Bhagavatapurana 9.1: atha prathamo'dhyāyaḥ

9.1.1

/0 śrīrājovāca
manvantarāṇi sarvāṇi tvayoktāni śrutāni me /
vīryāṇyanantavīryasya harestatra kṛtāni ca //

The king said:
All the manvantaras have been recounted by you and heard by me, / and also the deeds performed therein by Hari of endless power.

1. The king said:— All the Manvantaras have been described by thee and I have listened to it (their description) as well as to the great and heroic deeds, during those several periods, of Hari of unlimited energy and prowess.

9.1.2

yo 'sau satyavrato nāma rājarṣirdraviḍeśvaraḥ /
jñānaṃ yo 'tītakalpānte lebhe puruṣasevayā //

That royal sage named Satyavrata, the ruler of the Draviḍa country, / who obtained knowledge at the end of the previous kalpa through service to the Supreme Person,

2.—4. Thou hast been pleased to tell me that the saintly king of Dravida country named Satyavrata, who, at the end of the past *kalpa*, attained wisdom by worshipping Hari, was then born as the son of Vivasvat and became a Manu; likewise, that his sons, Ikshvaku and other kings, have been mentioned; their line and the history of those belonging to that line: be pleased, O Brahmin, to describe, separately and distinctly, O highly blessed one, to us who are always eager to listen to thee.

9.1.3

sa vai vivasvataḥ putro manurāsīditi śrutam /
tvattastasya sutāḥ proktā ikṣvākupramukhā nṛpāḥ //

he indeed became Manu, the son of Vivasvat—so it has been heard; / and from you his sons have been mentioned, kings headed by Ikṣvāku.

9.1.4

teṣāṃ vaṃśaṃ pṛthag brahman vaṃśānucaritāni ca /
kīrtayasva mahābhāga nityaṃ śuśrūṣatāṃ hi naḥ //

Their lineage separately, O brāhmaṇa, and the deeds of their lineages, / glorify, O blessed one, for we are ever eager to hear.

9.1.5

ye bhūtā ye bhaviṣyāśca bhavantyadyatanāśca ye /
teṣāṃ naḥ puṇyakīrtīnāṃ sarveṣāṃ vada vikramān //

Those who were in the past, those who will be in the future, and those who are present today— / recount to us the heroic deeds of all those of purifying renown.

5. Be pleased to tell us of the heroic life and work of all those kings of hallowed fame, who belong to the past, present and future time.

9.1.6

/0 śrīsūta uvāca
evaṃ parīkṣitā rājñā sadasi brahmavādinām /
pṛṣṭaḥ provāca bhagavāñ chukaḥ paramadharmavit //

Śrī Sūta said:
Thus questioned by King Parīkṣit in the assembly of knowers of Brahman, / the blessed Śuka, the supreme knower of dharma, spoke.

6. Suta said:— Thus requested by king Parikshit in the assembly of sages who knew the Vedas and Brahman, the venerable Sukacharya, possessed of perfect insight into Dharma, said as follows:—

9.1.7

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
śrūyatāṃ mānavo vaṃśaḥ prācuryeṇa parantapa /
na śakyate vistarato vaktuṃ varṣaśatairapi //

Śrī Śuka said:
Listen, O burner of foes, to the lineage of Manu in summary; / it is impossible to describe in detail even in hundreds of years.

7. Sri Suka said:— Let (the history of) the race of Manu, O Vanquisher of enemies, be listened to in its important aspects (in brief), for it is not possible even in hundreds of years to describe it in detail.

9.1.8

parāvareṣāṃ bhūtānāmātmā yaḥ puruṣaḥ paraḥ /
sa evāsīdidaṃ viśvaṃ kalpānte 'nyan na kiñcana //

He who is the Supreme Person, the self of higher and lower beings, / was this universe alone at the end of the kalpa, and nothing else.

8. At the end of the Kalpa this Universe, that very Narayana, was the Perfect Person (who is the Lord of Prakriti) and Atman of all creatures, high and low; and there was nothing else.

9.1.9

tasya nābheḥ samabhavat padmakoṣo hiraṇmayaḥ /
tasmin jajñe mahārāja svayambhūścaturānanaḥ //

From his navel arose a golden lotus cup; / in it was born the self-born, four-faced [Brahmā], O great king.

9. From His navel rose a golden lotus and therein, O great king, was born Brahma, the four-faced (the creator of beings).

9.1.10

marīcirmanasastasya jajñe tasyāpi kaśyapaḥ /
dākṣāyaṇyāṃ tato 'dityāṃ vivasvān abhavat sutaḥ //

From his mind was born Marīci, and from him Kaśyapa; / then from Aditi, daughter of Dakṣa, Vivasvat was born as his son.

10. Mareechi was born of His mind; Kasyapa of Mareechi; and of Kasyapa by Aditi, daughter of Daksha, was born a son called Vivasvat.

9.1.11

tato manuḥ śrāddhadevaḥ saṃjñāyāmāsa bhārata /
śraddhāyāṃ janayāmāsa daśa putrān sa ātmavān //

From him, O descendant of Bharata, was born Manu Śrāddhadeva by Saṃjñā; / that self-controlled lord begot ten sons upon Śraddhā:

11. Then was born Sraddhadeva, the Manu, of Vivasvat by his wife Samjna, O Bharata, and he (the great Sraddhadeva), who had control of mind, begot ten sons on Sraddha.

9.1.12

ikṣvākunṛgaśaryāti diṣṭadhṛṣṭakarūṣakān /
nariṣyantaṃ pṛṣadhraṃ ca nabhagaṃ ca kaviṃ vibhuḥ //

Ikṣvāku, Nṛga, Śaryāti, Diṣṭa, Dhṛṣṭa, Karūṣaka, / Nariṣyanta, Pṛṣadhra, Nabhaga, and Kavi.

12. And these were Ikshvaku, Nriga, Saryati, Dishta, Karooshaka, Vrishyanta, Prishadhra (Vrishadhra), Nabhaga and the great Kavi (D. Nabhaga and Najambha).

9.1.13

aprajasya manoḥ pūrvaṃ vasiṣṭho bhagavān kila /
mitrāvaruṇayoriṣṭiṃ prajārthamakarodvibhuḥ //

Formerly, when Manu was childless, the lord Vasiṣṭha, / the mighty sage, performed a sacrifice to Mitra and Varuṇa to obtain progeny.

13. In the beginning the worshipful Vasishta possessed of high powers conducted a sacrifice in propitiation of Mitra and Varuna for the sake of an heir to Manu (Sraddhadeva) who was childless.

9.1.14

tatra śraddhā manoḥ patnī hotāraṃ samayācata /
duhitrarthamupāgamya praṇipatya payovratā //

There Śraddhā, Manu's wife, observing a milk-diet vow, / approached the hotṛ priest, bowed down, and begged for a daughter.

14. During the sacrifice Manu's wife Sraddha who was observing *Payovrata* bowed to the Hotri (the priest versed in the Rigveda) and entreated him (to conduct it in such a way as to get) a daughter.

9.1.15

preṣito 'dhvaryuṇā hotā vyacarat tat samāhitaḥ /
gṛhīte haviṣi vācā vaṣaṭkāraṃ gṛṇan dvijaḥ //

Directed by the adhvaryu, the hotṛ priest acted with focused mind; / when the oblation was taken up, the twice-born recited the vaṣaṭ-call with his voice.

15. Directed by Adhvaryu (to do his part), Hota who was deeply thinking of her request proceeded with that idea (to do his part) and with great self-control the brahmin made the offering as he uttered *Vashat*.

9.1.16

hotustadvyabhicāreṇa kanyelā nāma sābhavat /
tāṃ vilokya manuḥ prāha nātituṣṭamanā gurum //

Because of that deviation by the hotṛ, a daughter named Ilā was born; / beholding her, Manu, his mind not at all pleased, addressed his guru:

16. By this fault of the Hotri a girl named Ila was produced; on seeing her, Manu whose heart was not much pleased, said to his preceptor (as follows):—

9.1.17

bhagavan kimidaṃ jātaṃ karma vo brahmavādinām /
viparyayamaho kaṣṭaṃ maivaṃ syādbrahmavikriyā //

"O venerable sir, what is this ritual outcome wrought by you who speak the Veda? / Alas, a perversion! How terrible! May there be no such failure of the sacred word!

17. O venerable one, what is this that has come out of the work of those that are versed in the Vedas? It is a pity; the very contrary thing has been the result. Such a change in the Mantra ought not to be (might not be believed in).

9.1.18

yūyaṃ brahmavido yuktāstapasā dagdhakilbiṣāḥ /
kutaḥ saṅkalpavaiṣamyamanṛtaṃ vibudheṣv iva //

You are knowers of the Veda, disciplined, your sins burnt away by austerities; / how could there be a discrepancy in purpose, an untruth, as if among the gods?"

18. How could this result contrary to your thought be (expected) like an untruth in the gods? (what you think of and wish

to be cannot fail to be a fact just as what the gods think of and say, cannot); you are all well-versed in the mantras, well-trained and have through tapas burnt up all sin; [what is the cause of this failure of your intention? [it is surely improbable like untruth in the gods]?

9.1.19

niśamya tadvacastasya bhagavān prapitāmahaḥ /
hoturvyatikramaṃ jñātvā babhāṣe ravinandanam //

Hearing those words of his, the venerable great-grandfather [Vasiṣṭha], / knowing the transgression of the hotṛ priest, spoke to the son of the sun:

19. On hearing that observation of Manu, the venerable Vasishta perceiving it to be the fault of Hotri, said to the son of Vivasvat:—

9.1.20

etat saṅkalpavaiṣamyaṃ hotuste vyabhicārataḥ /
tathāpi sādhayiṣye te suprajāstvaṃ svatejasā //

"This discrepancy in purpose arose from the deviation of your hotṛ; / nevertheless, by my own spiritual power I shall bring about good progeny for you."

20. This failure of the desired object is due to the violation (the contrary contemplation) of Hotri; still by virtue of my special power I shall secure thee (the object to have) a good son.

9.1.21

evaṃ vyavasito rājan bhagavān sa mahāyaśāḥ /
astauṣīdādipuruṣamilāyāḥ puṃstvakāmyayā //

Having so resolved, O king, that glorious venerable sage / praised the Original Person, desiring manhood for Ilā.

21. With that determination the worshipful Vasishta of great renown, O king, prayed to the Eternal Person, to change Ila into a male.

9.1.22

tasmai kāmavaraṃ tuṣṭo bhagavān harirīśvaraḥ /
dadāv ilābhavat tena sudyumnaḥ puruṣarṣabhaḥ //

Pleased, the Lord Hari, the supreme master, granted him the desired boon; / thereby Ilā became Sudyumna, a bull among men.

22. The glorious Hari, the Supreme Ruler, was pleased and bestowed on him the desired boon; and thereby Ila became Sudyumna, foremost among men.

9.1.23

sa ekadā mahārāja vicaran mṛgayāṃ vane /
vṛtaḥ katipayāmātyairaśvamāruhya saindhavam //

Once, O great king, wandering in the forest on a hunt, / accompanied by a few ministers and riding a horse from the Sindhu country,

23. On one occasion, O great king, accompanied by a few attendants and courtiers and riding on a horse of the Sindhu breed (breed peculiar to the Sindhu country), he wandered through a forest on a hunting expedition.

9.1.24

pragṛhya ruciraṃ cāpaṃ śarāṃśca paramādbhutān /
daṃśito 'numṛgaṃ vīro jagāma diśamuttarām //

taking up an exquisite bow and most wondrous arrows, / armored, the hero went toward the northern quarter in pursuit of game.

24. Armed with a beautiful bow and very wonderful arrows, and with his armour on, the hero wandered towards the north in chasing (pursuing) (every) game (he caught sight of).

9.1.25

sukumāravanaṃ meroradhastāt praviveśa ha /
yatrāste bhagavān charvo ramamāṇaḥ sahomayā //

He entered the Sukumāra forest at the foot of Mount Meru, / where the Lord Śarva resides, sporting with Umā.

25. The youthful prince entered a forest at the foot of the Meru, where the glorious god Rudra is sporting in the company of Uma (Parvati).

9.1.26

tasmin praviṣṭa evāsau sudyumnaḥ paravīrahā /
apaśyat striyamātmānamaśvaṃ ca vaḍavāṃ nṛpa //

As soon as he entered there, that slayer of enemy heroes, Sudyumna, / saw himself become a woman, and his horse a mare, O king.

26. The moment he entered it, O king, the victorious warrior Sudyumna found himself to have become a woman and his horse a mare.

9.1.27

tathā tadanugāḥ sarve ātmaliṅgaviparyayam /
dṛṣṭvā vimanaso 'bhūvan vīkṣamāṇāḥ parasparam //

Likewise, all his followers, seeing the reversal of their gender, / became dejected, looking at one another.

27. So also all his followers noticed a change of sex in their person; and, all troubled in mind, stared at one another.

9.1.28

/0 śrīrājovāca
kathamevaṃ guṇo deśaḥ kena vā bhagavan kṛtaḥ /
praśnamenaṃ samācakṣva paraṃ kautūhalaṃ hi naḥ //

The king said: / How did that place come to possess such a property, or by whom was it made so, O venerable one? / Explain this question to me, for our curiosity is great.

28. The king said:— O venerable one, how did this locality come to possess this virtue? By whom was it made to be such? Be pleased to explain fully the subject of this query; for great is our curiosity.

9.1.29

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
ekadā giriśaṃ draṣṭumṛṣayastatra suvratāḥ /
diśo vitimirābhāsāḥ kurvantaḥ samupāgaman //

Śrī Śuka said: / Once, sages of noble vows came there to see the Lord of the Mountain, / making the quarters radiant and free from darkness.

29. Sri Suka said:— On a certain occasion sages of great piety

who (by their glory) dispelled darkness from all the directions came there to see god Siva.

9.1.30

tān vilokyāmbikā devī vivāsā vrīḍitā bhṛśam /
bharturaṅkāt samutthāya nīvīmāśv atha paryadhāt //

Seeing them, the goddess Ambikā, being unclothed, was deeply embarrassed; / rising from her husband's lap, she quickly tied her waistcloth.

30. Being sky-clad mother Parvati got very much ashamed when she saw them, and at once she rose from her lord's lap and put on her raiment.

9.1.31

ṛṣayo 'pi tayorvīkṣya prasaṅgaṃ ramamāṇayoḥ /
nivṛttāḥ prayayustasmān naranārāyaṇāśramam //

The sages, too, seeing the couple engaged in lovemaking, / turned back and departed from there to the hermitage of Nara and Nārāyaṇa.

31. Observing the pair in that intimate relation in sex-love (in privacy) the sages turned back from that spot and sped thence to the hermitage of Narayana.

9.1.32

tadidaṃ bhagavān āha priyāyāḥ priyakāmyayā /
sthānaṃ yaḥ praviśedetat sa vai yoṣidbhavediti //

Then the Lord said this, wishing to please his beloved: / "Whoever enters this place shall indeed become a woman!"

32. 'Then for the gratification of his consort, the worshipful Siva ordained thus—'whoever enters this region shall be changed into a woman'.

9.1.33

tata ūrdhvaṃ vanaṃ tadvai puruṣā varjayanti hi /
sā cānucarasaṃyuktā vicacāra vanādvanam //

From that time forth, men indeed avoid that forest; / and she, accompanied by her attendants, wandered from forest to forest.

33. Since then indeed males avoid (going into) that forest. And she (Ila) with her followers wandered from forest to forest.

9.1.34

atha tāmāśramābhyāśe carantīṃ pramadottamām /
strībhiḥ parivṛtāṃ vīkṣya cakame bhagavān budhaḥ //

Now, seeing her wandering near his hermitage—an exquisite woman / surrounded by women—the divine Budha desired her.

34. Now noticing that excellent woman wandering with her maids in the vicinity of his hermitage the God Budha conceived a passion for her.

9.1.35

sāpi taṃ cakame subhrūḥ somarājasutaṃ patim /
sa tasyāṃ janayāmāsa purūravasamātmajam //

She too, fair-browed, desired the son of King Soma as her husband; / he begot upon her a son, Purūravas.

35. She also fell in love with (Budha), the son of king Soma (Moon) and took him for her husband, and by her he had a son called Pururavas.

9.1.36

evaṃ strītvamanuprāptaḥ sudyumno mānavo nṛpaḥ /
sasmāra sa kulācāryaṃ vasiṣṭhamiti śuśruma //

Having thus attained womanhood, King Sudyumna, the son of Manu, / remembered the family preceptor Vasiṣṭha—so we have heard.

36. We are told that, changed thus into a woman, Sudyumna, prince of Manu's race, remembered his family preceptor Vasishta.

9.1.37

sa tasya tāṃ daśāṃ dṛṣṭvā kṛpayā bhṛśapīḍitaḥ /
sudyumnasyāśayan puṃstvamupādhāvata śaṅkaram //

Seeing that condition of his, deeply afflicted with compassion, / desiring manhood for Sudyumna, [Vasiṣṭha] took refuge in Śaṅkara.

37. Vasishta saw him in that condition and, very much oppressed with pity and intending to again make him a male, approached God Siva.

9.1.38

tuṣṭastasmai sa bhagavān ṛṣaye priyamāvahan /
svāṃ ca vācamṛtāṃ kurvannidamāha viśāmpate //

Pleased, the Lord brought joy to that sage, / and, making his own word true, spoke thus, O ruler of the people:

38. The glorious Siva was pleased with him to grant his prayer and, also to make his word true, said, O king, as follows:—

9.1.39

māsaṃ pumān sa bhavitā māsaṃ strī tava gotrajaḥ /
itthaṃ vyavasthayā kāmaṃ sudyumno 'vatu medinīm //

"For one month this scion of your family shall be a man, and for one month a woman; / under this arrangement, let Sudyumna rule the earth as he desires."

39. Born of thy family, on this condition let Sudyumna freely protect the earth; a male he will be by turns for a month and a woman for the next.

9.1.40

ācāryānugrahāt kāmaṃ labdhvā puṃstvaṃ vyavasthayā /
pālayāmāsa jagatīṃ nābhyanandan sma taṃ prajāḥ //

Having obtained manhood under this arrangement by the grace of his spiritual teacher, / he ruled the earth as he wished, but his subjects took no delight in him.

40. Having through the preceptor's grace attained his desired object in a conditional manhood, he ruled his kingdom; but the subjects did not like him.

9.1.41

tasyotkalo gayo rājan vimalaśca trayaḥ sutāḥ /
dakṣiṇāpatharājāno babhūvurdharmavatsalāḥ //

He had three sons, O king—Utkala, Gaya, and Vimala; / they became kings of the southern country, devoted to dharma.

41. O king, he had three sons named Utkala, Gaya, and Vimala and they became very righteous rulers of southern countries.

9.1.42

tataḥ pariṇate kāle pratiṣṭhānapatiḥ prabhuḥ /
purūravasa utsṛjya gāṃ putrāya gato vanam //

Then, when the time was ripe, the master, the lord of Pratiṣṭhāna, / having handed over the earth to his son Purūravas, went to the forest.

42. Then in the fulness of time the Lord of Pratishthana handed over the kingdom to his son Pururavas and retired into the forest.