Bhagavatapurana 10.10: atha daśamo'dhyāyaḥ

10.10.1

/0 śrī-rājovāca
kathyatāṃ bhagavann etat tayoḥ śāpasya kāraṇam /
yat tad vigarhitaṃ karma yena vā devarṣes tamaḥ //

The king said:
Tell me, O Lord, the cause of their curse, / what that reproachful deed was, or how anger arose in the divine sage.

1. The king said:—O worshipful one, be thou pleased to tell me of the cause of the curse pronounced on them; (i.e.), of that reproachful conduct of theirs, by which even the divine sage was roused to anger.

10.10.2

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
rudrasyānucarau bhūtvā sudṛptau dhanadātmajau /
kailāsopavane ramye mandākinyāṃ madotkaṭau //

Śrī Śuka said:
Having become attendants of Rudra, the two sons of the lord of wealth grew exceedingly arrogant;
in Kailāsa's delightful grove by the Mandākinī river, wild with intoxication,

2. & 3. Sri Suka said:—Those two were sons of Kubera, and, on becoming the attendants of Rudra, had grown very haughty; drunk with the liquor called Varuni, highly intoxicated, with their eyes rolling under its influence, accompanied by their women they strolled abount on the banks of the Ganga, in the garden adjoining the Kailasa and through the woods in full blossom.

10.10.3

vāruṇīṃ madirāṃ pītvā madāghūrṇita-locanau /
strī-janair anugāyadbhiś ceratuḥ puṣpite vane //

drinking vāruṇī liquor, their eyes rolling in drunkenness,
they wandered through the blossoming forest accompanied by singing women.

10.10.4

antaḥ praviśya gaṅgāyām ambhoja-vana-rājini /
cikrīḍatur yuvatibhir gajāv iva kareṇubhiḥ //

Entering into the Gaṅgā, where rows of lotus groves grew,
they disported with the young women like two male elephants with cow elephants.

4. Into the lotus-beds of the celestial river, they entered and sported with youthful women, like unto two elephants sporting with she-elephants.

10.10.5

yadṛcchayā ca devarṣir bhagavāṃs tatra kaurava /
apaśyan nārado devau kṣībāṇau samabudhyata //

And by chance, O Kaurava, the divine seer, the worshipful Nārada, was there; / seeing the two gods intoxicated, he understood [their condition].

5. O thread of Kuru race, Narada, the worshipful divine sage, chanced to see there those two celestials and perceived them to be intoxicated.

10.10.6

taṃ dṛṣṭvā vrīḍitā devyo vivastrāḥ śāpa-śaṅkitāḥ /
vāsāṃsi paryadhuḥ śīghraṃ vivastrau naiva guhyakau //

Seeing him, the goddesses felt ashamed, being naked and fearing a curse; / they quickly put on their clothes, but the two Guhyakas did not, [remaining] naked.

6. At sight of him the ladies felt ashamed at their nudity and, afraid of a curse put on at once their clothes; but those two did not at all care to do so and remained naked.

10.10.7

tau dṛṣṭvā madirā-mattau śrī-madāndhau surātmajau /
tayor anugrahārthāya śāpaṃ dāsyann idaṃ jagau //

Seeing the two sons of the gods drunk on wine and blinded by pride of wealth, / wishing to grant them grace, he spoke this while about to pronounce a curse:

7. Observing the two sons of the celestial chief, blind with (the arrogance of) prosperity and inebriate with wine, the sage Narada, in pronouncing curse intended for their own good, said as follows.

10.10.8

/0 śrī-nārada uvāca
na hy anyo juṣato joṣyān buddhi-bhraṃśo rajo-guṇaḥ /
śrī-madād ābhijātyādir yatra strī dyūtam āsavaḥ //

Śrī Nārada said: / Indeed, for one indulging in enjoyable objects, there is no other ruin of intellect caused by the quality of passion / like the pride of wealth arising from noble birth and the like, in which women, gambling, and liquor [abound],

8. In the case of a man, who gives himself up to fascinating pleasures, no other cause, no other form of Rajoguna, such as the pride of high birth or learning, is so powerful to bring about the loss of good sense as the pride of wealth and power; for, where this (is strong), _there_ find place women, gambling, and wine.

10.10.9

hanyante paśavo yatra nirdayair ajitātmabhiḥ /
manyamānair imaṃ deham ajarāmṛtyu naśvaram //

in which animals are slain by merciless men of uncontrolled self, / who consider this mortal body to be free from old age and death.

9. By these, devoid of compassion and self-control, animals are killed; (for) they regard this body to be never subject to old age, death and destruction.

10.10.10

deva-saṃjñitam apy ante kṛmi-viḍ-bhasma-saṃjñitam /
bhūta-dhruk tat-kṛte svārthaṃ kiṃ veda nirayo yataḥ //

Though called a ‘god’, in the end it is designated as ‘worms’, ‘stool’, or ‘ashes’; / what does a tormentor of living beings know of his own welfare, when hell arises from doing that for its sake?

10. Though styled a god of men (king) or a god of the earth (brahmin), this body eventually comes to be what is known as worms, refuse or ashes; does he who for its sake hurts other beings, understand his own real purpose, or that hell is the result of his cruelty?

10.10.11

dehaḥ kim anna-dātuḥ svaṃ niṣektur mātur eva ca /
mātuḥ pitur vā balinaḥ kretur agneḥ śuno 'pi vā //

Does the body belong to the giver of food, to the father who emitted the seed, or to the mother, / or to the maternal grandfather, the powerful [king], the buyer, fire, or even the dog?

11. To whom does the body belong? To him who gives food or to the father or to the mother or the mother's father, or the strong person who seizes it by force or to the purchaser, to fire, or to the dog?

10.10.12

evaṃ sādhāraṇaṃ deham avyakta-prabhavāpyayam /
ko vidvān ātmasāt kṛtvā hanti jantūn ṛte 'sataḥ //

This body being thus common to all, having its origin and dissolution in the unmanifest, / what wise person would claim it as his own and kill creatures, except a wicked man?

12. Which sensible person, other than a fool, would regard as his own _self_, this body, which is thus common (to many), originating from, and vanishing into, Avyakta (the unseen principle) and would (for its sake) kill other creatures?

10.10.13

asataḥ śrī-madāndhasya dāridryaṃ param añjanam /
ātmaupamyena bhūtāni daridraḥ param īkṣate //

For a wicked man blinded by the pride of wealth, poverty is the supreme eye-salve; / a poor man looks upon all beings by analogy with himself.

13. To the wicked man blinded with the pride of wealth, poverty is the best remedy; for, the man in poverty distinctly (realises) sees that (other) creatures are like himself, i. e., liable to the same pleasure and pain.

10.10.14

yathā kaṇṭaka-viddhāṅgo jantor necchati tāṃ vyathām /
jīva-sāmyaṃ gato liṅgair na tathāviddha-kaṇṭakaḥ //

Just as one whose body has been pierced by a thorn does not wish such pain upon another creature, / having attained equality with living beings through symptoms, not so one who has not been pierced by a thorn.

14. Just as a person who has run a thorn (into his foot) does not wish that another creature should undergo the same pain, (because) he realises by proper signs how jivas equally feel pleasure and pain; but he who has not had the experience of running a thorn cannot so sympathise with other beings.

10.10.15

daridro nirahaṃ-stambho muktaḥ sarva-madair iha /
kṛcchraṃ yadṛcchayāpnoti tad dhi tasya paraṃ tapaḥ //

A poor man is free from the arrogance of egoism and released from all types of pride in this world; / the hardship he encounters by chance is indeed his supreme austerity.

15. The poverty-stricken man being free from obdurate haughtiness becomes divested of all kinds of pride in this life and by the

will of providence is put to difficulties; and that very state becomes indeed his great *tapas*.

10.10.16

nityaṃ kṣut-kṣāma-dehasya daridrasyānna-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ /
indriyāṇy anuśuṣyanti hiṃsāpi vinivartate //

For a poor man whose body is constantly emaciated by hunger and who desires food, / the senses dry up, and even violence ceases.

16. Of the poor person who day by day grows thin through starvation and yearns after food, the senses and organs become dried up and the tendency to do harm ceases to be.

10.10.17

daridrasyaiva yujyante sādhavaḥ sama-darśinaḥ /
sadbhiḥ kṣiṇoti taṃ tarṣaṃ tata ārād viśuddhyati //

Virtuous devotees of equal vision associate only with the poor; / through virtuous devotees he exhausts that craving, and from that he is immediately purified.

17. It is only the poor man whom (of their own accord) meet the righteous that regard everything as equal; and, associating with the righteous, he subdues the passion of desire (thirst) and, not long afterwards, gets purified (D. attains Moksha).

10.10.18

sādhūnāṃ sama-cittānāṃ mukunda-caraṇaiṣiṇām /
upekṣyaiḥ kiṃ dhana-stambhair asadbhir asad-āśrayaiḥ //

For virtuous devotees of equal minds who seek Mukunda's feet, / what use is there for arrogant wealthy men who are wicked, relying on the wicked, who are to be neglected?

18. What have the righteous who, possessed of equanimity, seek to attain to the feet of Mukunda, to do with those wicked men who are fit to be neglected, as being stiff-necked on account of their wealth and being associated with the sinful?

10.10.19

tad ahaṃ mattayor mādhvyā vāruṇyā śrī-madāndhayoḥ /
tamo-madaṃ hariṣyāmi straiṇayor ajitātmanoḥ //

Therefore, from these two who are drunk on the liquor of Vāruṇī, blinded by pride of wealth, / attached to women, and uncontrolled in self, I shall take away the pride born of darkness.

19. Therefore, I shall cure their pride arising from ignorance (darkness) as they are blind and puffed up with wealth and power and addicted to women, without control over their mind and now intoxicated with the tasteful wine called Varunee.

10.10.20

yad imau loka-pālasya putrau bhūtvā tamaḥ-plutau /
na vivāsasam ātmānaṃ vijānītaḥ sudurmadau //

Since these two, though sons of a world-guardian, are submerged in darkness / and utterly arrogant, and do not even realize they are naked,

20. & 21. Since these two sons of Kubera, one of the protectors of the world, are immersed in ignorance and full of intolerable pride, and are unconscious of their present naked state, they deserve to be in the inanimate state, so that they might not be again seen in this shameful condition; however, they shall, through my favour and grace, have the faculty of memory even in that state.

10.10.21

ato 'rhataḥ sthāvaratāṃ syātāṃ naivaṃ yathā punaḥ /
smṛtiḥ syān mat-prasādena tatrāpi mad-anugrahāt //

they therefore deserve to become immovable [trees], so that they may never again be like this; / yet by my grace memory will remain to them, even there, out of my compassion.

10.10.22

vāsudevasya sānnidhyaṃ labdhvā divya-śarac-chate /
vṛtte svarlokatāṃ bhūyo labdha-bhaktī bhaviṣyataḥ //

Having attained the proximity of Vāsudeva when one hundred celestial years have passed, / they will attain their state in heaven again, having gained devotion [to Him].

22. They shall, at the end of a hundred celestial years, attain to the presence of Sri Vasudeva with devotion and be restored to their celestial body.

10.10.23

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
evam uktvā sa devarṣir gato nārāyaṇāśramam /
nalakūvara-maṇigrīvāv āsatur yamalārjunau //

Śrī Śuka said: / Having spoken thus, the divine seer departed for the hermitage of Nārāyaṇa; / Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva became twin arjuna trees.

23. Sri Suka said:—Having thus uttered his curse, the divine Sage repaired to the hermitage of Narayana; and Nalakubara and Manigriva became the twin-born Arjuna trees.

10.10.24

ṛṣer bhāgavata-mukhyasya satyaṃ kartuṃ vaco hariḥ /
jagāma śanakais tatra yatrāstāṃ yamalārjunau //

In order to make true the word of the seer, the foremost of Bhāgavatas, Hari / went slowly to that place where the twin arjuna trees stood.

24. To prove true the words of the divine sage, foremost among the Lord's votaries, Hari (Sri Krishna) slowly proceeded to the spot where the two Arjuna trees grew together.

10.10.25

devarṣir me priyatamo yad imau dhanadātmajau /
tat tathā sādhayiṣyāmi yad gītaṃ tan mahātmanā //

‘The divine seer is most dear to me; since these two are the sons of Kuvera, / I shall bring to pass precisely what was uttered by that great soul.’

25. "The divine Sage", thought the Lord, "is most beloved of Me and these two are the sons of Kubera; therefore I shall fulfil what has been prophesied by the high-souled Sage."

10.10.26

ity antareṇārjunayoḥ kṛṣṇas tu yamayor yayau /
ātma-nirveśa-mātreṇa tiryag-gatam ulūkhalam //

Thinking thus, Kṛṣṇa entered between the two arjuna trees; / with merely his own entrance, the mortar was turned crosswise.

26. With that purpose Sri Krishna crawled between the Arjuna trees that grew together; and as soon as He passed between them, the mortar fell crosswise.

10.10.26.p1

bālena niṣkarṣayatānvag ulūkhalaṃ tad $ dāmodareṇa tarasotkalitāṅghri-bandhau &

As the child Dāmodara forcefully dragged that mortar after him, the roots of the two trees were torn out with great force,

27. By the child with the rope wound about his belly and dragging the mortar along with him, the trees were at once pulled by the roots (were uprooted); with terrible noise they fell down, their trunks, shoots and branches being violently shaken by the speed of the Supreme Lord.

10.10.27

niṣpetatuḥ parama-vikramitātivepa- % skandha-pravāla-viṭapau kṛta-caṇḍa-śabdau //

and their trunks, sprouts, and branches violently trembling from his supreme power, they crashed down, making a terrible sound.

10.10.27.p2

tatra śriyā paramayā kakubhaḥ sphurantau $ siddhāv upetya kujayor iva jāta-vedāḥ &

Then, shining with supreme splendor illuminating the directions like two blazing fires emerging from the trees, the two perfected beings approached,

28. Then, illuminating the directions with their resplendent lustre, rose the two Siddhas like fire rising out of the trees, bowed to Krishna and fell prone at His feet and free from Ahaṅkāra, said to the Lord of all the worlds with folded hands:—

10.10.27.p3

tatra śriyā paramayā kakubhaḥ sphurantau $ siddhāv upetya kujayor iva jāta-vedāḥ &

Then, shining with supreme splendor illuminating the directions like two blazing fires emerging from the trees, the two perfected beings approached,

10.10.28

kṛṣṇaṃ praṇamya śirasākhila-loka-nāthaṃ % baddhāñjalī virajasāv idam ūcatuḥ sma //

and bowing their heads to Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of all the worlds, free from passion, with joined palms they spoke this:

10.10.29

kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa mahā-yogiṃs tvam ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ paraḥ /
vyaktāvyaktam idaṃ viśvaṃ rūpaṃ te brāhmaṇā viduḥ //

‘O Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, O great yogin, You are the primal, supreme Person; / the brāhmaṇas know this entire universe, manifest and unmanifest, to be Your form.

29. “O Krishna, Krishna, O great yogin, Thou art the First and Supreme Person; and the wise who have realised Brahman know (say) that the Universe, gross and subtle, is but Thy form.

10.10.30

tvam ekaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṃ dehāsv-ātmendriyeśvaraḥ /
tvam eva kālo bhagavān viṣṇur avyaya īśvaraḥ //

You alone are the master of the bodies, vital breaths, self, and senses of all beings; / You alone are time, the Lord, Viṣṇu, the imperishable Ruler.

30. Thou alone art the ruler of the body, breaths (life), the mind and the senses; and it is Thou that art in the form of Time and Thou art the omnipotent Lord Vishnu, and Ruler of rulers, never subject to change.

10.10.31

tvaṃ mahān prakṛtiḥ sūkṣmā rajaḥ-sattva-tamomayī /
tvam eva puruṣo 'dhyakṣaḥ sarva-kṣetra-vikāra-vit //

You are the Mahat-tattva, the subtle Prakṛti consisting of passion, purity, and darkness; / You alone are the overseeing Person, the knower of all transformations of the field.

31. Thou art the Mahattatva (the gross effect), the subtle Prakriti constituted of Satva, Rajas and Tamas; Thou art the Antaryāmin (the Supreme Person actuating beings from within) and directly knowest Thou all the modifications and states of all.

10.10.32

gṛhyamāṇais tvam agrāhyo vikāraiḥ prākṛtair guṇaiḥ /
ko nv ihārhati vijñātuṃ prāk siddhaṃ guṇa-saṃvṛtaḥ //

You cannot be grasped by material transformations and qualities that are grasped [by the senses]; / enveloped by qualities, who indeed in this world can know You, who exist prior to them?

32. By means of the modifications of Prakriti and its qualities that fall within the range of perception, Thou art not perceived

and cannot be. Who in the world here, enveloped in gunas, is capable of knowing Thee that dost exist even before creation?

10.10.33

tasmai tubhyaṃ bhagavate vāsudevāya vedhase /
ātma-dyota-guṇaiś channa- mahimne brahmaṇe namaḥ //

Homage to You, the Lord Vāsudeva, the creator, / to Brahman whose majesty is veiled by the qualities illuminating the self.

33. Salutation to Thee who art so great, the most glorious Vasudeva, the Maker of all and the perfect Brahman and whose glories lie concealed by the gunas which receive their light and power from Thyself.

10.10.34

yasyāvatārā jñāyante śarīreṣv aśarīriṇaḥ /
tais tair atulyātiśayair vīryair dehiṣv asaṅgataiḥ //

Incarnations of You, the bodiless, are recognized in bodies / through various peerless and transcendent heroic deeds not possible for embodied beings.

34. & 35. Thou whose Avataras in personalities, Thyself having no corporeal frame, art known by their supreme, matchless and unsurpassed powers which are not to be found in creatures conditioned by bodies,—such Thou, the Lord of all blessings, hast made this Avatar, with a ray of Thine, for the purpose of creation and protection of all the worlds.

10.10.35

sa bhavān sarva-lokasya bhavāya vibhavāya ca /
avatīrṇo 'ṃśa-bhāgena sāmprataṃ patir āśiṣām //

That very You, the Lord of all blessings, have descended at present with a partial manifestation / for the well-being and prosperity of the entire world.

10.10.36

namaḥ parama-kalyāṇa namaḥ parama-maṅgala /
vāsudevāya śāntāya yadūnāṃ pataye namaḥ //

Homage to You, the supreme auspiciousness; homage to You, the supreme blessing; / homage to Vāsudeva, the peaceful, the Lord of the Yadus.

36. Salutation to Thee, O most auspicious One who art Vasudeva of perfect bliss; salutation to Thee, the Lord of Yadus!

10.10.37

anujānīhi nau bhūmaṃs tavānucara-kiṅkarau /
darśanaṃ nau bhagavata ṛṣer āsīd anugrahāt //

Grant us permission, O Infinite One, to be Your attendant servants; / our vision of the Lord has come about by the grace of the seer.

37. O Perfect One, be pleased to send us away who are servants of Kubera (or Narada): we have now had the fortune of seeing Thee through the grace of the worshipful sage Narada.

10.10.37.p1

vāṇī guṇānukathane śravaṇau kathāyāṃ $ hastau ca karmasu manas tava pādayor naḥ &

May our speech be devoted to recounting Your qualities, our ears to Your narrative, / our hands to Your works, and our mind to Your feet;

38. May our tongue be devoted to the utterance of Thy excellent attributes, our ears to hearing Thy stories, our hands to Thy services; our mind to remembering Thy feet; our heads to bowing to the world as Thy abode and our sight to seeing the righteous who are Thy body!

10.10.38

smṛtyāṃ śiras tava nivāsa-jagat-praṇāme % dṛṣṭiḥ satāṃ darśane 'stu bhavat-tanūnām //

may our head be bent in remembrance, bowing to the universe that is Your abode, / and may our sight be directed to the vision of virtuous devotees, who are Your bodies.’

10.10.39

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
itthaṃ saṅkīrtitas tābhyāṃ bhagavān gokuleśvaraḥ /
dāmnā colūkhale baddhaḥ prahasann āha guhyakau //

Śrī Śuka said: / Thus praised by the two, the Lord, the master of Gokula, / bound with a cord to the mortar, smiled and said to the Guhyakas:

39. Sri Suka said:—Thus praised by them both, the glorious Lord, the Ruler of Gokula, tied to the mortar with a rope, laughingly said to the two Guhyakas.

10.10.40

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
jñātaṃ mama puraivaitad ṛṣiṇā karuṇātmanā /
yac chrī-madāndhayor vāgbhir vibhraṃśo 'nugrahaḥ kṛtaḥ //

The Lord said: / ‘This was already known to me long ago, that by the compassionate seer's words, / your fall, blinded as you were by pride of wealth, was performed as an act of grace.

40. The Lord said:—It is already known to Me that, in having made you fall by his words, the merciful sage did a favour

to you blinded with pride of prosperity.

10.10.41

sādhūnāṃ sama-cittānāṃ sutarāṃ mat-kṛtātmanām /
darśanān no bhaved bandhaḥ puṃso 'kṣṇoḥ savitur yathā //

From seeing virtuous devotees who are equal-minded and whose selves are utterly surrendered to Me, / there is no bondage for a person, just as there is no darkness before the eyes upon seeing the sun.

41. On having seen the wise and righteous that have realised Atman and entirely devote their mind to Me, no bondage could exist as no obstruction to man's sight (his eyes) can arise when the sun dawns upon him.

10.10.42

tad gacchataṃ mat-paramau nalakūvara sādanam /
sañjāto mayi bhāvo vām īpsitaḥ paramo 'bhavaḥ //

Therefore, O Nalakūvara [and Maṇigrīva], devoted solely to Me, return to your abode; / in Me devotional emotion has arisen in you both, which is the supreme state desired, free from rebirth.’

42. Then go to your home, Nalakubera, having realised Me as the Supreme Lord; and the most desired and highest devotion to Me which puts an end to Samsara, has been kindled in you.

10.10.43

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
ity uktau tau parikramya praṇamya ca punaḥ punaḥ /
baddholūkhalam āmantrya jagmatur diśam uttarām //

Śrī Śuka said: / Having been addressed thus, circumambulating Him and bowing again and again, / taking leave of Him who was bound to the mortar, they departed toward the northern direction.

43. Sri Suka said:—Thus commanded, they both went round the Lord tied to the mortar, repeatedly prostrated themselves before Him and, with His leave, went towards the North.