Bhagavatapurana 10.6: atha ṣaṣṭho'dhyāyaḥ

10.6.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
nandaḥ pathi vacaḥ śaurer na mṛṣeti vicintayan /
hariṃ jagāma śaraṇam utpātāgama-śaṅkitaḥ //

Śrī Śuka said:
Reflecting on the road that Śauri's words were not false, Nanda took refuge in Hari, fearing the arrival of calamities.

1. Sri Suka said:—On his way Nanda thought Vasudeva's words might not be untrue and suspecting portents (at Gokula), sought Hari (mentally) as his refuge.

10.6.2

kaṃsena prahitā ghorā pūtanā bāla-ghātinī /
śiśūṃś cacāra nighnantī pura-grāma-vrajādiṣu //

Dispatched by Kaṃsa, the terrible Pūtanā, a killer of infants, roamed through cities, villages, and cowherd settlements, slaughtering babies.

2. Sent by Kamsa the fearful Putana, the killer of infants and children, went about making short work of babes in cities, villages, Vraja and other places.

10.6.3

na yatra śravaṇādīni rakṣo-ghnāni sva-karmasu /
kurvanti sātvatāṃ bhartur yātudhānyaś ca tatra hi //

For demons cannot enter where people perform their duties accompanied by listening to the glories of the Lord of the Sātvatas and similar practices, which destroy evil spirits.

3. Wherever, in the performance of their duties, people fail to listen to the accounts of the Lord of devotees (gods), which destroy evils, there indeed do these devilish women find their way.

10.6.4

sā khe-cary ekadotpatya pūtanā nanda-gokulam /
yoṣitvā māyayātmānaṃ prāviśat kāma-cāriṇī //

Moving through the sky, wandering at will, that Pūtanā once flew and entered Nanda's Gokula, having made herself a woman through her creative power.

4. Coursing through the air on a certain day entered Nanda's Gokula the notorious Putana concealing herself through her magical powers in the guise of a beautiful woman; for she could assume any form and go anywhere she pleased.

10.6.4.p1

tāṃ keśa-bandha-vyatiṣakta-mallikāṃ $ bṛhan-nitamba-stana-kṛcchra-madhyamām &

With jasmine blossoms interwoven in the braid of her hair, slender in waist beneath heavy hips and breasts,

5. On seeing her whose braid was interwoven with Jasmine flowers, who was full about the hips and in the breasts and slender at the waist, who wore splendid cloths, whose face was set off with the ringlets of hair made lustrous by the radiant ear-rings in motion,

10.6.5

suvāsasaṃ kalpita-karṇa-bhūṣaṇa- % tviṣollasat-kuntala-maṇḍitānanām //

dressed in fine garments, her face adorned with ringlets glistening in the luster of the ornaments in her ears,

10.6.5.p2

valgu-smitāpāṅga-visarga-vīkṣitair $ mano harantīṃ vanitāṃ vrajaukasām &

captivating the minds of the cowherd men and women with her glances accompanied by sweet smiles and sidelong looks,

6. Who as a beautiful woman captivated the minds of the residents of Vraja by her side-long looks accompanied with sweet smiles and who had in her hand a lotus blossom, Gopa women took her to be Lakshmi herself come to see her Lord.

10.6.5.p3

valgu-smitāpāṅga-visarga-vīkṣitair $ mano harantīṃ vanitāṃ vrajaukasām &

captivating the minds of the cowherd men and women with her glances accompanied by sweet smiles and sidelong looks,

10.6.6

amaṃsatāmbhoja-kareṇa rūpiṇīṃ % gopyaḥ śriyaṃ draṣṭum ivāgatāṃ patim //

holding a lotus in her hand, the cowherd women thought her to be goddess Śrī herself, embodied and come to behold her husband.

10.6.7

bāla-grahas tatra vicinvatī śiśūn yadṛcchayā nanda-gṛhe 'sad-antakam /
bālaṃ praticchanna-nijoru-tejasaṃ dadarśa talpe 'gnim ivāhitaṃ bhasi //

Searching there for children, that child-seizing demoness by chance saw in Nanda's house the destroyer of the wicked, / the boy whose immense splendor was concealed, lying on a bed like a fire placed beneath ashes.

7. The she-devil, persecutor of young children, in her search after infants, came by chance to Nanda's house and there saw the infant who was death to the wicked and who lay in His bed with His natural and immeasurable glory hidden like fire in ashes.

10.6.8

vibudhya tāṃ bālaka-mārikā-grahaṃ carācarātmā sa nimīlitekṣaṇaḥ /
anantam āropayad aṅkam antakaṃ yathoragaṃ suptam abuddhi-rajju-dhīḥ //

Recognizing her as a child-killing spirit, he, the Self of all moving and unmoving beings, closed his eyes; / she placed the endless one, the ender [of all], on her lap, just as someone lacking discernment might mistake a sleeping snake for a rope.

8. Knowing her to be the devil that kills children the Supreme Ruler of the mobile and the immobile creation remained with His eyes closed (lay quiet without opening His eyes). [Though the Supreme Ruler, the Lord behaving like a babe, uttered nothing at all; but the nocturnal spirit was ignorant that He was Hari who naturally and directly knows the activity of the Universe]. She placed the unlimited Lord Ananta, her death, on her lap, like a foolish person who might treat a serpent on his lap, mistaking it for a rope.

10.6.9

tāṃ tīkṣṇa-cittām ativāma-ceṣṭitāṃ vīkṣyāntarā koṣa-paricchadāsivat /
vara-striyaṃ tat-prabhayā ca dharṣite nirīkṣyamāṇe jananī hy atiṣṭhatām //

Seeing her with her cruel heart and exceedingly perverse intentions, hidden within like a sword inside its scabbard, / and overpowered by the radiance of that noble-looking woman, the two mothers simply stood watching.

9. On suddenly seeing her in their house, who looked such an excellent lady and behaved herself in a very charming fashion (like a mother) though possessed of a cruel heart like unto a sword concealed

in a smooth charming sheath, both the mothers Yasoda and Rohini, overpowered by her brilliancy, kept looking on (without questioning or preventing her).

10.6.9.p1

tasmin stanaṃ durjara-vīryam ulbaṇaṃ $ ghorāṅkam ādāya śiśor dadāv atha &

Then, taking the child into her dreadful lap, she gave him her breast, filled with fierce and unbearable virulence;

10. There, the child Krishna she placed on her horrid lap and suckled him at her breast charged with bitterest and indigestible poison and the glorious Lord, full of indignation, squeezed it very hard with His hands and sucked it along with her life.

10.6.10

gāḍhaṃ karābhyāṃ bhagavān prapīḍya tat- % prāṇaiḥ samaṃ roṣa-samanvito 'pibat //

squeezing it firmly with both hands, the Lord, filled with wrath, drank it together with her life-breaths.

10.6.11

sā muñca muñcālam iti prabhāṣiṇī niṣpīḍyamānākhila-jīva-marmaṇi /
vivṛtya netre caraṇau bhujau muhuḥ prasvinna-gātrā kṣipatī ruroda ha //

Crying out, “Let go! Let go! Enough!”, as all the vital points of her life were being crushed, / rolling her eyes and flinging about her arms and legs again and again, her body bathed in sweat, she wept aloud.

11. Feeling a crushing pain in all her vital parts she cried "Let me go, enough, let me go:" with her wide open eyes, with her hands and feet thrown often into convulsions, perspiring all over, she wailed aloud.

10.6.12

tasyāḥ svanenātigabhīra-raṃhasā sādrir mahī dyauś ca cacāla sa-grahā /
rasā diśaś ca pratinedire janāḥ petuḥ kṣitau vajra-nipāta-śaṅkayā //

At her scream of exceedingly deep and violent force, the earth with its mountains trembled, and heaven with its planets; / the subterranean realm and the directions reverberated, and people fell to the ground fearing the fall of a thunderbolt.

12. By her loud, deep and violent screaming, were shaken the earth with all the mountains and the heavens with all the planets, the nether regions tottered and the cardinal points violently echoed and re-echoed: people fell down on the ground fearing to be struck with thunderbolts (strokes of lightning).

10.6.12.p1

niśā-carītthaṃ vyathita-stanā vyasur $ vyādāya keśāṃś caraṇau bhujāv api &

Her breasts thus agonized, her life departed, opening wide her mouth and scattering her hair, / stretching out her arms and legs in the cowherd settlement, the night-roaming demoness resumed her true form,

13. Thus afflicted at her breast, the Rakshasi gave up her life and with her mouth widely opened, her arms and legs stretched, her hair dishevelled, O king, she fell on the plain of Vraja in her real form, like Vritra struck with Vajra.

10.6.13

prasārya goṣṭhe nija-rūpam āsthitā % vajrāhato vṛtra ivāpatan nṛpa //

and fell, O king, like Vṛtra struck down by the thunderbolt.

10.6.14

patamāno 'pi tad-dehas tri-gavyūty-antara-drumān /
cūrṇayām āsa rājendra mahad āsīt tad adbhutam //

Even as it fell, her body crushed the trees for an expanse of six miles, / O best of kings; it was truly a great wonder.

14. Even in its fall her body reduced to powder the trees over a distance of twelve miles, and, O king, it was really a most astounding sight.

10.6.15

īṣā-mātrogra-daṃṣṭrāsyaṃ giri-kandara-nāsikam /
gaṇḍa-śaila-stanaṃ raudraṃ prakīrṇāruṇa-mūrdhajam //

Its mouth had terrifying fangs the length of a plow-pole; its nostrils were like mountain caverns; / its breasts were like huge boulders; it was frightful, with disheveled reddish hair;

15. To see that dead body with a mouth of terrible tusks long as plough poles, nostrils like unto mountain caves, breasts resembling hillocks, copper coloured hair terribly in disorder;

10.6.16

andha-kūpa-gabhīrākṣaṃ pulināroha-bhīṣaṇam /
baddha-setu-bhujorv-aṅghri śūnya-toya-hradodaram //

its eyes were deep as dry wells; its hips were formidable as sandy riverbanks; / its arms, thighs, and feet were like built embankments; its belly was like an empty reservoir of water.

16. With eyes deep like dark wells, hips formidable like mounds of sand, a belly looking like a waterless (dried) pool about which her arms, thighs and shanks were like parapet walls;

10.6.17

santatrasuḥ sma tad vīkṣya gopā gopyaḥ kalevaram /
pūrvaṃ tu tan-niḥsvanita- bhinna-hṛt-karṇa-mastakāḥ //

Beholding that carcass, the cowherds and cowherd women were terrified, / their hearts, ears, and heads already shattered by her previous shriek.

17. Gopas and Gopa women who had already their hearts and ears shattered, as it were, with her howlings, were filled with immense consternation.

10.6.18

bālaṃ ca tasyā urasi krīḍantam akutobhayam /
gopyas tūrṇaṃ samabhyetya jagṛhur jāta-sambhramāḥ //

And seeing the boy playing fearlessly upon her breast, / the cowherd women rushed over in haste and agitation and took him up.

18. Seeing that the child was fearlessly playing on her bosom, Gopa women quickly came up in their bewilderment and took him up,

10.6.19

yaśodā-rohiṇībhyāṃ tāḥ samaṃ bālasya sarvataḥ /
rakṣāṃ vidadhire samyag go-puccha-bhramaṇādibhiḥ //

Together with Yaśodā and Rohiṇī, they thoroughly performed protective rites for the child from all sides / by waving a cow's tail and other means.

19. Along with Yasoda and Rohini they all performed certain ceremonials for the child's protection against all evil by waving round him the tail of the cow and so on.

10.6.20

go-mūtreṇa snāpayitvā punar go-rajasārbhakam /
rakṣāṃ cakruś ca śakṛtā dvādaśāṅgeṣu nāmabhiḥ //

Having bathed the child with cow's urine, and then with cow-dust, / they fashioned a protection with cow dung and with [divine] names upon his twelve limbs.

20. They bathed the child in the urine of the cow and also sprinkled it with the dust under her feet; and for his protection instituted a talisman with the cow-dung at twelve points of his body pronouncing the names of the Lord.

10.6.21

gopyaḥ saṃspṛṣṭa-salilā aṅgeṣu karayoḥ pṛthak /
nyasyātmany atha bālasya bīja-nyāsam akurvata //

Touching water, the cowherd women placed [the sacred syllables] separately on their own limbs and hands, / and then performed the placement of seed-syllables upon the child:

21. The Gopa women performed achamana (purified themselves) and made the Bijanyasa first on their hands, on parts of their body and on their body as a whole and then did the same on the body of the child (in the following manner).

10.6.21.p1

avyād ajo 'ṅghri maṇimāṃs tava jānv athorū $ yajño 'cyutaḥ kaṭi-taṭaṃ jaṭharaṃ hayāsyaḥ &

“May the Unborn protect your feet, may Maṇimān protect your knees, and then Yajña your thighs; may Acyuta protect your hips, and Hayagrīva your belly;

22. May Aja protect thy feet! May Animan defend thy knees: Yagna thy thighs: Achyuta thy middle (waist): Hayagreva thy abdomen: Kesava thy heart: Isa thy bosom: the Lord thy neck: Vishnu thy arms: the Urukrama thy mouth: Iswara thy head!

10.6.22

hṛt keśavas tvad-ura īśa inas tu kaṇṭhaṃ % viṣṇur bhujaṃ mukham urukrama īśvaraḥ kam //

may Keśava protect your heart, Īśa your chest, Ina your throat, / Viṣṇu your arms, Urukrama your face, and the Sovereign Lord your head.

10.6.22.p2

cakry agrataḥ saha-gado harir astu paścāt $ tvat-pārśvayor dhanur-asī madhu-hājanaś ca &

May He who holds the discus be in front; may Hari, bearing His club, be behind; / at your sides may the bow, sword, and the Slayer of Madhu and Aja stand;

23. May the bearer of Chakra protect thee on the front and the bearer of Gada, Hari at the back: may the slayer of Madhu the Unborn, armed with the bow and the sword, defend thee on the sides: may Urugaya armed with Samkha at the corners; Upendra on high: Tarkshya on the ground: the Perfect Person bearing the plough on all sides.

10.6.22.p3

cakry agrataḥ saha-gado harir astu paścāt $ tvat-pārśvayor dhanur-asī madhu-hājanaś ca &

May He who holds the discus be in front; may Hari, bearing His club, be behind; / at your sides may the bow, sword, and the Slayer of Madhu and Aja stand;

10.6.23

koṇeṣu śaṅkha urugāya upary upendras % tārkṣyaḥ kṣitau haladharaḥ puruṣaḥ samantāt //

in the corners may Urugāya, bearing the conch, protect you; above, Upendra; / Garuḍa upon the earth; Haladhara, the Supreme Person, on every side.

10.6.24

indriyāṇi hṛṣīkeśaḥ prāṇān nārāyaṇo 'vatu /
śvetadvīpa-patiś cittaṃ mano yogeśvaro 'vatu //

May Hṛṣīkeśa protect your sense faculties, and Nārāyaṇa your life-breaths; / may the Lord of Śvetadvīpa protect your intellect, and the Lord of Yoga protect your mind.

24. May Hrishikesa (Lord of the senses) protect thy senses: Narayana thy vital breaths: the Lord of Svetadvipa thy mind: and the Lord of Yoga thy heart!

10.6.25

pṛśnigarbhas tu te buddhim ātmānaṃ bhagavān paraḥ /
krīḍantaṃ pātu govindaḥ śayānaṃ pātu mādhavaḥ //

May Pṛśnigarbha protect your discernment, and the Supreme Lord your self; / may Govinda protect you while playing, and Mādhava protect you while sleeping.

25. May Prisnigarbha protect thy understanding: the Perfect Lord thy ahankara (the principle so called): may Govinda protect thee while playing and Madhava while sleeping!

10.6.26

vrajantam avyād vaikuṇṭha āsīnaṃ tvāṃ śriyaḥ patiḥ /
bhuñjānaṃ yajñabhuk pātu sarva-graha-bhayaṅkaraḥ //

May Vaikuṇṭha protect you while walking, and the Lord of Śrī while sitting; / may the Enjoyer of sacrifice, who terrifies all evil spirits, protect you while eating.

26. May Vaikunta guard thee walking and the Lord of Lakshmi shield thee while sitting: while eating may Yagnabahu the terror of all evil spirits, protect thee!

10.6.27

ḍākinyo yātudhānyaś ca kuṣmāṇḍā ye 'rbhaka-grahāḥ /
bhūta-preta-piśācāś ca yakṣa-rakṣo-vināyakāḥ //

The ḍākinīs and yātudhānīs, the kuṣmāṇḍas, and whatever spirits seize children; / the bhūtas, pretas, piśācas, yakṣas, rakṣasas, and vināyakas;

27. & 28. Dakinis, Yatudhanis, Kushmandas and all those spirits troublesome to children, Bhutas, Pretas, Pisachas, Yakshas, Rakshasas and Vinayakas, Kotara, Revati, Jyestha, Putana, Matrika and others and all those who are called Unmadas and Apsaras who trouble the body, breaths and the senses—

10.6.28

koṭarā revatī jyeṣṭhā pūtanā mātṛkādayaḥ /
unmādā ye hy apasmārā deha-prāṇendriya-druhaḥ //

Koṭarā, Revatī, Jyeṣṭhā, Pūtanā, the mothers and the rest, / madness, epilepsy, and whatever afflictions harm the body, breath, and senses;

10.6.29

svapna-dṛṣṭā mahotpātā vṛddhā bāla-grahāś ca ye /
sarve naśyantu te viṣṇor nāma-grahaṇa-bhīravaḥ //

great portents seen in dreams, and whatever evil spirits afflict the aged or children— / may all of them perish, terrified by the recitation of Viṣṇu's name!”

29. May all these as well as those evil spirits that are seen in dreams, and are great portents and are in the forms of the old or the young die out, terrified at the mention of the names of Vishnu!

10.6.30

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
iti praṇaya-baddhābhir gopībhiḥ kṛta-rakṣaṇam /
pāyayitvā stanaṃ mātā sannyaveśayad ātmajam //

Śrī Śuka said:
Having had protection thus made for him by the cowherd women bound by affection, / his mother gave him her breast to drink and laid her son down to rest.

30. Sri Suka said:—When thus charms for his well being had been attended to by the Gopa women, bound to him through affection, his mother suckled him and put him to bed.

10.6.31

tāvan nandādayo gopā mathurāyā vrajaṃ gatāḥ /
vilokya pūtanā-dehaṃ babhūvur ativismitāḥ //

Meanwhile, Nanda and the other cowherds returned from Mathurā to Vraja; / seeing Pūtanā's body, they were filled with utmost astonishment.

31. By that time Nanda and other Copas returned to Vraja from Mathura and were astounded to see Putana’s body.

10.6.32

nūnaṃ batarṣiḥ sañjāto yogeśo vā samāsa saḥ /
sa eva dṛṣṭo hy utpāto yad āhānakadundubhiḥ //

“Surely he must have become a seer, or he was a master of yoga, / for the very portent that Ānakadundubhi foretold has been seen!”

32. And they thought, ‘Certainly, it’s wonderful: he is a Rishi or a master of Yoga that’s born (on earth); for, the same portent is seen as Anakadundhubi foretold’.

10.6.33

kalevaraṃ paraśubhiś chittvā tat te vrajaukasaḥ /
dūre kṣiptvāvayavaśo nyadahan kāṣṭha-veṣṭitam //

Chopping that corpse with axes, the residents of Vraja / threw the limbs far away and burned them, wrapped in firewood.

33. The people of Vraja hacked that body into pieces with axes, threw it at a distance and burnt it limb by limb with fuel.

10.6.34

dahyamānasya dehasya dhūmaś cāguru-saurabhaḥ /
utthitaḥ kṛṣṇa-nirbhukta- sapady āhata-pāpmanaḥ //

From her body as it burned, smoke with the fragrance of agarwood arose, / for her sins had been destroyed instantaneously when she was sucked dry by Kṛṣṇa.

34. Out of the burning body from which the life Sri Krishna had sucked and which had thereby at once become divested of all sin, there arose smoke fragrant like (the fumes of) Aguru.

10.6.35

pūtanā loka-bāla-ghnī rākṣasī rudhirāśanā /
jighāṃsayāpi haraye stanaṃ dattvāpa sad-gatim //

Though she was Pūtanā, a killer of the world's children, a demoness who fed on blood, / she attained the destination of the virtuous merely by offering her breast to Hari, even with murderous intent.

35. Putana, the child-killer in the world, a Rakshasi feeding on blood, attained a happy end by suckling Hari at her-breast, even though with the purpose of killing Him!

10.6.36

kiṃ punaḥ śraddhayā bhaktyā kṛṣṇāya paramātmane /
yacchan priyatamaṃ kiṃ nu raktās tan-mātaro yathā //

How much more so, then, one who offers with faith and devotion what is dearest to Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Self, / just as his affectionate mothers did?

36. What then need be said that persons who offer the most acceptable thing to the Supreme Lord Krishna with faith and devotion as well as those who give their heart to Him, even like His own mothers (do attain to the highest place)?

10.6.37

padbhyāṃ bhakta-hṛdi-sthābhyāṃ vandyābhyāṃ loka-vanditaiḥ /
aṅgaṃ yasyāḥ samākramya bhagavān api tat-stanam //

With the very feet that dwell in the hearts of his devotees and are worshipped by those whom all worlds revere, / the Lord climbed upon her body and sucked her breast.

37. With his worshipful feet firmly set in the heart of His devoties and worshipped by Brahma and others who are worshipped by the world, the glorious Lord traversed her body and sucked her breast! How blessed she is!

10.6.38

yātudhāny api sā svargam avāpa jananī-gatim /
kṛṣṇa-bhukta-stana-kṣīrāḥ kim u gāvo 'numātaraḥ //

Even as a demoness, she attained heaven, the state of a mother— / how much more so the cows, his foster-mothers, whose breast-milk Kṛṣṇa drank,

38. & 39. Even that Rakshasi attained swarga, an attainment worthy of His mother, because Krishna sucked the milk of her breast: does it then need be said that the cows and His mothers do attain the same, whose milk flowed spontaneously through filial affection: the glorious Lord, (now) son of Devaki, is the Dispenser of Moksha

10.6.39

payāṃsi yāsām apibat putra-sneha-snutāny alam /
bhagavān devakī-putraḥ kaivalyādy-akhila-pradaḥ //

whose milk—flowing forth abundantly out of motherly love—he drank, / the Lord, the son of Devakī, who bestows absolute liberation and all other blessings?

and all other blessings.

10.6.40

tāsām avirataṃ kṛṣṇe kurvatīnāṃ sutekṣaṇam /
na punaḥ kalpate rājan saṃsāro 'jñāna-sambhavaḥ //

For them, who constantly gaze upon Kṛṣṇa as their own son, / the cycle of rebirth born of ignorance can never occur again, O king.

40. Samsara caused through Ajnana (ignorance) does not, O king, again beset those who constantly look upon (contemplate) Him as their own son.

10.6.41

kaṭa-dhūmasya saurabhyam avaghrāya vrajaukasaḥ /
kim idaṃ kuta eveti vadanto vrajam āyayuḥ //

Inhaling the fragrance of the burning pyre's smoke, the residents of Vraja / entered Vraja, wondering, “What is this? From where does it come?”

41. On perceiving the (fragrant) smell of the smoke issuing from the burning dead body, all the people of Vraja wondered what it was and how that could be.

10.6.42

te tatra varṇitaṃ gopaiḥ pūtanāgamanādikam /
śrutvā tan-nidhanaṃ svasti śiśoś cāsan suvismitāḥ //

Hearing there the account told by the cowherds of Pūtanā's arrival and the rest, / of her slaying, and of the child's safety, they were greatly astonished.

42. And there, they were all astonished to hear the account given by the Gopas of Putana's advent, of what happened then, of her death and of the babe's welfare.

10.6.43

nandaḥ sva-putram ādāya pretyāgatam udāra-dhīḥ /
mūrdhny upāghrāya paramāṃ mudaṃ lebhe kurūdvaha //

Taking up his son returned as if from death, the generous-minded Nanda / smelled his head and attained supreme joy, O leader of the Kurus.

43. The noble-minded Nanda took up his child whom he thought he recovered from the jaws of death, smelled him on the crown and was transported with joy, O best of Kurus.

10.6.44

ya etat pūtanā-mokṣaṃ kṛṣṇasyārbhakam adbhutam /
śṛṇuyāc chraddhayā martyo govinde labhate ratim //

A mortal who hears with faith of this liberation of Pūtanā, this wondrous childhood deed of Kṛṣṇa, / attains loving attachment to Govinda.

44. He who with faith and devotion listens to the story of Putana's Moksha and the wonderful action of Krishna as a babe, attains intense love and devotion to Sri Govinda.