August 21, 2026
ahni prakāśamasi rakttavapurdinānte
yāmāsu kṛṣṇamatha cā ‘khilavasturikttaṁ
nityaṁ na kiñcidapi sadvahasīti māyāṁ
na vyoma vetti viduṣo ‘pi viceṣṭitaṁ te (17)
THE MINISTERS AND OTHERS said:
Behold, O king, the rulers of the boundaries of the earth engaged in battle. The celestial nymphs are driving the space vehicles carrying away those noble ones who are slain in battle. This is considered as the best of all fruits of living: that one should live a life of prosperity, health and wealth which does not incur the displeasure of society and should engage oneself in righteous warfare for the sake of others. He who kills another when the latter comes to fight with him, without transgressing the moral code that applies to warfare, he is a hero and he goes to heaven.
Behold the sky, O king, where the mighty gods and demons appear in the form of stars, which is also the field for the movement of mighty planets and stars like the sun and the moon. Fools regard it as empty void even now. In spite of the movement of all these stars and planets, in spite of the battle between gods (light) and demons (darkness), this space is not polluted or tainted or altered in any way.
O space! Though you bear the sun on your lap, and even lord Nārāyaṇa and all his divine retinue, yet you have not abandoned the darkness that resides in you. This is indeed a great mystery. Yet, we consider the space wise and enlightened as it is unaffected by the defects and shortcomings of the worlds which abide in it (the space).
O space! During the day you are bright. At dawn and dusk you are crimson. At night you are dark. You are devoid of materiality. You do not hold or bear the burden of any substance. Hence you are regarded as Māyā. No one, not even the learned and the wise, can truly understand you and your function. O space, he who owns nothing achieves everything. You are pure void within yourself and yet you cause everything to grow and to be exalted.
In space there are no cities nor villages, no forests nor parks, no trees nor shade, yet the sun courses through space every day. Truly, the noble ones do their duty without fail, however difficult and irksome it may be.
Though apparently doing nothing, space regulates the growth of plants and trees by preventing them from excessive growth. That in which infinite universes are born and into which they dissolve – how can that space be considered devoid of everything? There is something wrong with the scholars.