Bhagavatapurana 4.2: atha dvitīyo'dhyāyaḥ

4.2.1

/0 vidura uvāca
bhave śīlavatāṃ śreṣṭhe dakṣo duhitṛ-vatsalaḥ /
vidveṣam akarot kasmād anādṛtyātmajāṃ satīm //

Vidura said: / Toward Bhava, the foremost among the virtuous, why did Dakṣa, who loved his daughter, / conceive hatred, disregarding his own daughter Satī?

Vidura said:—

1. Why did Daksha affectionate to his daughters disregard his daughter Satī and hate the God Śiva the foremost among the virtuous and pious?

4.2.2

kas taṃ carācara-guruṃ nirvairaṃ śānta-vigraham /
ātmārāmaṃ kathaṃ dveṣṭi jagato daivataṃ mahat //

Who hates him, the teacher of the moving and unmoving, free from enmity, the personification of peace, / delighting in the self, the great deity of the universe—and how?

2. Who could hate, and how could one hate, the God Śiva who is the father of all creation mobile and immobile, who does not hate any body, who is the very embodiment of tranquillity and who rejoices in his (blissful) self and is the deity of the universe?

4.2.3

etad ākhyāhi me brahman jāmātuḥ śvaśurasya ca /
vidveṣas tu yataḥ prāṇāṃs tatyaje dustyajān satī //

Tell me this, O brāhmaṇa: the hostility between son-in-law and father-in-law, / on account of which Satī cast away her life, which is so hard to give up.

3. O sage, be pleased to tell me how this ill-will came about between the father-in-law and the son-in-law, in consequence of which Satī gave up her life, which cannot be easily done (which nobody is willing to throw away).

4.2.4

/0 maitreya uvāca
purā viśva-sṛjāṃ satre sametāḥ paramarṣayaḥ /
tathāmara-gaṇāḥ sarve sānugā munayo 'gnayaḥ //

Maitreya said: / Formerly, at a sacrificial session of the creators of the universe, the great sages gathered, / and likewise all the hosts of immortals, the ascetics with their followers, and the fires.

4. Maitreya said :—Once, during the sacrifice of the progenitors (Prajāpatis) were assembled (all) the great Rishis ; as also all the classes of celestials with their attendants, as well as the sages and the Agnis.

4.2.5

tatra praviṣṭam ṛṣayo dṛṣṭvārkam iva rociṣā /
bhrājamānaṃ vitimiraṃ kurvantaṃ tan mahat sadaḥ //

Seeing Dakṣa enter there, shining like the sun with his brilliance, / dispelling the darkness of that great assembly, the sages,

5—6. There, seeing Daksha enter brilliant like the sun, and by his splendour dispelling the darkness in that great hall, those who formed the assembly along with the Agnis rose from their seats with their hearts overpowered by his glory ; but Brahma and Śiva did not.

4.2.6

udatiṣṭhan sadasyās te sva-dhiṣṇyebhyaḥ sahāgnayaḥ /
ṛte viriñcāṃ śarvaṃ ca tad-bhāsākṣipta-cetasaḥ //

those members of the assembly, along with the fires, stood up from their seats, / except Viriñca and Śarva, their minds dazzled by his radiance.

4.2.7

sadasas-patibhir dakṣo bhagavān sādhu sat-kṛtaḥ /
ajaṃ loka-guruṃ natvā niṣasāda tad-ājñayā //

Properly honored by the leaders of the assembly, the illustrious Dakṣa / bowed to the unborn, the teacher of the world, and sat down at his command.

7—8. Being duly (highly) honoured by the superintending priests, the venerable Daksha bowed to Brahma, the father of the world, and, with his permission, took his seat there ; Daksha did not bear to be (so) indifferently treated by Śiva ; and looking at him askance with his eyes as if he would burn him, Daksha said :—

4.2.8

prāṅ-niṣaṇṇaṃ mṛḍaṃ dṛṣṭvā nāmṛṣyat tad-anādṛtaḥ /
uvāca vāmaṃ cakṣurbhyām abhivīkṣya dahann iva //

Seeing Mṛḍa already seated, Dakṣa, disregarded by him, could not bear it; / casting an unfavorable glance at him with both eyes as if burning him, he spoke:

4.2.9

śrūyatāṃ brahmarṣayo me saha-devāḥ sahāgnayaḥ /
sādhūnāṃ bruvato vṛttaṃ nājñānān na ca matsarāt //

"Listen to me, O brāhmaṇa sages, along with the gods and the fires, / as I speak of the conduct of the virtuous—not out of ignorance, nor out of malice.

9. "Listen to me, O holy sages, along with the gods and Agnis, as I explain the conduct of the righteous, urged neither by ignorance nor by envy (jealousy).

4.2.10

ayaṃ tu loka-pālānāṃ yaśo-ghno nirapatrapaḥ /
sadbhir ācaritaḥ panthā yena stabdhena dūṣitaḥ //

This shameless destroyer of the guardians of the world's renown, / by this insolent one the path followed by the virtuous has been defiled.

10. "Indeed there is one who wrecks the fame of the protectors of the world and is himself shameless—one haughty person by whom the path trodden by the righteous is violated.

4.2.11

eṣa me śiṣyatāṃ prāpto yan me duhitur agrahīt /
pāṇiṃ viprāgni-mukhataḥ sāvitryā iva sādhuvat //

He has assumed the status of my disciple, since he took my daughter's / hand before the brāhmaṇas and the fire, like Sāvitrī, like a virtuous person.

11. "In the presence of Brāhmin sages and Agni, like a virtuous person, he took the hand of my daughter who is like unto Sāvitri."

4.2.12

gṛhītvā mṛga-śāvākṣyāḥ pāṇiṃ markaṭa-locanaḥ /
pratyutthānābhivādārhe vācāpy akṛta nocitam //

Having taken the hand of the fawn-eyed girl, he of monkey-eyes / did not even offer proper honor in speech to one deserving standing and greeting.

12. Having taken the hand of my daughter whose eyes are beautiful like those of the deer, this person whose eyes are like those of a monkey did not even by word of mouth do what is proper and customary towards me, whom he ought to go forth to meet and receive with salutations.

4.2.13

lupta-kriyāyāśucaye mānine bhinna-setave /
anicchann apy adāṃ bālāṃ śūdrāyevośatīṃ giram //

To him whose rites are abandoned, impure, proud, who has broken the moral boundaries, / though unwilling, I gave my young daughter, as if giving the holy word of the Veda to a śūdra.

13. To this proud and impious person who has omitted to do his duties and violated the law I have reluctantly given my daughter like the sacred word (Vedas) (imparted) to a Śūdra.

4.2.14

pretāvāseṣu ghoreṣu pretair bhūta-gaṇair vṛtaḥ /
aṭaty unmattavan nagno vyupta-keśo hasan rudan //

Surrounded by ghosts and hordes of spirits in terrifying cremation grounds, / he roams like a madman, naked, with disheveled hair, laughing and weeping.

14—16. Dwelling in the horrible abodes of ghosts, surrounded by spirits and demons, he wanders about like a mad man in nakedness with dishevelled hair, laughing and weeping; bathed in the ashes of the cremation ground, wearing the wreaths of flowers on dead bodies and having pieces of bone for his ornaments, he (only) bears the name of Śiva (the auspicious), but he is inauspicious; he is intoxicated and beloved by those who are intoxicated; he is the Lord of the devilish spirits called the Pramathas who are personifications of mere darkness (whose nature is simple darkness); and to such a person the prince of Unmādas (a class of devilish spirits), destitute of piety and possessed of a wicked heart, I am sorry, I have given my virtuous daughter at the instance of Parameshṭhin (Brahma). [N.B.—The passage thus apparently conveying a censure of Śiva bears also another interpretation as his praise.]

4.2.15

citā-bhasma-kṛta-snānaḥ preta-sraṅ-nrasthi-bhūṣaṇaḥ /
śivāpadeśo hy aśivo matto matta-jana-priyaḥ /
patiḥ pramatha-nāthānāṃ tamo-mātrātmakātmanām //

Bathed in the ashes of funeral pyres, adorned with garlands of corpses and human bones, / auspicious in name only, but truly inauspicious, intoxicated and fond of drunken folk, / the master of the Pramatha hordes, whose very nature is made of mere darkness!

4.2.16

tasmā unmāda-nāthāya naṣṭa-śaucāya durhṛde /
dattā bata mayā sādhvī codite parameṣṭhinā //

Alas, to that lord of the mad, bereft of purity, evil-hearted, / the virtuous girl was given by me, urged by the Supreme Lord Parameṣṭhin."

4.2.17

/0 maitreya uvāca
vinindyaivaṃ sa giriśam apratīpam avasthitam /
dakṣo 'thāpa upaspṛśya kruddhaḥ śaptuṃ pracakrame //

Maitreya said: / Having thus reviled Giriśa, who remained without opposition, / Dakṣa then touched water and, enraged, proceeded to pronounce a curse:

17. Maitreya said:—Having thus upbraided Śiva who was (all the while) quiet without retorting, the enraged Daksha made Āchamana and at once proceeded to pronounce his curse (thus):—

4.2.18

ayaṃ tu deva-yajana indropendrādibhir bhavaḥ /
saha bhāgaṃ na labhatāṃ devair deva-gaṇādhamaḥ //

"Let this Bhava, the lowest of the divine host, receive no share / along with the gods, Indra, Upendra, and the others, in the worship of the gods!"

18. "When sacrifices are made to the gods, Bhava, this vile one among the celestial classes, shall not have his share along with the gods viz. Indra, Upendra and others."

4.2.19

niṣidhyamānaḥ sa sadasya-mukhyair dakṣo giritrāya visṛjya śāpam /
tasmād viniṣkramya vivṛddha-manyur jagāma kauravya nijaṃ niketanam //

Though forbidden by the foremost members of the assembly, Dakṣa, having hurled the curse at Giritra, / walked out from there with his anger blazing, O son of the Kurus, and went to his own abode.

19. O Vidura, (although) advised by the foremost in the assembly to desist from it, Daksha uttered his curse upon Śiva the Lord of the mountain, and, departing from the place, he went home in great rage.

4.2.20

vijñāya śāpaṃ giriśānugāgraṇīr nandīśvaro roṣa-kaṣāya-dūṣitaḥ /
dakṣāya śāpaṃ visasarja dāruṇaṃ ye cānvamodaṃs tad-avācyatāṃ dvijāḥ //

Learning of the curse, Nandīśvara, the leader of Giriśa's attendants, his eyes reddened with fury, / hurled a terrible curse at Dakṣa and at those twice-born who had approved of his unspeakable words:

20. On being informed of the curse, Nandin, the foremost one among the servants of Śiva, wild with intense rage (with eyes reddened with anger), imprecated a very fearful curse upon Daksha and upon those Brahmins who had listened to his vile speech with approbation.

4.2.21

ya etan martyam uddiśya bhagavaty apratidruhi /
druhyaty ajñaḥ pṛthag-dṛṣṭis tattvato vimukho bhavet //

"Whoever, regarding this mortal body, bears malice toward the Lord / who bears no malice in return—let that ignorant person of dual vision turn away from truth!

21. He who, lacking understanding, and, out of regard for this mortal frame, cherishes hatred towards the glorious Lord

who is not revengeful, shall see only what is different (from the Lord) and turn away from the truth.

4.2.22

gṛheṣu kūṭa-dharmeṣu sakto grāmya-sukhecchayā /
karma-tantraṃ vitanute veda-vāda-vipanna-dhīḥ //

Attached to deceitful duties in households through desire for vulgar pleasure, / let him amplify the system of ritual actions, his intellect corrupted by the words of the Veda.

22. Through the desire for vulgar pleasures, he shall be attached to the household life characterised by specious righteousness; and being deprived of judgment by the Arthavāda passages (promises of transient pleasures) in the Vedas—he shall (ever) extend his endeavours after sacrificial materials.

4.2.23

buddhyā parābhidhyāyinyā vismṛtātma-gatiḥ paśuḥ /
strī-kāmaḥ so 'stv atitarāṃ dakṣo basta-mukho 'cirāt //

With an intellect contemplating other matters, having forgotten the nature of the self, like a beast, / excessively lustful toward women, let that Dakṣa soon have the face of a goat!

23. With his memory of the truth of Atman erased, and with his mind ever contemplating the other thing [ *i.e.* identifying the body and its belongings with self ] he shall be like a brute intensely addicted to women and shall soon have the face of a sheep.

4.2.24

vidyā-buddhir avidyāyāṃ karmamayyām asau jaḍaḥ /
saṃsarantv iha ye cāmum anu śarvāvamāninam //

Mistaking ritual action for true wisdom, dull-witted in spiritual ignorance, / let them wander in transmigration here—those who follow this despiser of Śarva!

24. He shall become so dull-witted as to take the Avidyā solely dealing with Karma (sacrificial activity) for Vidyā (the knowledge of truth). And those who followed Daksha who was discourteous to the god Śiva, shall continue to be in Samsāra (shall be our subject to the cycle of birth and death.)

4.2.25

giraḥ śrutāyāḥ puṣpiṇyā madhu-gandhena bhūriṇā /
mathnā conmathitātmānaḥ sammuhyantu hara-dviṣaḥ //

Agitated by the flowery speech of the Veda and its rich fragrance of honey, / with their minds churned up, let those haters of Hara be utterly bewildered!

25. The haters of Hara (Śiva) shall be wholly attached (to Karma-mārga), their minds being agitated by the churn of rich promises most inviting like the smell of wine and by the Vedic statements which promise various fruits like flowers.

4.2.26

sarva-bhakṣā dvijā vṛttyai dhṛta-vidyā-tapo-vratāḥ /
vitta-dehendriyārāmā yācakā vicarantv iha //

Let the twice-born eat anything, maintaining knowledge, asceticism, and vows merely for a livelihood, / finding delight only in wealth, the body, and the senses, roaming here as beggars!"

26. They shall eat anything and everything and shall study, perform Tapas and keep austere vows (only) as a means of livelihood; and they shall wander in this world as beggars, finding delight only in their possessions, the body and the senses.

4.2.27

tasyaivaṃ vadataḥ śāpaṃ śrutvā dvija-kulāya vai /
bhṛguḥ pratyasṛjac chāpaṃ brahma-daṇḍaṃ duratyayam //

Hearing him utter such a curse against the race of the twice-born, / Bhṛgu hurled back a counter-curse, the rod of Brahman, difficult to overcome:

27. Hearing the curse thus pronounced by Nandin upon the Brāhmin class, the sage Bhrigu pronounced a counter-curse which is an irrevocable punishment inflicted by the Brāhmin power.

4.2.28

bhava-vrata-dharā ye ca ye ca tān samanuvratāḥ /
pāṣaṇḍinas te bhavantu sac-chāstra-paripanthinaḥ //

"May those who observe the vow of Bhava, and those who follow them, / become heretics, adversaries of the true scriptures.

28. Those that keep vows to propitiate Śiva and those that follow them shall all become Pākhaṇḍas and enemies to the true Śāstra.

4.2.29

naṣṭa-śaucā mūḍha-dhiyo jaṭā-bhasmāsthi-dhāriṇaḥ /
viśantu śiva-dīkṣāyāṃ yatra daivaṃ surāsavam //

Bereft of purity, foolish-minded, wearing matted hair, ashes, and bones, / let them enter the initiation of Śiva, in which the deity is wine and liquor.

29. They shall not be pure in habits, shall have clouded judgments and wear matted locks, ashes and pieces of bone and enter upon the Saivite course of life, where wines (wine) shall be their god.

4.2.30

brahma ca brāhmaṇāṃś caiva yad yūyaṃ parinindatha /
setuṃ vidhāraṇaṃ puṃsām ataḥ pāṣaṇḍam āśritāḥ //

Because you revile the Veda and the brāhmaṇas, / the barrier upholding mankind, you have taken refuge in heresy.

30. Since you cast reproaches on the Vedas and Brāhmins, who are the defence of (or a dam to protect) men (following the duties of the *Varṇas* and *Āśramas*), you shall embrace the creed of the Pākhaṇḍas (the unbelievers).

4.2.31

eṣa eva hi lokānāṃ śivaḥ panthāḥ sanātanaḥ /
yaṃ pūrve cānusantasthur yat-pramāṇaṃ janārdanaḥ //

For this is indeed the auspicious and eternal path of the worlds, / which the ancients followed, and for which Janārdana is the standard of authority.

31. Indeed this is the only auspicious and eternal path for men, which ancients also followed—and of which the source (and authority) is Janārdana (Vishṇu).

4.2.32

tad brahma paramaṃ śuddhaṃ satāṃ vartma sanātanam /
vigarhya yāta pāṣaṇḍaṃ daivaṃ vo yatra bhūta-rāṭ //

Having reviled that supreme and pure Veda, the eternal path of the virtuous, / go into heresy, where your deity is the king of spirits!"

32. It (the Veda) is the supreme Brahman destitute of defects and it is the eternal path of the pious and wise. Having condemned it, betake yourselves to the Pākhaṇḍa course, in which your Deity shall be the Lord of the Tāmasa Bhūtas.

4.2.33

/0 maitreya uvāca
tasyaivaṃ vadataḥ śāpaṃ bhṛgoḥ sa bhagavān bhavaḥ /
niścakrāma tataḥ kiñcid vimanā iva sānugaḥ //

Maitreya said: / As Bhṛgu was thus uttering the curse, the Lord Bhava / departed from there with his followers, as if somewhat despondent.

33. Maitreya said:—While Bhrigu was uttering his curses, the worshipful Śiva along with his attendants departed from the place as if he were disconcerted (as if he regretted all that had occurred there).

4.2.34

te 'pi viśva-sṛjaḥ satraṃ sahasra-parivatsarān /
saṃvidhāya maheṣvāsa yatrejya ṛṣabho hariḥ //

Those creators of the universe also, having conducted the sacrificial session for a thousand years, / O mighty archer, in which the supreme Hari was worshipped,

34. But, O great bowman, the Prajāpatis (however) duly performed for a thousand years their sacrifice, which was intended as the worship of the Supreme Lord Hari.

4.2.35

āplutyāvabhṛthaṃ yatra gaṅgā yamunayānvitā /
virajenātmanā sarve svaṃ svaṃ dhāma yayus tataḥ //

having taken the concluding bath where the Gaṅgā is joined by the Yamunā, / with purified minds, all went from there to their respective abodes.

35. Then at the conclusion they took their holy bath in the Gaṅgā where it is joined by the Yamunā; and with their body thus purified they returned to their homes.