"When Nidágha heard these words, he immediately fell at the feet o the stranger, and said, Of a surety thou art my saintly preceptor Ribhu the mind of no other person is so fully imbued with the doctrines of unity as that of my teacher, and hence I know that thou art he.' To this Ribhu replied, 'I am your preceptor, by name Ribhu, who, pleased with: the dutiful attention he has received, has come to Nidágha to give him instruction: for this purpose have I briefly intimated to you divine truth, the essence of which is the non-duality of all.' Having thus spoken to Nidágha, the Brahman Ribhu went away, leaving his disciple profoundly impressed, by his instructions, with belief in unity. He beheld all beings thenceforth as the same with himself, and, perfect in holy knowledge, obtained final liberation.

"In like manner do thou, oh king, who knowest what duty is, regarding equally friend or foe, consider yourself as one with all that exists in the world. Even as the same sky is apparently diversified as white or blue, so Soul, which is in truth but one, appears to erroneous vision distinct in different persons. That One, which here is all things, is Achyuta (Vishńu); than whom there is none other. He is I; he is thou; he is all: this universe is his form. Abandon the error of distinction."

PARÁŚARA resumed.--The king, being thus instructed, opened his eyes to truth, and abandoned the notion of distinct existence: whilst the Brahman, who, through the recollection of his former lives, had acquired perfect knowledge, obtained now exemption from future birth. Whoever narrates or listens to the lessons inculcated in the dialogue between Bharata and the king, has his mind enlightened, mistakes not the nature of individuality, and in the course of his migrations becomes fitted for ultimate emancipation 1.

Footnotes

258:1 This legend is a good specimen of a sectarial graft upon a Pauráńik stem. It is in a great measure peculiar to the Vishńu P., as although it occurs also in the Bhágavata, it is narrated there in a much more concise manner, and in a strain that looks like an abridgment of our text.

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