The Story of Ananata and How He was Influenced by Maya

 

Text 1

Suta Gosvami said- After hearing the prayers of the kings, who were all His devotees, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kalki, spoke to them about the duties of the four varnas. —brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, and shudra.

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The Lord described the duties prescribed by the scriptures for all classes of men, whether they be attached householders or detached renunciates.

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By hearing thetalks of Lord Kalki, the hearts of thekings became purified. They bowed down before Him once more and then inquired about their actual identities. They said Why do human beings have male and female bodies? What is the reason for this? Why do our bodies change from childhood to boyhood and then to old age, and why are we subject to happiness and distress? О Lord, please explain all this. Apart from these things, we would also like hear about anvthing else that we do not even know how to inquire about.

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Lord Kalki then invoked the great sage, Ananta. As soon as the Lord remembered the pure hearted ascetic who observed every formidable wovs, he immediately arrived there, thinking that h e would be delivered by Lord Kalki’s darsana. He said My dear lord, please order me – what shall I do in Your service? Lord Kalki smiled and said, You know everything abour Me andMy pastimes. Destiny can not be changed as without an action there cannot be a reaction. Upon hearing these enigmatic words of Lord Kalki, the sage felt great satisfaction.

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When the lotus-eyed Lord Kalki prepared to depart, the kings were astonished and spoke as follows.

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The kings said What did this great sage tell You? What did You say to him in reply? What had you two discussed previously? We are very eager to hear about this.

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To the kings’ inquiry, Lord Kalki replied: If you would like to know what had transpired between us, then just ask this peaceful and sober.

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Being advised by Lord Kalki in this way, the assembled kings offered their obeisance’s to the great sage, Ananta, and then inquired from him as follows.

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The kings said, О exalted sage, Lord Kalki is the protector of religious principles, and your conversation with Him must have been very confidential. We have an ardent desire to hear what you had said and so please oblige us.

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The great sage, Ananta, said: Long ago, there lived a sage named Vidruma in the city of Punka. He was well-versed in the Vedic literature, very highly qualified, and helpful to others. I am his only son.

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My mother, Soma, was a very chaste wife. Iwas born when my parents were quite old, and I was a eunuch.

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My parents were very sad to see that I was a eunuch and everyone began to gossip and criticize me Finally, my father became so distraught that he left home and went to a forest of Lord Shiva, where he prayed to the husband of Parvati after worshiping him with offerings of incense, a ghee lamp, and sandalwood paste.

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Vidruma said I offer my obeisance’s to Mahadeva, who awards benedictions, and is very peaceful, the only real shelter for everyone, and the master of the universe He is decorated with a necklace of Vasuki, he holds the Ganges in his matted hair, and he bestows transcendental happiness upon his devotees.

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Being prayed to like this, Mahadeva became very pleased with my father. While riding upon the back on his bull carrier, he appeared before my father and smilingly said You can ask me for any benediction you desire.

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My father said I have begotten a son who is a eunuch, and somy heart is filled with distress. To this, the husband of Parvati, who was standing by his side, gave my father the benediction that I would become a Handsome and virile man.

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After receiving this benediction, my father returned home and found that I had become an attractive male. As a result, the happiness of my parents knew no bounds.

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In due course of time, I grew up and became twelve years old At that time, my elderly parents arranged for my marriage, and then celebrated it with great pomp, along with all their friends and relatives.

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I was married to the daughter of Yajnarata. She was exquisitely beautiful, being in the prime of her youth I was very attached to my household life and I soon became a hen pecked husband.

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Soon after my marriage, my father and mother left this world. I dutifully performed the required funeral rites and other rituals, in the association of my well-wishers and some qualified brahmanas.

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According to my capacity, I fed many qualified brahmanas. Thereafter, being afflicted by intense separation from my parents, I devoted my time to the worship of the Supreme Lord.

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Soon, Lord Hari became pleased with me and appeared in my dreams. He said: All the perfections and attachments that you see in this world are simply displays of My illusory energy, maya.

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Those who are bewildered by such illusory displays think, “He is my father, she is my mother, ” and so on, and thus suffer terrible distress, fear, and anxiety, as well as old age and death.

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After hearing these words of wisdom, spoken by Lord Hari, I was about to put up some kind of argument but then the Lord suddenly disappeared from my dream and I woke up with a start.

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I was greatly astonished and immediately left my city, Punka. I went to Purusottama-ksetra, the transcendental abode of Lord Hari, along with my wife.

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There, by the right side of the Lord’s temple, 1 built my ashrama and began to serve Him, along with my wife and followers.

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While residing in the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I developed a desire to see His illusory energy, maya, and so I began to meditate on the Lord, the deliverer from the ocean of birth and death, while chanting, dancing, and singing His glories.

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In this way, twelve years passed Then once, before breaking my fast on Dvadasi, I, along with my associates, went to bathe in the sea.

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As I entered the water to bathe, I suddenly lost my balance and was towed under by the current, so that I was convinced that I was about to die. In fact, some fish or crab began to nibble at me.

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Sometimes I was submerged withm the water, and at other times, I floated on the surface. My heart was very restless and frightened Gradually, by the pushing of the waves, I lost consciousness and my body became numb.

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Thereafter, being driven by the wind, I was washed onto the beach unconscious, somewhere in the south. At that time, an elderly brdhmana named Brddha-sharma saw me lying in the sand. He took compassion upon me and so, after completing his worship of the Lord, he brought me to his house This pious and wealthy Brddha-sarma resided with his wife and children, and he took care of me, treating me like a son.

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I could not understand anything about where I was, how I had come there, and so on. I felt very aggrieved but continued to live at the elderly brahmana’s house, considering him as my father and his wife as my mother.

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Realizing that I had been initiated as a member of the twice-born society, Brddha-sarma gave his daughter, Carumati, to me in marriage. This girl was very beautiful, with a complexion like molten gold, and she was a reservoir of good qualities, and very cultured Having received a glorious wife like that, I could not trust that my good fortune would last.

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Carumati always endeavored to please me. I lived with her in great happiness and eventually begot five sons I became merged into an ocean of joy.

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The names of my five sons were Jaya, Vijaya, Kamala, Vimala and Budha.

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Just as the king of the demigods is worshiped in the heavenly planets by all the other demigods, I was respected by my children, friends, relatives, well-wishers, and others. Soon, my fame spread everywhere.

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In due course of time, I decided that my eldest son, Budha, should be married. There was a brahmana named Dharmasara who agreed to give his daughter to my son in marriage. On an auspicious day, he invited qualified brdhmanas and performed all the necessary rituals Many beautiful women who were dressed very gorgeously and decorated with golden ornaments danced joyfully. The whole atmosphere became filled with the sweet sounds of musical instruments.

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For the welfare of my son, I went to the shore of the ocean and offered oblations to the forefathers, demigods, and great sages.

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After completing that ritual, as I prepared to depart, I suddenly spotted my previous friends and relatives who had resided with me at Purusottama-ksetra, worshiping the Lord at that place I was very surprised to see them.

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I was especially astonished when I saw how they were faithfully engaged in rendering devotional service to Lord Hari by breaking the vow of EkadasI on Dvadasi.

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To my surprise, I found myself to be the same Handsome young man that had bathed in the sea on a Dvadasi long ago When my friends of Purusottama-ksetra saw me, they were concerned and said, О Ananta, why do you look so anxious? You are a great Vaishnava. Have you seen something wonderful, either in the water or cm the land?

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If you have seen something amazing then tell us. Now you can break your Ekadasi vow, To this, I replied: My dear friends, I have not seen or heard anything wonderful at all.

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I had become overwhelmed by lust and thus had lost my vitality. At that time, I desired to see Lord Hari’s illusory energy. Then, by the influence of maya, I forgot everything about myself and took up a new life that was full of lusty desires.

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Due to intense material affection and the influence of illusion, I was unable to understand my actual position. Actually, I could not understand how much I had forgotten my actual self. However, nobody else realized that I had become bewildered by the Lord’s illusory energy, maya.

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My mind was simply absorbed in thoughts of my children, wife, wealth, and the arrangements for the marriage of my children. As a result, I felt great distress and lamentation. I even forgot that I was Ananta. The events ot my life at Purusottama-ksetra appeared to me like no more tHari a dream.

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When my proud wife saw me in that almost senseless condition, she lamented: Alas! What has happened! She then began to cry out loud.

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As I gazed upon my wife that I had lived with at Purusottama-ksetra, I immediately remembered everything about my children, wife, wealth, and so on. At this, my mind became perplexed and morose. Suddenly, a swan-like personality came before me and began to pacify me with proper reasoning.

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He was sober by nature, the knower of everything, fully satisfied, and absorbed in thought of the Supreme Personality ot Godhead.

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His effulgence was like that of the sun. He was situated in the mode of unalloyed goodness, and he was peaceful and pure-hearted. Indeed, the very sight of him could destroy the sufferings of all living entities My relatives faithfully worshiped that paramahamsa and then inquired from him about my welfare.

Thus ends the translation of the eleventh chapter of Shri Kalki Purana.

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

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