Bhagavatapurana 8.24: atha caturviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

8.24.1

/0 śrīrājovāca
bhagavan chrotumicchāmi hareradbhutakarmaṇaḥ /
avatārakathāmādyāṃ māyāmatsyaviḍambanam //

The King said: / O Lord, I wish to hear the primeval story of the incarnation of Hari, / of wondrous deeds, his illusory appearance as a fish—

1. The king said:— O venerable sage, I am eager to hear an account of the first Avatara of Him whose deeds are wonderful and who at His own will (through Maya) appeared and behaved like a fish.

8.24.2

yadarthamadadhādrūpaṃ mātsyaṃ lokajugupsitam /
tamaḥprakṛtidurmarṣaṃ karmagrasta iveśvaraḥ //

for what purpose the Lord assumed the form of a fish, censured by the world, / difficult to endure due to its nature of darkness, as though subject to karma.

2. For what purpose did the Supreme Ruler, like one under the control of karma, exhibit Himself in the form of a fish, which is detested in the world being constituted of Tamas?

8.24.3

etan no bhagavan sarvaṃ yathāvadvaktumarhasi /
uttamaślokacaritaṃ sarvalokasukhāvaham //

All this, O venerable one, you should tell us truthfully: / the life of Him of highest renown, which brings happiness to all the worlds.

3. O worshipful one,, be pleased to tell us of all this in detail as it happened; for, the history of Hari of most hallowed name brings happiness to the whole world.

8.24.4

/0 śrīsūta uvāca
ity ukto viṣṇurātena bhagavān bādarāyaṇiḥ /
uvāca caritaṃ viṣṇormatsyarūpeṇa yat kṛtam //

Śrī Sūta said: / Thus addressed by Viṣṇurāta, the venerable son of Bādarāyaṇa / related the deed performed by Viṣṇu in the form of a fish.

4. Suta said:— Thus requested by Parikshit, the worshipful Sukacharya, son of Badarayana, described the work which Vishnu did in the form of Matsya [and what purpose was achieved in that Avatara].

8.24.5

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
goviprasurasādhūnāṃ chandasāmapi ceśvaraḥ /
rakṣāmicchaṃstanūrdhatte dharmasyārthasya caiva hi //

Śrī Śuka said: / Desiring the protection of cows, brahmins, gods, virtuous devotees, and the Vedic hymns, / and of dharma and prosperity, the Lord indeed assumes bodily forms.

5. Sri Suka said:—The Supreme Being assumes forms for protecting cows, Brahmins (wise men), the gods, the righteous, the Vedas, Dharma, and Artha (various purposes to be secured to the world).

8.24.6

uccāvaceṣu bhūteṣu caran vāyuriveśvaraḥ /
noccāvacatvaṃ bhajate nirguṇatvāddhiyo guṇaiḥ //

Moving among high and low beings like the wind, the Lord / does not partake of highness or lowness, being devoid of the material qualities of the intellect.

6. Though working through all creatures, high and low, the Supreme Lord, like the wind, does not get high or low; for, possessed of attributes which are only of His intelligent nature, He is unassailed by the gunas of Prakriti.

8.24.7

āsīdatītakalpānte brāhmo naimittiko layaḥ /
samudropaplutāstatra lokā bhūrādayo nṛpa //

At the end of the past kalpa, there occurred the occasional dissolution belonging to Brahmā; / then, O King, the worlds, beginning with the earth, were flooded by the ocean.

7. There was at the close of the Kalpa called Bramha a great deluge that came about from a particular circumstance (the sleeping of Brahma); then, O king, the Earth and other regions were covered by the sea.

8.24.8

kālenāgatanidrasya dhātuḥ śiśayiṣorbalī /
mukhato niḥsṛtān vedān hayagrīvo 'ntike 'harat //

When the Creator, overwhelmed by sleep through the power of Time, wished to rest, the mighty / Hayagrīva stole the Vedas from his presence as they issued from his mouth.

8. A powerful Asura, by name Hayagriva, who was near by, carried away the Vedas, which issued from the mouth of Brahma who was by force of time overtaken by sleep and was inclined to doze away.

8.24.9

jñātvā taddānavendrasya hayagrīvasya ceṣṭitam /
dadhāra śapharīrūpaṃ bhagavān harirīśvaraḥ //

Knowing that deed of Hayagrīva, the lord of the Dānavas, / the Lord Hari, the supreme master, assumed the form of a small fish.

9. Marking that action of the great Asura Hayagriva, the glorious Lord Hari, Supreme Ruler, assumed the form of a fish.

8.24.10

tatra rājaṛṣiḥ kaścin nāmnā satyavrato mahān /
nārāyaṇaparo 'tapat tapaḥ sa salilāśanaḥ //

There, a certain great royal seer named Satyavrata, / wholly devoted to Nārāyaṇa, was performing austerities, subsisting only on water.

10. At that time a worthy saintly king named Satyavrata, devoted to Narayana, was performing tapas, living on mere water.

8.24.11

yo 'sāvasmin mahākalpe tanayaḥ sa vivasvataḥ /
śrāddhadeva iti khyāto manutve hariṇārpitaḥ //

He it is who, in this great kalpa, is the son of Vivasvat / known as Śrāddhadeva, appointed to the office of Manu by Hari.

11. It is this Satyavrata who is well known in this MahaKalpa as Sraddhadeva, son of Vivasvat, to whom he was given by Hari as the future Manu.

8.24.12

ekadā kṛtamālāyāṃ kurvato jalatarpaṇam /
tasyāñjalyudake kācic chaphary ekābhyapadyata //

Once, as he was making a water offering in the Kṛtamālā river, / a tiny fish came into the water of his cupped hands.

12. On a certain occasion when this Satyavrata was pouring oblations of water in the river Krithamala, a tiny fish was seen in the handful of water he had taken.

8.24.13

satyavrato 'ñjaligatāṃ saha toyena bhārata /
utsasarja nadītoye śapharīṃ draviḍeśvaraḥ //

Satyavrata, the king of the Draviḍa country, O descendant of Bharata, / threw the tiny fish in his hands back into the water of the river along with the water.

13. Satyavrata king of Dravidas threw down the fish with the water in his hands into the river, O Bharata.

8.24.14

tamāha sātikaruṇaṃ mahākāruṇikaṃ nṛpam /
yādobhyo jñātighātibhyo dīnāṃ māṃ dīnavatsala /
kathaṃ visṛjase rājan bhītāmasmin sarijjale //

She said very plaintively to that most compassionate king: / "O lover of the wretched, how can you cast me, distressed and frightened, / into this river water to aquatic monsters that kill their kin, O King?"

14. The fish pitifully said to the highly tender-hearted king, "O king, kind unto the distressed, how is it that thou leavest me in the water of this river, when I am helpless and afraid of aquatic creatures that kill and eat their own kith and kin?"

8.24.15

tamātmano 'nugrahārthaṃ prītyā matsyavapurdharam /
ajānan rakṣaṇārthāya śapharyāḥ sa mano dadhe //

Not knowing that it was the Lord who out of love had assumed the body of a fish to bestow grace on him, / he set his mind on protecting the tiny fish.

15. Not knowing Him to be the Supreme Lord who, out of love, had assumed the form of a fish to show His grace unto himself, the king thought of protecting the fish.

8.24.16

tasyā dīnataraṃ vākyamāśrutya sa mahīpatiḥ /
kalaśāpsu nidhāyaināṃ dayālurninya āśramam //

Hearing her extremely pitiful words, that compassionate lord of the earth / placed her in the water of his waterpot and brought her to his hermitage.

16. Hearing its very pitiable prayer the merciful king put it in his jar of water and carried it to his hermitage.

8.24.17

sā tu tatraikarātreṇa vardhamānā kamaṇḍalau /
alabdhvātmāvakāśaṃ vā idamāha mahīpatim //

Growing within a single night in that waterpot, / and finding no space for herself, she spoke thus to the lord of the earth:

17. But there in the jar she grew in a night and not finding space enough in it spoke to the king this (thus):—

8.24.18

nāhaṃ kamaṇḍalāvasmin kṛcchraṃ vastumihotsahe /
kalpayaukaḥ suvipulaṃ yatrāhaṃ nivase sukham //

"I can no longer endure to live in distress in this waterpot; / prepare a very spacious dwelling where I may dwell in comfort."

18. 'I cannot afford to dwell with difficulty in this jar; please find me a very spacious abode where I may conveniently live'.

8.24.19

sa enāṃ tata ādāya nyadhādaudañcanodake /
tatra kṣiptā muhūrtena hastatrayamavardhata //

He took her from there and placed her in the water of a large cistern; / thrown in there, within an hour she grew to three cubits.

19. Thereupon he took it out and placed it in a bucket of water where in an hour it grew bigger measuring three hands (cubits).

8.24.20

na ma etadalaṃ rājan sukhaṃ vastumudañcanam /
pṛthu dehi padaṃ mahyaṃ yat tvāhaṃ śaraṇaṃ gatā //

"This cistern is not sufficient for me to live comfortably, O King; / give me a spacious place, since I have taken refuge in you."

20. (Then said the fish to the king):— O king, this bucket is not sufficient for me to live in conveniently; be pleased to grant me a more spacious place, since I have sought thee as my protector.

8.24.21

tata ādāya sā rājñā kṣiptā rājan sarovare /
tadāvṛtyātmanā so 'yaṃ mahāmīno 'nvavardhata //

Taken from there by the king, O King, she was thrown into a lake; / pervading it with its body, that great fish grew further still.

21. Thence the king removed it to a lake. Having filled that with its body it grew into a monstrous (a great) fish.

8.24.22

naitan me svastaye rājannudakaṃ salilaukasaḥ /
nidhehi rakṣāyogena hrade māmavidāsini //

"This water is not suitable for my well-being as a dweller in the waters, O King; / place me, with a means of protection, in a lake that never dries up."

22. “(Then again it said) this water is not to my comfort, since I am an aquatic creature; by a cautious expedient for protecting me put me into a deep pool of inexhaustible waters.”

8.24.23

ity uktaḥ so 'nayan matsyaṃ tatra tatrāvidāsini /
jalāśaye 'sammitaṃ taṃ samudre prākṣipaj jhaṣam //

Thus addressed, he took the fish to various lakes that never dried up; / finding that fish not fitting anywhere, he cast it into the ocean.

23. Thus requested the king took the fish to several pools of inexhaustible waters and, finding it to fill every such sheet of water, left it into the sea at last.

8.24.24

kṣipyamāṇastamāhedamiha māṃ makarādayaḥ /
adanty atibalā vīra māṃ nehotsraṣṭumarhasi //

As it was being thrown in, it said to him: "Here, all-powerful sea monsters and the like / will devour me, O hero; you should not cast me into this place!"

24. When it was led into the sea it said to the king, “O heroic one, the more powerful Makara and other fishes may eat me up; so it is not proper on thy part to desert me here.

8.24.25

evaṃ vimohitastena vadatā valgubhāratīm /
tamāha ko bhavān asmān matsyarūpeṇa mohayan //

Thus bewildered by the fish who spoke sweet words, / he asked it: "Who are you, who are bewildering us in the form of a fish?

25. Confounded to hear the fish talk thus in winning accents, the king said to it, “Who art thou that in the form of fish deludest me.”

8.24.26

naivaṃ vīryo jalacaro dṛṣṭo 'smābhiḥ śruto 'pi vā /
yo bhavān yojanaśatamahnābhivyānaśe saraḥ //

No aquatic creature of such power has ever been seen or even heard of by us, / such that you have pervaded a lake of a hundred leagues in a single day!

26. “No water animal possessed of such power and character was ever seen or heard of as thou, thou who, in a day, filledst a lake of hundred yojanas (in extent).

8.24.27

nūnaṃ tvaṃ bhagavān sākṣāddharirnārāyaṇo 'vyayaḥ /
anugrahāya bhūtānāṃ dhatse rūpaṃ jalaukasām //

Surely you are the Lord himself, the imperishable Hari, Nārāyaṇa, / who have assumed the form of an aquatic creature to shower grace upon living beings.

27. “Certainly thou art no other than the glorious Lord, Hari, Narayana, Himself, the undecaying one, assuming the form of aquatics for the well-being of beings.

8.24.28

namaste puruṣaśreṣṭha sthityutpattyapyayeśvara /
bhaktānāṃ naḥ prapannānāṃ mukhyo hy ātmagatirvibho //

Obeisance to you, supreme among persons, master of preservation, creation, and destruction! / For you, all-pervading Lord, are the foremost refuge and destination of us, your surrendered devotees.

28. “I bow to thee, O Supreme Person, O powerful author of subsistence, creation and destruction (of the world), O All-pervading Lord, thou art the Atma and the Chief goal of us, devotees that seek Thy protection.

8.24.29

sarve līlāvatārāste bhūtānāṃ bhūtihetavaḥ /
jñātumicchāmy ado rūpaṃ yadarthaṃ bhavatā dhṛtam //

All your incarnations of divine play are meant for the prosperity of living beings; / I wish to know for what purpose this form has been assumed by you.

29. “All Thy sportful Avataras are for the well-being of creatures. I wish to know the purpose for which this form has been assumed by Thee.

8.24.30

na te 'ravindākṣa padopasarpaṇaṃ mṛṣā bhavet sarvasuhṛtpriyātmanaḥ /
yathetareṣāṃ pṛthagātmanāṃ satām adīdṛśo yadvapuradbhutaṃ hi naḥ //

O lotus-eyed one, approaching your feet can never be in vain, for you are the beloved self and friend of all, / unlike approaching others who see themselves as separate from the virtuous, for you have revealed this wondrous form to us."

30. “O Pundareekaksha, it is not futile to resort to Thy feet, since Thou art the friend and well-wisher and beloved Atman of all; whereas it is futile to approach others, embodied beings, who are attached to their corporeal environments; for, Thou hast shown us Thy wonderful form.”

8.24.31

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
iti bruvāṇaṃ nṛpatiṃ jagatpatiḥ satyavrataṃ matsyavapuryugakṣaye /
vihartukāmaḥ pralayārṇave 'bravīc cikīrṣurekāntajanapriyaḥ priyam //

Śrī Śuka said:
To the king Satyavrata who spoke thus at the close of the yuga, the Lord of the universe, / wishing to sport in the ocean of dissolution in the form of a fish, and desiring to do what was dear to him who loves the single-minded devotees, spoke:

31. Sri Suka said:— To the beloved king Satyavrata who thus offered his praises, the Lord of the world who purposed to sport

in the sea of Pralaya at the close of the yuga, in the form of a fish and also to do what is delightful to His devotees, said as follows.

8.24.32

/0 śrībhagavān uvāca
saptame hy adyatanādūrdhvamahany etadarindama /
nimaṅkṣyaty apyayāmbhodhau trailokyaṃ bhūrbhuvādikam //

The Lord said:
Truly on the seventh day from today, O tamer of enemies, / these three worlds, beginning with Bhūr and Bhuvas, will submerge in the ocean of dissolution.

32. The Lord said:—"O Vanquisher of enemies, on the seventh day from this (this day-week) at midday this three-fold world of Bhur, Bhuva and Swah will be drowned in the sea of Pralaya.

8.24.33

trilokyāṃ līyamānāyāṃ saṃvartāmbhasi vai tadā /
upasthāsyati nauḥ kācidviśālā tvāṃ mayeritā //

When the three worlds are dissolving in the waters of cosmic destruction, / a large boat sent by me will approach you.

33. "As the three-fold world is sinking in the Pralaya sea, a certain very spacious ship sent by Me will approach thee.

8.24.34

tvaṃ tāvadoṣadhīḥ sarvā bījāny uccāvacāni ca /
saptarṣibhiḥ parivṛtaḥ sarvasattvopabṛṃhitaḥ //

Having collected all herbs and seeds of higher and lower kinds, / surrounded by the seven sages, and accompanied by all living beings,

34,35&36. "Then do thou take with thee all the herbs and plants and the seeds of superior and inferior kinds, of every genus and species, the seven sages and also the typical animals of all kinds and do thou with an undaunted heart go on board that spacious vessel and sail about on the sea covered with perfect darkness, in the light of the sages' glory; do thou moor the vessel tossed by strong gales, by means of the great Serpent, to the horn of Myself that will be found by thy side (at the time).

8.24.35

āruhya bṛhatīṃ nāvaṃ vicariṣyasy aviklavaḥ /
ekārṇave nirāloke ṛṣīṇāmeva varcasā //

and having boarded that immense boat, you will wander without anxiety / in the dark ocean of dissolution by the radiance of the sages alone.

8.24.36

dodhūyamānāṃ tāṃ nāvaṃ samīreṇa balīyasā /
upasthitasya me śṛṅge nibadhnīhi mahāhinā //

When that boat is tossed about by powerful winds, / tie it to my horn as I draw near, using the great serpent [as a rope].

8.24.37

ahaṃ tvāmṛṣibhiḥ sārdhaṃ sahanāvamudanvati /
vikarṣan vicariṣyāmi yāvadbrāhmī niśā prabho //

Drawing you, along with the sages and the boat, across the ocean, / I shall move about as long as the night of Brahmā lasts, O king.

37. "O king, so long as Brahma's night lasts, I shall sport about dragging the vessel in the sea with thee and the Rishis together.

8.24.38

madīyaṃ mahimānaṃ ca paraṃ brahmeti śabditam /
vetsyasy anugṛhītaṃ me sampraśnairvivṛtaṃ hṛdi //

And by my grace you will come to know my greatness, called the supreme Brahman, / revealed in your heart through your earnest questions.

38. "My glory conveyed by the term Param Brahman thou wilt realise as revealed to thy heart through My grace in answer to all thy well-considered questions".

8.24.39

itthamādiśya rājānaṃ harirantaradhīyata /
so 'nvavaikṣata taṃ kālaṃ yaṃ hṛṣīkeśa ādiśat //

Having thus instructed the king, Hari disappeared; / and he waited for that time which Hṛṣīkeśa had indicated.

39. Having thus directed the king, Hari disappeared and the king awaited the time Hrisheekesa (the Lord of the senses) (Hari) indicated.

8.24.40

āstīrya darbhān prākkūlān rājarṣiḥ prāgudaṅmukhaḥ /
niṣasāda hareḥ pādau cintayan matsyarūpiṇaḥ //

Spreading darbha grass with tips pointing east, the royal sage, facing north-east, / sat down meditating upon the feet of Hari in the form of a fish.

40. The saintly king spread Darbha grass with their points turned towards the east and himself sat facing north-east contemplating the feet of Hari in the form of Matsya.

8.24.41

tataḥ samudra udvelaḥ sarvataḥ plāvayan mahīm /
vardhamāno mahāmeghairvarṣadbhiḥ samadṛśyata //

Then the ocean overflowed its shores, flooding the earth on all sides, / swelling with the pouring rains from great clouds.

41. Then the sea was seen to overflow when, immersing the earth on all sides, the flood was increased by the heavy down-pour from the great clouds.

8.24.42

dhyāyan bhagavadādeśaṃ dadṛśe nāvamāgatām /
tāmāruroha viprendrairādāyauṣadhivīrudhaḥ //

Meditating on the Lord's instruction, he saw the boat arriving; / taking the herbs and plants, he boarded it together with the chief sages.

42. As he stood thinking of the Lord's command he saw the vessel coming up; he went on board her with the great Brahmins taking (all the) plants and herbs with him.

8.24.43

tamūcurmunayaḥ prītā rājan dhyāyasva keśavam /
sa vai naḥ saṅkaṭādasmādavitā śaṃ vidhāsyati //

The pleased sages said to him: “O king, meditate upon Keśava; / he will indeed protect us from this danger and bring about our welfare.”

43. The sages who were pleased with him said "O king, contemplate Kesava; He indeed will save us from this crisis and do us good".

8.24.44

so 'nudhyātastato rājñā prādurāsīn mahārṇave /
ekaśṛṅgadharo matsyo haimo niyutayojanaḥ //

Then, contemplated by the king, there appeared in the great ocean / a golden fish bearing a single horn, a hundred thousand yojanas in size.

44. Accordingly when contemplated by the king, the Lord

appeared on the vast sea in the form of a golden fish with one horn and one hundred-thousand yojanas in dimensions.

8.24.45

nibadhya nāvaṃ tacchṛṅge yathokto hariṇā purā /
varatreṇāhinā tuṣṭastuṣṭāva madhusūdanam //

Having tied the boat to its horn with the serpent as a tether, as previously told by Hari, / he was delighted and praised Madhusūdana:

45. As already directed by Hari, he tied the vessel to His horn with the serpent for the rope and in his joy praised Madhusudana.

8.24.46

/0 śrīrājovāca
anādyavidyopahatātmasaṃvidas tanmūlasaṃsārapariśramāturāḥ /
yadṛcchayopasṛtā yamāpnuyur vimuktido naḥ paramo gururbhavān //

The king said:
You are our supreme guru who grants liberation, whom people, their self-knowledge impaired by beginningless ignorance / and afflicted by the toil of the cycle of rebirth rooted in it, may attain by good fortune when they approach.

46. The king said:—"Thou art our highest Preceptor and Father who can confer Moksha on us, and to whom beings, having lost their knowledge of self through interruption by eternal Avidya (ignorance) and becoming subject to afflictions and anxieties of the Saṃsara instituted by the same Avidya, may here attain, as Thou hast through Thy own grace presented Thy self to them.

8.24.47

jano 'budho 'yaṃ nijakarmabandhanaḥ sukhecchayā karma samīhate 'sukham /
yatsevayā tāṃ vidhunoty asanmatiṃ granthiṃ sa bhindyāddhṛdayaṃ sa no guruḥ //

This ignorant person, bound by his own deeds, performs action that brings suffering out of a desire for happiness; / through service to whom one shakes off that false view—may he, our guru, cut the knot of the heart.

47. "This human being is in ignorance and is bound by its own karma and with great pain does karma under the desire of finding happiness. May He cut the knot at our heart (attachments), by whose worship the being can shake off that wrong notion! For He is our preceptor.

8.24.48

yatsevayāgneriva rudrarodanaṃ pumān vijahyān malamātmanastamaḥ /
bhajeta varṇaṃ nijameṣa so 'vyayo bhūyāt sa īśaḥ paramo gurorguruḥ //

Through service to whom a person sheds the impurity of his self, [its] darkness, as gold [sheds impurity] in fire, / and attains his own true nature—may he, the imperishable Lord, the supreme guru of gurus, be [our protector].

48. "May that undecaying Lord, the great Preceptor of our preceptor, be our preceptor by whose worship (by worshipping whom) a person, like a piece of silver blown in fire, can get rid of his darkening impurity and attain to (recover) his own pure colour and nature!

8.24.49

na yatprasādāyutabhāgaleśam anye ca devā guravo janāḥ svayam /
kartuṃ sametāḥ prabhavanti puṃsas tamīśvaraṃ tvāṃ śaraṇaṃ prapadye //

Not a ten-thousandth part of a fraction of whose grace can other gods, gurus, and people / together bestow upon a person of their own accord—to you, that Supreme Lord, I go for refuge.

49. "I resort to Thee the Supreme Ruler, for my shelter, even one out of ten thousand parts of whose grace the gods, preceptors and all people joined together, cannot show to a person.

8.24.50

acakṣurandhasya yathāgraṇīḥ kṛtas tathā janasyāviduṣo 'budho guruḥ /
tvamarkadṛk sarvadṛśāṃ samīkṣaṇo vṛto gururnaḥ svagatiṃ bubhutsatām //

Just as a blind person is made the guide of the blind, so an ignorant person is the guru of the unknowing; / you, like the sun, see all sights, and you have been chosen as the guru of us who desire to know our own true goal.

50. "Just as an eyeless person is sought after to lead the blind, so a unwise person is made a guru for the ignorant one. But Thou art one that affords light to all the senses; so Thou art solicited to be the preceptor to us who are anxious to know our way and goal.

8.24.51

jano janasyādiśate 'satīṃ gatiṃ yayā prapadyeta duratyayaṃ tamaḥ /
tvaṃ tvavyayaṃ jñānamamoghamañjasā prapadyate yena jano nijaṃ padam //

A person directs another person to an untrue course, by which one falls into insurmountable darkness; / you, however, bestow imperishable and unfailing knowledge, by which a person easily attains his true abode.

51. "One man shows another only a wrong course (imparts a wrong idea) by which he attains only to insuperable darkness; but Thou conferrest invaluable and most beneficial light of wisdom by which one can certainly reach his true goal.

8.24.52

tvaṃ sarvalokasya suhṛt priyeśvaro hy ātmā gururjñānamabhīṣṭasiddhiḥ /
tathāpi loko na bhavantamandhadhīr jānāti santaṃ hṛdi baddhakāmaḥ //

You are the friend, the dear Lord, the self, the guru, the knowledge, and the fulfillment of all desire for the whole world; / yet the world, blind of intellect with desires bound within, does not know you who dwell in the heart.

52. "Thou art to the whole world a friend, the beloved and Supreme Ruler, indeed the (ruling)Atman, Preceptor, wisdom and the desired object to be attained; still the world, with blinded understanding and steeped in passions, does not know Thee present in the heart.

8.24.53

taṃ tvāmahaṃ devavaraṃ vareṇyaṃ prapadya īśaṃ pratibodhanāya /
chindhy arthadīpairbhagavan vacobhir granthīn hṛdayyān vivṛṇu svamokaḥ //

To you, the foremost of gods, worthy of worship, I surrender, O Lord, for awakening; / cut the knots of the heart with your words that are lamps of truth, O Lord, and reveal your own abode.

53. "I resort to Thee that Supreme God, who is to be sought by all, the one Ruler for the purpose of obtaining light (precept); O omniscient Lord, be pleased to cut off the knots at the heart, by means of Thy words throwing light on the truth and also to reveal Thy own Self unto me."

8.24.54

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
ity uktavantaṃ nṛpatiṃ bhagavān ādipūruṣaḥ /
matsyarūpī mahāmbhodhau viharaṃstattvamabravīt //

Śrī Śuka said:
To the king who spoke thus, the Lord, the primordial person, / sporting in the form of a fish in the great ocean, declared the truth:

54. Sri Suka said:—To the king who thus offered his praises, the Almighty Lord the eternal Person in the form of a fish sporting on the vast sea, taught the truth.

8.24.55

purāṇasaṃhitāṃ divyāṃ sāṅkhyayogakriyāvatīm /
satyavratasya rājarṣerātmaguhyamaśeṣataḥ //

the divine collection of Purāṇas containing the practices of Sāṅkhya and Yoga, / and the secret of the self in its entirety, to the royal sage Satyavrata.

55. The Lord gave the saintly king Satyavrata the divine book of Purana called Matsya Purana treating of the Sankhya knowledge and the practice of Yoga and also taught him all the mystery of Atman.

8.24.56

aśrauṣīdṛṣibhiḥ sākamātmatattvamasaṃśayam /
nāvy āsīno bhagavatā proktaṃ brahma sanātanam //

Seated in the boat, together with the sages, he heard beyond any doubt the truth of the self, / the eternal Brahman proclaimed by the Lord.

56. Along with the Rishis seated on board the vessel, the king listened, free of all doubt, to the truth of Atman and to the nature of eternal Brahman explained by the omniscient Lord, so that no doubt was left in his mind.

8.24.57

atītapralayāpāya utthitāya sa vedhase /
hatvāsuraṃ hayagrīvaṃ vedān pratyāharaddhariḥ //

When the dissolution had ended and the Creator had awakened, / Hari, having slain the demon Hayagrīva, recovered the Vedas [for him].

57. To Brahma who awoke when Pralaya passed away, Hari destroyed the Asura Hayagriva and restored the Vedas.

8.24.58

sa tu satyavrato rājā jñānavijñānasaṃyutaḥ /
viṣṇoḥ prasādāt kalpe 'sminnāsīdvaivasvato manuḥ //

And that king Satyavrata, endowed with knowledge and realization, / by the grace of Viṣṇu became Vaivasvata Manu in this kalpa.

58. Also king Satyavrata who thus gained knowledge and wisdom became Vivaswat Manu in this Kalpa through the grace of Vishnu.

8.24.59

satyavratasya rājarṣermāyāmatsyasya śārṅgiṇaḥ /
saṃvādaṃ mahadākhyānaṃ śrutvā mucyeta kilbiṣāt //

Hearing this dialogue, this great narrative of the royal sage Satyavrata / and the horn-bearing Lord disguised as a fish through his creative power, one is freed from sin.

59. He who listens to the glorious narration which comprises the conversation between the saintly king Satyavrata and Sri Narayana who appeared at His will as the Great Fish, becomes absolved from (all) sin.

8.24.60

avatāraṃ hareryo 'yaṃ kīrtayedanvahaṃ naraḥ /
saṅkalpāstasya sidhyanti sa yāti paramāṃ gatim //

The person who daily glorifies this incarnation of Hari / achieves all intentions and attains the supreme destination.

60. The man who daily sings of this Avatara of Hari will have all his wishes accomplished and will attain to the highest goal.

8.24.60.p1

pralayapayasi dhātuḥ suptaśaktermukhebhyaḥ $ śrutigaṇamapanītaṃ pratyupādatta hatvā &

I bow to him, the cause of all, who assumed the guise of a fish, who recovered the collection of the Vedas taken from the mouths of the Creator while his powers slept in the waters of dissolution, having slain the son of Diti,

61. I bow to the Lord who, on the waters of Pralaya, put on the appearance of a fish, who is the cause of all, who imparted true knowledge of Brahman to Satyavrata and the sages and who, having killed Diti's son, restored the Vedas stolen by him from the faces of Brahma whose faculties lay then dormant in sleep.

8.24.61

ditijamakathayadyo brahma satyavratānāṃ % tamahamakhilahetuṃ jihmamīnaṃ nato 'smi //

and who proclaimed Brahman to Satyavrata and the others.