Bhagavatapurana 8.12: atha dvādaśo'dhyāyaḥ

8.12.1

/0 śrībādarāyaṇiruvāca
vṛṣadhvajo niśamyedaṃ yoṣidrūpeṇa dānavān /
mohayitvā suragaṇān hariḥ somamapāyayat //

The son of Bādarāyaṇa said:
He whose emblem is the bull, having heard this—that Hari, having assumed the form of a woman,
deluded the Dānavas and made the hosts of gods drink the Soma—

1. Sri Suka said:—The God Siva heard that Sri Hari deluded the Danavas by assuming the form of a damsel and to the hosts of gods gave nectar to drink.

8.12.2

vṛṣamāruhya giriśaḥ sarvabhūtagaṇairvṛtaḥ /
saha devyā yayau draṣṭuṃ yatrāste madhusūdanaḥ //

Mounting his bull, Giriśa, surrounded by all the hosts of spirits, / went together with the goddess to see where Madhusūdana was.

2. Mounted on his bull along with his consort Goddess Parvati and surrounded by all the Bhutas, Siva went to the place where Madhusudana was, to see Him.

8.12.3

sabhājito bhagavatā sādaraṃ somayā bhavaḥ /
sūpaviṣṭa uvācedaṃ pratipūjya smayan harim //

Welcomed respectfully together with Umā by the Lord, / Bhava sat down comfortably and, worshipping Hari, said this with a smile:

3. Siva along with his consort was received with great attentions by the glorious Lord Hari and having taken a proper seat and commended Him, Siva spoke to Him with a smile as follows.

8.12.4

/0 śrīmahādeva uvāca
devadeva jagadvyāpin jagadīśa jaganmaya /
sarveṣāmapi bhāvānāṃ tvamātmā heturīśvaraḥ //

Śrī Mahādeva said: / God of gods, all-pervading one, Lord of the universe, whose embodiment is the universe! / You alone are the self, the cause, and the sovereign ruler of all beings.

4. Sri Mahadeva said:— O God of Gods, Thou dost pervade all the Universes. O Ruler of the Universes, Thou art in the form of the Universe; of all the things Thou art the Atman, (both) the cause and the Ruler.

8.12.5

ādyantāvasya yan madhyamidamanyadahaṃ bahiḥ /
yato 'vyayasya naitāni tat satyaṃ brahma cidbhavān //

The beginning and the end of this [universe], that which is its middle, this [other], that other, the 'I', and the outside— / since none of these pertain to the imperishable, that truth is Brahman, consciousness, which you are.

5. Thou art the Truth, essentially consciousness and no other than Brahman, from which the beginning, end and middle states of the world proceed, and which being unchangeable, is not subject to those states, which is also this the visible Universe and also "Aham" (I), *i. e.*, the seer, which is the external thing, the object, and also the other, the subject, of experience.

8.12.6

tavaiva caraṇāmbhojaṃ śreyaskāmā nirāśiṣaḥ /
visṛjyobhayataḥ saṅgaṃ munayaḥ samupāsate //

Desiring the highest good, free from desires, / abandoning attachment to both [this world and the next], sages worship your lotus feet alone.

6. Wise men who are after the highest good and therefore do not seek after other blessings, rid themselves of all attachment to things here and hereafter and devote themselves to the contemplation only of Thy lotus-like feet.

8.12.6.p1

tvaṃ brahma pūrṇamamṛtaṃ viguṇaṃ viśokam $ ānandamātramavikāramananyadanyat &

You are Brahman: complete, immortal, beyond the qualities, free from sorrow, / pure bliss, changeless, without an equal, distinct [from the universe],

7. Thou art Brahman (the supreme Being), perfect, absolutely

blessed; untouched by gunas and misery, nothing but bliss, not subject to change, without a second, distinct from everything else, the cause of the Universe for its origin, existence, and destruction, the ruler of all Jivas, having nothing to seek from, but sought after by all Jivas.

8.12.7

viśvasya heturudayasthitisaṃyamānām % ātmeśvaraśca tadapekṣatayānapekṣaḥ //

the cause of the universe's origin, sustenance, and destruction, / the Self and Lord, independent even while attending to it.

8.12.7.p2

ekastvameva sadasaddvayamadvayaṃ ca $ svarṇaṃ kṛtākṛtamiveha na vastubhedaḥ &

You alone are the one, the real and unreal, the duality and non-duality— / just as gold fashioned into ornaments and unworked is not a difference in substance here.

8. Thou art but one; Thou art both sat and asat being their cause; Thou art neither, being the first and supreme cause; and like gold modified into something and without modification, there being no difference in substance. Thou art superimposed with differences by people through ignorance; for this difference is due to the three gunas, though Thou art subject to no conditions, (i. e., absolute).

8.12.7.p3

ekastvameva sadasaddvayamadvayaṃ ca $ svarṇaṃ kṛtākṛtamiveha na vastubhedaḥ &

You alone are the one, the real and unreal, the duality and non-duality— / just as gold fashioned into ornaments and unworked is not a difference in substance here.

8.12.8

ajñānatastvayi janairvihito vikalpo % yasmādguṇavyatikaro nirupādhikasya //

Through ignorance, differentiation has been conceived in you by people, / because of the interplay of the qualities in you who are free from limiting conditions.

8.12.8.p2

tvāṃ brahma kecidavayanty uta dharmameke $ eke paraṃ sadasatoḥ puruṣaṃ pareśam &

Some understand you as Brahman, others indeed as dharma; / some as the supreme Person beyond the real and the unreal, the supreme Lord;

9. Some (Vedantins) call Thee Brahman, some (Mimamsakas) Dharma; some again (Sankhyas) Purusha, superior to Prakriti and Purusha; others (Pancharatras) the Lord of nine powers and some others the (Yogas) Maha Purusha (the great Person); but Thou art the changeless and absolute one.

8.12.8.p3

tvāṃ brahma kecidavayanty uta dharmameke $ eke paraṃ sadasatoḥ puruṣaṃ pareśam &

Some understand you as Brahman, others indeed as dharma; / some as the supreme Person beyond the real and the unreal, the supreme Lord;

8.12.9

anye 'vayanti navaśaktiyutaṃ paraṃ tvāṃ % kecin mahāpuruṣamavyayamātmatantram //

others understand you as the Supreme endowed with the nine powers; / some as the great Person, imperishable and self-dependent.

8.12.9.p2

nāhaṃ parāyurṛṣayo na marīcimukhyā $ jānanti yadviracitaṃ khalu sattvasargāḥ &

Neither I, nor he who lives for a cosmic lifespan [Brahmā], nor the ṛṣis headed by Marīci, / though born of purity, know what has indeed been fashioned by you.

10. Neither I nor Brahma of the longest life, nor Marichi and others forming the Satwa creation, comprehend the Universe created by Thee, O supreme Ruler. How could then the Daityas, human beings and others, always active in the wrong direction, (under the influence of Rajas and Tamas) and whose understanding is deluded by Thy Maya, comprehend (Thy creation or Thee)?

8.12.9.p3

nāhaṃ parāyurṛṣayo na marīcimukhyā $ jānanti yadviracitaṃ khalu sattvasargāḥ &

Neither I, nor he who lives for a cosmic lifespan [Brahmā], nor the ṛṣis headed by Marīci, / though born of purity, know what has indeed been fashioned by you.

8.12.10

yanmāyayā muṣitacetasa īśa daitya % martyādayaḥ kimuta śaśvadabhadravṛttāḥ //

Robbed of their minds by your creative power, O Lord, how then could the Daityas, / mortals, and others, whose conduct is ever unfortunate, [know it]?

8.12.10.p2

sa tvaṃ samīhitamadaḥ sthitijanmanāśaṃ $ bhūtehitaṃ ca jagato bhavabandhamokṣau &

That very you—the preservation, birth, and destruction of this world willed [by you], / the actions of living beings, and the bondage and liberation of worldly existence—

11. Thou knowest all that work of thine, the existence, birth,

8.12.10.p3

sa tvaṃ samīhitamadaḥ sthitijanmanāśaṃ $ bhūtehitaṃ ca jagato bhavabandhamokṣau &

That very you—the preservation, birth, and destruction of this world willed [by you], / the actions of living beings, and the bondage and liberation of worldly existence—

and death of the world, the activity of beings, and their mundane bondage and release; being the very essence of that all and the very power of comprehension Thou pervadest everything, just as Vayu (the wind) enters all bodies, moveable, or, immoveable as well as the sky.

8.12.11

vāyuryathā viśati khaṃ ca carācarākhyaṃ % sarvaṃ tadātmakatayāvagamo 'varuntse //

just as the wind enters space and everything called moving and unmoving, / by being their inner self, you, [pure] awareness, encompass all.

8.12.12

avatārā mayā dṛṣṭā ramamāṇasya te guṇaiḥ /
so 'haṃ taddraṣṭumicchāmi yat te yoṣidvapurdhṛtam //

The incarnations of you who delight through the qualities have been seen by me. / I therefore wish to see that form of a woman which was assumed by you,

12. Thy avataras exhibited when playing in association with the gunas, have been seen by me; such an one, I am eager to see, the female form which Thou didst assume.

8.12.13

yena sammohitā daityāḥ pāyitāścāmṛtaṃ surāḥ /
taddidṛkṣava āyātāḥ paraṃ kautūhalaṃ hi naḥ //

by which the Daityas were completely bewildered and the gods were made to drink nectar. / Desirous of seeing it, we have come; great indeed is our curiosity.

13. That form of the damsel by which the Daityas were deluded and the Gods were made to drink of Amrita, we have come eager to see; great is our curiosity.

8.12.14

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
evamabhyarthito viṣṇurbhagavān śūlapāṇinā /
prahasya bhāvagambhīraṃ giriśaṃ pratyabhāṣata //

Śrī Śuka said: / Thus petitioned by the spear-bearing [Śiva], the Lord Viṣṇu, / laughing with profound intent, replied to Giriśa:

14. Sri Suka said:—Thus solicited by Siva, the bearer of Soola, the glorious Vishnu with a laugh pregnant with deep meaning, said to Siva.

8.12.15

/0 śrībhagavān uvāca
kautūhalāya daityānāṃ yoṣidveṣo mayā dhṛtaḥ /
paśyatā surakāryāṇi gate pīyūṣabhājane //

The Lord said: / To captivate the Daityas, the guise of a woman was assumed by me / as I watched over the affairs of the gods when the vessel of nectar was carried off.

15. The glorious Lord said:—Having regard to the interest of the Gods when the jar of nectar was snatched away, in order to keep them spell-bound with curiosity I assumed the form of a damsel.

8.12.16

tat te 'haṃ darśayiṣyāmi didṛkṣoḥ surasattama /
kāmināṃ bahu mantavyaṃ saṅkalpaprabhavodayam //

That I shall show to you, who are eager to see it, O best of the gods; / it is highly esteemed by the lustful, an arising born of desire.

16. That I shall reveal unto Thee that art curious, O best of Gods,—that form which must be most highly valued by passionate beings, love-stricken beings, the form which invokes thought-born love.

8.12.17

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
iti bruvāṇo bhagavāṃstatraivāntaradhīyata /
sarvataścārayaṃścakṣurbhava āste sahomayā //

Śrī Śuka said: / Speaking thus, the Lord vanished right there. / Casting his eyes in all directions, Bhava remained with Umā.

17. Sri Suka said:—Thus saying the glorious Lord vanished out of sight at once at that very place; and Siva with his consort Uma remained wistfully looking in every direction.

8.12.18

tato dadarśopavane varastriyaṃ vicitrapuṣpāruṇapallavadrume /
vikrīḍatīṃ kandukalīlayā lasad dukūlaparyastanitambamekhalām //

Then in a grove of trees with diverse blossoms and red sprouts, he saw an exquisite woman / playing a game with a ball, the girdle on her hips glistening over her fine silk garment,

18. Then in a park close by, in the midst of trees of various and wonderful flowers and crimson sprouts, noticed he a paragon of beauty, playing with a ball, wearing a brilliant zone about her middle which was covered with the finest silk.

8.12.19

āvartanodvartanakampitastana prakṛṣṭahārorubharaiḥ pade pade /
prabhajyamānāmiva madhyataścalat padapravālaṃ nayatīṃ tatastataḥ //

seeming as if broken in the middle at every step by the immense weight of splendid pearl necklaces on breasts trembling with her turns and leaps, / moving her trembling sprout-like feet this way and that,

19. —the damsel who seemed to get broken at every step in her middle by the heavy weight of her full breasts shaking in her bending and rising (to pick up the ball) and of the most precious and stout wreaths of pearls on the chest and who seemed to move hither and thither her own feet shining like shoots (corals).

8.12.20

dikṣu bhramatkandukacāpalairbhṛśaṃ prodvignatārāyatalolalocanām /
svakarṇavibhrājitakuṇḍalollasat kapolanīlālakamaṇḍitānanām //

her wide, restless eyes with agitated pupils darting swiftly as the ball wandered in all directions, / her face adorned with dark ringlets of hair and radiant cheeks illuminated by the earrings glistening at her ears,

20. He saw her whose broad and unsteady eyes were swimming as if afflicted very much by the fanciful and uncontrolled movements of the ball and whose face was adorned with dark and glossy curls, the cheeks brightened by the ear-rings shining in her ears. 21. He saw her trying to set right the loosened garment and disturbed locks with her charming left hand, while she beat down the ball with the other, deluding the world with her supreme powers.

8.12.21

ślathaddukūlaṃ kabarīṃ ca vicyutāṃ sannahyatīṃ vāmakareṇa valgunā /
vinighnatīmanyakareṇa kandukaṃ vimohayantīṃ jagadātmamāyayā //

fastening with a charming left hand her slipping silk cloth and her loosening braid of hair, / striking the ball with the other hand, bewitching the universe with her creative power.

8.12.22

tāṃ vīkṣya deva iti kandukalīlayeṣad vrīḍāsphuṭasmitavisṛṣṭakaṭākṣamuṣṭaḥ /
strīprekṣaṇapratisamīkṣaṇavihvalātmā nātmānamantika umāṃ svagaṇāṃśca veda //

Seeing her playing with the ball in this way, the god [Śiva], captivated by the sidelong glances she cast with faint, bashful smiles, / his heart bewildered by looking at the woman and catching her glances, knew neither himself, nor Umā near him, nor his own followers.

22. The God Siva (saw her Sri Narayana in the form of a damsel) sporting with the ball and was deprived of his sense by her glances accompanied by faint smiles caused by a little bashfulness; his mind and heart were bewildered in the exchange of looks with that woman and he was not conscious of himself or Uma or his own attendants standing by.

8.12.23

tasyāḥ karāgrāt sa tu kanduko yadā gato vidūraṃ tamanuvrajatstriyāḥ /
vāsaḥ sasūtraṃ laghu māruto 'harad bhavasya devasya kilānupaśyataḥ //

And when that ball, slipping from the woman's fingertips, went far away, as she ran after it, / the wind quickly carried off her garment along with its girdle before the very eyes of the god Bhava.

23. When the ball escaped from her hand to a great distance and she went after it, the wind seemed to blow away her delicate garment held by the zone while God Siva stood looking on indeed with eyes wide open.

8.12.24

evaṃ tāṃ rucirāpāṅgīṃ darśanīyāṃ manoramām /
dṛṣṭvā tasyāṃ manaścakre viṣajjantyāṃ bhavaḥ kila //

Seeing her thus, with charming corners of her eyes, beautiful to look upon, enchanting, / Bhava indeed fixed his mind on her as she seemed to invite him.

24. Beholding her so winning with her side-long looks, beautiful to look at, and charming the heart, God Bhava set his heart on her while she was (pretended to be) drawn to him through her ogles at him.

8.12.25

tayāpahṛtavijñānastatkṛtasmaravihvalaḥ /
bhavānyā api paśyantyā gatahrīstatpadaṃ yayau //

His discernment stolen away by her, overwhelmed by the passion she aroused, / even while Bhavānī was watching, he cast off all shame and went to her place.

25. Thus deprived of discrimination by her and confounded by his amorousness for her, he made immodestly after her, even while Parvati was looking on.

8.12.26

sā tamāyāntamālokya vivastrā vrīḍitā bhṛśam /
nilīyamānā vṛkṣeṣu hasantī nānvatiṣṭhata //

Seeing him approaching, naked and deeply ashamed, / she hid among the trees, laughing, and would not stand still.

26. Observing him as he approached her, and feeling abashed for her nakedness, she disappeared amongst the trees with a laughter and tarried nowhere.

8.12.27

tāmanvagacchadbhagavān bhavaḥ pramuṣitendriyaḥ /
kāmasya ca vaśaṃ nītaḥ kareṇumiva yūthapaḥ //

The Lord Bhava followed after her, his senses completely stolen away, / brought under the control of desire like the leader of an elephant herd after a cow elephant.

27. The worshipful Bhava, whose senses were lost beyond control, was possessed with the passion of love: he went after her like the king elephant pursuing his queen.

8.12.28

so 'nuvrajyātivegena gṛhītvānicchatīṃ striyam /
keśabandha upānīya bāhubhyāṃ pariṣasvaje //

Following with great speed, he seized the unwilling woman, / took her by the braid of her hair, and embraced her with his arms.

28. Following her in great speed and having overtaken her, he took hold of her hair-locks and embraced her in his arms, though she was unwilling.

8.12.29

sopagūḍhā bhagavatā kariṇā kariṇī yathā /
itastataḥ prasarpantī viprakīrṇaśiroruhā //

Embraced by the Lord as a cow elephant is by a tusker, / she squirmed this way and that, her hair disheveled.

29. Embraced by him, like the she-elephant by her king, she moved to and fro (in his arms) with dishevelled locks.

8.12.30

ātmānaṃ mocayitvāṅga surarṣabhabhujāntarāt /
prādravat sā pṛthuśroṇī māyā devavinirmitā //

Freeing herself, O King, from between the arms of the foremost of gods, / that woman of broad hips, the creative power produced by the Lord, ran away.

30. Getting herself extricated, O king, from the arms of the (God Siva) great among the celestials, the beautiful damsel took to flight, being the Maya created by the Almighty Lord.

8.12.31

tasyāsau padavīṃ rudro viṣṇoradbhutakarmaṇaḥ /
pratyapadyata kāmena vairiṇeva vinirjitaḥ //

Rudra pursued the path of that Viṣṇu of wondrous deeds, / completely conquered by desire as if by an enemy.

31. Forced by passion and like one completely subdued by an enemy, Rudra stuck to the path of (followed by the same path) Vishnu, the glorious Lord of wonderful deeds.

8.12.32

tasyānudhāvato retaścaskandāmogharetasaḥ /
śuṣmiṇo yūthapasyeva vāsitāmanudhāvataḥ //

As he pursued her, the semen of him whose seed is unfailing was discharged, / like that of a lustful bull elephant pursuing a female in heat.

32. On the way escaped the seed of Rudra whose energy never goes to waste, while he was running after Hari, as that of a powerful king elephant pursuing his queen.

8.12.33

yatra yatrāpatan mahyāṃ retastasya mahātmanaḥ /
tāni rūpyasya hemnaśca kṣetrāṇy āsan mahīpate //

Wherever the semen of that great-souled one fell upon the earth, / those became places of silver and gold, O king.

33. The various spots of the earth where the seed of that great God fell became, O king, fields of gold and silver.

8.12.34

saritsaraḥsu śaileṣu vaneṣūpavaneṣu ca /
yatra kva cāsannṛṣayastatra sannihito haraḥ //

In rivers, in lakes, in mountains, in forests, and in groves, / and wherever there were sages, there Hara was present.

34. Hara betook himself to rivers, and lakes and mountains, forest and gardens and also in any and every place where Rishis dwelt he was present.

8.12.35

skanne retasi so 'paśyadātmānaṃ devamāyayā /
jaḍīkṛtaṃ nṛpaśreṣṭha sannyavartata kaśmalāt //

When his semen was discharged, he saw himself stupefied / by the divine creative power, O best of kings, and restrained himself from that infatuation.

35. When the seed fell he perceived himself befooled by the Lord's Maya, O great king, and then recovered himself from the confusion.

8.12.36

athāvagatamāhātmya ātmano jagadātmanaḥ /
aparijñeyavīryasya na mene tadu hādbhutam //

Then, having realized the greatness of his own self and of the Self of the universe, / whose power is unfathomable, he did not consider that to be wondrous at all.

36. Thereupon he fully realised the glorious greatness of Atman, the Atman of the Universe, and did not think that (befooling him) to be a great wonder (extraordinary) in one of incomprehensible power.

8.12.37

tamaviklavamavrīḍamālakṣya madhusūdanaḥ /
uvāca paramaprīto bibhrat svāṃ pauruṣīṃ tanum //

Perceiving him to be unperturbed and free from shame, Madhusūdana / was supremely pleased, and assuming his own male form, spoke to him:

37. Seeing that Hara remained unnerved and free from any feeling of shame, Madhusudana was very much pleased and resuming his masculine form, spoke to him.

8.12.38

/0 śrībhagavān uvāca
diṣṭyā tvaṃ vibudhaśreṣṭha svāṃ niṣṭhāmātmanā sthitaḥ /
yan me strīrūpayā svairaṃ mohito 'py aṅga māyayā //

The Lord said: / By good fortune, O best of the gods, you have remained grounded in your own state through your self, / in that even though enchanted at will by my creative power in the form of a woman, O dear one,

38. The glorious Lord said:— O foremost one among the Gods, thou hast fortunately thyself recovered thy natural understanding, though thou hast been, O child, greatly deluded by me, as I appeared in the form of a woman at thy will.

8.12.39

ko nu me 'titaren māyāṃ viṣaktastvadṛte pumān /
tāṃstān visṛjatīṃ bhāvān dustarāmakṛtātmabhiḥ //

what man indeed other than you could cross beyond my creative power, / which projects diverse emotional states and is impassable for those who have not conquered themselves?

39. Who could, having conceived a passion, other than thyself,

get over My maya that creates various objects (of attraction) and therefore cannot be got over by the jivas of a poor mind (by persons that have no control over their mind)?

8.12.40

seyaṃ guṇamayī māyā na tvāmabhibhaviṣyati /
mayā sametā kālena kālarūpeṇa bhāgaśaḥ //

This creative power of Mine, consisting of the qualities, will not overpower you, / though united with Me in the form of Time, functioning in its various parts.

40. Operating with Me while as Kala (and in various amsas) in relation to Time (the condition for creation and the like) is this Maya of three gunas and it shall not overpower thee.

8.12.41

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
evaṃ bhagavatā rājan śrīvatsāṅkena satkṛtaḥ /
āmantrya taṃ parikramya sagaṇaḥ svālayaṃ yayau //

Śrī Śuka said: / Having been thus honored by the Lord who bears the Śrīvatsa mark, O King, / [Śiva] took His leave, circumambulated Him, and returned to his own abode with his attendants.

41. Sri Suka said:— Thus blessed, O king, by the Almighty Lord of Srivatsa mark Hara took his leave, went round (and bowed to) Hari and returned to his own abode along with his retinues.

8.12.42

ātmāṃśabhūtāṃ tāṃ māyāṃ bhavānīṃ bhagavān bhavaḥ /
sammatāmṛṣimukhyānāṃ prītyācaṣṭātha bhārata //

Then, O descendant of Bharata, the glorious Bhava joyfully addressed Bhavānī, / who is a partial expansion of his own self and esteemed by the foremost sages:

42. While the great Rishis stood praising him, O Bharata, the worshipful Siva joyfully said then to Parvati, Maya, forming his own part.

8.12.43

ayi vyapaśyastvamajasya māyāṃ parasya puṃsaḥ paradevatāyāḥ /
ahaṃ kalānāmṛṣabho 'pi muhye yayāvaśo 'nye kimutāsvatantrāḥ //

"Ah, did you behold the creative power of the unborn Supreme Person, the supreme divinity? / Even I, the chief of His plenary portions, am helplessly bewildered by it—what then of others who are not independent?

43. Didst thou observe the Maya of the Unborn, Purushottama, the supreme Deity, by which I, the God of gods, am powerlessly deluded? What need to say that the dependent creatures do succumb to His delusive power?

8.12.44

yaṃ māmapṛcchastvamupetya yogāt samāsahasrānta upārataṃ vai /
sa eṣa sākṣāt puruṣaḥ purāṇo na yatra kālo viśate na vedaḥ //

He whom you questioned me about when you approached me as I arose from yoga at the end of a thousand years— / He is that very ancient Person directly, where neither Time nor the Veda has access."

44. He is that very Ancient Person about whom thou didst enquire of me, while remaining quiet in Yoga practice at the end of a thousand years— on Him neither Time nor the Veda operates.

8.12.45

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
iti te 'bhihitastāta vikramaḥ śārṅgadhanvanaḥ /
sindhornirmathane yena dhṛtaḥ pṛṣṭhe mahācalaḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / Thus has been narrated to you, dear one, the valor of the Lord who wields the Śārṅga bow, / by whom the great mountain was borne on His back during the churning of the ocean.

45. Sri Suka said:—O son, thus has been told the glorious work of the Wielder of Saranga bow by whom in churning the sea a great mountain was supported on His back.

8.12.46

etan muhuḥ kīrtayato 'nuśṛṇvato na riṣyate jātu samudyamaḥ kvacit /
yaduttamaślokaguṇānuvarṇanaṃ samastasaṃsārapariśramāpaham //

For one who repeatedly glorifies or hears this, no endeavor is ever ruined anywhere, / because description of the qualities of Him of highest renown removes all the exhaustion of the cycle of rebirth.

46. In no respect will prove fruitless the exertion of one that constantly sings this, or, listens to this, account of Hari's work, for to talk of the attributes and glories of the Lord of highest renown is the way to end all troubles of samsara.

8.12.46.p1

asadaviṣayamaṅghriṃ bhāvagamyaṃ prapannān $ amṛtamamaravaryān āśayat sindhumathyam &

Whose feet, beyond the reach of the unrighteous, are attained through devotional emotion, who fed the nectar churned from the ocean to the foremost immortals who surrendered to Him,

47. I offer my obeisance to the feet of that Lord inaccessible to the sinful, accessible by means of devotion, that gave Amrita to the great Gods his refugees to drink of-that Lord who, of His own will, assumed a female form to confound the enemies of the Gods and who fulfils the prayers of those that approach Him.

8.12.47

kapaṭayuvativeṣo mohayan yaḥ surārīṃs % tamahamupasṛtānāṃ kāmapūraṃ nato 'smi //

and who, assuming the guise of a deceptive young maiden, bewildered the enemies of the gods—unto that fulfiller of desires of those who take refuge in Him, I bow.