Harivamsha 8
English (machine translation) 8
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8.1
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / Vivasvat was born from Kaśyapa by the daughter of Dakṣa, O tamer of foes. / His wife was Saṃjñā, the daughter of Tvaṣṭṛ, a goddess, [the wife] of Vivasvat, / known throughout the three worlds as Sureṇu, a passionate woman.
8.2
She, the wife of the blessed, great-souled Mārtaṇḍa, / endowed with beauty and youth, was not pleased with her husband's appearance, / [this woman] named Saṃjñā, endowed here with blazing ascetic heat of her own.
8.3
For that form of the Āditya Mārtaṇḍa, burned all around on his limbs / by his own brilliance, was not very pleasing.
8.4
"Surely this one in the egg is not dead?" Kaśyapa said out of affection, / not knowing; therefore he is called Mārtaṇḍa.
8.5
Vivasvat, indeed, had an excess of brilliance, dear child, continuously, / with which the son of Kaśyapa intensely scorched the three worlds.
8.6
The Āditya, the best of heat-givers, fathered three children upon Saṃjñā, / O Kaurava: a daughter and two Prajāpatis.
8.7
First was Manu Vaivasvata, the Prajāpati who is lord of ancestral rites; / and Yama and Yamunā were born as twins.
8.8
Seeing that dark-colored form of Vivasvat, / and unable to endure it, Saṃjñā then created her own shadow of like appearance. / That Saṃjñā made of illusion arose as her shadow.
8.9
Folding her hands and bowing low, the shadow said to Saṃjñā, O ruler of men: / "What should I do? Tell me, O woman of pure smiles! / I stand at your command; instruct me, O fair-complexioned one!"
8.10
Saṃjñā said: / "I shall go to my father's own home, blessings upon you! / You must dwell here in my house without hesitation.
8.11
And these two young sons of mine, and this slender-waisted daughter, / are to be cherished by you, and this must not be told by you to the lord."
8.12
Savarṇā said: / "Until the seizing of my hair, O goddess, until a curse, I shall never at any time / disclose your design. Go, O goddess, at your pleasure."
8.13
Having instructed Savarṇā, and having been told 'So be it' by her, / the high-minded woman went to Tvaṣṭṛ, as if ashamed.
8.14
Approaching her father, the beautiful woman was rebuked by her father / and commanded again and again: 'Go to your husband!'
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She fell into great anxiety, thinking: 'Fie on the conduct of women!'
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She blamed herself in many ways and excessively blamed womanhood:
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'Nowhere should women remain; fie on a life without independence!
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In childhood, in youth, in old age, there is fear of father, husband, and son.
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Alas, my husband's house was abandoned by me out of folly, acting wrongly!
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Even if unperceived, how [can I enter] the abode of my husband again?
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There is that Savarṇā, her desires completely fulfilled.
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My husband's house is lost through folly; here in my father's house there is no good.'
8.15
Becoming a mare, concealing her form, the blameless woman went; / having gone to the Northern Kurus, she grazed only on grass.
8.16
Thinking, 'This is Saṃjñā,' the Āditya then / fathered upon the second Saṃjñā a son equal to himself.
8.17
'This one is like his elder brother Manu,' dear child, the lord [said]; / he was indeed named Manu, and is called Sāvarṇa.
8.18
Then, dear child, that earthly Saṃjñā showed greater affection / toward her own son, and not in the same way toward the elder children.
8.19
Manu tolerated that from her, but Yama did not tolerate it from her. / Out of anger, and out of childishness, or by the force of what was destined to be, / Yama, the son of Vivasvat, threatened Saṃjñā with his foot.
8.20
Then out of anger, Savarṇā, his mother, cursed him, / deeply distressed: 'May this foot of yours fall off!'
8.21
With folded hands, Yama reported all of that to his father, / deeply agitated by fear of the curse, terrified by Saṃjñā's words; / and he said to his father then: 'May the curse be averted!'
8.22
"A mother should indeed act with affection toward all her sons. / Yet she, setting us aside, wishes to favor the younger one.
8.23
My foot was raised against her, but not struck down upon her body. / Whether out of childishness or delusion, you ought to forgive that."
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"Since I, who am worthy of your reverence, have been threatened by you, my son,
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therefore this foot of yours will fall off, without doubt."
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"An offspring may become a bad offspring, but a mother should never become a bad mother.
8.24
I have been cursed by my mother, O lord of the world, best among the scorching ones! / By your grace, O lord of rays, may my foot not fall off."
8.25
Vivasvat said:
"Without doubt, my son, there must be a great reason in this, / since you, who are ever intent upon dharma, have abandoned this dharma, / whereby anger entered you, a knower of dharma who speaks the truth.
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For it is indeed proper for you to carry out your mother's word, O sinless one.
8.26
It is not possible, however, to make that word of your mother false. / Worms will take flesh [from it] and go to the surface of the earth,
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from your foot, O highly wise one; then you will attain comfort.
8.27
In this way the word of your mother will be made true, / and by averting the curse, you will be saved."
8.28
And the sun-god said to Saṃjñā: "Why indeed / is an excessive affection shown again and again among sons who are equal?" / Concealing that, she did not disclose [the truth] to Vivasvat.
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Collecting himself through yoga, he saw the truth.
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And he seized her by the hair, and she confessed herself.
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Yet she did not protect herself from union with him.
8.29
The blessed one, wishing to curse her for her destruction, O delight of the Kurus, / seized her by the hair when the appointed time had passed. / Thereupon she told Vivasvat everything just as it had happened. / Then Vivasvat, having heard that, went in anger to Tvaṣṭṛ.
8.30
Tvaṣṭṛ, however, having worshipped that sun properly according to rule, / then consoled him who wished to burn [everything] down with rage.
8.31
Tvaṣṭṛ said:
"This form of yours, overwhelmed with excessive fiery energy, does not look pleasing. / Unable to bear it, Saṃjñā roams on the green turf in the forest.
8.32
For today you will see her, your own wife who conducts herself auspiciously, / ever delighting in ascetic heat, bearing the form of a mare, / feeding on leaves, emaciated, wretched, matted-haired, bearing dirt, / like a lotus-plant troubled and agitated by an elephant’s trunk, / praiseworthy, endowed with the power of yoga, having resorted to yoga, O lord of rays.
8.33
If it pleases you, O god, and if my opinion is agreeable to you, / I shall fashion today a lovely form for you, O tamer of enemies."
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And the form of Vivasvat was equal across, above, and around.
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With that form, the glowing god was fully endowed.
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Therefore that Prajāpati held the word of Tvaṣṭṛ in high regard,
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and he gave permission to Tvaṣṭṛ for the perfection of his form.
8.34
Then, having obtained the agreement of Mārtaṇḍa Vivasvat, / Tvaṣṭṛ mounted that fiery energy on a lathe and pared it down, O Bhārata.
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He did this to an eighth part; he did not pare down the imperishable remainder.
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The Vaiṣṇava fiery energy that was pared from the sun by Viśvakarman—
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with that fiery energy Tvaṣṭṛ fashioned the discus of Viṣṇu,
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and the trident of Śarva, and the palanquin of the giver of wealth,
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and the spear of Guha, and excellent weapons of the other gods.
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All of that Viśvakarman fashioned with that fiery energy.
8.35
Then his form, illuminated when that fiery energy was gathered in, / shone exceedingly, lovelier than lovely to behold.
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The form of that god, the lord of rays, was fashioned at the face;
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from that time on, the face of the god was reddish.
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The glow of the face that previously fell from the face of Mārtaṇḍa—
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from that, the twelve Ādityas here were born, originating from the face:
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Dhātṛ, Aryaman, Mitra, Varuṇa, Aṃśa, and Bhaga,
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Indra, Vivasvat, Pūṣan, and Parjanya as the tenth;
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then Tvaṣṭṛ, and then Viṣṇu, born youngest though not base.
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Then the god obtained delight upon seeing the Ādityas born from his own body.
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With perfumes, flowers, ornaments, and a radiant crown,
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Tvaṣṭṛ thus worshipped him and spoke these words:
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"Go, O lord of gods, to your wife; she wanders in the Northern Kurus.
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Assuming the form of a mare, she wanders in the forest on the green turf."
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Assuming such a form, [he went] to his wife with auspicious grace.
8.36
Then, resorting to yoga, he saw his wife as a mare, / unassailable by any being because of her fiery energy and self-restraint,
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wandering with the body of a mare, O king, fearing nothing from anywhere.
8.37
In the form of a horse, the blessed one approached her face to face, / as she twisted away from intercourse, suspecting him to be another male.
8.38
She discharged that semen from her nose; / from her were born the two gods, the Aśvins, best of physicians:
8.39
Nāsatya and Dasra, remembered as the two Aśvins. / These two were the sons of Mārtaṇḍa, the eighth Prajāpati,
8.39x160
whom he begot upon Saṃjñā in the form of a mare, O Bhārata.
8.40
The sun-god then revealed himself to her in his radiant form, / and as soon as she saw her husband, she was rejoiced, O Janamejaya.
8.41
Yama, his mind deeply tormented by that deed [of raising his foot], / gratified these creatures with dharma as the King of Dharma.
8.42
By that auspicious deed, he of supreme splendor obtained / dominion over the ancestors and the status of a world protector.
8.43
And the Manu who was Sāvarṇa became a Prajāpati rich in ascetic heat; / he is to be the Manu in that future Sāvarṇika manvantara.
8.44
Even today he continually performs ascetic heat on the back of Meru. / And his brother Śanaiścara attained the status of a planet.
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The two known as the Nāsatyas became the physicians of heaven.
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Revanta too, O king, became the bringer of pacification for horses.
8.45
Tvaṣṭṛ, indeed, with that fiery energy fashioned the discus of Viṣṇu, / unhindered in battle, with the desire to end the Dānavas.
8.46
And the younger girl between the two, the renowned Yamī, / became that best of rivers, the Yamunā, who brings prosperity to the world.
8.47
[One] is called Manu in the world, and he is called Sāvarṇa. / His second son is to be known as Śanaiścara.
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He obtained the status of a planet, worshipped by all the worlds.
8.48
Whoever hears of or retains this birth of the gods, / having encountered misfortune, will be freed [from it] and will attain great renown.
Linked texts (1)
- Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit