The Slaying of Śiśupāla 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

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While dwelling in the blessed abode of Vasudeva to rule the world, / Hari, the Lord of Śrī and Abode of the universe, saw descending from the sky the sage who was the son of Brahmā.

"The course of the thighless charioteer's [chariot] goes obliquely; the upward blazing of the fire is well known; / but this splendour falls downward, spreading everywhere—what is it?" Thus people watched in bewilderment.

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First it was determined: "A mass of brilliance"; then, as its form became apparent: "An embodied being"; / next: "A man with distinct limbs"; and gradually the Lord recognised him: "This is Nārada."

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Passing beneath great fresh clouds, he shone pale as heaped camphor powder, / bearing an evident likeness for a moment to Śambhu, white with ashes, who had briefly flung off the elephant skin;

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bearing matted locks that possessed the radiance of lotus filaments / and shone like autumn moonbeams, like rows of creepers on the monarch of mountains, grown tall upon snowy plateaus at the end of their maturation;

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endowed with a yellowish girdle of muñja grass, brilliant in white splendour, wearing a black antelope skin with the hue of collyrium, / mocking the form of the Dark-Robed One whose lower garment is bound with a golden belt;

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wearing a sacred thread made of fibres from the creepers of golden trees, long like the feathers of the king of birds, / like a mass of lightning flashes atop a cloud bright with snow at the end of the rainy season;

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glowing with an attractive deer pelt whose naturally variegated, lustrous, fine hair clung to his body, / which was white like pieces of gleaming lotus root, like Indra's mount, the lord of elephants, with its housing;

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shining with a rosary of clear crystal, whose front half appeared filled with coral / through the reflection of his radiant thumb and nail, wounded by the constant plucking of his lute strings;

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glancing again and again at his Mahatī [lute], whose distinctive melodic progressions of musical scales were made distinct / by the musical notes ringing from the touch of the wind, their microtone clusters individually divided;

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turning back the denizens of the sky who were following him with reverent bows, that treasury of knowledge of sacrifices transcending Indra / reached the dwelling of the Discus-Bearer, fair as a great sapphire, who had shattered the power of the Daityas.

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Before that treasury of asceticism, resembling the setting sun, could alight upon the earth, / Acyuta swiftly rose high from his seat, like a lightning-bearing cloud rising from a mountain.

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Then, as the earth's surface was barely supported below by the serpents with their hoods raised with effort, / the son of the Creator placed his two feet upon the ground, facing the Son of Devakī.

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The Primal Person duly honoured him, worthy of respectful guest-offering, with a respectful guest-offering and other hospitality; / for wise men do not desire to visit the homes of those devoid of merit out of affection.

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Before the people had ceased gazing upon the two standing like mountains of snow and collyrium, / the sage made the sage sit down on a seat offered with his own hand.

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Sitting upon a seat before the Slayer of Kaṃsa, who had the lustre of a great sapphire slab, / he surpassed the loveliness of the moon rising high at dusk over the mountain of sunrise.

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Having paid him honour, the favourite of sacrificers felt exceedingly pleased as the sage was gratified; / for noble souls are ever eager to win over the virtuous through hospitable service.

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Taking in his hand the waters brought from all sacred places and poured out from the water-pot by the seer, / waters exceedingly potent in destroying the flood of sins, Hari received them with bowed head.

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When, by the sage's leave, he whose body was dark as a fresh cloud sat upon the golden throne, / that seat then surpassed the beauty of a peak of Mount Sumeru endowed with beauty by the Jambū river.

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With his bright garments resembling heated gold, and his complexion dark like a dense cloud, / he shone like the ocean embraced by the flames of the submarine fire.

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Mingling with the mass of radiance of the Discus-Handed, the fiery energies of the seer shone / like the rays of the moon at night shining between the swaying leaves of a tree.

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Streaked mutually with rays dark as blooming tāpiccha flowers / and white as the pollen of saptacchada blossoms, their flawless complexions seemed to become of a single hue.

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In the body of the Foe of Kaiṭabha, in which the worlds had once rested expanded when he had contracted himself at the cosmic dissolution, / the joys born of the arrival of the wealthy in asceticism could not be contained.

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Casting toward the approaching sage his two eyes whose lustre was increased by the expansion of joy, / like a lake of water lilies opening at the touch of bright rays, he became evidently lotus-eyed.

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Then Acyuta, making the white body of the sage even whiter with moonbeams in the guise of his rows of teeth, / spreading like [whitewash over] a palace, spoke words accompanied by a pure smile:

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"The sight of you removes sin in the present, is the cause of future good, and is brought about by good deeds performed in the past; / it reveals the worthiness of embodied beings across all three times.

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That peerless darkness which the sun, with his thousand rays sufficient for the world, could not restrain, / has been forcefully driven away by you with fiery energies that have become innumerable.

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Created by the Creator of creatures, who works for the welfare of subjects and is free from agitation by depositing in a worthy vessel, / you are a great and imperishable treasury of the Vedas, like a treasury of riches, even though constantly utilized.

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By this mere sight of you, O sage, which has wiped away my sin, I have attained my purpose; / nevertheless, I wish to hear your weighty words; or rather, who can ever be satisfied with what is good?

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Though you are desireless, that boldness which prompts me to say 'Tell the purpose of your coming' / is produced in us by the very arrival of you, our venerable elder, having dispelled our hesitation."

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To him who spoke thus, that ascetic said: "It should not be spoken thus by you, O Puruṣottama; / what weightier duty is there even for yogins than this: that you yourself should be perceived directly?

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For wise men who have set out upon the path to liberation, which is blocked by the rising thieves of passion and exceedingly difficult to traverse because it is seldom trodden by ordinary people, / you are the foremost guide, an unfailing refuge.

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Those who know the past know you to be the ancient cosmic person, indifferent, grasped with difficulty by an inward vision / with restrained minds, beyond transformation and distinct from primordial nature.

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As the sole master architect of the universe, you effortlessly lifted up and set down the surface of the earth, the single roof of the home of the serpents, / high upon the pillar-heads of the Lord of Serpents."

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By whom can your greatness, O Ancient Embodiment, alone be known, you who have no other teacher? / Even having taken human birth, you surpass the gods and asuras through your virtues that sever existence.

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You descended from heaven, they say, wishing to lighten this [earth] shattered under excessive weight; / now that you bear the triad of worlds, the earth is made by you far heavier still.

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If you had not descended to the surface of the earth to destroy with your own energy the haters of the world, / then, unperceived even by those in contemplation, how, O Lord, could you have become an object of sight to those like me?

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You alone, O All-Sustainer, are able to protect this universe afflicted by those insolent with pride; / who except the sun would be capable of washing away darkness soiled by masses of nocturnal shadow?

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The praise that people offer to you for the slaughter of kings like Kaṃsa, as though of mere deer, / is rather an insult, O Hari, to you, the foe of the elephant-like asura led by Hiraṇyākṣa.

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You are indeed yourself engaged, without wearying, in crushing by degrees the enemies of the worlds; / nevertheless, my mind, greedy to converse with you in private, impels me to garrulity.

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Therefore, that word commanded by Indra for the welfare of the universe, which is spoken for a moment by me, / may that be heard by you, O Upendra, who have assumed the yoke in all affairs of the Foe of Ahi.

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There was a son of Diti of brilliant radiance, not a realm for fears born of adversaries, / whom, destroying the meaning of the word 'Indra' for Hari, they call Kaśipu preceded by Hiraṇya.

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Full of jealousy, having long attained primacy among those named 'asura', / the swift-moving one placed in the minds of the sky-dwellers an unprecedented advent of fear.

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Because abandoning the four gods who are guardians of the quarters, royal fortunes, captivated by passion, attended upon him, / from then on they incurred the loud, disgraceful rumor: 'They are fickle.'

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Fortified cities, sharpened weapons, valiant armies, and dense coats of mail, / were made by hosts of celestials, fearing him, to bear thenceforth only the fruit of personal adornment.

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Wandering through different worlds, whichever direction he, the asylum of splendour, resorted to at will, / to that direction obeisance was made at the three junctures of the day by the thirty gods, with hands glancing against the gems of their crowns.

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By you, O Nṛsiṃha, bearing an immense leonine body that split clouds with the mass of its mane, / his chest-cleaving was returned with claws that broke upon contact with the breasts of lovely women.

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Then, seeking diversion through battle with the thirty gods for the itch born of pride, / he became a rakṣas exceedingly terrifying, named Rāvaṇa, the destroyer of heaven's protection.

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Wishing to become the lord of the three worlds, about to cut off his tenth head out of extreme devotion, / he considered the favour of the Wielder of the Pināka, conforming to his wish, as an obstacle to the accomplishment of his desired end.

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Lifting up the best of mountains, he paid the price for the boon-granting of the Trident-Bearer / with the pleasure of an embrace freely taken in agitation by the trembling Daughter of the Snowy Mountain.

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‘Assault the city! Cut down the Nandana garden! Steal the jewels! Carry off the heavenly nymphs!’— / thus waging war with the Foe of Namuci, the mighty one caused daily restlessness in heaven.

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Pursued by him in battle, the enemy of Bala praised solely the speed of Uccaiḥśravas, / not the playful gait of the lord of Abhramu, nor the wondrous stride of his steed.

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Unable with agitated eyes to endure the sight of him, as if of the thousand-rayed sun, / Kauśika, entering into a cave-dwelling of Mount Hemādri, spent his days in fear.

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The unendurable Vaiṣṇava discus of the Lord of the universe, scattering trembling sparks of fire / upon striking the large and rock-hard neck of the gods' enemy, did not advance across his throat.

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With conch-shell broken, constantly muddied by pride like an elephant of human nature, / did he not shake the mind [and lake Mānasa] of him whose essence is human, stripping its depth and taking away the Puṣpaka [lotus]?

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In battles, the serpent-king ropes hurled at him by Pracetas, / turned back by an angry roar, rushed in fear swiftly to the neck of the thrower himself.

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The buffalo of the lord of the departed, having the circle of his horns uprooted by him to make a bow, / bore his head heavily bent with pain out of immense shame, even though its great burden had been taken away.

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Remaining in apprehension even in the summer season, touching with tips of rays that did not fall with all their power, / the maker of the day adorned his wives with pearl-like drops of non-sweat water.

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With all his digits complete, not leaving the house, clever at inciting passionate women, / did not the moon provide assistance in pleasure for that voluptuous one as he spread his delights?

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Surely out of a desire to make ear-ornaments suited for refined play, by that proud one / the single tusk of Vināyaka was uprooted, which to this day never grows again.

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Though his fault was evident in shaking the garments of women in the inner apartments, having eyes roving upon their thighs, / the wind was beloved to him; and the gods, afflicted though faultless, trembled after him.

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Constantly eclipsed by his greatness that surpassed that of all people, the fire Tanūnapāt, / greatest of splendours, bore smoke doubled in thinness by tears born of mental anguish.

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Abandoning their nature of piercing another's vitals, going straight, casting off the fault of having two tongues, / the families of hooded serpents, having ears, did not assume deviousness, so as to worship that blazing one.

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Clashing against his host of elephants, their rut-water vanished from their temples, / the elephants of the quarters, taking to the directions never to return, attained the true meaning of their name for a long time.

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Not even by breezes moist with water, tender with drops of sandalwood water, was his hot body cooled, / as it was constantly cooled by the hot sighs of the imprisoned wives of the king of gods.

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The rainy season combining with heat, the cold season with autumn, and the winter with the beauty of spring, / the six seasons, bearing an arrangement of blossoms, dwelt as permanent householders before him.

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Though knowing him to be non-human, unborn, born in the lineage of Manu, powerful, and the future end of himself, / he did not release Jānakī; for the proud possess pride alone as their wealth.

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Does your honor, as the son of Daśaratha, remember that [foe] who abducted your wife from the forest, / whom, having crossed the ocean whose moving waters were dammed up, you will slay near Laṅkā?

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Attaining another birth after that, bent on deceit like an actor donning a role, / with concealed true self under the name Śiśupāla, he is known today as a child to others.

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As a boy he was four-armed in body, with a face resembling the full moon and three-eyed; / as a youth having overwhelmed kings with his hands, he is now undoubtedly the sun in fiery energy surpassing all with his rays.

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He himself dispenses favour and check to gods, Daityas, and Rākṣasas at will; / he laughs at Daśānana and the rest, who received superiority of valour gifted by worshipped deities.

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Through arrogance of strength even now, as before, the world is tormented by him who seeks conquest; / like a faithful wife, innate nature, ever unwavering, follows a man even into other lives.

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Therefore make this transgressor of the command of the Creator a guest in the abode of Kīnāśa; / for the wicked, whose disasters ripen through impure conduct, are to be slain by the virtuous.

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May Purandara's heart, having its enduring firmness firmly restored through the removal of conflict, / once again gain the capacity to endure the deep embrace and crushing of the plump breasts of Paulomī, bristling with horripilation!

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When Hari had said 'Om', and the celestial sage, uttering this speech, flew up into the sky before him, bearing the splendour of the moon, / a comet, harbinger of incessant destruction to enemies, made its home upon [Hari's] face under the pretext of a knit brow, in anger against the king of Cedi.

Commentaries (2)

Sarvaṅkaṣā — Mallinātha Sūri, Sanskrit
Śiśupālavadhaṭīkā — Mallinātha, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Śiśupālavadha — Māgha, Sanskrit