Bhagwat Puran Third Skandh: Vidura and Uddhava, Varaha Avatar and Kapila's Teaching

The third skandh begins with the great soul Vidura and ends with the teaching of Lord Kapila, also called the Kapila Gita.

Chapters 1 to 4: Vidura and Uddhava

Before the Mahabharata war Vidura advised Dhritarashtra to give the Pandavas their share, but Duryodhana insulted him and had him driven from the court. Vidura went on pilgrimage. On the bank of the Yamuna he met Uddhava, Krishna's friend. Vidura asked after everyone, and Uddhava, weeping, told of the end of the Yadavas and Krishna's departure. Krishna had left a message that Vidura should receive knowledge from the sage Maitreya.

Chapters 5 to 12: Maitreya's teaching and creation

At Haridwar Maitreya explained to Vidura the order of creation: from the Lord came nature, Mahat, ego and the elements; from His navel the lotus, and on it Brahma; Brahma's austerity, his praise and then his creation; the measures of time; and the appearance of the Kumaras, Narada, Rudra, Manu and Shatarupa.

Chapter 13: the Varaha avatar

Svayambhuva Manu asked Brahma where his people would live, since the earth lay sunk in the waters of dissolution. Just then a boar the size of a thumb came out of Brahma's nostril and in moments grew as large as an elephant, then a mountain. Lord Varaha dived into the waters and raised the earth on his tusks.

Chapters 14 to 19: Jaya, Vijaya and Hiranyaksha

Diti asked the sage Kashyapa for a child at the inauspicious hour of dusk, and two mighty asuras were born, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. In a former life they were Jaya and Vijaya, gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, who once stopped the Kumaras, sages who looked like children, from entering. The sages cursed them to become asuras. The Lord said that by being his enemies for three births they would quickly return to him (Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, Shishupala and Dantavakra).

Hiranyaksha had dragged the earth into the waters and went to challenge Varuna, who told him that Vishnu was the only warrior worthy of him. As Varaha lifted the earth, Hiranyaksha fought him fiercely, and the Lord slew him.

Chapters 20 to 24: Kardama and Devahuti

The sage Kardama practised austerities for ten thousand years, and the Lord told him that Svayambhuva Manu would give him his daughter Devahuti in marriage and that He would be born as their son. Devahuti served her husband for years. By yogic power Kardama created a flying palace and they lived a happy married life. Nine daughters were born, married to great sages, and then the Lord himself came as their son, Kapila. Kardama took sannyasa and went to the forest.

Chapters 25 to 33: the Kapila Gita

Devahuti said to her son Kapila: "I am weary of the pleasures of the senses; give me the knowledge that removes the darkness of delusion." Lord Kapila taught:

• The mind is the cause of bondage and liberation: a mind attached to objects is bondage; a mind fixed on God is freedom.
• The company of the good: "Satam prasangan mama virya samvido bhavanti hrit karna rasayanah kathah": in the company of the saintly, stories of My deeds delight heart and ear, and from them arise faith, love and devotion in turn (3.25.25).
• The principles of Sankhya: nature, the Person and the twenty-four principles, so that the self can be known as distinct from the body.
• Kinds of devotion: tamasic, rajasic, sattvic, and highest, devotion free of the gunas, in which the devotee does not even ask for liberation, only for service.
• God in all beings: one who worships an image while disrespecting living beings worships in vain; honouring all is true worship.
• The soul's journey: the pain of the womb, birth, childhood, attachments, old age and death are described, so that detachment may awaken.

Devahuti practised accordingly and attained perfection in that very hermitage, which became known as Siddhapada (tradition links it to Siddhpur in Gujarat). Lord Kapila took leave of his mother and went north-east, where the ocean gave him a place (the tradition of Kapila Muni's ashram at Gangasagar).

What this skandh teaches

• Even if speaking the truth brings insult, do not abandon dharma; Vidura chose pilgrimage and satsang.
• Looking down on others in pride, as Jaya and Vijaya did, leads to a fall.
• Married life too can be sadhana, as Kardama and Devahuti lived it.
• Good company brings faith, faith brings love, and love brings devotion.
• Worship of God is incomplete without respect for all beings.