Bhagavatapurana 10.88: athāṣṭāśītitamo'dhyāyaḥ

10.88.1

/0 śrī-rājovāca
devāsura-manuṣyesu ye bhajanty aśivaṃ śivam /
prāyas te dhanino bhojā na tu lakṣmyāḥ patiṃ harim //

We wish to know this, for our doubt in this matter is great: / the destinations of the worshippers of these two lords of contradictory dispositions are opposite.

1. The king said:— Those who, the gods, asuras or men, worship god Siva who leads a life of renunciation are generally seen to be wealthy, enjoying pleasures (O Sage! D.) but not those who are devoted to Hari, the Lord of Lakshmi.

10.88.2

etad veditum icchāmaḥ sandeho 'tra mahān hi naḥ /
viruddha-śīlayoḥ prabhvor viruddhā bhajatāṃ gatiḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / Śiva is always united with energy, threefold in characteristic, and enveloped in the strands [of nature]: / the ego is threefold as the modified, the dynamic, and the dull.

2. We want to know the truth of this; for great is our doubt on this point: the goal of those that worship these two Lords of contrary dispositions is quite the opposite (of what might be expected).

10.88.3

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
śivaḥ śakti-yutaḥ śaśvat tri-liṅgo guṇa-saṃvṛtaḥ /
vaikārikas taijasaś ca tāmasaś cety ahaṃ tridhā //

From that arose the sixteen transformations; pursuing / any one among these, a person attains the path of all powers.

3. Sri Suka said:— Invested with the gunas, god Siva who, working with Sakti, always exhibits three characteristics; for Ahankara is threefold, viz., Vaikarika, Taijasa and Tamasa.

10.88.4

tato vikārā abhavan ṣoḍaśāmīṣu kañcana /
upadhāvan vibhūtīnāṃ sarvāsām aśnute gatim //

Hari, on the other hand, is directly free from qualities, the Puruṣa beyond nature; / he is all-seeing, the overseer; worshiping him, one becomes free from qualities.

4. Out of that Ahankara are evolved these sixteen modifications (along with their deities) and of these he who devotes himself to any one attains to one and all of them (gets the attainments pertaining to them all). [D. of these five Bhutas he who worships Siva in any one etc.]

10.88.5

harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ /
sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā taṃ bhajan nirguṇo bhavet //

When the horse-sacrifices were completed, the king, your grandfather, / while listening to the dharmas of the Lord, asked this of Acyuta.

5. On the other hand Hari is indeed not affected by the gunas and He is the Person far beyond Prakriti. He is the one omniscient witness: he who worships Him gets free from the gunas.

10.88.6

nivṛtteṣv aśva-medheṣu rājā yuṣmat-pitāmahaḥ /
śṛṇvan bhagavato dharmān apṛcchad idam acyutam //

The Lord, the master, who had descended into the lineage of Yadu / for the highest good of human beings, pleased, spoke to him who wished to hear.

6. When all the Aswamedha sacrifices were finished, the king, thy grand-father, while listening to the exposition of the righteous duties delightful to the Lord, put this question to Achyuta.

10.88.7

sa āha bhagavāṃs tasmai prītaḥ śuśrūṣave prabhuḥ /
nṛṇāṃ niḥśreyasārthāya yo 'vatīrṇo yadoḥ kule //

The Lord said: / From him upon whom I bestow favor, I will gradually take away wealth; / then, being penniless and stricken with sorrow upon sorrow, his kinfolk abandon him.

7. The Lord who appeared in Yadu's race for the purpose of showing men the way to Moksha, was very much pleased with the question and answered the king who was so eager to learn.

10.88.8

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṃ śanaiḥ /
tato 'dhanaṃ tyajanty asya svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam //

When his efforts have failed and he becomes despondent over the pursuit of wealth, / then, when he has formed friendship with those devoted to me, I will grant my grace.

8. The Lord said:— I gradually deprive that man of his wealth to whom I choose to extend My grace: thereupon his relations abandon him finding him penniless and deep in misery.

10.88.9

sa yadā vitathodyogo nirviṇṇaḥ syād dhanehayā /
mat-paraiḥ kṛta-maitrasya kariṣye mad-anugraham //

Realizing that Supreme Brahman—subtle, pure consciousness, the real, and endless— / as his own Self, the wise man is completely freed from the cycle of rebirth.

9. When he finds himself thwarted in his attempts to acquire wealth and means and grows despondent and makes friends with My devotees, then would I bestow My grace on him.

10.88.10

tad brahma paramaṃ sūkṣmaṃ cin-mātraṃ sad anantakam /
vijñāyātmatayā dhīraḥ saṃsārāt parimucyate //

Therefore, leaving me, who am exceedingly hard to worship, people worship others. / Then, insolent with the sovereignty and splendor obtained from those who are easily pleased, / intoxicated and careless, they forget the boon-givers and show them disrespect.

10. That Brahman is very subtle: it is pure Intelligence and infinite existence: therefore the world leaves Me as one difficult to please and worships others. [V. To that man I shall reveal what that Brahman is. It is very subtle etc].

10.88.11

ato māṃ su-durārādhyaṃ hitvānyān bhajate janaḥ /
tatas ta āśu-toṣebhyo labdha-rājya-śriyoddhatāḥ /
mattāḥ pramattā vara-dān vismayanty avajānate //

Śrī Śuka said: / Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and others are masters of curse and blessing. / O dear one, Śiva and Brahmā give immediate curse and blessing, but not Acyuta.

11. Therefore they obtain sovereignty and wealth from the gods that are easily propitiated, become haughty, forgetful and insolent and (then) they do not remember even those gods that conferred boons on them, nay, they neglect them.

10.88.12

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
śāpa-prasādayor īśā brahma-viṣṇu-śivādayaḥ /
sadyaḥ śāpa-prasādo 'ṅga śivo brahmā na cācyutaḥ //

And on this point they cite this ancient history: / Giriśa, having granted a boon to Vṛkāsura, fell into distress.

12. Sri Suka said:— Brahma, Vishnu, Siva and others have powers to curse or to bless (to be angry or gracious V.): but, O son, Siva curses or blesses rather soon: so also does Brahma, but not Achyuta.

10.88.13

atra codāharantīmam itihāsaṃ purātanam /
vṛkāsurāya giriśo varaṃ dattvāpa saṅkaṭam //

An Asura named Vṛka, the son of Śakuni, seeing Nārada on the road, / the evil-minded one asked who among the three gods is easily pleased.

13. To illustrate this very point the following ancient story is told: Siva conferred a boon on Vrikasura and came to grief.

10.88.14

vṛko nāmāsuraḥ putraḥ śakuneḥ pathi nāradam /
dṛṣṭvāśu-toṣaṃ papraccha deveṣu triṣu durmatiḥ //

He said: Worship the god Giriśa; you will quickly attain success, / he who is quickly pleased or angered by slight virtues or faults.

14. The wicked-hearted Vrika, an asura, son of Sakuni, met Narada on the way and asked him who of the three gods was sooner propitiated.

10.88.15

sa āha devaṃ giriśam upādhāvāśu siddhyasi /
yo 'lpābhyāṃ guṇa-doṣābhyām āśu tuṣyati kupyati //

He said: “Worship the god Giriśa; you will quickly attain success! / He is quickly pleased or angered by slight virtues or faults.

15. He said to him, "Soon betake thyself to god Siva and soon thou wilt be accomplished of thy purpose: (to gain thy object. D.) or, a small measure of merit or defect is enough to please him or displease him".

10.88.16

daśāsya-bāṇayos tuṣṭaḥ stuvator vandinor iva /
aiśvaryam atulaṃ dattvā tata āpa su-saṅkaṭam //

Pleased with the Ten-headed [Rāvaṇa] and Bāṇa who praised him like bards, / he gave them matchless sovereign power and then fell into great distress.”

16. He was very much pleased with the ten-headed Ravana and Bana who praised him like bards. Having bestowed matchless royal prosperity on them, he found himself in difficulty.

10.88.17

ity ādiṣṭas tam asura upādhāvat sva-gātrataḥ /
kedāra ātma-kravyeṇa juhvāno gni-mukhaṃ haram //

Instructed thus, the demon went to worship him at Kedāra, / offering flesh cut from his own limbs into the fire, which is the mouth of Hara.

17. Thus directed: (and urged by strong faith) that asura worshipped Siva at the holy place of Kedara by offering to Siva oblations of flesh cut out from his body through the mouth of Agni (fire).

10.88.18

devopalabdhim aprāpya nirvedāt saptame 'hani /
śiro 'vṛścat sudhitinā tat-tīrtha-klinna-mūrdhajam //

Not obtaining the vision of the god on the seventh day, out of despair, / he prepared to sever his head, its hair wet with the water of that holy place, with a sword.

18. Not having gained the sight of the god and, out of disgust, on the seventh day, he (was about to) cut with the knife his own head that was wet with bathing in the holy waters consecrated to Siva.

10.88.19

tadā mahā-kāruṇiko sa dhūrjaṭir yathā vayaṃ cāgnir ivotthito 'nalāt /
nigṛhya dorbhyāṃ bhujayor nyavārayat tat-sparśanād bhūya upaskṛtākṛtiḥ //

Then the greatly compassionate Dhūrjaṭi, like our fire rising from the sacrificial fire, / seized him by his two arms and restrained him; by his touch, the demon's body was restored once more.

19. At that moment, hastening as we do to relieve the sufferer the highly merciful Siva, rose, out of the fire brilliant like the god of fire (fire out of Arani), held him by the two arms: and prevented him from the act: and by the virtue of that blessed touch his body again became completely hale and healthy. [like the god of fire in a personal form. D.] 20. The god Siva said to him, “O good one, stop, stop, ask of me freely what thou likest. I will confer on thee any boon. I should be pleased with men dovoted to me, for offering mere water. (Do thou secure thy life at the hands of Siva, myself. D.) and in vain thou cruelly afflictest thy body.

10.88.20

tam āha cāṅgālam alaṃ vṛṇīṣva me yathābhikāmaṃ vitarāmi te varam /
prīyeya toyena nṛṇāṃ prapadyatām aho tvayātmā bhṛśam ardyate vṛthā //

He said to him: “Friend, enough! Choose a boon from me according to your desire; I grant it to you. / I am pleased with just water from men who surrender; alas, you torment yourself exceedingly in vain!”

10.88.21

devaṃ sa vavre pāpīyān varaṃ bhūta-bhayāvaham /
yasya yasya karaṃ śīrṣṇi dhāsye sa mriyatām iti //

The wicked man chose a boon from the god that caused fear to all living beings: / “Upon whosever head I place my hand, let him die.”

21. The most sinful asura asked for a boon that was most terrifying to all beings, “On whosesoever head I shall place my hand,, let him die.”

10.88.22

tac chrutvā bhagavān rudro durmanā iva bhārata /
oṃ iti prahasaṃs tasmai dade 'her amṛtaṃ yathā //

Hearing that, Lord Rudra, as if downcast, O descendant of Bharata, / said ‘So be it’ with a slight smile, granting it to him just as one would give nectar to a serpent.

22. On hearing that (request) the worshipful Rudra was very much vexed; still he laughingly said to him, ‘Yes’, and he gave him the boon like milk to a serpent (the boon which was to prove true D.)

10.88.23

sa tad-vara-parīkṣārthaṃ śambhor mūrdhni kilāsuraḥ /
sva-hastaṃ dhātum ārebhe so 'bibhyat sva-kṛtāc chivaḥ //

To test that boon, the demon began / to place his hand on Śambhu’s head; Śiva became terrified of his own deed.

23. So favoured, the asura was certainly impatient to lay hands on Gowri and being an asura, proceeded to place his hand on the head of Siva in order to test the virtue of the boon. And so the god Siva had to fear from what he himself had done (from his own boon).

10.88.24

tenopasṛṣṭaḥ santrastaḥ parādhāvan sa-vepathuḥ /
yāvad antaṃ divo bhūmeḥ kaṣṭhānām udagād udak //

Pursued by him, terrified and trembling, he ran / as far as the end of heaven and earth, and to the limits of the directions, ascending north.

24. Pursued by him and trembling in great fear, Siva ran towards the North to the point where earth and heaven meet. [ran as far as the firmament on high, the earth’s end and the bottom of the earth (Patala].

10.88.25

ajānantaḥ prati-vidhiṃ tūṣṇīm āsan sureśvarāḥ /
tato vaikuṇṭham agamad bhāsvaraṃ tamasaḥ param //

Not knowing the remedy, the chiefs of the gods remained silent. / Then he went to Vaikuṇṭha, radiant and beyond darkness,

25. Not knowing the remedy the great gods kept quiet; then Siva went to the brilliant Vaikuntha situate beyond the sphere of darkness.

10.88.26

yatra nārāyaṇaḥ sākṣān nyāsināṃ paramo gatiḥ /
śāntānāṃ nyasta-daṇḍānāṃ yato nāvartate gataḥ //

where Nārāyaṇa is present directly, the supreme goal of renouncers / who are peaceful and have laid down the rod [of violence], from where one who has gone does not return.

26. Vaikuntha where shines enthroned Narayana the highest resort of the ascetics who are of tranquilb mind and refrained from all harmful activity and having attained to which no one returns to Samsara.

10.88.27

taṃ tathā vyasanaṃ dṛṣṭvā bhagavān vṛjinārdanaḥ /
dūrāt pratyudiyād bhūtvā baṭuko yoga-māyayā //

Seeing him in such distress, the Lord, the dispeller of affliction, / becoming a young brahmacārī through His yogamāyā, approached from afar.

27. Seeing Siva in that difficult plight, the Almighty Lord that destroys all affliction, appeared at a distance assuming by virtue of His yoga the form of a little Brahmacharin.

10.88.28

mekhalājina-daṇḍākṣais tejasāgnir iva jvalan /
abhivādayām āsa ca taṃ kuśa-pāṇir vinīta-vat //

Equipped with a girdle, antelope skin, staff, and rudrākṣa beads, blazing with luster like fire, / he greeted him humbly, holding kuśa grass in his hand.

28. And glowing like fire by His lustre, adorned with a zone, deer skin, a staff (and a rosary of beads etc.,) with darbha in His hand and in great modesty the brahmacharin saluted him (the asura).

10.88.29

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
śākuneya bhavān vyaktaṃ śrāntaḥ kiṃ dūram āgataḥ /
kṣaṇaṃ viśramyatāṃ puṃsa ātmāyaṃ sarva-kāma-dhuk //

The Lord said: / O son of Śakuni, you are visibly exhausted; have you come from far away? / Rest for a moment; the self of a person fulfills all desires.

29. The Lord said:— ‘O Sakuni’s son, evidently thou art much fatigued, Hast thou travelled a long distance? Take rest for a moment. This human body (if well cared for) yields all desires. 30. If it is a matter fit for our ears, please, O powerful one, tell me on what you have set thy mind. For generally (O good one!), every one endeavours after his desired objects through persons chosen for his help.

10.88.30

yadi naḥ śravaṇāyālaṃ yuṣmad-vyavasitaṃ vibho /
bhaṇyatāṃ prāyaśaḥ pumbhir dhṛtaiḥ svārthān samīhate //

If your undertaking is fit for us to hear, O mighty one, / let it be told; generally, people strive for their own goals through the assistance of others.

10.88.31

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
evaṃ bhagavatā pṛṣṭo vacasāmṛta-varṣiṇā /
gata-klamo 'bravīt tasmai yathā-pūrvam anuṣṭhitam //

Śrī Śuka said: / Questioned thus by the Lord with words showering nectar, / relieved of fatigue, he told Him everything he had done before.

31. Sri Suka said:— "Thus in words flowing with nectar (in winning accents) enquired by the Almighty Lord, he felt refreshed and told Him all that he had done from the beginning.

10.88.32

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
evaṃ cet tarhi tad-vākyaṃ na vayaṃ śraddadhīmahi /
yo dakṣa-śāpāt paiśācyaṃ prāptaḥ preta-piśāca-rāṭ //

The Lord said: / “If it is so, then we do not trust his word, / he who attained the nature of a goblin due to Dakṣa’s curse, the king of ghosts and goblins!

32. The Lord said:— "If it were so, we do not believe in his words: for, under the curse of Daksha he attained to the state of a Pisacha and is now the king of Pretas and Pisachas.

10.88.33

yadi vas tatra viśrambho dānavendra jagad-gurau /
tarhy aṅgāśu sva-śirasi hastaṃ nyasya pratīyatām //

If you have trust in him, the guru of the universe, O lord of the Dānavas, / then, friend, quickly place your hand on your own head and see for yourself.

33. O great asura, if thou still have faith in him who is called Father of the world, O great asura, then, O dear one, first of all, place thy hand on thy own head and be assured of it.

10.88.34

yady asatyaṃ vacaḥ śambhoḥ kathañcid dānavarṣabha /
tadainaṃ jahy asad-vācaṃ na yad vaktānṛtaṃ punaḥ //

If Śambhu’s word is somehow false, O best of Dānavas, / then kill him, the false-speaker, so that he will not speak an untruth again.”

34. If Sambhu's words should after all prove false, O great Danava, then thou mayest do away with him for uttering a falsehood, so that he may not live to utter falsehood again.

10.88.35

itthaṃ bhagavataś citrair vacobhiḥ sa su-peśalaiḥ /
bhinna-dhīr vismṛtaḥ śīrṣṇi sva-hastaṃ kumatir nyadhāt //

Thus, by the Lord's manifold and charming words, / the evil-minded demon, his intelligence shattered and his memory lost, placed his own hand on his head.

35. With these admirable and (smiling) winning words of the Lord, his mind changed: and the wicked one forgetfully placed his hand on his own head.

10.88.36

athāpatad bhinna-śirāḥ vrajāhata iva kṣaṇāt /
jaya-śabdo namaḥ-śabdaḥ sādhu-śabdo 'bhavad divi //

Then, his head shattered, he fell down in an instant as if struck by a thunderbolt. / Cries of ‘Victory!’, ‘Salutations!’, and ‘Well done!’ arose in the heavens.

36. Instantly the asura fell, his head split open as if struck with the Vajra (thunderbolt) and in the heavens were heard shouts of 'Victory, salutation, well done'.

10.88.37

mumucuḥ puṣpa-varṣāṇi hate pāpe vṛkāsure /
devarṣi-pitṛ-gandharvā mocitaḥ saṅkaṭāc chivaḥ //

Celestial sages, ancestors, and Gandharvas showered rains of flowers / when the sinful Vṛkāsura was slain, and Śiva was delivered from danger.

37. The sinful Vrikasura having fallen, showers of flowers fell from the hands of the gods, Rishis, Pitris and Gandharvas and the god Siva was rescued from the difficulty.

10.88.38

muktaṃ giriśam abhyāha bhagavān puruṣottamaḥ /
aho deva mahā-deva pāpo 'yaṃ svena pāpmanā //

The Lord, the Supreme Person, addressed Giriśa who had been freed: / “Ah, O god, Mahādeva, this sinner has been slain by his own sin!

38. The Almighty Lord Purushottama said to Siva thus rescued, "O god Mahadeva, this sinful one is struck down by his own sin".

10.88.39

hataḥ ko nu mahatsv īśa jantur vai kṛta-kilbiṣaḥ /
kṣemī syāt kim u viśveśe kṛtāgasko jagad-gurau //

Indeed, what living being who commits an offense against the great, O Lord, / could remain safe, let alone one who offends the Lord of the universe, the teacher of the world?”

39. Who having done wrong to the great, O Isa, could be safe and prosperous? (None). Much less could he who does wrong to the Lord of the world and father of the Universe.

10.88.40

ya evam avyākṛta-śakty-udanvataḥ parasya sākṣāt paramātmano hareḥ /
giritra-mokṣaṃ kathayec chṛṇoti vā vimucyate saṃsṛtibhis tathāribhiḥ //

Whoever narrates or listens to this deliverance of the mountain-dweller by Hari, / the Supreme Self directly, who is an ocean of unmanifest power, is freed from cycles of rebirth and from enemies.

40. He who tells others or listens to the account of Siva's rescue by Hari, the Supreme Atman, the sea of incomprehensible powers, obtains release from samsara as well as from his enemies.