Brihajjataka 27

English (machine translation) 27

Language: English

27.1

Wrapped around the waist with a white cloth, dark-complexioned, capable as if to protect, / fierce, holding a raised battle-axe, with red eyes: such is the man [of the first decan of Aries].

27.2

Mindful of red garments, ornaments, and food, jar-shaped, horse-faced, tormented by thirst, / and resting on one foot: in the middle of Aries, / this form of the decan is taught by the Greeks.

27.3

Cruel, skilled in the arts, tawny, eager for action, of broken vows, with raised staff in hand, / wearing red garments, wrathful: / the third decan in Aries is so described.

27.4

With curled and cut hair, pot-bodied, with burnt garments, thirsting and yearning for food, / longing for ornaments: / this woman is the form of the first [decan] in Taurus.

Skilled in fields, grain, houses, cows, and the arts, clever with the plough and cart, / carrying a bull-like shoulder, intent on hunger, goat-faced, wearing soiled garments [is the middle decan of Taurus].

27.6

With an elephant-like body, pale tusks, feet like a śarabha, yellowish-brown form, / mind agitated by desire for sheep and deer: / this one has reached the end of the Taurus forest.

27.7

A woman longing for needlework, endowed with beauty, devoted to ornaments and crafts, / devoid of children, with raised arms, in her menses: / those who know describe this as the first decan of the third sign.

27.8

Standing in a garden, armored, bearing a bow, heroic, weapon-wielding, with a face like Garuḍa, / occupied with thoughts of play, children, adornment, and wealth / in the middle of the sign of Gemini.

27.9

Adorned like Varuṇa with many gems, with tied quiver and armor, bearing a bow, / learned in the arts of dance and music, a maker of poetry: / at the end of the sign Gemini.

27.10

Carrying leaves, roots, and fruits, with the body of an elephant, living in the forest on the Malaya mountain, with legs like an eight-legged śarabha, / with a face like a boar and the neck of a horse: this they declare to be the first form in Cancer.

27.11

Adorned with lotuses on her head, accompanied by serpents, a woman standing in a dense forest cries out, / resting against the branch of a palāśa tree: she stands in the middle [decan] of the sign of Cancer.

27.12

To obtain ornaments for his wife, he travels by boat across the ocean, enveloped by serpents, / adorned with golden ornaments, having a flattened face: this is the final [decan] in Cancer.

27.13

Upon a silk-cotton tree sit a vulture and a jackal; a dog and a man dressed in dirty clothes, / deprived of mother and father, weeps: this is described as the first form of Leo.

27.14

A man with the form of a horse, with a garland of white flowers upon his crown, wearing a black antelope hide and a woolen blanket, / hard to approach like a lion, grasping a bow, with the tip of his nose curved downwards: this is the middle [decan] of the king of beasts.

27.15

A bearded man with the face of a bear, acting like a monkey, carries a staff, fruit, and meat, / with curly hair: this is the final one-third of the king of beasts.

27.16

A young maiden holding a jar filled with flowers, her body covered in garments smeared with dirt, / desiring a union with clothes and wealth, longs for the house of her teacher: this is the first [decan] of Virgo.

27.17

A dark-complexioned man holding a pen, his head wrapped in a cloth, keeping accounts of income and expense, / bears a large bow, with his body covered in hair: this is the middle [decan].

27.18

A fair woman, concealed by fine garments whose edges are cleanly washed, raised up, holding a pot and a ladle in her hand, / devout and headed toward a temple: they say this is the final one-third of Virgo.

27.19

A man in a shop inside a street, holding a balance, skilled in weighing and measuring, with counterweights in his hand, / deliberates upon the merchandise and its price: the Greeks declare this to be the first form of Libra.

27.20

Holding a water-pot and wishing to fly off, a man with the face of a vulture, / hungry and thirsty, thinks in his heart of his wife and sons: thus is the one situated in the middle of Libra.

27.21

Frightening the beasts in the forest, decorated with gems, carrying a golden quiver and armor, / bearing fruit and meat, a man having the form of a monkey: this is proclaimed by the Greeks at the end of Libra.

27.22

A charming woman, stripped of her clothes and ornaments, approaches the shore from the great ocean, / fallen from her station, with her feet bound by serpents: this is the first [decan] of the sign Scorpio.

27.23

A woman desiring the comforts of home for the sake of her husband, her body covered with serpents, / with a body like a tortoise and a pot: this they declare to be the middle form of Scorpio.

27.24

With a broad, flat face like a tortoise, terrifying dogs, deer, boars, and jackals, / the king of beasts guards the Malaya mountain region: this is the final [decan] of Scorpio.

27.25

With a human face and a body like a horse, holding a stretched bow, dwelling in a hermitage, / he protects the offerings fit for sacrifices and the ascetics: this is the first one-third of Sagittarius.

27.26

A charming woman, of the color of campaka flowers and gold, sits upon an auspicious seat, of middling appearance, / picking through pearls and gems from the ocean: this is designated as the middle one-third of Sagittarius.

27.27

A bearded man, radiant like gold and the campaka flower, holding a staff and seated upon an excellent seat, / wears silk garments and an antelope skin: this is the third form of the ninth sign.

27.28

Covered in hair, with tusks like a makara, with a body resembling a pig and an iron measure, / holding ropes, a net, and bonds, having a terrifying face: such is the first [decan] of Capricorn.

27.29

Skilled in the arts, with wide eyes like lotus petals, dark-complexioned, seeking various curiosities, / a woman adorned with ornaments and wearing iron earrings: she is designated in the middle of Capricorn.

27.30

With a body like a kinnara, wearing a woolen blanket, equipped with a quiver, a bow, and armor, / he carries upon his shoulder a water-pot decorated with jewels: this is the last [decan] of the sign Capricorn.

27.31

His mind disturbed by thoughts of obtaining oil, liquor, water, and food, wearing a woolen blanket, / dressed in garments made of silk-threads and wearing an antelope skin, with a face like a vulture: this is the first [decan] of the Water-bearer.

27.32

In a forest, near a burnt cart and a silk-cotton tree, a woman gathers pieces of iron; / covered with a dirty cloth, she carries pots on her head: this is the middle [decan].

27.33

Dark-complexioned, with hairy ears, wearing a diadem, he carries [goods] together with bark, leaves, resins, and fruits; / moving around pots mingled with iron wares: this is the one situated at the end of the Water-bearer.

27.34

His hands occupied with sacrificial ladles, vessels, pearls, gems, and conches, adorned with jewelry, / sailing in a boat across the reservoir of waters to obtain ornaments for his wife: this is the first [decan] of Pisces.

27.35

Approaching a vessel with very high flags and banners, a woman having a face colored like the campaka flower / goes to the shore of the ocean accompanied by her retinue: this has been declared by the sages as the second one-third of Pisces.

27.36

Near a chasm, his limbs enveloped by serpents, a man destitute of clothes in the forest, / his inner self agitated by thieves and fire, cries out: this is the one gone to the end of Pisces.

Other recensions (1)

Bṛhajjātaka (another edition) — Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Bṛhajjātaka — Varāhamihira, Sanskrit