Narapatijayacarya 9: kūrmacakram

Oṃ.

Now, the Tortoise Diagram (kūrmacakra).

I shall proclaim the Tortoise Diagram as spoken in the Kośalāgama, / by the mere understanding of which the devastation of the realm is known.

Upon a single part of whose peak the thirty-three crores of deities dwell, / Mount Meru is heard of in the middle of the earth, but is not seen.

Such are the eight mountains, the oceans, the continents, and the directional elephants; / all these are borne by the earth. Hear of him by whom she is supported:

The earth with its oceans was borne by the Boar upon his tusk, / which shone like a clod of clay on the tooth of one digging cyperus grass.

That Boar, possessed of such a vast body, stood upon the head of Śeṣa / above his crest-jewel, resembling a mere mosquito.

Even Śeṣa of such a nature, coiled and situated upon the earth, / shone upon a single part of the back of the tortoise like a lotus fibre.

Body, shoulders, head, tail, claws, feet, and so forth: / I declare them according to the measurement of that tortoise with care: / his body stands measuring a hundred thousand billions of leagues (yojanas).

His tail measures half of that, and the two bellies half of the tail; / the neck measures ten thousand crores, the head seven crores.

The distance between his eyes has the measure of one crore; / his mouth is two crores, and twice that for his feet.

The tips of the claws of his toes extend up to ten thousand leagues.

Thus the measure of the tortoise was told in the Ādiyāmala; / resting upon it is the earth endowed with the seven continents.

One should draw the diagram in the form of a tortoise, endowed with all limbs, / having its mouth in the eastern section and its tail in the western circle.

[On] 'kūrmacakraṃ pravakṣyāmi': clear.

One should draw a piercing line east-to-west, and a piercing line north-to-south, / a piercing line north-east to south-west, and a piercing line south-east to north-west.

Situated in the navel, head, four feet, belly, and tail, / marked by three asterisms each, one should carefully contemplate Saturn therein.

Excessive rain, drought, locusts, mice, parrots, / one's own army, and an enemy's army: these are remembered as the seven plagues.

Kṛttikā, Rohiṇī, and Saumya: the triad situated in the navel of the tortoise; / Sāketa, Mithilā, Campā, Kauśāmbī, as well as Kauśikī,

Ahicchatra, Gayā, Vindhya, Antarvedī, and Mekhalā, / Kānyakubja, and Prayāga: the Middle Country perishes.

Raudra, Punarvasu, and Puṣya are situated in the head of the tortoise; / Gauḍa with Hastibandha, Pañcarāṣṭra, and Kāmarūpa,

Carredrī likewise is to be known, and Magadha just so, / the bank of the Revā, and Nepāla: the Eastern Country perishes.

[On] 'pūrvāparam': clear.

(Pūrvāṣāḍhā, Ārdrā, and Alalā: the piercing of the three is direct; / in Mūla, of Rohiṇī and Punarvasu; the piercing belongs to Jupiter, the Moon, and Indra's deity.)

Āśleṣā, Maghā, and Pūrvaphalgunī are in the foot located in the south-east; / Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, and the eastern Kosalas [perish].

Ḍāhalā, Jayantī, and likewise Sulaṃjikā, / Uḍḍiyāna, and Varāḍa: the southeastern region is destroyed.

Uttaraphalgunī, Hasta, and Citrā fall upon the southern flank: / Dardura, Mahendra, Vanavāsa along with Siṃhala,

Tāpī, Bhīmarathī, Laṅkā, Trikūṭa, and likewise Malaya, / Śrīparvata, and Kiṣkindhā—these are destroyed in the south.

Svātī, Viśākhā, and Maitra are in the southwestern quarter of the tortoise: / Nāsikya, Surāṣṭra, and likewise Dhṛtamālavaka,

Paryalī, Prakāśa, Bhṛgukaccha, and Koṅkaṇa, / Kheṭāpura, and Moṃṭera—regions such as these are destroyed.

Jyeṣṭhā, Mūla, and Āṣāḍhā reside in the tail of the tortoise: / Pārāvata, Marutkaccha, Arvatī, and Eastern Mālava,

Pārāsvara, Barbara, the island, Saurāṣṭra, and Saindhava; / those situated on water and Strīrājya are destroyed when the tail is afflicted.

The three asterisms beginning with Uttarāṣāḍhā fall upon the foot in the northwestern quarter: / Gurjara by name, Yāmuna, Marudeśa, Sarasvatī,

Jālandhara, Varāṭa, together with the Sandy Ocean, / and Meruśṛṅga are destroyed, as well as whichever others are situated in that corner.

The triad beginning with Śatabhiṣaj is situated on the northern flank: / Nepāla, Kīra, Kaśmīra, Gṛñjana, Khurasāna,

Māthura, Mlecchadeśa, Khaśa, and Kedāramaṇḍala; / those regions relying on the snows and those situated in the north are destroyed.

Revatī, Aśvinī, and Yāmya fall upon the foot in the northeastern quarter: / Gaṅgādvāra, Kurukṣetra, Śrīkaṇṭha, Hastināpura,

Aśvacakra, Ekapāda, and likewise Gajakarṇa— / all of them are destroyed when Saturn is in the northeastern quarter.

“āśleṣā ca...” and so forth is clear.

Wherever Saturn occupies one's own country, there one should protect with effort. / When it stands in a foreign country, the lord of the earth should wage war.

Wherever it stands, it afflicts there, and likewise in the place of astrological piercing; / Saturn falling on the name asterism of a region brings defeat, without a doubt.

Thus ends the Earth Tortoise diagrammatic wheel in the Svarodaya of the Yāmala. / “sauriḥ svadeśago...” and so on is easily understood.

Thus ends the Earth Tortoise diagrammatic wheel. / The Earth Tortoise has been declared, beginning with Kṛttikā and ending with Yama; / one should pierce the fourfold tortoise beginning with the respective asterisms of the country and so on.

The tortoise diagrammatic wheels consist of region, city, field, and house. / Having drawn the diagrammatic wheel as before, beginning with the name asterism of the region, / there is the Country Tortoise; wherever Saturn is, from that follows destruction.

Thus ends the Country Tortoise. / “pṛthvī kūrma...” and so on is easily understood.

Having first taken the lunar mansion of the city, one should then draw it for a city. / In the place of Saturn there is harm, and likewise in the place of astrological piercing.

Thus ends the second tortoise. / Having drawn the Village Tortoise beginning with the name asterism of the village / as before, wherever Saturn resides, in the middle and other parts, one should predict rupture.

Thus ends the City Tortoise diagrammatic wheel. / For an agricultural field, having first taken the field's asterisms and drawing the tortoise as it stands: / in the place of Saturn there is ruin, and great fear arises.

Thus ends the Field Tortoise diagrammatic wheel. / Now, the House Tortoise diagrammatic wheel: / having drawn the House Tortoise facing toward the door of the house, / having begun with the name asterism of the house, good and bad should be examined.

Saturn gone to the middle of the house causes grief and distress; / at the door, it should be known as bringing lightning; in the southeast, it gives fire;

in the south, it should be known as causing death; in the southwest, there is fear from demons; / in the west, it should be known as bestowing auspiciousness; in the northwest, it brings emptiness;

in the north, it bestows gain of wealth; in the northeast, it grants all accomplishments. / When Saturn possesses superior strength, it is evil; when possessing little vigor, it brings auspiciousness.

When the son of the Sun afflicts the five tortoises at the same time, / in that place a great obstacle arises, of this there is no doubt.

When Saturn enters an inauspicious position, a rite of pacification must be performed there, / as taught in the Yāmala Tantra, which destroys all obstacles.

The Tortoise diagrammatic wheel, the great diagrammatic wheel, was declared in the Ādiyāmala; / through it, knowledge concerning the three times comes to rest in one's palm.

Thus the five tortoise diagrammatic wheels in the Svarodaya of the Narapatijayacaryā are completed.