Bhagavatapurana 10.7: atha saptamo'dhyāyaḥ

10.7.1

/0 śrī-rājovāca
yena yenāvatāreṇa bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ /
karoti karṇa-ramyāṇi mano-jñāni ca naḥ prabho //

The King said:
In whatever incarnation the Lord, Hari, the Sovereign Ruler, / performs deeds delightful to the ear and pleasing to our mind, O master—

1. & 2. The King said:—O master, be pleased, if thou thinkest fit, to tell us (me) of every avatara, by which Sri Hari, the glorious and Supreme Lord (Ruler), does deeds delightful to the ear and to the mind, by listening to which despondency as well as the various passions afflicting man leave him, his mind soon gets purified and devotion to Hari and friendship to His devotees are engendered;

10.7.2

yac-chṛṇvato 'paity aratir vitṛṣṇā sattvaṃ ca śuddhyaty acireṇa puṃsaḥ /
bhaktir harau tat-puruṣe ca sakhyaṃ tad eva hāraṃ vada manyase cet //

Hearing of which, a person’s aversion vanishes, thirst ceases, purity of being is quickly attained, / devotion to Hari and friendship with his devotees arises—tell of just that captivating tale, if you think fit.

10.7.3

athānyad api kṛṣṇasya tokācaritam adbhutam /
mānuṣaṃ lokam āsādya taj-jātim anurundhataḥ //

Tell also of Kṛṣṇa's other wondrous childhood deed, / who, having descended into the human realm, conformed to its nature.

3. And of any other marvellous deed of Krishna as a child when He comes into the human world (in a human form), behaves like one of the human race.

10.7.4

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
kadācid autthānika-kautukāplave janmarkṣa-yoge samaveta-yoṣitām /
vāditra-gīta-dvija-mantra-vācakaiś cakāra sūnor abhiṣecanaṃ satī //

Śrī Śuka said: / Once, on the festive occasion of his ceremony of turning over, coinciding with his birth star, while women assembled, / the virtuous [Yaśodā] performed the ritual bath of her son with instrumental music, singing, and Vedic verses chanted by Brahmins.

4. Sri Suka said:—On a certain day, on the occasion of the customary festivity at the time of the child’s turning in its bed, when it chanced to be the day in conjunction with the star of its birth, the chaste Yasoda gave an auspicious bath to her little son; all the ladies gathered (for the purpose), instruments of music played, songsters sang and brahmins uttered mantras.

10.7.5

nandasya patnī kṛta-majjanādikaṃ vipraiḥ kṛta-svastyayanaṃ supūjitaiḥ /
annādya-vāsaḥ-srag-abhīṣṭa-dhenubhiḥ sañjāta-nidrākṣam aśīśayac chanaiḥ //

Having bathed him and had auspicious blessings invoked by the Brahmins, who were lavishly honored / with rich foods, garments, garlands, and desired cows, Nanda's wife gently put him to sleep as sleep overcame his eyes.

5. After finishing the child’s bath and toilet Nanda’s wife properly honoured the brahmins with meals, clothes, flowers and chosen cows and got them to pronounce auspicious mantras, and gently put Him to bed as He shut His eyes in sleep, (in the cradle under a cart).

10.7.6

autthānikautsukya-manā manasvinī samāgatān pūjayatī vrajaukasaḥ /
naivāśṛṇod vai ruditaṃ sutasya sā rudan stanārthī caraṇāv udakṣipat //

Her mind engrossed in the eagerness of the ceremony, the wise woman, busy honoring the assembled folk of Vraja, / did not hear her son crying as he kicked his legs up, weeping for milk.

6. Enthusiastic over the festivity, the liberal-minded lady was busy honouring the people of Vraja who had gathered there and did not at all hear her son crying; and crying for the mother’s milk he kicked up his little feet.

10.7.7

adhaḥ-śayānasya śiśor ano 'lpaka- pravāla-mṛdv-aṅghri-hataṃ vyavartata /
vidhvasta-nānā-rasa-kupya-bhājanaṃ vyatyasta-cakrākṣa-vibhinna-kūbaram //

Struck by the soft, sprout-like little feet of the infant lying beneath it, the cart overturned; / its pots containing various flavors and petty goods were smashed, its wheels and axle upended, and its yoke shattered.

7. Hit by the little feet, tender like unto shoots, of the child lying beneath, the cart so fell over that it broke into pieces the earthenware and glassware full of fine and valuable articles, its wheels overturned, the axle tree and the pole shattered.

10.7.7.p1

dṛṣṭvā yaśodā-pramukhā vraja-striya $ autthānike karmaṇi yāḥ samāgatāḥ &

Seeing this, the women of Vraja led by Yaśodā, who had gathered for the ceremony,

8. Yasoda and other women of Vraja who had assembled there for the festive occasion as well as Nanda and other Gopas were perplexed at the wonderful sight and marvelled, “How did this cart by itself become overturned”. [So saying and disputing over the cause the people in confusion stood round it as if in distress. V. D.]

10.7.8

nandādayaś cādbhuta-darśanākulāḥ % kathaṃ svayaṃ vai śakaṭaṃ viparyagāt //

along with Nanda and the others, were bewildered at the wondrous sight, [wondering] how the cart had overturned all by itself.

10.7.9

ūcur avyavasita-matīn gopān gopīś ca bālakāḥ /
rudatānena pādena kṣiptam etan na saṃśayaḥ //

The children said to the cowherd men and women whose minds were perplexed: / “He was crying and kicked it with his foot; of this there is no doubt.”

9. And the boys told the Gopas and Gopis who were at a loss to know the cause, “This was kicked by this crying child with its foot; do you not doubt it!”

10.7.10

na te śraddadhire gopā bāla-bhāṣitam ity uta /
aprameyaṃ balaṃ tasya bālakasya na te viduḥ //

The cowherds did not believe it, thinking it merely children's talk, / for they did not know the immeasurable strength of that child.

10. But those Gopas did not believe it, taking it to be the mere talk of children: for, they knew nothing of the unlimited strength of that child.

10.7.11

rudantaṃ sutam ādāya yaśodā graha-śaṅkitā /
kṛta-svastyayanaṃ vipraiḥ sūktaiḥ stanam apāyayat //

Picking up her weeping son, Yaśodā, suspecting an evil spirit, / had auspicious hymns recited over him by Brahmins and offered him her breast.

11. Yasoda took up her crying son and suspecting attack of some evil spirit, got the brahmins to repeat the vedic hymns and pronounce benedictions over Him and then suckled Him.

10.7.12

pūrvavat sthāpitaṃ gopair balibhiḥ sa-paricchadam /
viprā hutvārcayāṃ cakrur dadhy-akṣata-kuśāmbubhiḥ //

After strong cowherds set the cart upright with its contents as before, / Brahmins made offerings into the fire and worshipped it with yogurt, unhusked rice grains, kuśa grass, and water.

12. Brahmins poured offerings into the fire; and with curd and unbroken rice, Kusa-grass and water and made Puja and the cart was properly restored to its original position with all its parts, by the able Gopas [or with offerings of bali (cooked rice) in the eight directions].

10.7.13

ye 'sūyānṛta-dambherṣā- hiṃsā-māna-vivarjitāḥ /
na teṣāṃ satya-śīlānām āśiṣo viphalāḥ kṛtāḥ //

For those who are free from malice, falsehood, deceit, jealousy, / violence, and pride, and devoted to truth, their blessings never prove futile.

13. "Never did the benedictions become fruitless of those who were by nature truthful and untouched by jealousy, falsehood, hypocrisy, envy, cruelty and pride."

10.7.14

iti bālakam ādāya sāmarg-yajur-upākṛtaiḥ /
jalaiḥ pavitrauṣadhibhir abhiṣicya dvijottamaiḥ //

Thus taking the child and bathing him with waters prepared according to the Sāma, Ṛg, and Yajur Vedas / and infused with sacred herbs by the best of Brahmins,

14. & 15. With this faith Nanda Gopa took up his child and got him bathed with sacred herbs and waters made efficacious with the mantras of Rig, Yajus and Sama Vedas recited by the best of brahmins; and he also made them repeat benedictory verses; and with a serene mind and heart he poured offerings into the fire and gave very rich meals to brahmins.

10.7.15

vācayitvā svastyayanaṃ nanda-gopaḥ samāhitaḥ /
hutvā cāgniṃ dvijātibhyaḥ prādād annaṃ mahā-guṇam //

and having auspicious blessings recited, the cowherd Nanda, with composed mind, / made oblations in the fire and gave supreme-quality food to the twice-born.

10.7.16

gāvaḥ sarva-guṇopetā vāsaḥ-srag-rukma-mālinīḥ /
ātmajābhyudayārthāya prādāt te cānvayuñjata //

Endowed with all fine traits and adorned with garments, garlands, and golden chains, / he gave cows for the prosperity of his son, and the [Brahmins] bestowed their blessings.

16. & 17. For the prosperity of his son he gave brahmins cows of very good quality, adorned with cloths, wreaths and gold chains: and those brahmins well-versed in mantras pronounced appropriate benedictions on the child, (for, the benedictions uttered by such brahmins do never prove fruitless.)

10.7.17

viprā mantra-vido yuktās tair yāḥ proktās tathāśiṣaḥ /
tā niṣphalā bhaviṣyanti na kadācid api sphuṭam //

The blessings uttered by those disciplined Brahmins versed in the mantras / would certainly never prove in vain.

10.7.18

ekadāroham ārūḍhaṃ lālayantī sutaṃ satī /
garimāṇaṃ śiśor voḍhuṃ na sehe giri-kūṭavat //

One day, as the virtuous woman was fondling her son who had climbed onto her lap, / she could no longer bear the child’s heaviness, which felt like a mountain peak.

18. On a certain day, fondling the child on her lap the virtuous Yasoda felt herself unable to support the weight of the child, as if it were that of a mountain crest.

10.7.19

bhūmau nidhāya taṃ gopī vismitā bhāra-pīḍitā /
mahā-puruṣam ādadhyau jagatām āsa karmasu //

Placing him on the ground, the cowherd woman, astonished and oppressed by his weight, / meditated on the Supreme Person and engaged in household duties.

19. Oppressed with his burden and cast in wonder, the Gopi set him on the ground, contemplated the Supreme Person of the worlds and went about her own duties (not knowing Him to be the Lord that has in His bowels the whole Universe.)

10.7.20

daityo nāmnā tṛṇāvartaḥ kaṃsa-bhṛtyaḥ praṇoditaḥ /
cakravāta-svarūpeṇa jahārāsīnam arbhakam //

Instigated by Kaṃsa, a Daitya named Tṛṇāvarta / assumed the form of a whirlwind and carried off the seated infant.

20. A Daitya, Trinavarta by name, a servant of Kamsa's, dire-

cted by him, came in the form of a whirl-wind and carried away the child that was seated.

10.7.21

gokulaṃ sarvam āvṛṇvan muṣṇaṃś cakṣūṃṣi reṇubhiḥ /
īrayan sumahā-ghora- śabdena pradiśo diśaḥ //

Covering the whole of Gokula, blinding all eyes with dust, / and shaking all directions with a terrifying roar,

21. With the clouds of dust, he covered (darkened) the whole of Gokula, deprived men of their sight and, by his most terrible roars, he made the cardinal points and the corners (all the ten points) echo.

10.7.22

muhūrtam abhavad goṣṭhaṃ rajasā tamasāvṛtam /
sutaṃ yaśodā nāpaśyat tasmin nyastavatī yataḥ //

the cowherd settlement was enveloped for a moment in dust and darkness, / so that Yaśodā could not see her son where she had put him down.

22. For an hour the field of Vraja was enveloped in dust and darkness; and Yasoda did not find her son at the spot where she had set him.

10.7.23

nāpaśyat kaścanātmānaṃ paraṃ cāpi vimohitaḥ /
tṛṇāvarta-nisṛṣṭābhiḥ śarkarābhir upadrutaḥ //

No one could see oneself or another, completely bewildered / and pelted by stones hurled by Tṛṇāvarta.

23. Assailed with the sand and dust wafted by Trinavarta nobody saw himself or another in (the blinding) confusion.

10.7.24

iti khara-pavana-cakra-pāṃśu-varṣe suta-padavīm abalāvilakṣya mātā /
atikaruṇam anusmaranty aśocad bhuvi patitā mṛta-vatsakā yathā gauḥ //

In this fierce storm of wind and dust, unable to trace her son, the helpless mother / fell to the ground and grieved most piteously, remembering him, like a cow whose calf has died.

24. Under that violent blast and shower of dust the poor mother, full of regrets for not finding her son, was so much grieved that she fell on the ground like a cow that has lost its calf.

10.7.25

ruditam anuniśamya tatra gopyo bhṛśam anutapta-dhiyo 'śru-pūrṇa-mukhyaḥ /
rurudur anupalabhya nanda-sūnuṃ pavana upārata-pāṃśu-varṣa-vege //

Hearing her lamentations there, the cowherd women, their minds stricken with grief and their faces bathed in tears, / wept aloud when they could not find Nanda’s son, even after the wind and rain of dust had subsided.

25. When the violent wind and the rain of dust passed, the Gopa women there heard the cry of Yasoda and, not finding Nanda's son and greatly pained at heart, wept with their faces flooded with tears.

10.7.26

tṛṇāvartaḥ śānta-rayo vātyā-rūpa-dharo haran /
kṛṣṇaṃ nabho-gato gantuṃ nāśaknod bhūri-bhāra-bhṛt //

His velocity checked, Tṛṇāvarta, who had taken the shape of a cyclone carrying Kṛṣṇa / into the sky, was unable to proceed further, burdened by immense weight.

26. Assuming the form of a whirl-wind Trinavarta carried Krishna up in the sky and having reached a high point there he felt the burden of Krishna to be unbearable and was not able to proceed further.

10.7.27

tam aśmānaṃ manyamāna ātmano guru-mattayā /
gale gṛhīta utsraṣṭuṃ nāśaknod adbhutārbhakam //

Deeming him to be a rock because of his heaviness, / he was seized by the neck and could not cast the wondrous child away.

27. On account of the weight he thought Him to be a rock and being tightly seized by the throat, he was not able to disengage himself from the wonderful child.

10.7.28

gala-grahaṇa-niśceṣṭo daityo nirgata-locanaḥ /
avyakta-rāvo nyapatat saha-bālo vyasur vraje //

Immobilized by the grip on his throat, his eyes bulging out / and his cries silenced, the Daitya fell lifeless to Vraja along with the boy.

28. Rendered motionless by the pressure at the throat and deprived of sight, the Daitya muttering low sounds fell dead on the plain of Vraja with the child.

10.7.29

tam antarikṣāt patitaṃ śilāyāṃ viśīrṇa-sarvāvayavaṃ karālam /
puraṃ yathā rudra-śareṇa viddhaṃ striyo rudatyo dadṛśuḥ sametāḥ //

The weeping women gathered and saw him fallen from the sky onto a rock, / all his limbs shattered and hideous, like a city pierced by the arrow of Rudra.

29. The women who had met (there) saw the Daitya fallen from the sky on to a rock with all his limbs shattered to pieces like the city that was hit by the arrow of Rudra.

10.7.30

prādāya mātre pratihṛtya vismitāḥ kṛṣṇaṃ ca tasyorasi lambamānam /
taṃ svastimantaṃ puruṣāda-nītaṃ vihāyasā mṛtyu-mukhāt pramuktam /
gopyaś ca gopāḥ kila nanda-mukhyā labdhvā punaḥ prāpur atīva modam //

Astonished to see Kṛṣṇa clinging to his chest, they picked him up and returned him to his mother; / having regained him safe and sound—carried off into the sky by a man-eater and delivered from the jaws of death—the cowherd women and the cowherds, led by Nanda, attained supreme joy.

30. The wondering Gopas brought back to his mother Krishna who had been carried away through the sky by the man-eater and who thus escaped unscathed from the jaws of death; and (they all) Gopas and Gopis as well as Nanda were immersed in great joy.

10.7.31

aho batāty-adbhutam eṣa rakṣasā bālo nivṛttiṃ gamito 'bhyagāt punaḥ /
hiṃsraḥ sva-pāpena vihiṃsitaḥ khalaḥ sādhuḥ samatvena bhayād vimucyate //

[They said:] “Oh, how wonderful! Carried off to his death by a demon, this child has returned again! / The violent villain was destroyed by his own sin, while the innocent one is freed from fear through his impartiality.

31. Oh! what wonder! He carried away by the Rakshasa, almost lost, is got back! the cruel and wicked creature is put an end to by his own sin (wickedness) and the righteous one is saved from fear by his own virtue (uniform goodness).

10.7.31.p1

kiṃ nas tapaś cīrṇam adhokṣajārcanaṃ $ pūrteṣṭa-dattam uta bhūta-sauhṛdam &

What austerities did we perform, what worship of Adhokṣaja, / what public works, sacrifices, charities, or benevolence to living beings,

32. O what great _tapas_, what worship of Hari, what charity, as sacrifices, construction of wells and ponds and the like, what gifts and what kindness to beings have we practised by virtue whereof our lost child has fortunately come back bringing delight to its kith and kin (and friends).

10.7.32

yat samparetaḥ punar eva bālako % diṣṭyā sva-bandhūn praṇayann upasthitaḥ //

that this child, though as good as dead, has by good fortune returned to bring joy to his kin?”

10.7.33

dṛṣṭvādbhutāni bahuśo nanda-gopo bṛhadvane /
vasudeva-vaco bhūyo mānayām āsa vismitaḥ //

Seeing so many wondrous events in Bṛhadvana, / the cowherd Nanda was astonished and repeatedly remembered the words of Vasudeva.

33. On observing (from day to day) these wonderful events of frequent occurrence at Brihadvana, Nandagopa was very astonished and all the more esteemed the words of Vasudeva.

10.7.34

ekadārbhakam ādāya svāṅkam āropya bhāminī /
prasnutaṃ pāyayām āsa stanaṃ sneha-pariplutā //

One day, taking the child upon her lap, the affectionate woman, / overflowing with motherly love, nursed him with flowing milk from her breast.

34. On a certain day the blessed Yasoda, in overflowing affection, took her child on to her lap and suckled him at her overflowing breast.

10.7.35

pīta-prāyasya jananī sutasya rucira-smitam /
mukhaṃ lālayatī rājañ jṛmbhato dadṛśe idam //

When he had almost finished drinking, the mother, fondling the sweetly smiling face / of her son, O King, saw this as he yawned:

35. & 36. When the child was almost satisfied, the caressing mother enjoying the sweet smiling face of her son, O king, the child yawned and she saw in his mouth this Universe:—the sky, the firmament above, the earth below, the hoards of luminaries, the cardinal points, the sun, the moon, fire, air, oceans, continents, mountains, rivers, woods and all things, mobile and immobile.

10.7.36

khaṃ rodasī jyotir-anīkam āśāḥ sūryendu-vahni-śvasanāmbudhīṃś ca /
dvīpān nagāṃs tad-duhitṝr vanāni bhūtāni yāni sthira-jaṅgamāni //

The sky, heaven and earth, the host of luminaries, the directions, the sun, moon, fire, wind, and oceans, / the continents, mountains, their daughters (the rivers), forests, and all beings, both stationary and moving.

10.7.37

sā vīkṣya viśvaṃ sahasā rājan sañjāta-vepathuḥ /
sammīlya mṛgaśāvākṣī netre āsīt suvismitā //

Seeing the universe suddenly, O King, she began to tremble; / the doe-eyed woman closed her eyes, utterly amazed.

37. Suddenly seeing a Universe, O king, she shuddered, shut her eyes and remained drowned in astonishment.