Bhagavatapurana 4.15

English (machine translation) 4.15

Language: English

4.15.1

Maitreya said: / Then, as the arms of that king who had died sonless / were churned once more by the brāhmaṇas, a pair came into being.

4.15.2

Seeing that pair born, the sages who spoke of Brahman, / knowing them to be plenary portions of the Lord, spoke in supreme delight.

4.15.3

The sages said: / “This is a plenary portion of the Lord Viṣṇu, protector of the world; / and this [maiden] is a manifestation of Lakṣmī, the Puruṣa’s inseparable consort.

4.15.4

He will be the first among kings, a man who will spread his fame abroad; / he will be a great king named Pṛthu, of wide renown.

4.15.5

And this fair-toothed goddess, adorned with the ornaments of her virtues, / named Arci, beautifully formed, will take only Pṛthu as her husband.

4.15.6

He is an incarnation of a portion of Hari Himself, born to protect the world, / and she, Śrī devoted to him, has taken birth after him, never to be separated.”

4.15.7

Maitreya said: / The brāhmaṇas praised him; the best of Gandharvas sang; / the Siddhas showered streams of flowers; celestial women danced.

4.15.8

Conchs, trumpets, mṛdaṅga drums, and kettle drums sounded in the sky; / all the hosts of divine sages and ancestors arrived there.

4.15.9

Brahmā, the teacher of the world, approached along with the gods, the lords of heaven; / seeing upon the right hand of Vena's son the mark of the Bearer of the Mace,

4.15.10

and a lotus upon his feet, he indeed knew him to be a portion of Hari; / he whose discus is unimpeded is a portion of the Supreme Being.

4.15.11

His royal consecration was commenced by the brāhmaṇas who spoke of Brahman, / and people from all directions brought articles for the coronation.

4.15.12

Rivers, oceans, mountains, serpents, cattle, birds, beasts, / heaven, earth, and all creatures brought tribute.

4.15.13

Thus consecrated, that great king, finely dressed and well adorned, / shone forth beside his ornamented wife Arci like a second fire.

4.15.14

Kubera, the bestower of wealth, presented him a splendid golden throne, O hero; / Varuṇa, an umbrella shedding water, lustrous like the moon;

4.15.15

Vāyu, two yak-tail whisks; Dharma, a garland made of renown; / Indra, an exquisite crown; Yama, a restraining rod;

4.15.16

Brahmā, armor made of sacred Brahman; Sarasvatī, an excellent necklace; / Hari, the Sudarśana discus; and His consort, uninterrupted fortune;

4.15.17

Rudra, a sword with ten moons; Ambikā, one with a hundred moons; / Soma, nectar-like horses; Tvaṣṭṛ, a chariot that was an abode of beauty;

4.15.18

Agni, a bow made of goats’ horns; Sūrya, arrows of light rays; / the Earth, sandals made of yogic power; the Sky, a shower of flowers day after day;

4.15.19

celestial musicians, drama, sweet song, musical instruments, and invisibility; / the sages, unfailing blessings; the Ocean, a conch born of itself;

4.15.20

the seas, mountains, and rivers, chariot-tracks for that great-souled one. / Then the chronicler, the bard, and the panegyrist stepped forward to praise him.

4.15.21

Perceiving those panegyrists, the valiant Pṛthu, son of Vena, / smiling, spoke these words in a voice deep as rumbling clouds.

4.15.22

Pṛthu said: / “O Sūta, O Māgadha, O gentle Bard! In the world today my virtues are not yet manifest; / on what basis can this praise of me be composed? May your words addressed to me not prove false!

Therefore, once [my deeds] are heard of by us in the future, you will appropriately make your praise, O speakers of charming words! / While the narration of the qualities of He of highest renown is at hand, noble men do not praise the unworthy.

4.15.24

Capable of creating exalted virtues in himself, what man would have himself praised by bards for non-existent ones? / An evil-minded person, deceived into thinking ‘they would have belonged to him,’ does not realize people’s mockery.

4.15.25

For the capable, even when widely renowned, modest and supremely generous, / shrink from self-praise or reprehensible heroics.

4.15.26

We, however, are as yet unknown in the world for noble deeds, / O bards; how could we have ourselves sung of, like a foolish child?”

Translations (1)

The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English

Linked texts (1)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit