Harivamsha 104

English (machine translation) 104

Language: English

104.1

Arjuna said: / Then Kṛṣṇa, having fed many hundreds / of brahmins equal to seers, accomplished his purpose.

104.1x1130

Having worshipped the thousand-rayed Sun, the lord of the worlds—

Then, having dined with me and with the Vṛṣṇis and Bhojas on all sides, / placing Sātyaki in front, he fed the Vṛṣṇi protectors. / Then we entered the assembly hall together with the foremost of the Vṛṣṇis, / and he recounted wondrous and celestial tales, O Bhārata.

104.3

Then, at the end of the tales, approaching Janārdana there, / I asked Kṛṣṇa about that event which I had witnessed:

104.4

"How was the ocean stilled in its waters by you, O lotus-eyed one? / And how was an opening made through the mountains by you, O Acyuta?

104.5

And how was that dreadful, dense darkness split asunder by your discus? / And what was that supreme splendour which you entered, and whence did it come?

104.6

For what reason were those boys taken away by him then, O Lord? / And how was that long journey traversed by you in an instant?

104.6cdx1132

For what reason was this long, great road compressed?

104.7

And how was that going and returning performed by us in so short a time? / Tell me all of this as it happened, O Keśava!"

104.8

Vāsudeva said: / "Those boys were taken by that great soul in order to see me, / [thinking,] 'For the brahmin's sake Kṛṣṇa will come; otherwise he would not come.'

104.9

You have seen that wondrous divine form made of the splendour of brahman. / I am that, O best of the Bharatas; that eternal splendour is mine.

104.10

That is my highest material nature, both manifest and unmanifest, O Bhārata; / entering into it, [beings] here become liberated, O best of the Bharatas.

104.11

That is the goal of the Sāṃkhyas, O Pārtha, and of yogins and ascetics. / That supreme state is brahman; it divides the entire world.

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Sun-coloured, stainless, established beyond darkness.

104.12

You should know that compact splendour to be me alone, O Bhārata. / I am the ocean with stilled waters; I am the stiller of the water.

104.13

I am those seven mountains of various forms that were seen by you. / That darkness turned into mire which you saw, / I am that dense darkness, and I alone am the cleaver of it.

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And that long journey by which the going and returning were accomplished—

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I went by the power of yoga, and quickly returned from there.

104.14

And I am time for all beings, and I am proclaimed to be dharma; / the moon and the sun, the great mountains, the rivers, and the lakes; / the four classes are born of me, and so too the four stages of life.

104.15

And the four quarters are all my own fourfold self; / know that I am the creator of the four Vedas, O Bhārata."

104.16

Arjuna said: / "O Blessed One, Lord of all beings, I wish to know you, O Lord! / You are dear to me, O Lord of the world! / [Speak] again of the supreme truth, / the highest reality, O best of the gods! I have taken refuge in you, O Mādhava! / Having taken refuge, I ask you; reverence to you, O Puruṣottama!"

104.17

Vāsudeva said: / "Brahman and the brahmins, ascetic heat and truth, O Bhārata, / the Ukthya and the Bṛhadratha—know that all that is from me, O Pāṇḍava.

104.18

You are dear to me, O mighty-armed one; I am dear to you, O Dhanaṃjaya; / therefore I shall tell you, for I am not willing to speak otherwise. / I will explain to you, O sinless one, so that you may know me as I truly am.

104.19

I am the Yajus, the Sāmans, the Ṛcs, and the Atharvan chants; / Brahmā, Rudra, and Indra, Varuṇa, and Yama, / Kubera, and the other world-guardians, Sanaka and the rest; / the seers, the deities, the sacrifices—all are my splendour, O bull of the Bharatas.

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit