorts;

Where shady wish-fulfilling trees abound,

Where thought-gems form the structure of the ground;

The water there is ambrosia sweet,

All speech is song, and walking upon feet,

Becomes a dancing pace where’er they wend;

And there the flute is the beloved friend;

There is the light of supreme conscious bliss,

Who relishes sweet joy and relished is;

Where milk flows in abundance from the kine,

Nor is there passage of a moments’ time;

I worship thus that divine island white,

Where herds of kine abound, Goloka hight,

Which is restricted from the mundane view,

Known only in this world to very few. 56

Now when Mighty Vishnu this prayer had heard,

He with the great progenitor conferred,

And said, ‘O Brahma, if thou dost incline,

Endued with glory and wisdom divine,

To manifest the world and procreate

A fair increase the world to populate;

Then hear the method whereby thou must strive,

From me, this science, in these verses five. 57

When wisdom pure has awakened within

The soul, by practice of the discipline

Of devout worship, piously maintained,

Then transcendental bliss will be attained.

Supreme devotion is then realised;

Pure love of God is thus characterised. 58

By recourse to valid testimony,

And pious conduct practiced constantly,

The self within the self is then perceived,

Whence the supreme devotion is achieved. 59

There is no more auspicious path than this,

Whereby accomplished is the highest bliss;

And who would strive thus assiduously,

Should direct their devout worship to me. 60

Abandoning all other righteous ways,

Adore thou me exclusively always;

For whatever faith each may entertain,

Perfection in conformity attain;

The people act according to the laws

Of action, for some particular cause.

Those who act in contemplation on me,

Attain immense devotions’ ecstasy. 61

I am that same he who the world begot,

The seed of all that move and moveth not;

As primordial nature I prevail,

And verily I am the Supreme Male.

By power invested and shown to you,

O Vidhi, now the world create anew. 62

Thus ends Sri Brahma Samhita