Bhagavatapurana 10.75

English (machine translation) 10.75

Language: English

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The king said:
Seeing that great success of the Rājasūya sacrifice of Ajātaśatru, / all who were assembled, the men and the gods, rejoiced, O brahmin,

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except for Duryodhana—kings, sages, and gods alike. / This has been heard by us, O Lord; let the reason for it be told.

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The son of Bādarāyaṇa said:
At the Rājasūya sacrifice of your noble grandfather, / his kinsmen were engaged in service to him, bound by love.

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Bhīma was the superintendent of the kitchen, Suyodhana the superintendent of wealth; / Sahadeva was appointed to hospitality, and Nakula to the procurement of supplies;

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Jiṣṇu to attending on the elders, Kṛṣṇa to washing the feet, / the daughter of Drupada to serving food, and the noble Karṇa to giving gifts;

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Yuyudhāna, Vikarṇa, the son of Hṛdīka, Vidura and others, / the sons of Bāhlīka such as Bhūri, and Santardana and others—

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assigned to various duties in that great sacrifice at that time, / they acted, O best of kings, eager to please the king.

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When the priests, the members of the assembly, the great scholars, and the dearest friends had been well worshipped / with truthful words, honors, and sacrificial fees,

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and when the king of Cedi had entered the feet of the Lord of the Sātvatas, / they then performed the final ablution in the river of the heavens.

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Mṛdaṅgas, conches, paṇavas, / dhundhuris, ānakas, and gomukhas—various instruments resounded at that festival of the final ablution.

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Delighted female dancers danced, and singers sang in groups; / the sound of their lutes, flutes, and hand-clapping touched the heavens.

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Wearing golden garlands, kings set forth with well-adorned warriors, / with lordly elephants, chariots, and horses bearing colorful pennants and flags at their tips.

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The Yadus, Sṛñjayas, Kāmbojas, Kurus, Kekayas, and Kośalas, / making the earth tremble with their armies, marched ahead of the performer of the sacrifice.

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The foremost twice-born priests and assembly members [chanted] with a resounding sacred roar of the Vedas, / while celestial sages, ancestors, and Gandharvas showered flowers and sang praises.

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Well-adorned with fragrant pastes, garlands, ornaments, and fine clothes, / the men and women enjoyed themselves, smearing and sprinkling one another with various colored liquids.

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Courtesans smeared by men and smearing [them in turn] / with oil, milk products, scented water, turmeric, and thick saffron paste, made merry.

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Guarded by men, the queens came out to behold this scene, / just as the wives of gods [look down] in the heavens from excellent aerial chariots;

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being sprinkled with water by their cousins and female companions, / their faces blossomed with modest smiles and shone radiant.

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They sprayed their brothers-in-law and companions with leather water-bags; / their garments drenched, their limbs, breasts, thighs, and waists exposed,

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They sprayed their brothers-in-law and companions with leather water-bags; / their garments drenched, their limbs, breasts, thighs, and waists exposed,

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their garlands dropping from braids loosened in their excitement, / they stirred desire in lustful minds through their charming play.

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Mounted on a chariot drawn by excellent horses and adorned with golden garlands, / that emperor shone alongside his wives, like the king of sacrifices with the sacred rites.

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Having performed the patnīsaṃyāja and final purificatory rites, those priests / made him sip water and bathed him together with Draupadī in the Gaṅgā.

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The kettle-drums of the gods sounded together with the drums of mortals; / celestial sages, ancestors, and humans showered rains of flowers.

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Then all people of every class and stage of life bathed there, / for even a perpetrator of great sins is instantly freed from evil [in that water].

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Then, having put on fresh silk garments and finely adorned himself, / the king worshiped the priests, assembly members, Brāhmaṇas, and others with jewelry and clothing.

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Relatives, kinsmen, kings, friends, / well-wishers, and all others without exception—the king, devoted to Nārāyaṇa, honored them unceasingly.

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All the people shone like gods with jeweled earrings, flower garlands, / turbans, tunics, silk robes, and priceless necklaces,

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and the women, the beauty of their faces graced by pairs of earrings and locks of hair, / shone radiant with golden girdles.

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Then the priests of noble conduct, the assembly members who proclaim the Veda, / the Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras, the kings who had assembled,

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the celestial sages, ancestors, spirits, and world guardians along with their followers, / having been honored, took their leave of him and departed for their own abodes, O king.

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Praising the magnificent success of the royal sage, that servant of Hari, / they never felt satiated, just as a mortal [never tires] while drinking nectar.

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Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, distressed at parting, / detained his well-wishers, in-laws, relatives, and Kṛṣṇa out of love.

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The Lord also stayed there, my dear [Parīkṣit], to please him, / sending the Yadu heroes along with Sāmba and the rest back to Kuśasthalī.

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Thus King [Yudhiṣṭhira], the son of Dharma, having crossed that great, / impassable ocean of desire with Kṛṣṇa's help, became free of all feverish anxiety.

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One day Duryodhana, seeing the opulence in his palace / and the grandeur of the Rājasūya sacrifice of him whose self is devoted to Acyuta, burned with jealousy,

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in which palace various splendors of human kings, Daitya kings, and the king of gods, / fashioned indeed by the architect of the universe, shone resplendent;

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with those [splendors], the daughter of King Drupada attended upon her husbands, / and with his heart attached to her, the Kuru king burned with envy.

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In that [palace], the thousands of queens of the Lord of Madhu [walked] slowly / under the heavy weight of their hips, their feet tinkling beautifully,

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In that [palace], the thousands of queens of the Lord of Madhu [walked] slowly / under the heavy weight of their hips, their feet tinkling beautifully,

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their waists slender and fair, their necklaces reddened by the saffron from their breasts, / their glorious faces adorned with trembling earrings and curls.

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In the assembly hall fashioned by Maya, the emperor, the son of Dharma, was once / surrounded by his followers, relatives, and even Kṛṣṇa, his very eye,

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seated upon a golden throne like Maghavan himself, / endowed with the splendor of supreme sovereignty, and being praised by bards.

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There the proud Duryodhana, accompanied by his brothers, O king, / wearing a diadem and garland, entered with sword in hand, insulting [others] in his fury.

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Mistaking solid ground for water, he lifted the hem of his garment; on solid ground he fell; / and in the water he walked as if on dry land due to delusion, bewildered by the illusion of Maya.

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Seeing him, Bhīma laughed, as did the women and other kings; / though restrained by the king, my dear, they were encouraged by Kṛṣṇa's nod.

Humiliated, his head cast down, burning with rage, he departed in silence and went to Hastināpura; / a great cry of dismay arose among the virtuous devotees, and Ajātaśatru became downcast; / the Lord remained silent, wishing to relieve the burden of the earth, by whose glance [all this] turned.

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This has been told to you, O king, as you asked me here / concerning the wickedness of Suyodhana at the great sacrifice, the Rājasūya.

Translations (1)

The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English

Linked texts (1)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit

Bhagavatapurana 10.75

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