Harivamsha 39

English (machine translation) 39

Language: English

39.1

Janamejaya said:
Having gone to the world of Brahmā together with Brahmā, the god of gods, born from the waters,
what did Vaikuṇṭha do, O brahmin?

39.2

And for what purpose was Viṣṇu led by the primal god born from the waters,
when the slaying of the Daityas was accomplished, without receiving honors from the gods?

39.3

And what place did he occupy in the world of Brahmā, or what yoga did he practice?
What discipline did he maintain, that lord who causes beings to thrive?

39.4

How is it that while he stayed there, this great, whole universe
attains vast prosperity, worshiped by gods, asuras, and humans?

39.5

How does he sleep at the end of the hot season and awaken when the clouds have ceased?
And how does he, dwelling in the world of Brahmā, bear the burden of the worlds?

39.6

The divine conduct in heaven of that lord, O best of brahmins—
I wish to know all of it in full, exactly as it is.

39.7

Vaiśaṃpāyana said:
Hear first the undertakings of Nārāyaṇa in detail,
how he ascended to the world of Brahmā and rejoices with Brahmā.

39.8

Truly, his course is subtle, difficult even for the gods to follow;
but what I am able to speak, listen to as I declare it to you.

39.9

This god is composed of the worlds, and the three worlds are composed of him;
he is composed of the gods, and the gods in heaven are composed of him.

39.10

Whatever thrives through god indeed comes entirely from Janārdana;
and what has proceeded from the gods, know that to be from Madhusūdana.

39.11

The world which wise people know as consisting of Agni and Soma—
that Soma, that Agni, and that world, the Grandfather knows as Viṣṇu.

39.12

Just as curd arises from milk, and clarified butter from curd,
so when beings are churned, the world arises from Janārdana.

39.13

Just as the supreme self is established by the senses and the elements,
so Hari is known through the Vedas, the gods, and the worlds.

39.14

Just as embodied beings on earth are provided with elements and senses,
so the gods in heaven obtain their sovereignty over life-breath from Viṣṇu.

39.15

Bestower of the fruit of long sacrifices to the sacrificers, pure, possessing the supreme self,
he sustains the order of the worlds and is worshiped with mantras like the mantra itself.

39.16

Many people dependent on other ends do not see his shore;
Mādhava knows the shore and what lies beyond the worlds.

39.17

Of this destroyer of the gods' [affliction], who is sought by the deities,
hear what took place long ago in the world of Brahmā.

39.18

Having gone to Brahmā's world and seen the realm of the Grandfather,
Viṣṇu saluted all those seers with the rite proper to seers.

39.19

Seeing the fire being offered into by the great seers at the morning pressing,
he of great splendor saluted [it], having performed the morning ritual.

39.20

In the sacrifices, he saw another form of his own body stationed there,
being worshiped with clarified butter by the great seers, consuming the sacrificial share.

39.21

Having saluted the seers endowed with Vedic luster, who were worthy of salutation,
that inconceivable one circumambulated the eternal world of Brahmā.

39.22

He saw sacrificial posts raised high, adorned with head-rings at the top,
marked in their hundreds by the brahmin seers at the sacrifices.

39.23

Inhaling the smoke of clarified butter, hearing the Vedas recited by the twice-born,
and seeing himself being worshiped with sacrifices, he walked about there.

39.24

The seers, the gods, and the assembly members present in the sacrificial hall spoke to him,
all with their arms raised in offering, their faces shielded with sacred kusa grass:

"Welcome to you, O best of gods, lotus-navelled one of great brilliance!
Obeisance to you, Hṛṣīkeśa, slayer of Madhu and Kaiṭabha!
O Dāmodara, obeisance to you, whose eyes are long as lotus petals!
You are the lord of all the gods, the imperishable lord of the worlds.
You are the sacrifice, you are the vaṣaṭ-call, in you everything is established.
Let this sacrificial hospitality be accepted according to the mantra.

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit