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Bhagavatapurana 4.30

English (machine translation) 4.30

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4.30.1

Vidura said: / Those sons of Prācīnabarhis whom you mentioned, O brāhmaṇa, / what perfection did they attain having pleased Hari with the hymn taught by Rudra?

4.30.2

Did they attain sovereignty on earth, or in the next world, or indeed the realm of the Lord of liberation, as attendants at his beloved side? / Surely, having chanced upon the god Giriśa, the Pracetases attained the highest state.

4.30.3

Maitreya said: / The Pracetases, carrying out their father’s command within the ocean waters, / pleased Purañjana by means of austerities consisting of the sacrifice of water.

4.30.4

At the end of ten thousand years, the eternal Person / appeared before them, dispelling their distress with his serene radiance,

4.30.5

mounted upon the shoulders of Suparṇa like a cloud atop Mount Meru's peak, / dressed in yellow garments, his neck adorned with gems, illuminating the quarters of the sky.

4.30.5.p1

His face and cheeks shone with radiant golden ornaments, and he wore a glittering crown;

4.30.6

he was attended by followers bearing eight weapons, by sages, and by the chiefs of the gods, his renown sung by Garuḍa and Kinnaras.

4.30.6.p1

[…]

4.30.6.p2

Surrounded by a forest garland that rivaled the goddess of fortune resting between the circle of his eight stout and long arms, the primordial Lord,

4.30.6.p3

surrounded by a forest garland that rivaled the goddess of fortune resting between the circle of his eight stout and long arms, the primordial Lord,

4.30.7

the Person, casting a compassionate glance upon Barhiṣmat's surrendered sons, spoke with a voice like the rumbling of a raincloud:

4.30.7.p1

[…]

4.30.8

The Lord said: / Choose a boon; may all good be yours, O sons of the king! / Bound in affection with a common dharma, I am pleased with your mutual love.

4.30.9

Whoever remembers you daily at dawn and dusk / shall look upon his brothers as himself, and feel goodwill toward all living beings.

4.30.10

And those who, with focused minds, praise me morning and evening with the hymn taught by Rudra, / to them I will grant their cherished boons and splendid wisdom.

4.30.11

Because you have joyfully accepted your father’s command, / your delightful renown shall spread throughout the worlds.

4.30.12

There will be born to you a famed son, no less in virtues than Brahmā, / who by his own prowess will fill these three worlds.

4.30.13

The lotus-eyed maiden obtained by Kaṇḍu through Pramlocā, / who was cast aside, was taken in by the trees, O sons of the king.

4.30.14

As she wept, emaciated by hunger, King Soma, / filled with compassion, placed his nectar-shedding forefinger into her mouth.

4.30.15

Ordered by your father, who follows my will, to generate progeny, / marry that fair-hipped maiden without delay.

4.30.16

For all of you, who share a common dharma and character, let this slender-waisted girl, / sharing that same dharma and character, be a devoted wife.

4.30.17

With unflagging power, for a million celestial years / you shall enjoy earthly delights, and heavenly ones as well, by my grace.

4.30.18

Then, having ripened the inclinations of your minds through unfailing devotion to me, / you shall grow detached from this worldly hell and attain to my abode.

4.30.19

Even for householders who enter family life, performing auspicious deeds / and spending their hours in discourse about me, homes are not held to cause bondage.

4.30.20

Knowing that Brahman which, though ever fresh in the heart, is realized by those who know Brahman, / those who have reached it never fall into delusion, never grieve, and never exult.

4.30.21

Maitreya said: / As Janārdana, the vessel of all human aims, spoke thus, the Pracetases joined their palms; / their impurities of darkness and passion destroyed by his sight, they praised their dearest friend in faltering voices.

4.30.22

The Pracetases said: / Obeisances, obeisances to the destroyer of affliction, whose generous qualities and names are renowned! / Obeisances to him who outstrips the speed of mind and speech, whose path is beyond the reach of any sense organ!

4.30.23

Obeisances to the pure and tranquil one, through whose fixed state of self the duality gleaming in the mind is rendered meaningless! / Obeisances to him who assumes the forms of the qualities of creative power during the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the universe!

4.30.24

Obeisances to Hari of pure purity, whose wisdom destroys ignorance, / to Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, the master of all Sātvatas!

4.30.25

Obeisances to the lotus-naveled Lord! Obeisances to the lotus-garlanded Lord! / Obeisances to the lotus-footed Lord! Obeisances to you, O lotus-eyed one!

4.30.26

Obeisances to him whose spotless garments are yellow like the pollen of a lotus! / We offer obeisances to the dwelling place of all beings, to the witness!

4.30.27

This very form which destroys all affliction has been revealed by the Lord / to us who were suffering; what greater compassion could there be?

4.30.28

This is fitting indeed for almighty lords who are affectionate to the distressed: / that they remember them in due time of their own accord, O destroyer of inauspiciousness!

4.30.29

He through whom there comes peace even to the humblest beings who strive, / hidden within the inner heart—how could he not know our desires?

4.30.30

This alone is the boon we desire, O Lord of the universe, / since the Lord is pleased, who is liberation itself, the guru, and the supreme refuge.

4.30.31

Nevertheless, O Lord, we ask a boon of you, who are higher than the highest; / for there is no end to your glories, and thus you are sung as the Infinite.

4.30.32

When the pārijāta tree is readily obtained, the bee resorts to no other; / having approached the base of your feet directly, what else should we choose?

4.30.33

As long as we wander in this world through our karmas, touched by your creative power, / so long may we have association, in birth after birth, with those who are devoted to you.

4.30.34

We do not compare even for a fraction of a moment heaven or liberation from rebirth / with the fellowship of those attached to the Lord; what then of the blessings coveted by mortals?

4.30.35

Where pure stories are sung, from which the quenching of craving arises, / where there is no enmity toward any creature, and where no anxiety exists at all,

4.30.36

where Nārāyaṇa, the Lord himself, the refuge of ascetics, / is extolled again and again in holy tales by those free from attachment—

4.30.37

how could the fellowship of your devotees, who wander on foot / with the desire to purify the holy places, not be dear to one who is afraid?

4.30.38

As for us, O Lord, through a momentary association with Bhava, your dear friend, / we have today attained you as our refuge—the supreme physician for the incurable disease of worldly birth and death.

4.30.39

Whatever we have studied well, whatever our elders, brāhmaṇas, and aged have been pleased by our righteous conduct, / whatever revered ones, friends, brothers, and all living beings have been bowed to by us without any malice—

4.30.40

Whatever severe austerity we performed, O Lord, fast-bound in water for a long time,
all that we pray to be for your satisfaction, the infinite Person.

4.30.41

The self-born Manu, the Lord, and Bhava, as well as others whose purity of mind is purified by austerity and knowledge,
even though they see no end to your greatness, praise [you]; therefore we too praise you according to our capacity.

4.30.42

Homage to the impartial, pure, and supreme Person;
homage to you, the Lord Vāsudeva, the embodiment of purity!

4.30.43

Maitreya said:
Praised thus by the Pracetases, Hari, pleased, said, 'So be it,' fond of those who take refuge [in him].
Though they did not wish for his departure, their eyes unsated, he of never-ending power departed for his own abode.

4.30.44

Then, having emerged from the water of the ocean, the Pracetases,
seeing the earth covered with trees that seemed towering as if to block the sky, grew enraged.

4.30.45

Then, O King, they released fire and wind from their mouths in anger,
in order to rid the earth of plants, like the dissolution-fire at the end of time.

4.30.46

Seeing those trees being reduced to ashes, the grandfather [Brahmā]
arrived and pacified the sons of Barhiṣmat with reasoned words.

4.30.47

The remaining trees there, terrified, then brought forth their daughter
and offered her to the Pracetases, instructed by the self-born [Brahmā].

4.30.48

And on the command of Brahmā they married Māriṣā,
in whom, through his slight to the exalted devotee, he of unmanifest birth was born again.

4.30.49

When the period of Cākṣuṣa Manu had arrived, the previous creation having been swept away by time,
he who generated the desired creatures was that Dakṣa, impelled by destiny.

4.30.50

He who at his birth took away with his own splendor the brilliance of all the brilliant,
and whom they called Dakṣa on account of his skill in actions;

4.30.51

having consecrated him for the creation and protection of creatures, the beginningless [Brahmā]
appointed him, and he in turn engaged the other progenitors of creatures.

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