Bhagavatapurana 6.13: atha trayodaśo'dhyāyaḥ

6.13.1

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
vṛtre hate trayo lokā vinā śakreṇa bhūrida /
sapālā hy abhavan sadyo vijvarā nirvṛtendriyāḥ //

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
vṛtre hate trayo lokā vinā śakreṇa bhūrida
sapālā hy abhavan sadyo vijvarā nirvṛtendriyāḥ

1. Sri Suka said:— O generous king, when Vritra was slain the three worlds with their protectors except Indra himself became at once free from anxiety and had all their senses in a felicitous state.

6.13.2

devarṣipitṛbhūtāni daityā devānugāḥ svayam /
pratijagmuḥ svadhiṣṇyāni brahmeśendrādayastataḥ //

devarṣipitṛbhūtāni daityā devānugāḥ svayam
pratijagmuḥ svadhiṣṇyāni brahmeśendrādayastataḥ

2. Thereupon the Gods, Rishis, Pitris and Bhutas, Diti's sons, the attendants of the celestials, Brahma, Rudra, Indra and others all returned to their several abodes.

6.13.3

/0 śrīrājovāca
indrasyānirvṛterhetuṃ śrotumicchāmi bho mune /
yenāsan sukhino devā harerduḥkhaṃ kuto 'bhavat //

/0 śrīrājovāca
indrasyānirvṛterhetuṃ śrotumicchāmi bho mune
yenāsan sukhino devā harerduḥkhaṃ kuto 'bhavat

3. The king said:— O sage, I like to know why Indra (alone) did not (the cause of Indra's failure to) find felicity; since the gods were happy, whence came the misery of Indra?

6.13.4

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
vṛtravikramasaṃvignāḥ sarve devāḥ saharṣibhiḥ /
tadvadhāyārthayannindraṃ naicchadbhīto bṛhadvadhāt //

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
vṛtravikramasaṃvignāḥ sarve devāḥ saharṣibhiḥ
tadvadhāyārthayannindraṃ naicchadbhīto bṛhadvadhāt

4. Sri Suka said:—Under great sufferings, from the fear of Vritra's prowess, all the gods and Rishis petitioned to Indra for his destruction: but afraid of the sinful act of killing a brahmin Indra did not like it.

6.13.5

/0 indra uvāca
strībhūdrumajalaireno viśvarūpavadhodbhavam /
vibhaktamanugṛhṇadbhirvṛtrahatyāṃ kva mārjmy aham //

/0 indra uvāca
strībhūdrumajalaireno viśvarūpavadhodbhavam
vibhaktamanugṛhṇadbhirvṛtrahatyāṃ kva mārjmy aham

5. Indra said:— I divided the sin arising from the slaughter of Viswarupa among women, earth, water and trees who kindly arranged to receive it; now where and how could I wipe off the sin of killing Vritra?

6.13.6

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
ṛṣayastadupākarṇya mahendramidamabruvan /
yājayiṣyāma bhadraṃ te hayamedhena mā sma bhaiḥ //

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
ṛṣayastadupākarṇya mahendramidamabruvan
yājayiṣyāma bhadraṃ te hayamedhena mā sma bhaiḥ

6. Sri Suka said:—On hearing that, the Rishis said this to the great Indra, "Mayst thou be happy! We shall help thee to perform Aswamedha sacrifice. Fear not.

6.13.7

hayamedhena puruṣaṃ paramātmānamīśvaram /
iṣṭvā nārāyaṇaṃ devaṃ mokṣyase 'pi jagadvadhāt //

hayamedhena puruṣaṃ paramātmānamīśvaram
iṣṭvā nārāyaṇaṃ devaṃ mokṣyase 'pi jagadvadhāt

7. By worshipping the Perfect Person and Supreme Ruler, the Omnipresent Lord Narayana, thou wilt be freed from even the sin of slaying the whole world.

6.13.8

brahmahā pitṛhā goghno mātṛhācāryahāghavān /
śvādaḥ pulkasako vāpi śuddhyeran yasya kīrtanāt //

brahmahā pitṛhā goghno mātṛhācāryahāghavān
śvādaḥ pulkasako vāpi śuddhyeran yasya kīrtanāt

8. For, by singing His name even he who kills a brahmin or a father, or a cow, or a mother, or a preceptor and who is also otherwise sinful, or he who is of low birth and eats the dog's flesh will be purified.

6.13.9

tamaśvamedhena mahāmakhena śraddhānvito 'smābhiranuṣṭhitena /
hatvāpi sabrahmacarācaraṃ tvaṃ na lipyase kiṃ khalanigraheṇa //

tamaśvamedhena mahāmakhena śraddhānvito 'smābhiranuṣṭhitena
hatvāpi sabrahmacarācaraṃ tvaṃ na lipyase kiṃ khalanigraheṇa

9. By the performance of the great sacrifice, Aswamedha, with faith and with our help and thereby propitiating Him, thou art sure to be untouched by sin even if thou killest, (a Brahman), the whole world of mobile and immobile creatures: then what need be said that thou will not be touched by sin in putting down a wicked creature?''

6.13.10

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
evaṃ sañcodito viprairmarutvān ahanadripum /
brahmahatyā hate tasminnāsasāda vṛṣākapim //

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
evaṃ sañcodito viprairmarutvān ahanadripum
brahmahatyā hate tasminnāsasāda vṛṣākapim

10. Sri Suka said:—Thus impelled and requested by the saintly brahmins Indra slew the enemy; and when he was killed the sin of having slain a brahmin assailed Indra.

6.13.11

tayendraḥ smāsahat tāpaṃ nirvṛtirnāmumāviśat /
hrīmantaṃ vācyatāṃ prāptaṃ sukhayanty api no guṇāḥ //

Because of that [murder of a brāhmaṇa], Indra suffered burning torment; peace did not enter him at all. / Even [all his] virtues cannot bring happiness to a modest man who has incurred blame.

11. Thereby Indra felt much pain at heart and he could find no ease of mind: no good qualities or favourable circumstances will make a man of self-respect happy when he incurs the censure of the world.

6.13.12

tāṃ dadarśānudhāvantīṃ cāṇḍālīmiva rūpiṇīm /
jarayā vepamānāṅgīṃ yakṣmagrastāmasṛkpaṭām //

He saw her running after him like a personified Cāṇḍālī, / her limbs trembling with old age, stricken with consumption, wearing garments stained with blood,

12. & 13. Indra saw Brahmahatya rushing towards him in the form (in the material form) of a Chandala woman trembling with old age and suffering from phthisis and clad in cloth soaked in blood (wearing bloody cloths,) with her hair turned grey and dishevelled and crying (to him) "Stop, Stop", and making all the road obnoxious with her breaths stinking like rotten fish.

6.13.13

vikīrya palitān keśāṃstiṣṭha tiṣṭheti bhāṣiṇīm /
mīnagandhyasugandhena kurvatīṃ mārgadūṣaṇam //

scattering her gray hair, crying out, “Stop! Stop!” / and defiling the path with the foul stench of raw fish.

6.13.14

nabho gato diśaḥ sarvāḥ sahasrākṣo viśāmpate /
prāgudīcīṃ diśaṃ tūrṇaṃ praviṣṭo nṛpa mānasam //

He went into the sky, to all the directions, O ruler of the people; / and quickly entering the northeast direction, O king, the thousand-eyed [Indra took refuge in] Lake Mānasa.

14. Indra hastened through the sky, O king, in all directions, and speeding fast to the north-east, entered, O king, the lake Manasa.

6.13.15

sa āvasat puṣkaranālatantūn alabdhabhogo yadihāgnidūtaḥ /
varṣāṇi sāhasramalakṣito 'ntaḥ sañcintayan brahmavadhādvimokṣam //

He resided within the fibers of a lotus stalk, deprived of all enjoyment, having Agni as his messenger here, / remaining unperceived for a thousand years, pondering within himself deliverance from the murder of a brāhmaṇa.

15. He (Indra) dwelt in the fibres of the lotus-stalk and found nothing to subsist upon, since his messenger Agni could not enter there; thus he was in there for a thousand years unperceived, pondering how to cleanse himself of the sin of killing the brahmin.

6.13.16

tāvat triṇākaṃ nahuṣaḥ śaśāsa vidyātapoyogabalānubhāvaḥ /
sa sampadaiśvaryamadāndhabuddhir nītastiraścāṃ gatimindrapatnyā //

Meanwhile Nahuṣa, possessing the majesty of knowledge, ascetic power, yoga, and might, ruled the threefold heaven. / But his mind was blinded by the arrogance of wealth and sovereignty, and he was reduced to the condition of a crawling beast by Indra's wife.

16. During this interval Nahusha possessed of knowledge, tapas, and the strength and powers of yoga ruled the celestial region; but his head being turned on account of wealth, power and pride, he was cursed by Indra's queen Sachi to drop down (to earth) as a lower animal.

6.13.17

tato gato brahmagiropahūta ṛtambharadhyānanivāritāghaḥ /
pāpastu digdevatayā hataujās taṃ nābhyabhūdavitaṃ viṣṇupatnyā //

Then, called back by the speech of the brāhmaṇas, with his sin averted by meditation on Ṛtambhara, / he returned; but sin, its power broken by the guardian deity of the direction, could not overcome him, as he was protected by the wife of Viṣṇu.

17. Then invited by brahmins (the seven sages) and being freed from sin by his contemplation of Hari, the Protector of Truth, Indra returned to Swarga; and the sin, disabled by the God presiding over the cardinal points (Rudra), did not assail him who was further protected by Sri Lakshmi, Vishnu's consort (by Ganga).

6.13.18

taṃ ca brahmarṣayo 'bhyetya hayamedhena bhārata /
yathāvaddīkṣayāṃ cakruḥ puruṣārādhanena ha //

And the brāhmaṇa-seers approached him, O descendant of Bharata, / and initiated him duly in the horse sacrifice, the worship of the Supreme Person.

18. The great brahmin Rishis came up to him, O Bharata, and made him accept the diksha for the Aswamedha sacrifice by which Hari is to be worshipped.

6.13.19

athejyamāne puruṣe sarvadevamayātmani /
aśvamedhe mahendreṇa vitate brahmavādibhiḥ //

Then, when the Supreme Person, whose self is composed of all the gods, was being worshipped / in the horse sacrifice spread out by Mahendra and performed by the expounders of the Veda,

19. & 20. Now when the extensive Aswamedha sacrifice was being performed by Indra with the help of the sages versed in the Vedas and thereby the Perfect Person, the Atman and Lord of all the gods, was being worshipped, that hoard of sin, though mighty, of having killed Vritra, was, O king, reduced to nothing like mist before the sun.

6.13.20

sa vai tvāṣṭravadho bhūyān api pāpacayo nṛpa /
nītastenaiva śūnyāya nīhāra iva bhānunā //

that slaying of Tvaṣṭṛ's son, though a vast accumulation of sin, O king, / was reduced to nothingness by that very [sacrifice], like mist by the sun.

6.13.21

sa vājimedhena yathoditena vitāyamānena marīcimiśraiḥ /
iṣṭvādhiyajñaṃ puruṣaṃ purāṇam indro mahān āsa vidhūtapāpaḥ //

Having worshipped the ancient Person, the lord of sacrifice, / by the horse sacrifice performed as prescribed and conducted by Marīci and others, great Indra had his sin shaken off.

21. By means of the Aswamedha sacrifice conducted on an extensive scale as laid down (in the sastras) under the direction of the revered Marichi and other sages, Indra worshipped the Ancient Perfect Person, the Lord of sacrifice, and being absolved from the sin, shone as great as ever.

6.13.22

idaṃ mahākhyānamaśeṣapāpmanāṃ prakṣālanaṃ tīrthapadānukīrtanam /
bhaktyucchrayaṃ bhaktajanānuvarṇanaṃ mahendramokṣaṃ vijayaṃ marutvataḥ //

This great narrative cleanses all sins, is a glorification of the Lord of holy feet, / exalts devotion, celebrates the devoted servants [of God], and recounts the liberation of Mahendra and the victory of the wielder of the thunderbolt.

22. This great account which celebrates the hallowed feet of Hari, and wherein are described the virtue of devotion, the greatness of devotees, the absolution of Indra from sin and his victory is the means of washing all sins.

6.13.23

paṭheyurākhyānamidaṃ sadā budhāḥ śṛṇvanty atho parvaṇi parvaṇīndriyam /
dhanyaṃ yaśasyaṃ nikhilāghamocanaṃ ripuñjayaṃ svastyayanaṃ tathāyuṣam //

The wise should always recite this narrative and hear it, and especially on every holy day; it grants control of the senses, / brings wealth, bestows renown, frees from all sins, overcomes enemies, promotes welfare, and bestows long life.

23. Wise people would do well always to read this account of Indra and listen to it at every Parwan (new moon or full moon), as it is calculated to enliven the functions of the senses, to secure blessings and glory, to remove all sin, to bestow victory over one's enemies, to conduce to auspiciousness and to confer longer life.