The Slaying of Śiśupāla 14

English (machine translation) 14

Language: English

14.1

Pouring forth speech, as if spilling affection with his blossoming glance, / the king, focusing his mind on the sacrifice, spoke with sincere words to the best of speakers:

‘Another does not feel ashamed when something agreeable is spoken to him; the shame belongs only to the speaker. / Yet, speaking what is pleasing to you, one feels no shame; here, it is Your Honour alone who feel shy.

14.3

Another finds satisfaction in false praise, and such praises are easily obtained by embodied beings; / for you, no word of praise is untrue, O worthy of hymns! Yet you are not satisfied by it.

14.4

Even when speaking extensively in your praise, a person does not become a liar; / for in you, unstained by faults, O lord of all, the complete treasures of every virtue exist.

14.5

It is that vast majesty of your rich majesty, lasting into the distant future, / because of which this land of Bharata, bearing its heavy burden, remains today under my control.

14.6

Bestow grace upon me by your permission, as I wish to perform the seven-fold sacrifice; / O Lord, once you have become the root, the state of a tree made of dharma is attained by me.

14.7

Having collected the ritual implements, desiring to perform a pure sacrifice, / you are awaited by me like the wind by a farmer wishing to winnow his heaps of grain.

14.8

Now, through your presence, my faultless sacrifice will be free of obstacles; / when the hot-rayed sun has risen, who is capable of destroying the glory of day?

14.9

The wealth which I obtained righteously, protected, and multiplied— / going to worthy recipients, I shall distribute it according to rule: accept it, and I shall offer it into the fire.

14.10

Or rather, my dear friend, make the offerings yourself first; then, when you have taken the final purificatory bath / and drunk the Soma, I shall become one who has sacrificed in the highest desired rite.

14.11

What is to be done with this wealth acquired through your grace? Let it be disposed of! / Command me, O ruler of the three worlds! Along with my younger brothers, I am obedient to you.’

14.12

To him who was speaking thus, Viṣṭaraśravas, making himself heard by all the kings, / then replied, his form variegated by the garland of his teeth's rays:

14.13

‘Now, by the excellence of your own statecraft alone, you possess immense splendour that has subdued all kings; / does health attained by following wholesome regimens become the virtue of another?

14.14

Therefore, when you, a noble king, are present, who else should perform the sacrifice whose emblem is kingship? / Or when the earth was lifted up, whose fitness was there, saving the divine Boar?

14.15

Employ me at will in whatever tasks need to be done, even under heavy command; / and do not think me, devoted entirely to your purpose, to be any different from Dhanañjaya.

14.16

Whatever king does not perform service like a servant here in your sacrifice, / Sudarśana, the true friend of the worlds, will turn his body into a headless trunk.’

14.17

When he had spoken these words, the king said to Śauri: ‘While you, my supreme blessing, abide, all fortune is steadfast for me’; / and, experiencing great joy, he arose for the sacrifice.

14.18

Bearing the digit of the moon on his face, destroying the body of Kāma merely by sight, / bathed in spotless waters, he became the eighth form of the Eight-Formed Lord.

14.19

Possessing similarity to the Sāṅkhya Puruṣa, not performing the rites himself, / agency belonged to him through his witnessing of them, just as it belongs to the sensory organ functioning through its priest-like activities.

14.20

Those who knew the rules of sentences, through the invitatory verse loudly uttered without grammatical error, / and through the offering verse, relinquished the collection of substances in the name of the deity, as performers of the sacrifice.

14.21

Chanting along, those skilled in Sāman chanted the Sāman whose notes were arranged in seven divisions; / and there, wise scholars of truthful speech recited the sacred Ṛg and Yajur mantras.

14.22

Observed by the sacrificer's wife, who wore a girdle fashioned of darbha grass, / the oblations were poured by them into the fire consecrated by carrying forth and other rites.

14.23

The officiants skilled in the adaptation of mantras modified them in that rite, / where they were not directly stated in the scriptures with all their case endings and grammatical numbers.

14.24

Those who knew the science of grammar determined by the accent / the analysis of two compounds which, having an identical form, gave rise to doubt, though their results in the rite were far apart.

14.25

As if smiling with a flashing circle of light from hundreds of restless tongue-flames, / the fire licked the plentiful, spotless clarified butter repeatedly consecrated with the vaṣaṭ-call.

14.26

Consuming at that sacrifice the oblation purified by mantras, / not only did the fire's body display an exceedingly clear splendour of colour, but its name too became bright.

14.27

Bearing its natural heat of touch, that the fire burned the oblation was no wonder; / but even by the scent produced from that sacrificed oblation, it burned away the mass of sins of embodied beings.

14.28

Rising at once, darkening the quarters with smoke, dense, having left the clouds below, / the banner of the fire reached the sky, as if announcing what was pleasing to the gods.

14.29

Eclipsing all oceans, having the essence of the sap of medicinal herbs, the nectar leaped about; / the gods could scarcely bear to wait while it was being offered into the fire.

14.30

While the husbands of celestial women had gone abroad there for the offerings constantly made, / the hair of those women remained braided in single plaits on their heads, without garlands from blooming heavenly trees.

14.31

Because they swiftly consumed the sacrificial offering there, by that the gods attained enduring immortality; / and they conquered the haughty Dānavas whose fiery energy had grown excessively.

14.32

The rites did not suffer any transgression in any way; every requisite was provided there; / the wisdom of the sacrificers and the riches of the king surpassed each other.

14.33

Having recognized the crowd of twice-born assembled in rows to be worthy of fees and purifiers of the row, / the generous ruler of the earth bestowed the sacrificial fees pertaining to the rājasūya in the assembly.

14.34

Prefaced with water, the lord of men sowed riches like seeds into the soil-fields of the twice-born / that had attained purification through all proper rites and bore great future fruit.

14.35

Was it any wonder that the king was purified upon the altar while enriching the hosts of twice-born? / Having received pure gifts from the king, they too, freed from sin, were purified.

14.36

He, whose edicts were signed with his own hand and whose command equalled that of the chastiser of Pāka, / made extensive lands, lasting as long as the moon, sun, and oceans, the property of brāhmaṇas.

14.37

He repeatedly listened to the host of twice-born reciting pure scripture that did not contradict the Vedas, / accompanied by books with brilliant arrangements of letters.

14.38

That venerable master of the hermitage, to whom no guest was barred, never grew weary of offering hospitality / to the twice-born who came with attentive minds to witness the sacrifice.

14.39

Bringing themselves jewels of great value which, even when searched for, were hard to find, / kings waited outside, seeking an opportunity to present them as tribute to him.

14.40

The wealth the king gave single-handedly was deemed enough to complete the sacrifice; / yet when that son of asceticism gave generously, even the riches of all other kings came to an end.

14.41

Such was his delight in giving that the kings who wished to do his pleasure / felt greater joy through the gifts accepted by him than through those laid down in their own palaces.

14.42

He who, having brought low his foes, commanded [a king] like a pupil even in a minor task— / that king was looked upon with eager reverence by the other rulers of men.

14.43

By him who established his command over the earth, which had been lifted by the primal boar and shaken again and again by the winds without being so [firm], / regions were assigned to the circle of kings.

14.44

With an unwavering mind full of the excellence of nobility, he did not turn away from a petitioner who came with a resolute heart / in that great sacrifice, as [he would not turn away] from an enemy in a great battle.

14.45

He did not look upon a petitioner with disdain; when asked, he did not delay the time; / he did not give little, nor did he boast, nor did he regret even what was dear that had been given.

14.46

Even a person devoid of virtues did not turn away disappointed before the king, whose mind was passionate in giving; / does a raincloud raised high, pouring down water, avoid barren ground?

14.47

His love of virtues was not small, nor was he ignorant of the distinction of merits; / nevertheless, through his desire to give, the king did not consider the petitioner as 'worthy' or 'unworthy'.

14.48

Since the crowd of mendicants attained what they desired immediately upon his sight, / the utterance 'Let it be given' became devoid of the purpose of a request when he made gifts.

14.49

No one who reached that assembly returned home with desire for wealth unsatisfied, / nor did a sick man go uncured of disease, nor a hungry person wishing to eat remain unfed.

14.50

Relishing the flavours through meals prepared in various ways, cooked and raw, where vessels were not mixed, accompanied by pure sentiments, / the people felt joy, as if through dramatic plays in various refined and vernacular dialects, without confusion of characters, full of pure emotions.

14.51

Having appointed Hari, who was capable of subduing the wicked, as protector in that rite, / the king carried out unbroken gifts, oblations, and sacrifices.

14.52

As if gesturing dramatically, 'This Śauri alone is the good friend of those who press Soma,' / he raised high his arm, whose finger-ring resembled the wooden ring atop the sacrificial post, and bent it down.

14.53

Seeing that Dharma's sacrifice had thus unfolded its procedure, the son of Śaṃtanu, / unprompted by the son of Dharma concerning the gift of the guest-offering, addressed the assembly with these words:

14.54

"Knowing virtues and faults by yourself, do you not know what things should be done? / Nevertheless, you ask your elders, the reason being that such is the proper course.

14.55

A snātaka, a teacher, a beloved friend, a sacrificial priest, / together with a king: these six are proclaimed worthy of the guest-offering, and all of them have arrived together at your assembly.

14.56

All around, majestic kings, conquerors of the next world, / born from the line of your sacrifice, self-originated, whose misfortunes are warded off by the power of mantras, adorn [this hall].

14.57

These virtuous men, O son of Pṛthā, each individually partake of genuine respect; / or else only one, the most virtuous of all, is to be honoured—this rule too is accepted.

14.58

And in this gathering of earthly gods and earthly kings, Hari alone, charming with all virtues, the enemy of the Daityas, / seems to me worthy of the guest-offering among all of them.

14.59

Do not consider this one, who has brought down the Daityas and Dānavas, to be a mere mortal; / he is a portion of the Creator who transcends humanity, though dwelling in each individual person.

14.60

He is the sole object of meditation lying beyond the path of the intellect, the supreme object of praise surpassing the path of speech, / whom yogins reverently acknowledge as the venerable one to be worshipped, though dwelling exceedingly far away."

14.61

Creating the universe through passion as the Lotus-Born,
sustaining it through goodness as Acyuta,
and dissolving it through darkness as Hara—
he assumes a threefold state by the three qualities.

14.62

All-knowing, beginningless, assuming a body out of desire to grace embodied souls,
untouched by affliction, karma, its fruition, or its enjoyment—
him the wise know as the supreme Spirit, God.

14.63

Devoted here to him who is fond of his devotees, their sins destroyed by continuous remembrance,
they attain the final end of this mocked performance that is the drama of worldly affliction.

14.64

Wishing to abandon worldly existence with a mind fallen upon the path of yoga,
those who seek liberation enter him—inaccessible, singular, self-controlled—never to return.

14.65

Homage to him who, though imperishable, assumes the beginning and end of embodied beings so they may be unborn,
who ever bears the earth below, and yet stands above even the Absolute.

14.66

Verbal roots meaning 'to create', 'to dissolve', and 'to rule' take here only suffixes denoting an agent, never an object;
yet praising him turns the rules of syntax upside down.

14.67

Long ago, indeed, he created the waters and placed his irresistible seed in them;
and that became the golden cause of Brahmā; he created this universe.

14.68

Formerly Madhu and Kaiṭabha, wavering like two bugs
as he reposed on his bed, the lord of oceans,
became for a moment an obstacle to the Lord's pleasant sleep.

14.69

Resplendent with the bee-like Brahmā within, skilled in sweet singing of the Vedic path,
the lotus of his navel-lake shines even beside the moon of Śrī's face.

14.70

Though of true nature, he wields illusion; though ancient in the universe, an infant taking fitting sleep;
though unborn, assuming birth afresh—him the wise call the Primeval Person.

14.71

With the tossing mane on his shaking shoulders scattering the ocean's vast mass of water,
he, in the form of the thick-snouted [boar], looked upon the earth as if lifted up for a mere moment.

14.72

Assuming a celestial lion's form, he tore open with tender claws the chest of the god-foe,
whose itch for battle was hard to quench and was not assuaged even by weapons.

14.73

Striking the faces of the elephants of the quarters with the spray from his fingertips as if from an ocean,
his beautiful pearl-oyster nails took on the appearance of bearing heaps of gleaming pearls inside.

14.74

Outshining the sun with his brilliance, desiring the earth from the son of Virocana,
this self-born one, elder to all creatures, became the younger brother of the lord of heaven.

14.75

Before the demons could even finish laughing, thinking, 'How far will this dwarf step?',
his stride, which traversed the orbs of the sun and moon, could not be contained in the expanse of the sky.

14.76

Even as his foot, weightier than a mountain, mounted high to the edge of the sky,
powerless Bali, his neck seemingly trodden upon, went to a fine bond with the lord of heaven.

14.77

The denizens of heaven gazed with wonder at his vast, deep-dark-blue thigh extended far into space,
like the surge of the Yamunā risen up as if to rival the path of the celestial river's waters.

14.78

Unable to harm him in the least, his body restrained and assuming a form,
skilled Rāhu, even now, afflicts the moon which resembles [the Lord's] lovely face.

14.79

When the Vedas were perishing through the loss of tradition, he, whose form is imperishable
and whose memory is unimpeded, was born into the lineage of Atri as Datta to remember them.

14.80

Having attained the state of the son of Reṇukā, he made the forest of Arjuna stripped of its shadow,
with its abundant foliage cleaved away and its many bough-arms cut down.

14.81

Having become the son of Daśaratha, he, the protector of subjects, made the city of rākṣasas,
though its haughty ten-headed one was destroyed, all the more formidable with Vibhīṣaṇa through his splendour.

14.82

Entreated in person by the Self-born to destroy the enemies of the lord of the gods,
he now takes the sonship of Kaśyapa incarnate as Vasudeva.

14.83

He, the beloved of the host of gods and lord of the universe, was addressed by the gods and cowherds alike:
'Father, without you we are not capable of churning the ocean / milk-pail.'

14.84

Sweeping away [the tree] whose fragrance was unbroken by enemies and whose shade dispelled the gods' fatigue,
he uprooted the Pārijāta from heaven, as if it were the pride of Vṛtra's foe.

14.85

Approaching him, the eye of the king of Cedi, who bore through a line on his forehead the semblance of Śambhu,
went out instantly, like a lamp before a fierce gale.

14.86

Assuming the state of a boar and a cowherd, swiftly raising his tusk and his mighty arm,
he delivered the earth and the herd of cows sunk in insurmountable peril of water.

14.87

'Fortunate are you, before whose very eyes is this Hari, who even from afar is worshiped by sacrificers in rituals!
Having offered the respectful guest-offering to this venerable one, receive praise throughout the worlds as long as the cycle of rebirth endures!'

14.88

Hearing these words spoken by Bhīṣma, the king, attaining the fortune of universal sovereignty,
offered the immense offering before the monarchs, yet the Slayer of Madhu remained truly beyond price in the three worlds.

Commentaries (2)

Sarvaṅkaṣā — Mallinātha Sūri, Sanskrit
Śiśupālavadhaṭīkā — Mallinātha, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Śiśupālavadha — Māgha, Sanskrit