Bhagavatapurana 9.11: athaikādaśo'dhyāyaḥ

9.11.1

/0 śrīśuka uvāca
bhagavān ātmanātmānaṃ rāma uttamakalpakaiḥ /
sarvadevamayaṃ devamīje 'thācāryavān makhaiḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / The Lord, Rāma, served by qualified priests, worshiped Himself with sacrifices consisting of the finest ritual requisites, / as the God who comprises all gods.

1. Sri Suka said:— Helped by priests the glorious Lord Rama himself performed sacrifices on the highest scale and in the best manner, in worship of the Supreme Lord who is in all the gods and no other than himself.

9.11.2

hotre 'dadāddiśaṃ prācīṃ brahmaṇe dakṣiṇāṃ prabhuḥ /
adhvaryave pratīcīṃ vā uttarāṃ sāmagāya saḥ //

The Lord gave the eastern direction to the Hotṛ, the southern to the Brahman priest, / the western to the Adhvaryu, and the northern to the chanter of the Sāmaveda.

2. At the conclusion of the sacrifices, he gave all the eastern portion of his empire to Hotri, the south to Brahman, the west to Adhvaryu and the north to the priest that sang Sama hymns.

9.11.3

ācāryāya dadau śeṣāṃ yāvatī bhūstadantarā /
anyamāna idaṃ kṛtsnaṃ brāhmaṇo 'rhati niḥspṛhaḥ //

To the preceptor he gave the remainder, whatever earth lay in between, / considering: 'A brāhmaṇa free from desire deserves all of this.'

3. To his preceptor he gave the remaining portion of the land at the centre, thinking that only the brahmin free from desires deserved it all.

9.11.4

ityayaṃ tadalaṅkāra vāsobhyāmavaśeṣitaḥ /
tathā rājñyapi vaidehī saumaṅgalyāvaśeṣitā //

Thus he was left with only his ornaments and clothing; / likewise the queen, Vaidehī, was left with only the emblems of auspicious wifehood.

4. Thus he was left with his personal ornaments and clothes remaining; so also the queen Vaidehi had only her Saumangalya left remaining.

9.11.5

te tu brāhmaṇadevasya vātsalyaṃ vīkṣya saṃstutam /
prītāḥ klinnadhiyastasmai pratyarpyedaṃ babhāṣire //

Seeing the celebrated affection of that lord of the brāhmaṇas, / they, pleased and with hearts softened with emotion, returned the land to him and spoke thus:

5. But they perceived that it was the common attribute of their lord ever devoted to brahmins who were affectionate to him and with their melting heart returned to him all the gifts and said.

9.11.6

aprattaṃ nastvayā kiṃ nu bhagavan bhuvaneśvara /
yan no 'ntarhṛdayaṃ viśya tamo haṃsi svarociṣā //

'What indeed has not been bestowed upon us by you, O Lord, O master of the universe? / For entering our inner heart, you destroy the darkness with your own light!

6. “What is it that is not given us by Thee, O Lord, O Ruler of the world, when having entered our heart Thou dispellest the darkness therein by Thy light?

9.11.7

namo brahmaṇyadevāya rāmāyākuṇṭhamedhase /
uttamaślokadhuryāya nyastadaṇḍārpitāṅghraye //

Obeisance to the protector of brāhmaṇas, to Rāma of unfailing wisdom, / foremost among those of highest renown, whose feet are venerated by those who have laid down the rod of punishment!'

7. “We bow, O Rama, to Thee, the Deity favourable to brahmins and of unchanging intellect (unlimited wisdom); O foremost one among those that have achieved the highest glory, and whose feet are worshipped by sages”.

9.11.8

kadācil lokajijñāsurgūḍho rātryāmalakṣitaḥ /
caran vāco 'śṛṇodrāmo bhāryāmuddiśya kasyacit //

Once, wishing to know the people's minds, wandering disguised and unobserved at night, / Rāma heard the words of a certain man addressed to his wife:

8. One night, desirous of knowing the state of the world, Rama went unnoticed about, and heard somebody talking in disguise about his queen Sita:—

9.11.9

nāhaṃ bibharmi tvāṃ duṣṭāmasatīṃ paraveśmagām /
straiṇo hi bibhṛyāt sītāṃ rāmo nāhaṃ bhaje punaḥ //

'I will not maintain you, wicked and unchaste, who entered another's house! / Rāma, being uxorious, may indeed maintain Sītā; but I will not take you back!'

9. “I would not have thee again, the wicked and unchaste one for having lived in another’s house; I am not Rama who, fond of the woman, may have Sita; but I would not”.

9.11.10

iti lokādbahumukhāddurārādhyādasaṃvidaḥ /
patyā bhītena sā tyaktā prāptā prācetasāśramam //

Fearing this talk from the many-mouthed, difficult-to-please, and ignorant public, / she was abandoned by her husband and reached the hermitage of Prācetasa [Vālmīki].

10. By her lord who was afraid of the many-tongued world at large, though it was ignorant and not to be easily satisfied, she was sent away and came to the hermitage of Valmiki.

9.11.11

antarvatnyāgate kāle yamau sā suṣuve sutau /
kuśo lava iti khyātau tayoścakre kriyā muniḥ //

She was pregnant, and when the time arrived she gave birth to twin sons / famous as Kuśa and Lava; the sage performed the sacred rites for the two.

11. Being pregnant she was in time delivered of twins who were called Kusa and Lava and for them the sage performed the necessary religious functions.

9.11.12

aṅgadaścitraketuśca lakṣmaṇasyātmajau smṛtau /
takṣaḥ puṣkala ityāstāṃ bharatasya mahīpate //

Aṅgada and Citraketu are recorded as the two sons of Lakṣmaṇa; / Takṣa and Puṣkala were the sons of Bharata, O king.

12. Lakshmana's sons were called Angada and Chitraketu; Bharata had two sons named Thaksha and Pushkala, O king.

9.11.13

subāhuḥ śrutasenaśca śatrughnasya babhūvatuḥ /
gandharvān koṭiśo jaghne bharato vijaye diśām //

Subāhu and Śrutasena were born to Śatrughna; / Bharata slew tens of millions of Gandharvas during his conquest of the directions.

13. So Subahu and Srutasena were the two sons of Satrughna; during his victorious expedition in all the directions Bharata put down millions of Gandharvas.

9.11.14

tadīyaṃ dhanamānīya sarvaṃ rājñe nyavedayat /
śatrughnaśca madhoḥ putraṃ lavaṇaṃ nāma rākṣasam /
hatvā madhuvane cakre mathurāṃ nāma vai purīm //

Bringing all their wealth, he presented it to the king; / and Śatrughna, having slain the rākṣasa named Lavaṇa, son of Madhu, / founded the city named Mathurā in the Madhuvana forest.

14. He brought all their wealth and offered it to the king; Satrughna vanquished a Rakshasa called Lavana, son of Madhu, and in the forest of Madhu he caused a city to be built called Mathura (D. converted Madhuvana into the city of Madhura).

9.11.15

munau nikṣipya tanayau sītā bhartrā vivāsitā /
dhyāyantī rāmacaraṇau vivaraṃ praviveśa ha //

Entrusting her two sons to the sage, Sītā, banished by her husband, / entered into the cleft of the earth while meditating upon the lotus feet of Rāma.

15. Exiled by her lord Sita entrusted her sons to the sage (Valmiki) and contemplating the feet of Rama entered into the bowels of the earth.

9.11.16

tac chrutvā bhagavān rāmo rundhannapi dhiyā śucaḥ /
smaraṃstasyā guṇāṃstāṃstān nāśaknodroddhumīśvaraḥ //

Hearing of that, the Lord Rāma, even though checking his grief with intellect, / could not restrain it, remembering her manifold virtues, Lord though he was.

16. On hearing of that, the glorious Rama, the Supreme Ruler, though he tried to govern his grief by force of reason, was not able to control it as he remembered her various excellent qualities.

9.11.17

strīpuṃprasaṅga etādṛk sarvatra trāsamāvahaḥ /
apīśvarāṇāṃ kimuta grāmyasya gṛhacetasaḥ //

Such association between man and woman brings fear everywhere, / even to the lords of the world; what then of the rustic attached to household life?

17. The relation between man and woman is such as always brings affliction and fear, even in the case of world's rulers and what need be said of a poor (common) creature that gives his mind to the domestic life (that leads a householder's life)?

9.11.18

tata ūrdhvaṃ brahmacaryaṃ dhāryannajuhot prabhuḥ /
trayodaśābdasāhasramagnihotramakhaṇḍitam //

Thenceforth maintaining celibacy, the Lord sacrificed / with the unbroken Agnihotra fire for thirteen thousand years.

18. Thereafter (also) the Lord continued his celibate life and performed sacrifices, maintaining the sacred fire without interruption for thirteen thousand years.

9.11.19

smaratāṃ hṛdi vinyasya viddhaṃ daṇḍakakaṇṭakaiḥ /
svapādapallavaṃ rāma ātmajyotiragāt tataḥ //

Placing in the hearts of those who remember him his sprout-like foot / pierced by the thorns of Daṇḍaka, Rāma departed to his own spiritual effulgence.

19. Having left [in the heart of the contemplatists] his tender feet that had been injured by the thorns of the Dandaka forest, Sri Rama of self-light retired from the world.

9.11.19.p1

nedaṃ yaśo raghupateḥ surayācñayātta $ līlātanoradhikasāmyavimuktadhāmnaḥ &

This is not the true glory of the Lord of the Raghus, who assumed a play-form at the request of the gods, / whose supreme majesty is beyond all equal and superior:

20. It is no great praise of Sri Rama who sportfully assumed a human form at the request of the gods, [for, he is of that nature and essence to which there is nothing equal or superior] that he slew the Rakshasas with his arrows and caused a bridge to be constructed across the sea. To Him armed with the bow were monkeys a help in vanquishing his enemy?

9.10.20_2

rakṣovadho jaladhibandhanamastrapūgaiḥ % kiṃ tasya śatruhanane kapayaḥ sahāyāḥ //

that he slew demons or bound the ocean with showers of arrows— / did he truly need monkeys as helpers in slaying his enemies?

9.10.20.p5

yasyāmalaṃ nṛpasadaḥsu yaśo 'dhunāpi $ gāyantyaghaghnamṛṣayo digibhendrapaṭṭam &

Whose spotless fame, destroying sins, sages sing even today in assemblies of kings, / which coats the frontlets of the elephants of the directions—

9.10.20.p6

yasyāmalaṃ nṛpasadaḥsu yaśo 'dhunāpi $ gāyantyaghaghnamṛṣayo digibhendrapaṭṭam &

whose spotless fame, destroying sins, sages sing even today in assemblies of kings, / which coats the frontlets of the elephants of the directions—

9.11.21

taṃ nākapālavasupālakirīṭajuṣṭa % pādāmbujaṃ raghupatiṃ śaraṇaṃ prapadye //

I take refuge in that Lord of the Raghus, whose lotus feet are touched / by the diadems of the guardians of heaven and rulers of the earth.

21. I resort to that foremost son of Raghu's race as my protector, whose pure fame, glorious like the ornament of the elephants of the eight cardinal points, and capable of removing all sin, sages even now sing in the courts of kings and whose lotus-like feet are worshipped with the crowns of celestial rulers and rulers of the earth.

9.11.22

sa yaiḥ spṛṣṭo 'bhidṛṣṭo vā saṃviṣṭo 'nugato 'pi vā /
kosalāste yayuḥ sthānaṃ yatra gacchanti yoginaḥ //

Those inhabitants of Kosala by whom he was touched, seen, sat with, or followed, / went to that abode where only yogis go.

22. All the people of Kosala country by whom he was touched, seen, approached, (well known) or followed, attained to that place to which Yogins attain.

9.11.23

puruṣo rāmacaritaṃ śravaṇairupadhārayan /
ānṛśaṃsyaparo rājan karmabandhairvimucyate //

A man who takes into his ears the conduct of Rāma, / devoted to harmlessness, O King, is liberated from the bonds of karma.

23. A man treasuring up (in his mind) the story of Rama through his ears with perfect control of his passions, is released, O king, from the bonds of Karma.

9.11.24

/0 śrīrājovāca
kathaṃ sa bhagavān rāmo bhrāt-n vā svayamātmanaḥ /
tasmin vā te 'nvavartanta prajāḥ paurāśca īśvare //

The King said: / How did the Lord Rāma behave toward his brothers and his own self, / and how did the subjects and the citizens behave toward him, their ruler?

24. The king said:— How did Rama conduct himself, how did the glorious Rama treat his own brothers, (and relations), how they were obedient to him and how his subjects and citizens were disposed towards their ruler (please tell us in detail).

9.11.25

/0 śrībādarāyaṇiruvāca
athādiśaddigvijaye bhrāt-ṃstribhuvaneśvaraḥ /
ātmānaṃ darśayan svānāṃ purīmaikṣata sānugaḥ //

Śrī Bādarāyaṇi said: / Then the master of the three worlds ordered his brothers on the conquest of the directions; / revealing himself to his people, he surveyed the city accompanied by his followers.

25. Sri Suka said:— After his coronation he, the Lord of the three worlds (gods), ordered his brothers to subdue (protect) the countries in all the directions and he himself being accessible to his attendants, he looked after the city.

9.11.26

āsiktamārgāṃ gandhodaiḥ kariṇāṃ madaśīkaraiḥ /
svāminaṃ prāptamālokya mattāṃ vā sutarāmiva //

Its streets were sprinkled with perfumed water and the spray of temporal ichor from elephants, / as if exceedingly intoxicated upon seeing that its master had arrived;

26. —The city which had its streets and roads moistened with perfumed waters and the rut juice of proud elephants and which, on the return of its Lord, looked as if very much intoxicated (over-joyed),

9.11.27

prāsādagopurasabhā caityadevagṛhādiṣu /
vinyastahemakalaśaiḥ patākābhiśca maṇḍitām //

adorned with golden pitchers and flags erected / upon palaces, gateways, assembly halls, shrines, temples, and other places;

27. —The city decorated with the golden crests set on mansions, towers, courts, ramparts, shrines, temples and other buildings and with flags,

9.11.28

pūgaiḥ savṛntai rambhābhiḥ paṭṭikābhiḥ suvāsasām /
ādarśairaṃśukaiḥ sragbhiḥ kṛtakautukatoraṇām //

with festive arches created with betel nut clusters still on stalks, plantain trees, banners of fine cloth, / mirrors, silks, and garlands.

28. —The city where were put up auspicious festoons formed with palm trees (areca nut) and decorations made with bunches of fruits, and plantains, of fancy flags of cloth, with mirrors, canopies and wreaths.

9.11.29

tamupeyustatra tatra paurā arhaṇapāṇayaḥ /
āśiṣo yuyujurdeva pāhīmāṃ prāk tvayoddhṛtām //

The citizens approached him here and there with offerings in hand / and bestowed blessings: 'O Lord, protect this [earth] previously delivered by you!'

29. At various points the citizens approached and welcomed him with presents in their hands, pronounced their blessings and prayed, "Protect this earth lifted up formerly by Thyself".

9.11.30

tataḥ prajā vīkṣya patiṃ cirāgataṃ didṛkṣayotsṛṣṭagṛhāḥ striyo narāḥ /
āruhya harmyāṇyaravindalocanam atṛptanetrāḥ kusumairavākiran //

Then the subjects, men and women, seeing their lord returned after long, left their homes in eagerness to see him; / ascending the terraces of the mansions, with unquenched eyes they showered flowers upon the lotus-eyed Lord.

30. On seeing their Lord returning after a long time, the people left their houses, men and women climbed up (to the top of) their mansions with unsatiated eyes, showered flowers on the Lord of lotus-like eyes.

9.11.31

atha praviṣṭaḥ svagṛhaṃ juṣṭaṃ svaiḥ pūrvarājabhiḥ /
anantākhilakoṣāḍhyamanarghyoruparicchadam //

Then he entered his own residence, enjoyed by his royal ancestors, / enriched with endless, boundless treasures, and possessing priceless, abundant furnishings,

31. & 32. Then having entered his own palace occupied by his own forefathers, rich in unlimited (domestic) treasures of every kind, furnished with invaluable furniture, decorated and beautiful with doors of which the frames were made of coral, provided with posts in rows of Vaidurya (cat's eyes), with mirror-like floors paved with emeralds, with walls of brilliant diamonds, (ivory and crystals).

9.11.32

vidrumodumbaradvārairvaidūryastambhapaṅktibhiḥ /
sthalairmārakataiḥ svacchairbhrājatsphaṭikabhittibhiḥ //

with doorways and thresholds of coral, rows of lapis lazuli pillars, / floors of clear emerald, and shining crystal walls,

9.11.33

citrasragbhiḥ paṭṭikābhirvāsomaṇigaṇāṃśukaiḥ /
muktāphalaiścidullāsaiḥ kāntakāmopapattibhiḥ //

adorned with variegated garlands, banners, garments, clusters of jewels, and cloths, / with pearls sparkling with radiant luster, and all agreeable objects of desire,

33. & 34. With wreaths of various colours, with pattikas, with cloths, jewels and amsukas (rays) and with pearls bright like intelligent beings and furnished with all charming objects of desire, with lights and fumes of fragrance; with decoration of flowers and attended by men and women like unto the gods who enchanced the beauty of the ornaments.

9.11.34

dhūpadīpaiḥ surabhibhirmaṇḍitaṃ puṣpamaṇḍanaiḥ /
strīpumbhiḥ surasaṅkāśairjuṣṭaṃ bhūṣaṇabhūṣaṇaiḥ //

perfumed with fragrant incenses and lamps, embellished with floral ornaments, / and served by men and women resembling demigods, who adorned the very ornaments [they wore].

9.11.35

tasmin sa bhagavān rāmaḥ snigdhayā priyayeṣṭayā /
reme svārāmadhīrāṇāmṛṣabhaḥ sītayā kila //

In that place, the Lord Rāma, foremost among those self-satisfied and serene, / sported indeed with his affectionate, dear, and beloved Sītā;

35. In that city the glorious Rama, the Lord of wise men who find delight in their self, spent his time happily indeed with his loving and beloved wife Sita.

9.11.36

bubhuje ca yathākālaṃ kāmān dharmamapīḍayan /
varṣapūgān bahūn nṝṇāmabhidhyātāṅghripallavaḥ //

and without harming dharma, he enjoyed pleasures according to proper time / for many multitude of years, he whose sprout-like feet are meditated upon by men.

36. Sri Rama whose feet tender like shoots are contemplated by the wise, enjoyed for very many years all pleasures in their proper time (as he chose) without in the least violating righteousness.