Bhagavatapurana 4.26: atha ṣaḍviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

4.26.1

/0 nārada uvāca
sa ekadā maheṣvāso rathaṃ pañcāśvam āśu-gam /
dvīṣaṃ dvi-cakram ekākṣaṃ tri-veṇuṃ pañca-bandhuram //

Nārada said:
Once that great archer [mounted] a chariot with five horses that moved swiftly,
with two yokes, two wheels, one axle, three flagstaffs, and five fastenings,

1—3. Narada said:— Once he (Puranjana), with a great bow in his hand, mounted a chariot fit for rapid marches drawn by five

horses, furnished with two shafts, two wheels, one axle-tree, three flag-staffs, five knots, a single rein, a charioteer with a seat for him (charioteer), two holds for yokes, five recesses, seven-fold protection, provision for five kinds of motion, and decoration of gold—he was clad in gold armour, had (at his back) the inexhaustible quiver, and leading eleven regiments, set off to the forest of five hills.

4.26.2

eka-raśmy eka-damanam eka-nīḍaṃ dvi-kūbaram /
pañca-praharaṇaṃ sapta- varūthaṃ pañca-vikramam //

With one rein, one charioteer, one seat, two poles,
five weapons, seven fenders, and five kinds of motion,

4.26.3

haimopaskaram āruhya svarṇa-varmākṣayeṣudhiḥ /
ekādaśa-camū-nāthaḥ pañca-prastham agād vanam //

Mounted on it with golden fittings, wearing golden armor, with inexhaustible quivers,
that commander of eleven armies went to the forest named Pañcaprastha.

4.26.4

cacāra mṛgayāṃ tatra dṛpta ātteṣu-kārmukaḥ /
vihāya jāyām atad-arhāṃ mṛga-vyasana-lālasaḥ //

Haughty, armed with bow and arrow, he hunted there,
abandoning his wife who did not deserve it, eager for the addiction of hunting.

4. There the proud king armed with bow and arrows, leaving his wife who was not to be so treated, mad with the passion for game he gave himself to hunting.

4.26.5

āsurīṃ vṛttim āśritya ghorātmā niranugrahaḥ /
nyahanan niśitair bāṇair vaneṣu vana-gocarān //

Adopting a demonic way of life, cruel-hearted and devoid of mercy,
he slaughtered the forest dwellers in the woods with sharpened arrows.

5. In the woods he took to the ways of Asuras, and was cruel and merciless; he went on killing with sharp arrows (all) the creatures in the woods.

4.26.6

tīrtheṣu pratidṛṣṭeṣu rājā medhyān paśūn vane /
yāvad-artham alaṃ lubdho hanyād iti niyamyate //

Only at prescribed sacred occasions may a king, if greedy,
kill sacrificial animals in the forest as needed—so it is ordained.

6. Sastra restricts the scope of activity and lays down that a king, if too fond of it, may, as far as it may be necessary and useful,

kill (hunt) sacrificial animals (and that) for the purpose of religious rites defined in the Sastras.

4.26.7

ya evaṃ karma niyataṃ vidvān kurvīta mānavaḥ /
karmaṇā tena rājendra jñānena na sa lipyate //

A wise man who performs prescribed action in this manner,
O king of kings, is not tainted by that action, because of knowledge.

7. The king [he who] as a man (as one endowed with reason) should, knowing his action to be so defined and restricted, (proceed to) do it: O great king! by such action and by the wisdom arising therefrom he remains unassailed (by the consequences of his action).

4.26.8

anyathā karma kurvāṇo mānārūḍho nibadhyate /
guṇa-pravāha-patito naṣṭa-prajño vrajaty adhaḥ //

Acting otherwise, inflated with pride, he is bound;
fallen into the current of the guṇas, his wisdom ruined, he sinks downward.

8. But he who does otherwise (in violation of the restriction), possessed with pride, remains in bondage; and, having fallen into the current of the three gunas, he loses wisdom and goes down afflicted.

4.26.9

tatra nirbhinna-gātrāṇāṃ citra-vājaiḥ śilīmukhaiḥ /
viplavo 'bhūd duḥkhitānāṃ duḥsahaḥ karuṇātmanām //

There, because their bodies were torn apart by arrows with variegated feathers,
there arose an unbearable destruction of the afflicted, [distressing] to compassionate souls.

9. There (in the forest) took place the destruction of afflicted creatures who had their bodies torn with wonderfully winged arrows, unbearable to (in the sight of) those that had a heart full of pity and compassion.

4.26.10

śaśān varāhān mahiṣān gavayān ruru-śalyakān /
medhyān anyāṃś ca vividhān vinighnan śramam adhyagāt //

Hares, wild boars, buffaloes, wild oxen, ruru deer, and porcupines,
and various other sacrificial beasts he struck down, until he became exhausted.

10. He slew hares, hogs, buffaloes, bisons, deer, porcupine and various animals, both sacrificial and others, and at last he was overcome with fatigue.

4.26.11

tataḥ kṣut-tṛṭ-pariśrānto nivṛtto gṛham eyivān /
kṛta-snānocitāhāraḥ saṃviveśa gata-klamaḥ //

Then, weary with hunger and thirst, he returned and went home;
having bathed and taken proper food, his fatigue gone, he lay down.

11. Then fainting with hunger and thirst he turned back and came to his house; after bath and refreshments he went to rest and got over the fatigue.

4.26.12

ātmānam arhayāṃ cakre dhūpālepa-srag-ādibhiḥ /
sādhv-alaṅkṛta-sarvāṅgo mahiṣyām ādadhe manaḥ //

He adorned himself with incenses, ointments, garlands, and the like;
with all his limbs well decorated, he set his mind upon the queen.

12. Then he got himself well attended to in toilet with scented smokes, pigments, garlands, and other things, and well adorned all over, he thought of his queen.

4.26.13

tṛpto hṛṣṭaḥ sudṛptaś ca kandarpākṛṣṭa-mānasaḥ /
na vyacaṣṭa varārohāṃ gṛhiṇīṃ gṛha-medhinīm //

Satisfied, delighted, deeply proud, his mind seized by Cupid,
he did not see his fair-hipped wife, the mistress of the house.

13. Satisfied, gladdened and proud and with his heart swayed by Love, he missed his beautiful wife that made his house sacred.

4.26.14

antaḥpura-striyo 'pṛcchad vimanā iva vediṣat /
api vaḥ kuśalaṃ rāmāḥ seśvarīṇāṃ yathā purā //

Disheartened, he asked the women of the inner apartments as if sitting at an altar:
"O lovely women, is all well with you together with your mistress, as before?

14—15. O Pracheenabarhis, as if anxious he enquired of the ladies in the harem. "Ladies, are your mistress and you all quite well. The splendour of wealth in the place does not look so bright as before; if the house be without a mother or wife to whom her husband is God, who would like an unfortunate wretch stay in it, like unto a chariot of broken parts?

4.26.15

na tathaitarhi rocante gṛheṣu gṛha-sampadaḥ /
yadi na syād gṛhe mātā patnī vā pati-devatā /
vyaṅge ratha iva prājñaḥ ko nāmāsīta dīnavat //

The splendors of the house do not please me now as before.
If there is no mother in the house, or a wife devoted to her husband,
what wise man would sit like a wretched pauper, as if in a broken chariot?

4.26.16

kva vartate sā lalanā majjantaṃ vyasanārṇave /
yā mām uddharate prajñāṃ dīpayantī pade pade //

Where is that lovely woman who rescues me when I am drowning
in the ocean of distress, illuminating my intellect at every step?"

16. "Where is that beauty who lifts me when drowned in a sea of miseries, and who at every step quickens my intellect?"

4.26.17

/0 rāmā ūcuḥ
nara-nātha na jānīmas tvat-priyā yad vyavasyati /
bhūtale niravastāre śayānāṃ paśya śatru-han //

The women said:
"O lord of men, we do not know what your beloved intends;
behold her lying upon the bare ground, O slayer of foes!"

17. Ladies said:—"O Lord of men! we do not know what thy love purposes to do. Please see her lying stretched on the bare ground, O slayer of foes!"

4.26.18

/0 nārada uvāca
purañjanaḥ sva-mahiṣīṃ nirīkṣyāvadhutāṃ bhuvi /
tat-saṅgonmathita-jñāno vaiklavyaṃ paramaṃ yayau //

Nārada said:
Purañjana, beholding his queen cast down upon the ground,
his understanding disturbed by attachment to her, was plunged into utter distress.

18. Narada said:—Finding his queen stretched on the bare ground, he had on meeting her his mind confused to a highly helpless state.

4.26.19

sāntvayan ślakṣṇayā vācā hṛdayena vidūyatā /
preyasyāḥ sneha-saṃrambha- liṅgam ātmani nābhyagāt //

Consoling her with sweet words, with his heart aching,
he found no sign of loving passion directed toward himself from his beloved.

19. Though he had a painful heart he tried to appease her

with soft words: he could not find any indication that her anger was induced by love.

4.26.20

anuninye 'tha śanakair vīro 'nunaya-kovidaḥ /
pasparśa pāda-yugalam āha cotsaṅga-lālitām //

Then the hero, skilled in conciliation, coaxed her gently;
he touched both her feet and spoke to her as she was fondled on his lap.

20. Then again he tried to please her, being an expert in the art; gently touched her feet and caressed her on his lap and said to her.

4.26.21

/0 purañjana uvāca
nūnaṃ tv akṛta-puṇyās te bhṛtyā yeṣv īśvarāḥ śubhe /
kṛtāgaḥsv ātmasāt kṛtvā śikṣā-daṇḍaṃ na yuñjate //

Purañjana said:
"Surely those servants have accumulated no merit upon whom their masters,
O auspicious one, when offenses are committed, do not bestow chastisement as their own.

21. Puranjana said:—"Really, O brilliant one! Of very poor merit are those servants, whom for faults committed masters do not punish and bring under their power.

4.26.22

paramo 'nugraho daṇḍo bhṛtyeṣu prabhuṇārpitaḥ /
bālo na veda tat tanvi bandhu-kṛtyam amarṣaṇaḥ //

Punishment inflicted by a master upon servants is the highest grace;
a foolish and impatient child does not understand that it is the duty of a kin, O slender one.

22. The punishment inflicted by a lord on his servants is the supreme grace shown unto them; O beauty! a young man being impatient cannot understand that to be a friendly service done by his elders.

4.26.23

sā tvaṃ mukhaṃ sudati subhrv anurāga-bhāra- vrīḍā-vilamba-vilasad-dhasitāvalokam /
nīlālakālibhir upaskṛtam unnasaṃ naḥ svānāṃ pradarśaya manasvini valgu-vākyam //

Therefore, O sweet-toothed, lovely-browed one, show to us, who are your own,
your face adorned with a smile and glance bashfully restrained by the weight of love,
with a raised nose embellished by dark curls, O high-minded lady, and utter sweet words.

23. O fair-faced one! O thoughtful lady! thou art our queen; let us, who are thine, see thy face bright with smiling looks, yet hesitating with the weight of love and bashfulness, set off with bee-like dark curly locks, with prominent nose and charming with sweet accents.

4.26.24

tasmin dadhe damam ahaṃ tava vīra-patni yo 'nyatra bhūsura-kulāt kṛta-kilbiṣas tam /
paśye na vīta-bhayam unmuditaṃ tri-lokyām anyatra vai mura-ripor itaratra dāsāt //

I shall inflict punishment on anyone who has committed an offense against you, O wife of a hero,
except from the community of brahmins;
nowhere do I see anyone fearless and joyful in the three worlds,
except indeed a servant of the foe of Mura, or elsewhere.

24. O queen of the warrior! I (shall) punish him who, not being one of the Brahmin race or a votary of Hari, might have wronged thee and I do not see the offender who could in or out of the three worlds find joy unmixed with fear.

4.26.25

vaktraṃ na te vitilakaṃ malinaṃ viharṣaṃ saṃrambha-bhīmam avimṛṣṭam apeta-rāgam /
paśye stanāv api śucopahatau sujātau bimbādharaṃ vigata-kuṅkuma-paṅka-rāgam //

Let me not see your face without its tilaka, stained, joyless,
terrifying in anger, unwashed, and drained of color;
let me not see your shapely breasts struck by grief,
or your bimba-fruit lip bereft of red safflower paste.

25. Never before was thy face seen without *tilaka*, or so dull, cheerless, angry, terrific, untrimmed and cold; nor did I ever see even thy graceful breasts blighted with grief and thy lips resembling bimba fruit rid of ruby shine (Kunkuma)-

4.26.26

tan me prasīda suhṛdaḥ kṛta-kilbiṣasya svairaṃ gatasya mṛgayāṃ vyasanāturasya /
kā devaraṃ vaśa-gataṃ kusumāstra-vega- visrasta-pauṃsnam uśatī na bhajeta kṛtye //

Therefore be gracious to me, your friend who committed an offense,
gone to hunt at will, tormented by addiction.
What passionate woman would not attend to her husband, who has come under her control,
his virility melted by the force of the flower-arrowed god, when it comes to love?"

26. Therefore be pleased to restore to thy favour, me, thy friend, though an offender in having at my own will gone out to hunt, being mad with that passion; still who is it she that would not

lovingly accept for worthy duties the services of one who is already under control and is further rendered powerless by the violence of Manmatha?