Bhagavatapurana 4.8

English (machine translation) 4.8

Language: English

4.8.1

Maitreya said:
Sanaka and the others, Nārada, Ṛbhu, Haṃsa, Āruṇi, and Yati— / these sons of Brahmā, being chaste ascetics, did not live as householders.

4.8.2

Mṛṣā was the wife of Adharma, O slayer of foes, and she bore / two twins: Dambha and Māyā; but childless Nirṛti adopted them.

4.8.3

From them arose Greed and Deceit, O highly intelligent one; / from those two came Wrath and Violence, whose sister was Foul Speech, and Kali.

4.8.4

Upon Durukti, Kali begot Bhaya and Mṛtyu, O best of the virtuous; / and of those two was born a twin pair: Yātanā as well as Niraya.

4.8.5

In brief have I recounted secondary creation to you, O sinless one. / Hearing this purifying [account] three times, a man shakes off the impurity of his self.

4.8.6

From here onward, therefore, I shall glorify the lineage of Manu Svāyambhuva of purifying renown, / O upholder of the Kurus, who was born from a part of a part of Hari.

4.8.7

Priyavrata and Uttānapāda were the sons of the lord of Śatarūpā; / by a portion of Vāsudeva, they stood for the protection of the world.

4.8.8

Two were the wives of Uttānapāda: Sunīti and Suruci. / Of the two, Suruci was the favorite of her husband, not the other, whose son was Dhruva.

4.8.9

Once, placing Suruci's son upon his lap and caressing him, / the king did not welcome Dhruva, [Uttama's brother,] who wished to climb up.

4.8.10

Seeing Dhruva, the son of her co-wife, wishing to do so, / Suruci, excessively proud, spoke jealously in the hearing of the king:

4.8.11

“You do not deserve, my child, to mount the king’s seat; / for you were not borne in my womb, though you are the king's son.

4.8.12

Alas, you are a boy; you surely do not know yourself / as born of the womb of another woman, you whose wish is for an object hard to attain.

4.8.13

Having propitiated the Puruṣa by ascetic penance, only by His favor / prepare yourself in my womb, if you desire the king’s throne.”

4.8.14

Maitreya said: / Pierced by his stepmother's harsh words, hissing with anger like a snake struck by a stick, / leaving behind his father who watched in silence, he went weeping to his mother.

4.8.15

Sunīti, lifting onto her lap that child who was sighing with trembling lower lip, / and hearing fully from the mouths of the courtiers what had been spoken by her co-wife, felt deep anguish.

4.8.16

Losing her fortitude, the young woman lamented like a forest vine in a forest fire; / remembering the words of her co-wife, her eyes radiant as lotuses poured forth a stream of tears.

4.8.17

Sighing deeply, seeing no end to her misfortune, the young woman said to her boy: / “Do not wish misfortune upon others, child; a person experiences whatever sorrow he gives to another.

4.8.18

What Suruci has spoken is true: you were conceived in the belly of me, an unfortunate woman, / and raised on the breast-milk [of one] whom the lord of the earth is ashamed to take as his wife.

4.8.19

Abide then, child, free from malice, by what was spoken without falsehood even by your stepmother; / propitiate the lotus feet of Adhokṣaja if you desire a seat like Uttama.

By serving whose lotus feet, having assumed the properties of nature for the world's manifestation, / the Unborn One indeed attained the supreme station of Brahmā, worshipful by those who have conquered the self and the breath.

4.8.21

Likewise, your grandfather, the venerable Manu, having worshipped Him with one-pointed mind / through sacrifices with plentiful priestly gifts, attained earthly, celestial, and liberating happiness, hard to achieve elsewhere.

4.8.22

Take refuge only in Him, my child, who is affectionate to His servants, whose lotus-foot path is sought by seekers of liberation; / fixing Him in a mind focused on nothing else and purified by one's own dharma, worship the Puruṣa.

4.8.23

Other than that lotus-petal-eyed Lord, I see no destroyer of your grief, / who is sought after by Śrī holding a lotus in her hand, even though she is sought after by others, my dear.”

4.8.24

Maitreya said: / Having heard these words spoken by his mother, which were full of meaning, / he restrained himself by his own resolve and departed from his father’s city.

4.8.25

Nārada, having heard of that and knowing what he intended to do, / touched his head with his sin-destroying hand and, amazed, said:

4.8.26

“Oh, the fiery spirit of Kṣatriyas who cannot tolerate an injury to their honor! / Even though a child, he takes to heart the unkind words of his stepmother.”

4.8.27

Nārada said: / “Even now, my little boy, we see no cause for disrespect / or respect in a child who is attached to play and the like.

4.8.28

Though differences exist, there are no causes of discontent / for a person except delusion, since in this world [circumstances vary] according to one's own actions.

4.8.29

Therefore, child, a wise man should be content with just so much / as is brought about by fate, beholding the course of the Lord.

4.8.30

Furthermore, through the yoga taught by your mother, you seek to attain / His grace, but He is indeed considered by me difficult for men to propitiate.

4.8.31

Sages, even seeking His path through fierce absorption in yoga, / free from attachment through numerous births, did not find it.

4.8.32

Therefore let this fruitless insistence of yours cease; / you will strive for your highest good when the proper time has arrived.

4.8.33

A person who satisfies himself in pleasure and pain with whatever is ordained for him by fate, / crosses over to the other shore of darkness.

4.8.34

One should seek joy with those who are superior in virtues, compassion toward the inferior in virtues, / and friendship with equals; thus one is not overcome by afflictions.”

4.8.35

Dhruva said: / “This peace, which is difficult to perceive for people like us / whose minds are stricken by pleasure and pain, has been shown out of compassion by your lordship.

4.8.36

Yet, in me who am undisciplined and have inherited the fierce nature of a Kṣatriya, / it finds no resting place in a heart pierced by the arrow-like harsh words of Suruci.

4.8.37

Describe to me, O brāhmaṇa, the virtuous path, for I desire to conquer a position / supreme in the three worlds, one not occupied even by my ancestors or anyone else.

4.8.38

Surely, you, who are the son born of the venerable Brahmā, / wander striking your vīṇā for the benefit of the world, like the sun.”

4.8.39

Maitreya said: / Hearing what was spoken thus, the venerable Nārada then, / pleased, spoke good words to that boy out of compassion.

4.8.40

Nārada said: / “The path indicated by your mother is indeed for your ultimate good; / that Lord is Vāsudeva—worship Him with an undivided mind.

4.8.41

Whoever desires the welfare of the self, termed dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation— / the one cause in that regard is the service of the feet of Hari.

4.8.42

Therefore go, child—may you be blessed—to the pure bank of the Yamunā, / the holy Madhuvana, where the presence of Hari is eternal.

4.8.43

Bathing at each of the three daily ablutions in that auspicious water of the Kālindī, / performing the appropriate duties, residing there having prepared a seat for yourself,

4.8.44

gradually casting out the impurity of the breath, senses, and mind through the threefold breath control, / one should meditate with a steady mind upon the Supreme Guru.”

4.8.45

Ever inclined to favor, with a cheerful face and eyes, / with a fine nose, beautiful eyebrows, and charming cheeks, more beautiful than the gods,

4.8.46

youthful, with lovely limbs, with lips and eyes reddish like the dawn, / a shelter for the submissive, possessing manly strength, worthy of refuge, an ocean of compassion,

4.8.47

marked with the Śrīvatsa, dark like a raincloud, the Puruṣa wearing a garland of forest flowers, / with four arms clearly displayed with conch, discus, mace, and lotus,

4.8.48

wearing a crown and earrings, adorned with armlets and bracelets, / his neck decorated with the Kaustubha jewel, wearing garments of yellow silk.

4.8.49

Girt with a jeweled girdle, wearing shining golden anklets, / most delightful to behold, tranquil, gladdening mind and eyes;

4.8.50

with feet adorned by radiant rows of jewel-like nails, / occupying the lotus pericarp of the heart of those who worship Him, abiding within oneself;

4.8.51

one should meditate upon the best of boon-givers, smiling, / His glance filled with affection, with a restrained and one-pointed mind.

4.8.52

Thus meditating upon the Lord’s all-auspicious form, the mind, / swiftly enriched by supreme bliss, does not turn away.

4.8.53

And listen, O prince, to the most secret recitation, / by chanting which continuously for seven nights a man sees the sky-wanderers:

4.8.54

“Oṃ, obeisance to the Lord Vāsudeva.” / With this mantra, knowing the divisions of place and time, a wise man should perform / an offering of physical substances to the God with various materials:

4.8.55

With pure waters, garlands, wild fruits, roots, and the like, / with auspicious sprouts and garments, and with tulasī dear to Him, he should worship the Master.

4.8.56

Having obtained a sculpted image, or upon earth, water, and the like, he may worship, / collected in mind, a sage, tranquil, his speech restrained, eating moderate wild food.

4.8.57

He should meditate on the heart-captivating deeds He of highest renown performs / through His incarnations assumed by His own will by His inconceivable creative power.

4.8.58

Whatever forms of worship of the Lord were practiced by the ancients, / these he should offer, by means of the essence of the mantra alone, to the one whose form is the mantra.

4.8.59

When the Lord dwelling in the heart is thus served / with body, mind, and speech, through the worship of a devotee,

4.8.60

He, increasing the devotional emotion of guileless men who worship Him properly, / bestows upon embodied beings the desired good among dharma and the rest.

4.8.61

And detached from sense pleasures, one should directly worship Him / with intensive yoga of devotion and constant disposition, for the sake of total liberation.

4.8.62

Thus addressed, the king’s child circumambulated him, / bowed down to him, and went to the holy Madhuvana, marked by the feet of Hari.

4.8.63

When he had gone to the penance grove, the sage entered the inner apartments; / welcomed with hospitality by the king and seated comfortably, he spoke to him.

4.8.64

Nārada said: / O King, what are you pondering at such length, with your face withering away? / Has your desire, or your dharma combined with wealth, suffered harm?

4.8.65

The king said: / O Brahman, my son, a five-year-old boy, along with his mother, / has been banished by me—henpecked, cruel-hearted, though he was great and wise.

4.8.66

O Brahman, will not wolves devour the child, unprotected in the forest, / exhausted, lying down, hungry, his lotus face completely withered?

4.8.67

Alas, consider the wickedness of me, mastered by a woman, / who, the basest of men, did not welcome him when he sought with love to climb onto my lap!

4.8.68

Nārada said: / Do not, do not grieve for your son, O ruler of people; he is protected by the gods; / not knowing his greatness, you mourn him whose renown will encompass the world.

4.8.69

Having accomplished an act extremely difficult even for the guardians of the world, / the master will soon return, O King, increasing your renown.

4.8.70

Maitreya said: / Having heard this spoken by the divine sage, the ruler of the earth, / disregarding his royal fortune, thought only of his son.

4.8.71

Having bathed there, purified, fasting through that night, / collected, he worshipped the Person according to the sage’s command.

4.8.72

At the end of every three nights, eating wood-apples and jujubes / according to his bodily sustenance, he spent the first month worshipping Hari.

4.8.73

And likewise in the second month, the boy, eating every sixth day, / taking dry grass, leaves, and the like as food, worshipped the all-pervading Lord.

4.8.74

And spending the third month, consuming only water on every ninth day, / he approached He of highest renown in meditative absorption.

4.8.75

In the fourth month also, on every twelfth day, / subsisting on air alone, his breath controlled, meditating, he held the God [in his heart].

4.8.76

When the fifth month arrived, the prince, having subdued his breath, / meditating on Brahman, stood on one foot, motionless like a post.

4.8.77

Withdrawing the mind from everywhere into the heart, the seat of elements and senses, / meditating upon the Lord’s form, he saw nothing else.

4.8.78

As he held Brahman—the support of the Mahat and the rest, / the ruler of both Pradhāna and Puruṣa—the three worlds trembled.

4.8.79

When the king’s boy stood on one foot, pressed by his big toe, the earth / bent down by half there, at every step, like a boat boarded by the lord of elephants, from side to side.

4.8.80

As he meditated with undivided mind, closing the passage of the breath of the cosmic self, / the worlds, severely tormented by the stoppage of breath, went with their world-guardians to Hari for refuge.

4.8.81

The gods said: / O Lord, we do not understand this obstruction of the breath of all moving and unmoving beings, the abode of all life; / therefore grant us deliverance from this distress; we have taken refuge in You, who are worthy of taking refuge.

4.8.82

The Lord said: / Fear not; I will turn the boy back from his penance difficult to surpass; return to your own abodes; / for he from whom your obstruction of breath arose is the son of Uttānapāda, his self united with Me.

Translations (1)

The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English

Linked texts (1)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit