Harivamsha 56

English (machine translation) 56

Language: English

56.1

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / Approaching the riverbank and firmly tying his girdle, / the agile, youthful Kṛṣṇa climbed to the top of the kadamba tree.

56.2

Hanging down from the top of the kadamba tree, cloud-like in form, / the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa made a splash as he plunged into the midst of the pool.

56.2x677

Dark as a blue lotus petal, he leaped down into that pool.

56.3

Agitated by Kṛṣṇa jumping down, that great pool / was violently stirred up with force, as if the ocean were breaking apart.

56.4

Agitated by that sound, that great dwelling of the serpent— / the serpent rose up from the water, his eyes agitated with rage.

56.5

And that lord of serpents was enraged, with the radiance of a mass of clouds; / then Kāliya was seen, the corners of his eyes red.

56.6

Five-faced, exhaling fire, with darting tongue and a fiery mouth, / surrounded by five broad, dreadful heads,

56.7

filling the entire pool with his coil radiant as fire, / quivering, as it were, with wrath, and blazing, as it were, with fiery energy.

56.8

By his anger, its water all became as if boiled, / and the Yamunā river flowed upstream as if terrified; / and wind blew from his mouth filled with the fire of wrath.

56.9

Seeing Kṛṣṇa in the pool playing in child's play, / smoky flames burst forth from the lord of serpents' mouth.

56.10

As he emitted that fire of wrath resembling the end of an age, the trees growing on the shore nearby / were reduced to ashes in an instant.

56.11

His sons, wives, servants, and other great serpents, / vomiting dreadful fire born of venom from their mouths, / those lords of serpents of immeasurable power descended, surrounded by smoke.

56.12

Held by those serpents in the bonds of their coils, / Kṛṣṇa stood motionless of foot, like an unshakeable mountain.

56.13

With sharp fangs turbid with streams of surging venom, / those lords of serpents bit Kṛṣṇa, but the mighty one did not perish.

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Though bitten by their fangs, Keśava did not waver;

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for a very long time Kṛṣṇa moved about in Kāliya's pool.

56.14

Meanwhile, all the cowherds, terrified, / ran wailing to the cowherd settlement, their voices choked with tears:

56.15

"Here Kṛṣṇa has swooned, sunk in Kāliya's pool, / and is being devoured by the serpent king! Come without delay!

56.16

Let it be reported at once to the cowherd Nandagopa: / 'Here is your son being dragged down by a serpent in the great pool!'"

56.17

Hearing that speech like the fall of a thunderbolt, / Nandagopa, afflicted, his steps stumbling, went to that excellent pool.

56.18

Together with children, young women, and old men, and the youth Saṃkarṣaṇa, / the people came to that playground of the lord of serpents.

56.19

The cowherds, led by Nandagopa, with tearful eyes,
bewildered, saying, “What is this? Whose deed is this?”,
uttering cries of grief, stood on the bank of the pool.

56.20

Ashamed, astonished, and stricken by grief again and again,
some cried out, “Alas, alas, Kṛṣṇa!”, and others, “For shame!”,
while others wept in utter distress, saying, “Alas, we are ruined!”

56.21

And the women shrieked to Yaśodā, “Alas, you are ruined,
you who behold your beloved son fallen into the power of the serpent king,
bound by the coils of the serpent and dragged along like a deer!

56.22

Indeed, your heart appears to be made of iron:
how, having seen your son thus, does it not split asunder, O Yaśodā?

56.23

Alas, we behold the grieving Nandagopa by the pool,
having fixed his gaze upon his son's face, standing lifeless.

56.24

Following Yaśodā, we shall enter this pool, the serpent's dwelling;
none of us will depart without Dāmodara.

56.25

What is a day without the sun? What is a night without the moon?
What are cows without a bull? What is Vraja without Kṛṣṇa?
Without Kṛṣṇa we shall not go, like cows bereft of their calves.”

Hearing the lamentation of those women and of those residents of Vraja,
and the lament of Nandagopa, and likewise Yaśodā weeping,
knowing the inner state of his own body, one single body made into two,
Saṃkarṣaṇa, filled with anger, spoke to the imperishable Kṛṣṇa:

56.27

“Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, strong-armed one, increaser of the joy of the cowherds!
Let this king of serpents, whose weapon is venom, be swiftly subdued!

56.28

These our kinsfolk, dear one, thinking you to be mortal, O lord,
are all lamenting piteously with human understanding.”

56.29

Hearing that speech of Rohiṇī’s son, which stirred his consciousness,
he played and flexed his arms, breaking that bond of coils.

56.30

Then, having stepped with his feet upon his mass of coils drenched in water,
Kṛṣṇa seized his head, bending it down with his own hand.

56.31

He quickly mounted upon his great central head;
standing upon his crown, Kṛṣṇa danced, his armlets gleaming.

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Kṛṣṇa performed many kinds of graceful dance upon his head.

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Remembering that dance of Viṣṇu, joy arises in me today,

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O king, constantly causing the hair to bristle on all my limbs.

56.32

Crushed by Kṛṣṇa, his head exhausted, the serpent,
vomiting blood from his mouths, spoke frightened words:

56.33

“Through ignorance, O Kṛṣṇa, this anger was displayed by me.
I am subdued, my poison neutralized, obedient to you, O fair-faced one.

56.34

Therefore command what I should do, together with my wives, children, and kin,
or into whose control I should go; let life be granted to me!

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Homage to you, who are revered by Brahmā, Rudra, Indra, gods, and asuras!

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I have sought refuge in you; let my life be granted to me!

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Whatever offense was committed by me, foolish, untrained in intellect,

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and filled with pride, you ought not to hold in mind.

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When you are pleased, O lord of gods, the son of Vinatā would not seize me.

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Therefore ordain what deed must be performed by me, O lord.”

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Having spoken thus, he worshipped Kṛṣṇa's feet with his heads.

56.35

Seeing the serpent bowed with five heads, the lord whose emblem is the foe of serpents,
not at all angry, replied to the lord of serpents:

56.36

“I do not grant you any dwelling here in the water of the Yamunā.
Go to the water of the ocean, O serpent, with your sons and with your kinsfolk.

56.37

And whoever is seen here again, whether on land or in water,
be it your servant or your son, he shall swiftly be slain by me.

56.38

May this water become auspicious, and you go to the great ocean.
For remaining here would be a grave fault bringing your end.

56.39

And having seen my footprints on your crown in the ocean, O serpent,
Garuda, the enemy of serpents, will not strike at you.”

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Having been addressed thus by Kṛṣṇa, whose emblem is the foremost of birds,

56.40

the bull among serpents, touching Kṛṣṇa's feet with his head,
vanished from sight from the pool while the cowherds were looking on.

56.41

When the serpent had been conquered and was gone, the cowherds, astonished,
praised Kṛṣṇa as he climbed out and stood, and they circumambulated him.

56.42

All the forest dwellers, exceedingly pleased, said to Nandagopa,
“You are blessed, you are favored, you whose son is such a one!

56.43

From this day forth, O sinless one, Kṛṣṇa, the large-eyed lord,
is the refuge in calamities for the cowherds, the cows, and the settlement.

56.44

All the Yamunā, frequented by sages, has become clear-watered;
our cows will roam happily at all the bathing-places forever.

56.45

Evidently, we cowherds in the forest do not recognize such a great being
as Kṛṣṇa, like a covered fire in the settlement.”

56.46

Thus, all astonished, praising the imperishable Kṛṣṇa,
the herds of cowherds went to the settlement, as the gods go to Caitraratha.

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit