Great Throughts Treasury

"Donations given dutifully, irrespective the return, at the proper time and place and to suitable persons - that giving is considered to be of goodness."

"Either alone or in assembly one should to the moon, at special occasions and at festivals arrange to perform with singing, dancing and such and greatly royal proofs of grace."

"Engaged a different way [in demigod worship] one lacks in consciousness and arrives in human society thus at the 'I' and 'mine' and the 'me' and 'you' [of the false ego]. In approaches other than Yours one is as a result of the deviating vision impure in one's conduct, time bound and full of adharma"

"Even Brahmâ, the Creator of the mobile and immobile manifestations who is the source of Vedic wisdom, as also the sages and the masters of yoga, the Kumâras and the other perfected ones and original thinkers of yoga who attained the original Person of the Absolute Truth, the first one of all the souls, by dint of their detached, egoless actions, despite of their independent vison and all their spiritual qualities, again take birth to assume their positions when this manifestation of the Lord is recreated through the operation of time and the three modes. And that is also true for all others who enjoyed the divine opulence that resulted from their pious deeds, they also return when the interaction of the modes again takes place."

"Even though it manifests, subject to transformation a single atom without the Direct Evidence [in the form of Time] of the Supreme Self is not conceivable [or perceivable even], even if it the same way [as the immutable soul] remains without change."

"Even though You have no desires You engage in all kinds of activities, even though You're unborn You still take birth, as the controller of eternal Time You take nevertheless shelter of the fortress out of fear for Your enemies and despite of enjoying within Yourself, You lead a household life in the association of women; this bewilders the intelligence of the scholars in this world."

"Every individual is different. There are even differences between twin brothers. Yet when Krsna expanded Himself as the boys and calves, each boy and each calf appeared in its own original feature, with the same individual way of acting, the same tendencies, the same color, the same dress, and so on, for Krsna manifested Himself with all these differences."

"Everyone wants to take pleasure in his own knowledge, thinking, “I know something.” But in the presence of Krsna this conception cannot stand, for one cannot bring Krsna within the limitations of prakrti. One must submit. There is no alternative. Na tams tarkena yojayet. This submission marks the difference between Krsna-ites and Mayavadis."

"Eyes appeared in the gigantic body which offered a position to Tvashthâ, the director of light and the power of sight by which forms can be seen."

"Falsely motivated dwelling within the self of the material body, the senses, life-air and the mind, the living being assumes his form according the gunas and the karma. He is then, depending the way he relates to the thread constituted by the greater of nature, described with different names when he under the strict control of Time wanders about in the ocean of matter."

"For all those notions of a higher or lower form of life there will never be any peace, for they depending upon the interaction of the material modes are by the ordinance of the Lord [in the form of Time] all destroyed."

"For created bodies, my best, find and lose their existence by the force of time which operates invisibly, that isn't seen because of its subtlety."

"For the duration of thousand times four yugas [4.32 billion years] He lay asleep with His internal potency for the sake of the further development - by means of His force called kâla [time] - of the worlds of the living beings who depend on fruitive activities. That role gave His body a bluish look [the blue of the refuge of the vivifying water]."

"For the performance of sacrifices, the sacrificed such as flowers and leaves and burning material [such as straw] is needed together with an altar as also a framework of time [a calendar e.g.] in order to follow the modes of nature."

"For those two kinds of people, o best one of Bhrigu, who thus either hear or describe this [narration] infused with the potency of the Lord with the Wheel [of Time] in His hand, will there not be the course of mundane existence based on karma."

"From the ether evolving from the subtlety of sound the evolution of the subtle element of touch takes place under the transforming impulse of time and thus the air is found as well as the sense organ for it and of that sense of touch the active perception."

"From the interaction of the air and its bio-electricity with the glance of the Lord [of the ether] there was by the mixture of time a transformation of the material energy that created the taste [for life] in water."

"From the unmanifested then by the interaction of time came about the Mahat-tattva [the complete of the Supreme, the cosmic intelligence]. This physical self that situated in the totality drives away darkness and ignorance is of an understanding nature and capable of creating complete [spiritual] universes."

"From You, with Your countless different names, forms and features, the learned ones derive their notion of numerical proportions, enumerations and compositions, the truth of which they verify by observation. Unto Him who thus discloses Himself in analysis, You, I offer my obeisances."

"Generally the calves and cows are pastured separately. The elderly men take care of the cows, and the small children see to the calves."

"Generally, everyone’s personal bodily measurement is calculated to be seven spans of his hand."

"Greed is there from His lower lip and affection from His upper lip, from His nose there is the bodily luster and from His touch animalistic love manifested. From His brows there is the Lord of Death [Yamarâja] but from His eyelashes there is eternal Time. May He, the One of all Prowess, be favorably disposed towards us. The material elements, their weaver [kâla, time], fruitive labor [karma], the modes of nature [the gunas] and the individual differences brought about by His creative potency [yoga-mâyâ], constitute a difficult to fathom completeness from which the great sages turn away [in their aversion against the delusional quality of the material world]. May He, the Controller of All and Everything, be contented with us."

"Groping in the dark o Vidura it with his contemplating this way thus came to pass that the enormity of the three-dimensional of time [tri-kâlika] came about which as a weapon [a cakra] inspires fear in the embodied, unborn soul by limiting his span of life to a hundred years."

"Having awakened from Your slumber on the bed of Ananta in the causal ocean, the great lotus of all the worlds appeared from Your navel like a banana tree does from its seed. That cosmic body of Yours, this universe agitated by the Time factor, is Your way [in the form of the modes and their divinities] of dealing with the material affair [with prakriti]."

"Having conquered the breathing process and having mastered the sitting postures, one should attentively, step by step, without slackening gather one's mind, concentrating on Me at appointed times."

"Having forsaken one's identification with the body, one must, at the end of one's time [of living], with a devotional attitude concentrate one's mind upon You who are transcendental to the material qualities. This forsaking constitutes the perfection of the practice of yoga as explained by the almighty Lord Brahmâ. A person driven by desire thinks in fear about the present and future of his children, wife and wealth, but anyone who knows about the hopelessness of this vehicle of time, considers such endeavors only a waste of time because the body is lost in the end."

"He [that solar lead of time], this supremely powerful Original Person who is Nârâyana Himself, the Supersoul of the three Vedic principles who is there for the benefit and karmic purification of all the worlds, is the cause sought by all saintly and Vedic knowing. He divides the year, as He thinks fit, in its twelve parts and arranges the six seasons beginning with spring with their different qualities."

"He considered everything created comprising his body, his wives, children, friends, his influence, riches, the pleasure grounds, the facilities for his women and the complete of the beauty of the earth with its oceans, as something bound to time and for that reason he left for Badarikâs'rama [the Himalayan forest]."

"He for whom out of fear the wind blows and this sun is shining, for whom out of fear Indra sends his rains and the heavenly bodies are shining; He because of whom out of fear the trees, creepers and herbs each in their own time bear flowers and produce their fruits; He afraid of whom the rivers flow and the oceans do not overflow, because of whom fire burns and earth with her mountains doen't submerge; He because of whom the sky provides air to the ones who breathe and under the control of whom the universe expands its body of the complete reality [mahat-tattva] with its seven layers [the seven kos'as or also dvîpas with their states of consciousness at the level of the physical, physiological, psychological, intellectual, the enjoying, the consciousness and the true self], He for whom out of fear the gods of creation and more in charge of the modes of nature of this world carry out their functions according to the yugas, He of whom afraid all the beings animate and inanimate find their control; that infinite, final operator of beginningless Time is the unchangeable Creator who creates people out of people and puts an end to the rule of death by means of death.'"

"He now, the Soul of all the worlds, who [in the form of the sun] has entered the wheel of time in a position between heaven and earth, passes through the twelve divisions of the year consisting of the months that are named after the signs of the zodiac. The scholars teach that they [according to the moon] are divided in bright and dark halves or [fifteen day] fortnights and that, following their instruction, the six portions of its orbit called ritu or season calculated to the stars each cover two and a quarter constellations [thus one speaks of twelve or more constellations]. They also say that the period of time the sun moves through [the visible] half of outer space is called an ayana."

"He saw the basic elements of nature and all their gross manifestations, as also the Time itself of the different yugas and kalpas and whatever other object of material use in the universe that was manifested as if real."

"He seeing the two like Time and Death approaching got afraid and confused left he the woman behind to run for his life."

"He should not rejoice in the death of the body that is certain, nor in the life of the body that is uncertain, instead he should observe the supreme [command] of Time that rules the manifestation and disappearance of all living beings."

"He who from within enters the living entities, annihilates by living entities and of everyone is the support; He is named Vishnu, the enjoyer of all sacrifices who is that time-factor which is the master of all masters."

"He who lives for the money is always afraid of the government, of thieves, of enemies, relatives, animals and birds, of beggars, of Time and of himself."

"He who was born on the lotus, then saw how the lotus upon which he was situated and the water surrounding it were moved by the wind that was propelled by the power of eternal Time."

"He who within abides in the form of the original person [purusha] and without in the form of time [the 24th element], exists by [exhibiting] His potencies as the Lord of All Opulence [Bhâgavan, the Fortunate One] for all living entities [and elements]."

"He, for long enjoying the heavens until his pious credit is used up and his piety is exhausted, against his will falls down from heaven, because he turned away from time [and thus was unsteady."

"He, the Lord, protects anyone who is of surrender. He protects those who are afraid of death against the so very strong serpent of time that chases someone endlessly with its terrifying force. I surrender to Him who is the refuge and for whom even death flees away.'"

"He, the One Supreme Lord, by His potencies creates the conditioned existence of all living beings as also the life of liberation [in devotional service]. He is the One responsible for the happiness and distress on the one hand and the position in which one [with Him] is elevated above time on the other hand."

"He, the supreme controller, the time factor, is Urukrama, the Lord of the Wide Steps [Vâmana] who is that one strength of one's mind and life, the steadiness of one's physical power and senses. He, the True Self, is the Supreme Master of the three modes who by His different natural forces creates, maintains and withdraws again the entire universe."

"He, worshiping [Vishnu] performed, with [also] respecting the different gods and purposes and in line with the instructions providing for everything that was needed, according to time and circumstance all kinds of ceremonial sacrifices a hundred times over with priests of the proper age and faith."

"Hiranyagarbha ['the one of the golden light or 'Brahmâ] and S'arva [he who kills by the arrow, viz. S'iva, are of You, the Controller of the Universe, of Your formlessness of Time, but the instrument in creation and annihilation."

"His awareness [the Lord] is for no reason, nor on its own nor due to some other agency, in its qualities ever disrupted by the destructive and creative that is caused by the time of this universe, He, the Controller without a Second, whose consciousness is unaffected by hindrances, material activities and their consequences and the modes and their flow of changes [kles'a, karma and guna], is by someone else [ignorantly] considered as being covered by His own expansions of prâna and other elements, just like the sun is being covered by clouds, snow or eclipses.'"

"His individual body is this gross material world in which we experience all that belongs to the past, the present and the future of this universe in existence."

"His veins are the rivers and the plants and trees are the hairs on the body of the Universal Form, o King. The air is His omnipotent breathing, the passing of the ages, Time, is His movement and the constant operation of the modes of material nature is His activity."

"How can one, entangled in the modes of nature undertake anything [like begetting children], if one doesn't understand the instructions of the scriptures of the Father that tell one how to put an end to the material way of life?'"

"How is this body, which is made out of the five elements [fire, water, air, earth and ether] and is controlled by time, materially motivated action and the modes of nature [kâla, karma and the gunas], capable of protecting others when it is just as well bitten by that snake?"

"How much real happiness have the sensual pleasure and the men who satisfied my senses provided? To have an eye on a wife or the gods [even] has all, spread over time, a beginning and an end."

"I am the goal of the ones seeking progress, the Time of those who exert control, the modes of nature I am as well, and also am I the equilibrium and the natural virtue in the pious."