The Vishnu Purana: Book V: Chapter XVII | Internet Sacred Text Archive

CHAP. XVII.

Akrúra's meditations on Krishńa: his arrival at Gokula: his delight at seeing Krishńa and his brother.

AKRÚRA, having set off in his quick travelling car, proceeded to visit Krishńa at the pastures of Nanda; and, as he went along, he congratulated himself on his superior good fortune, in having an opportunity of beholding a descended portion of the deity. "Now," thought he, "has my life borne fruit; my night is followed by the dawn of day; since I shall see the countenance of Vishńu, whose eyes are like the expanded leaf of the lotus. I shall behold that lotus-eyed aspect of Vishńu, which, when seen only in imagination, takes away the sins of men. I shall to-day behold that glory of glories, the mouth of Vishńu, whence proceeded the Vedas, and all their dependant sciences. I shall see the sovereign of the world, by whom the world is sustained; who is worshipped as the best of males, as the male of sacrifice in sacrificial rites. I shall see Keśava, who is without beginning or end; by worshipping whom with a hundred sacrifices, Indra obtained the sovereignty over the gods. That Hari, whose nature is unknown to Brahmá, Indra, Rudra, the Aświns, the Vasus, Ádityas, and Maruts, will this day touch my body. The soul of all, the knower of all, he who is all, and is present in all, he who is permanent, undecaying, all-pervading, will converse with me. He, the unborn, who has preserved the world in the various forms of a fish, a tortoise, a boar, a horse 1, a lion, will this day speak to me. Now the lord of the earth, who assumes shapes at will, has taken upon him the condition of humanity, to accomplish some object cherished in his heart. That Ananta, who holds the earth upon his crest, and who has descended upon earth for its protection, will this day call me by my

name. Glory to that being, whose deceptive adoption of father, son, brother, friend, mother, and relative, the world is unable to penetrate. Glory to him, who is one with true knowledge, who is inscrutable, and through whom, seated in his heart, the Yogi crosses the wide expanse of worldly ignorance and illusion. I bow to him, who, by the performers of holy rites, is called the male of sacrifice (Yajnapurusha); by pious worshippers is termed Vásudeva; and by the cultivators of philosophy, Vishńu. May he in whom cause and effect, and the world itself, is comprehended, be propitious to me, through his truth; for always do I put my trust in that unborn, eternal Hari; by meditation on whom, man becomes the repository of all good things."