Bhagavatapurana 8.18: athāṣṭādaśo'dhyāyaḥ

8.18.1

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
itthaṃ viriñcastutakarmavīryaḥ prādurbabhūvāmṛtabhūradityām /
caturbhujaḥ śaṅkhagadābjacakraḥ piśaṅgavāsā nalināyatekṣaṇaḥ //

/0 Śrī Śuka said:
Thus, his deeds and valour praised by Viriñci, the source of nectar appeared from Aditi, / four-armed, holding conch, mace, lotus, and disc, dressed in yellow garments, with eyes wide like lotuses,

1. Sri Suka Said:— Thus His deeds and powers sung by Brahma, the Lord who is the abode of absolute immortality, manifested Himself to Aditi in a form exhibiting four arms adorned with Sankha, Gada, Padma and Chakra, clad in Pitambara and possessed of eyes broad like lotus petals,

8.18.2

śyāmāvadāto jhaṣarājakuṇḍala tviṣollasacchrīvadanāmbujaḥ pumān /
śrīvatsavakṣā balayāṅgadollasat kirīṭakāñcīguṇacārunūpuraḥ //

pure dark-complexioned, his splendid lotus face radiant with the lustre of shark-shaped earrings, the Puruṣa / with the śrīvatsa on his chest, gleaming with bracelets, armlets, diadem, girdle-strand, and beautiful anklets,

2. — a form of violet complexion, with lotus-like face bright with the rays of Makarakundala, with the bosom marked with Sri Vatsa, and adorned with bracelets, Angadas, a brilliant crown, a zone and beautiful Nupuras;

8.18.3

madhuvrātavratavighuṣṭayā svayā virājitaḥ śrīvanamālayā hariḥ /
prajāpaterveśmatamaḥ svarociṣā vināśayan kaṇṭhaniviṣṭakaustubhaḥ //

Hari, adorned with his garland of forest flowers buzzing with swarms of bees, / dispelling the darkness of the Prajāpati's dwelling by his own radiance, with the Kaustubha gem placed upon his neck.

3. Glorious with the splendid Vanamala, peculiar to Him, resonant with swarms of bees humming about it and also with kaustubha about His neck, Hari dispelled with His lustre the darkness of the Prajapati’s house.

8.18.4

diśaḥ praseduḥ salilāśayāstadā prajāḥ prahṛṣṭā ṛtavo guṇānvitāḥ /
dyaurantarīkṣaṃ kṣitiragnijihvā gāvo dvijāḥ sañjahṛṣurnagāśca //

Then the quarters became serene, the bodies of water [clear], the creatures overjoyed, the seasons endowed with good qualities; / heaven, the intermediate space, the earth, the fire-tongued [gods], the cows, the twice-born, and the mountains rejoiced.

4. At that hour all the cardinal points became tranquil, lakes and ponds got clear, mankind rejoiced, and the seasons bore their own qualities and fruits; the celestial region, the mid-air, the earth, the gods whose mouth is fire, cows, birds and mountains were in a joyous state.

8.18.5

śroṇāyāṃ śravaṇadvādaśyāṃ muhūrte 'bhijiti prabhuḥ /
sarve nakṣatratārādyāś cakrustajjanma dakṣiṇam //

Under the asterism Śroṇā, on the Śravaṇa-dvādaśī, at the muhūrta called Abhijit, the Lord [appeared]. / All the lunar mansions, stars, and [planets] made that birth auspicious.

5. On the twelfth day of Bhadrapada bright fortnight, under the star Sravana, at the Abhijit hour, the Lord made His appearance; then all the stars and planets such as the Sun made (indicated) His Avatar to be most beneficial.

8.18.6

dvādaśyāṃ savitātiṣṭhan madhyandinagato nṛpa /
vijayānāma sā proktā yasyāṃ janma vidurhareḥ //

The sun stood at midday on that twelfth day, O king. / That day is called Vijayā, on which they know Hari's birth to have taken place.

6. That Dwadasi, O king, when the Lord Hari is known to have appeared, when the Sun was at the meridian, is said to be Vijaya.

8.18.7

śaṅkhadundubhayo nedurmṛdaṅgapaṇavānakāḥ /
citravāditratūryāṇāṃ nirghoṣastumulo 'bhavat //

Conches and kettle-drums resounded, as did mṛdaṅgas, paṇavas, and ānakas; / the roar of various musical instruments and trumpets became tumultuous.

7 & 8. Conches and drums, Mridanga, Panava and Anakas, were sounded; wonderful instruments of music were blown and their noise filled all the quarters, the joyous Apsaras women danced; the great Gandharvas sang; sages, the gods, Manus, Pitris and Agnis offered their prayers to the Lord.

8.18.8

prītāścāpsaraso 'nṛtyan gandharvapravarā jaguḥ /
tuṣṭuvurmunayo devā manavaḥ pitaro 'gnayaḥ //

Delighted, the Apsarases danced and the foremost Gandharvas sang. / Sages, gods, Manus, ancestors, and fires offered praise.

8.18.9

siddhavidyādharagaṇāḥ sakimpuruṣakinnarāḥ /
cāraṇā yakṣarakṣāṃsi suparṇā bhujagottamāḥ //

Hosts of Siddhas and Vidyādharas, along with Kimpuruṣas and Kinnaras, / Cāraṇas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, birds, and the best of serpents,

9. Also Siddhas, Vidyadharas, Kimpurushas, Kinnaras, Charanas, Yakshas, Rakshas, Suparna and the great Nagas, the attendants of the gods, sang, exulted and danced and showered flowers on the hermitage of Aditi.

8.18.10

gāyanto 'tipraśaṃsanto nṛtyanto vibudhānugāḥ /
adityā āśramapadaṃ kusumaiḥ samavākiran //

singing, highly praising, and dancing, the followers of the gods / showered the precincts of Aditi's hermitage with flowers.

8.18.11

dṛṣṭvāditistaṃ nijagarbhasambhavaṃ paraṃ pumāṃsaṃ mudamāpa vismitā /
gṛhītadehaṃ nijayogamāyayā prajāpatiścāha jayeti vismitaḥ //

Seeing that Supreme Person born from her own womb, Aditi was filled with joy and wonder. / And the Prajāpati, astonished, said, 'Triumph!' to Him who had assumed a body by his own yogamāyā.

11. Looking at the Supreme Person who appeared as her son Aditi was transported with joy and cast in wonder; she and Prajapati also saw in astonishment the Lord who assumed a personality by the powers of His yoga and uttered the words “Jaya”, “Jaya”.

8.18.12

yat tadvapurbhāti vibhūṣaṇāyudhair avyaktacidvyaktamadhārayaddhariḥ /
babhūva tenaiva sa vāmano vaṭuḥ sampaśyatordivyagatiryathā naṭaḥ //

That form, shining with ornaments and weapons, which was the manifestation of unmanifest consciousness, Hari retained; / and before their very eyes, He became a dwarf student, of divine movement, like an actor.

12. While Aditi and Kasyapa were witnessing, Sri Hari changed that very form which He first manifested to them (by means of His glorious lustre), with ornaments and weapons, and like an actor of wonderful powers became a boy-Brahmacharin.

8.18.13

taṃ vaṭuṃ vāmanaṃ dṛṣṭvā modamānā maharṣayaḥ /
karmāṇi kārayāmāsuḥ puraskṛtya prajāpatim //

Seeing that dwarf student, the great sages, rejoicing, / performed the rites [of passage] for him, placing the Prajāpati at their head.

13. At the sight of this little boy the great Rishis were rejoiced and with the Prajapati at their head conducted (the usual) religious observances.

8.18.14

tasyopanīyamānasya sāvitrīṃ savitābravīt /
bṛhaspatirbrahmasūtraṃ mekhalāṃ kaśyapo 'dadāt //

As he was being invested [with the sacred thread], Savitṛ recited the Gāyatrī to him, / Bṛhaspati gave the sacred thread, and Kaśyapa gave the girdle.

14. In the course of the ceremony of initiation Surya taught Him Gayatri; Brihaspati gave Him the sacred thread, and Kasyapa the cord of grass to be tied round the middle.

8.18.15

dadau kṛṣṇājinaṃ bhūmirdaṇḍaṃ somo vanaspatiḥ /
kaupīnācchādanaṃ mātā dyauśchatraṃ jagataḥ pateḥ //

Earth gave a black antelope skin, and Soma, the lord of vegetation, a staff; / his mother gave a covering for his loincloth, and the sky an umbrella to the Lord of the universe.

15. The Goddess Earth gave a deer-skin; Soma the lord of plants the sacred staff; his mother *kaupina* and a cloth, and the Sky gave an umbrella to the Lord of the Universe.

8.18.16

kamaṇḍaluṃ vedagarbhaḥ kuśān saptarṣayo daduḥ /
akṣamālāṃ mahārāja sarasvaty avyayātmanaḥ //

The womb of the Vedas gave a water-pot, the Seven Sages gave kuśa grass, / and Sarasvatī, O great king, gave a rosary of akṣa beads to the imperishable Self.

16. Brahma gave a water jar and the seven sages the sacred grass, and O great king, Sarasvati gave a string of beads to the Imperishable Paramatman.

8.18.17

tasmā ity upanītāya yakṣarāṭ pātrikāmadāt /
bhikṣāṃ bhagavatī sākṣādumādādambikā satī //

To him thus initiated, the king of Yakṣas gave an alms-bowl, / and the goddess herself, Umā, Ambikā, the virtuous wife, gave alms.

17. Saying, "This is to Him", Kubera gave a vessel to the boy who had been initiated; the worshipful mother Parvati herself gave Him alms.

8.18.18

sa brahmavarcasenaivaṃ sabhāṃ sambhāvito vaṭuḥ /
brahmarṣigaṇasañjuṣṭāmatyarocata māriṣaḥ //

Thus honoured, that boy, venerable with brahmic splendour, / outshone that assembly frequented by hosts of brahmin sages.

18. Highly esteemed as a Brahmacharin, the all-surpassing boy in His own Brahminic glory, outshone the assembly (court) of numerous Brahma-Rishis.

8.18.19

samiddhamāhitaṃ vahniṃ kṛtvā parisamūhanam /
paristīrya samabhyarcya samidbhirajuhoddvijaḥ //

Having kindled and established the sacrificial fire, swept all around it, / strewn [grass] around it, and worshipped it, the twice-born offered oblations with firewood.

19. Now as a twice-born one He instituted the sacred fire and made it flame forth according to the prescribed courses of collecting, of placing the sacred grass about it and having worshipped the god of fire, (He) offered the sacrificial sticks into it (fed the fire with sacred sticks).

8.18.20

śrutvāśvamedhairyajamānamūrjitaṃ baliṃ bhṛgūṇāmupakalpitaistataḥ /
jagāma tatrākhilasārasambhṛto bhāreṇa gāṃ sannamayan pade pade //

Hearing that Bali was performing grand horse sacrifices arranged by the descendants of Bhṛgu, / He went there, endowed with all essence, bending down the earth at every step under his weight.

20. Then hearing that Bali of great power was engaged as a sacrificer in Aswamedha performances conducted by the Brahmins of the Bhrigu Race, He went thither bearing in Himself the essence of all strength and causing the earth to bend at every step on account of that weight.

8.18.21

taṃ narmadāyāstaṭa uttare baler ya ṛtvijaste bhṛgukacchasaṃjñake /
pravartayanto bhṛgavaḥ kratūttamaṃ vyacakṣatārāduditaṃ yathā ravim //

On the northern bank of the Narmadā, at the place named Bhṛgukaccha, the priests of Bali, / the Bhṛgus performing that supreme sacrifice, saw him rising from afar like the sun.

21. On the northern bank of the Narmada, at a point called *Bhrigu kachcha*, those priests of the Bhrigu race who were conducting the great sacrifice of Bali, saw Him at a distance coming like the rising sun.

8.18.22

te ṛtvijo yajamānaḥ sadasyā hatatviṣo vāmanatejasā nṛpa /
sūryaḥ kilāyāty uta vā vibhāvasuḥ sanatkumāro 'tha didṛkṣayā kratoḥ //

Those priests, the sacrificer, and the members of the assembly, their splendour eclipsed by the dwarf's radiance, [wondered], O king: / 'Is the sun coming, or Fire, or Sanatkumāra, desiring to see the sacrifice?'

22. Those priests, the sacrificer (Bali) and the members of the

sacred assembly had their splendour eclipsed by the glory of Vamana! O king, they said "It is indeed Surya himself, or Sanatkumara that comes up to see the sacrifice; or is it God Agni?"

8.18.23

itthaṃ saśiṣyeṣu bhṛguṣvanekadhā vitarkyamāṇo bhagavān sa vāmanaḥ /
chatraṃ sadaṇḍaṃ sajalaṃ kamaṇḍaluṃ viveśa bibhraddhayamedhavāṭam //

While being conjectured in many ways by the Bhṛgus together with their disciples, the Lord, that Dwarf, / carrying an umbrella, a staff, and a water-pot filled with water, entered the enclosure of the horse sacrifice.

23. Thus differently judged by the Bhrigus and their disciples that glorious Vamana with his umbrella, his sacred staff, and the jar full of water, entered the hall of the Aswamedha sacrifice.

8.18.24

mauñjyā mekhalayā vītamupavītājinottaram /
jaṭilaṃ vāmanaṃ vipraṃ māyāmāṇavakaṃ harim //

Girt with a girdle of muñja grass, wearing the sacred thread and a deer skin as an upper garment, / with matted hair, a dwarf, a brahmin, the illusory boy, Hari—

24. Observing Hari to be a Brahmin, a Brahmacharin, to all appearances, by virtue of His own powers, short in stature, with matted hair, clad in deer skin and with His middle girded with a cord of Munja grass, Bhrigus and their disciples, with their sacred fires, shrank before His glory, rose from their seats and received Him.

8.18.25

praviṣṭaṃ vīkṣya bhṛgavaḥ saśiṣyāste sahāgnibhiḥ /
pratyagṛhṇan samutthāya saṅkṣiptāstasya tejasā //

seeing him enter, the Bhṛgus with their disciples, along with the fires, / stood up and received him, diminished by his brilliance.

8.18.26

yajamānaḥ pramudito darśanīyaṃ manoramam /
rūpānurūpāvayavaṃ tasmā āsanamāharat //

The sacrificer, delighted, brought a seat for him, / who was handsome, charming to the mind, with limbs proportionate to his form.

26. Highly delighted to see the charming personage worth seeing, the members of His body being charmingly symmetrical to the whole, the sacrificer himself brought Him a seat.

8.18.27

svāgatenābhinandyātha pādau bhagavato baliḥ /
avanijyārcayāmāsa muktasaṅgamanoramam //

Then, having greeted him with a welcome, Bali washed the feet of the Lord, / who delights those free from attachment, and worshipped him.

27. When Bali gave Him (his hearty) welcome, washed His feet, and worshipped Him who is most charming to the mind and heart of those that renounce all attachments.

8.18.28

tatpādaśaucaṃ janakalmaṣāpahaṃ sa dharmavin mūrdhny adadhāt sumaṅgalam /
yaddevadevo giriśaścandramaulir dadhāra mūrdhnā parayā ca bhaktyā //

That highly auspicious water that cleansed his feet, which removes the sins of people, he, knowing dharma, placed upon his head— / that water which the god of gods, Giriśa, who bears the crescent moon on his crest, carried upon his head with supreme devotion.

28. Knowing what righteousness is, Bali bore on his head the most auspicious water with which His feet were washed and which removes the sin of beings, and which God Siva, God of gods, with the crescent moon on his crown, received with (bore on) his head in great devotion.

8.18.29

/0 śrībaliruvāca
svāgataṃ te namastubhyaṃ brahman kiṃ karavāma te /
brahmarṣīṇāṃ tapaḥ sākṣān manye tvārya vapurdharam //

/0 Śrī Bali said:
Welcome to you! Obeisance unto you, O brahmin! What can we do for you? / O noble one, I consider you to be the very ascetic power of the brahmin sages embodied.

29. Bali said:—Thou art welcome, O Brahman; we bow to Thee; what shall we do for Thee? I think that Thou art, O noble one, the substantial embodiment of all the tapas in a visible form of Brahma-Rishis.

8.18.30

adya naḥ pitarastṛptā adya naḥ pāvitaṃ kulam /
adya sviṣṭaḥ kraturayaṃ yadbhavān āgato gṛhān //

Today our ancestors are satisfied; today our family is purified; / today this sacrifice is properly offered, since you have come to our home.

30. To-day our Pitris are satisfied. and our house and family are purified. To-day our sacrifice is well performed, as Thou hast visited our home.

8.18.31

adyāgnayo me suhutā yathāvidhi dvijātmaja tvaccaraṇāvanejanaiḥ /
hatāṃhaso vārbhiriyaṃ ca bhūraho tathā punītā tanubhiḥ padaistava //

Today my fires have been well offered into according to rule, O son of a twice-born; / by the water that washed your feet, sins are destroyed; and oh, this earth is purified by your small feet!

31. To-day all my sacred fires are properly worshipped with oblations according to the sastras, O son of Brahmin; with the waters used in washing Thy feet, we are absolved from all sin and this earth also is indeed cleansed by Thy pretty footsteps.

8.18.32

yadyadvaṭo vāñchasi tat pratīccha me tvāmarthinaṃ viprasutānutarkaye /
gāṃ kāñcanaṃ guṇavaddhāma mṛṣṭaṃ tathānnapeyamuta vā viprakanyām /
grāmān samṛddhāṃsturagān gajān vā rathāṃstathārhattama sampratīccha //

Whatever you desire, O student, please accept from me; I surmise that you are a seeker, O brahmin boy: / a cow, gold, a splendid house, sweet food and drink, or a brahmin bride, / prosperous villages, horses, elephants, or chariots, O most worthy one, please accept!

32. O Brahmacharin, be pleased to accept from me whatever

Thou likest; I infer, O son of Brahmin, that Thou hast come with a purpose; accept (whatsoever be it) either the earth, gold, a comfortable house, good food and drink, or perhaps a girl, O Brahmin, prosperous villages, horses, elephants, or chariots, O most worshipful one, please accept (anything Thou wouldst like).