Bhagavatapurana 10.57
English (machine translation) 10.57
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Contents
10.57.1
Śrī Bādarāyaṇi said:
Though already aware of the truth, Govinda, hearing that the Pāṇḍavas
and Kuntī had been burnt, went with Rāma to the Kurus to perform family duties.
10.57.2
Meeting Bhīṣma, Kṛpa, Vidura, Gāndhārī, and Droṇa,
they shared in their grief and exclaimed: “Alas, how dreadful!”
10.57.3
Finding this opportunity, O King, Akrūra and Kṛtavarman
said to Śatadhanvan: “Why is the jewel not taken?
10.57.4
Satrājit, who promised the jewel of a girl to us, slighted us,
and gave her to Kṛṣṇa—why should he not follow his brother [in death]?”
10.57.5
With his mind thus corrupted by the two, that vilest of the wicked,
that sinner whose life was doomed, killed the sleeping Satrājit out of greed.
10.57.6
While the women screamed and wept like helpless wretches,
he slaughtered [him] like a butcher killing beasts, took the jewel, and fled.
10.57.7
Seeing her father slain, Satyabhāmā, overwhelmed with grief,
lamented, weeping and fainting: “O father, father! Alas, I am ruined!”
10.57.8
Placing the corpse in a vessel of oil, she went to Gajasāhvaya,
and, anguished, reported the murder of her father to Kṛṣṇa, who already knew.
10.57.9
Hearing that, O King, the two Lords, conforming to human ways,
lamented with tearful eyes: “Alas, what great misery has befallen us!”
10.57.10
Returning from there to the city with his wife and elder brother,
the Lord undertook to slay Śatadhanvan and recover the jewel from him.
10.57.11
Learning of his undertaking and terrified, Śatadhanvan, wishing to save his life,
begged Kṛtavarman for assistance; and he replied:
10.57.12
“I would not slight the two Lords, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.
Who indeed could prosper after committing an injury against them?
10.57.13
Kaṃsa, along with his followers, was destroyed and stripped of royal fortune through enmity with him;
Jarāsandha, after seventeen battles, fled deprived of his chariot.”
10.57.14
Rejected [by him], he begged Akrūra to support his rear;
he too said: “Who, knowing well, would oppose the power of the two Lords,
10.57.15
who in divine play creates, maintains, and destroys this universe,
whose deeds the creators of the universe do not comprehend, bewildered by his creative power?
10.57.16
Who, as a seven-year-old child, plucked up a mountain with one hand
and held it in play as a boy might hold a mushroom?
10.57.17
Obeisance to that Lord Kṛṣṇa of wondrous deeds,
the infinite, the primal source, the immutable self!”
10.57.18
Rejected by him as well, Śatadhanvan entrusted the great jewel to him,
mounted a mare that could travel a hundred yojanas, and departed.
10.57.19
Mounting their chariot marked with the flag of Garuḍa, Rāma and Janārdana
pursued the murderer of their elder relative with swift horses, O King.
10.57.20
Abandoning the fallen mare in a grove near Mithilā,
he fled on foot in terror; Kṛṣṇa too pursued on foot in fury.
10.57.21
The Lord severed his head as he ran on foot with his sharp-rimmed discus
while himself on foot, and searched his garments for the jewel.
10.57.22
Not finding the jewel, Kṛṣṇa came back to his elder brother and said:
“In vain was Śatadhanvan slain; the jewel is not to be found there.”
10.57.23
Then Bala said: “Surely that jewel has been deposited
by Śatadhanvan with someone; search for him—return to the city.
10.57.24
I wish to see the king of Videha, who is very dear to me.”
Having said this, O King, the delighter of the Yadus entered Mithilā.
10.57.25
Seeing him, the ruler of Mithilā rose up at once with a delighted heart
and worshipped him, who was worthy of worship, with offerings according to rule.
10.57.26
The all-powerful Lord lived in that Mithilā for several years,
honored by the magnanimous Janaka with affection;
and there, in due time, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son Suyodhana learned the mace.
10.57.27
Keśava, the all-powerful Lord, returned to Dvārakā and told the death of Śatadhanvan
and the failure to recover the jewel to his beloved, pleasing her.
10.57.28
Then, together with the kinsmen, the Lord caused to be performed
whatever funeral rites were due for his slain relative.
10.57.29
Hearing of the death of Śatadhanvan, Akrūra and Kṛtavarman,
who had instigated him, fled from Dvārakā, stricken with terror.
10.57.30
When Akrūra had gone abroad, portents of misfortune beset the dwellers of Dvārakā—
bodily and mental afflictions, repeatedly caused by fate and elements.
10.57.31
Thus, my dear, some explain it, forgetting what was stated before:
How could the appearance of misfortune occur in the abode of the home of sages?
10.57.32
When the god did not rain, the king of Kāśī indeed gave his daughter
Gāndinī to Śvaphalka who had arrived; then it rained in Kāśi.
10.57.33
His son, endowed with his power, is this Akrūra; wherever he is,
the god pours down rain, and there are no torments nor pestilences.
10.57.34
Hearing these words of the elders, and thinking that this alone was not the cause here,
Janārdana had Akrūra summoned and addressed him.
10.57.35
Honoring him, conversing with him, and recounting pleasant tales,
knowing the minds of all, he smiled and said:
10.57.36
“Surely, O lord of charity, the glorious Syamantaka jewel
was entrusted to you by Śatadhanvan; it was known to us beforehand.
10.57.37
Since Satrājit has no sons, his daughter's sons should take
the inheritance, after offering water and funeral cakes, and clearing any remaining debts.
10.57.38
Even so, since it is unmanageable by others, let the jewel remain with you, O man of firm vows! / But my elder brother does not completely believe me concerning the jewel.
10.57.39
Show it, O fortunate one, and bring peace among our kinsmen! / Today your sacrificial offerings continue uninterrupted on gold altars.
10.57.40
Thus addressed with conciliatory words, the son of Śvaphalka took out the jewel / concealed in his garment and handed it over, blazing like the sun.
10.57.41
Having shown the Syamantaka to his kinsmen and wiped away the slander against himself / by means of the jewel, the Lord returned it to him once more.
10.57.41.p1
Anyone who reads, hears, or remembers this narrative / rich in the prowess of the Lord, God Viṣṇu, dispelling sin and bringing supreme auspiciousness,
10.57.42
casts off ill repute and transgression, and attains peace.
10.57.42.p1
[Thus ends the fifty-seventh chapter.]
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit