Bhagavatapurana 6.14
English (machine translation) 6.14
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Contents
6.14.1
Śrī Parīkṣit said: / O brāhmaṇa, how was it that Vṛtra, whose nature was passionate and ignorant and who was sinful, / possessed a steadfast mind in the Lord Nārāyaṇa?
6.14.2
Even among the gods of pure sattva and the seers of spotless self, / devotion to the feet of Mukunda generally does not arise.
6.14.3
Living beings here on earth are as numerous as the particles of dust upon the earth; / of them, only a few strive for what is truly beneficial, such as humans and others.
6.14.4
Of those, O best of the twice-born, scarcely any desire liberation; / among thousands of those seeking liberation, perhaps one is liberated and attains perfection.
6.14.5
Even among the liberated and the perfected, one who is wholly devoted to Nārāyaṇa / and whose self is deeply tranquil is exceedingly rare, even among millions, O great sage.
6.14.6
How then did that sinful Vṛtra, who tormented all the worlds, / have such a firm mind fixed on Kṛṣṇa in the fierce battle?
6.14.7
On this point we have great doubt, and a curiosity to hear, O lord, / regarding him who pleased the thousand-eyed [Indra] with his prowess in combat.
6.14.8
Śrī Sūta said: / Hearing the inquiry of Parīkṣit, the faithful inquirer, / the blessed son of Bādarāyaṇa applauded his words and spoke.
6.14.9
Śrī Śuka said: / Listen attentively, O king, to this ancient narrative as it was heard / from the mouth of Dvaipāyana, and also from Nārada and Devala.
6.14.10
There was a sovereign king among the Śūrasenas, O king, / renowned as Citraketu, for whom the earth yielded all desires.
6.14.11
He had ten thousand wives, / yet though capable of procreation, the king obtained no offspring through them.
6.14.12
Endowed with beauty, generosity, youth, noble birth, learning, sovereignty, fortune, and all good qualities, / anxiety gripped him as the husband of barren wives.
6.14.13
Neither all his riches, nor his fair-eyed queens, / nor this earth over which he was sovereign, were causes of joy to him.
6.14.14
Once, however, the blessed seer Aṅgiras, / wandering through these worlds, came to his palace by chance.
6.14.15
Having duly honored him by rising to greet him, presenting offerings, and the like, / and having extended hospitality to him as he sat comfortably, the king sat near him with a collected mind.
6.14.16
The great seer, honoring him in return as he sat beside him bowing in humility to the ground, / addressed him, O great king, and said this:
6.14.17
Aṅgiras said: / Is all well with your health and welfare, as well as with your subjects and yourself? / For just as an individual self is protected by its seven bodily elements, a king is protected by the seven constituent limbs of the state.
6.14.18
A person, placing his self securely in the bodily elements, attains well-being; / and similarly the constituents of the state, having their cares entrusted to the lord of men, [prosper] through the king.
6.14.19
Are your wives, subjects, ministers, servants, guilds, and counselors, / the citizens, countryside folk, vassal kings, and sons obedient to your will?
6.14.20
If a ruler's own self is under control, all these remain under his control; / and all the worlds, along with their guardians, unweariedly offer tribute.
6.14.21
Does your self not find satisfaction in itself, either from others or from within? / I observe that you have not obtained your desire, for your face is clouded with anxiety.
6.14.22
Thus questioned, O king, by the wise sage, / he, desiring offspring and bowing down in humility, spoke to the sage.
6.14.23
Citraketu said: / O venerable one, what can remain unknown, externally or internally, regarding embodied beings, / to yogins whose sins have been destroyed by asceticism, knowledge, and absorption?
6.14.24
Even so, prompted by your inquiry and with your permission, O brāhmaṇa, / I shall speak of the anxiety in my heart to you, though you are all-knowing.
6.14.25
Possessions of sovereign empire, desirable even to the guardians of the world, / bring no delight to me who am childless, just as other things bring no joy to one tormented by hunger and thirst.
6.14.26
Therefore protect me, O fortunate one, who have fallen into darkness along with my ancestors; / arrange for us in such a way that we may cross that impassable darkness by means of offspring.
6.14.27
Śrī Śuka said: / Thus implored, that powerful and compassionate son of Brahmā, / having cooked a sacrificial offering sacred to Tvaṣṭṛ, sacrificed to Tvaṣṭṛ.
6.14.28
To her who was the eldest and chief among the queens of the king, O descendant of Bharata, / named Kṛtadyuti, the twice-born gave the remnant of the sacrificial offering.
6.14.29
Then he said to the monarch: “O king, you will have one son / who will bring you joy and sorrow.” Having said this, the son of Brahmā departed.
6.14.30
And Queen Kṛtadyuti, merely by consuming that offering, / conceived seed from Citraketu, just as Kṛttikā conceived the son of Agni.
6.14.31
Her fetus grew day by day with radiance, slowly, O king, / like the moon in the bright fortnight, O lord of the Śūrasenas.
6.14.32
Then, when the time arrived, a prince was born, / bringing supreme delight to the Śūrasenas who heard the news.
6.14.33
Delighted, bathed, pure, and adorned, the king,
causing the brāhmaṇas to recite blessings, had the birth-rites performed for the boy.
6.14.34
To them he gave gold, silver, garments, and ornaments,
villages, horses, elephants, and six hundred million cows.
6.14.35
He showered the desires of other living beings as a raincloud does,
[seeking] what brought fortune, renown, and long life to the child, high-minded as he was.
6.14.36
Then, toward that son obtained with great difficulty, the royal sage, his father,
felt his affection increase day by day, just as a destitute man's toward wealth won with hardship.
6.14.37
The mother's love for her son, born of delusion, was even greater;
while for Kṛtadyuti's co-wives, a fever of desire for offspring arose.
6.14.38
The excessive affection that Citraketu had for the wife who bore a child
did not arise similarly toward the others, as he fondled the infant day after day.
6.14.39
They burned with grief, reproaching themselves out of envy,
owing to the sorrow of childlessness and the king's neglect.
6.14.40
“Fie upon a childless, wretched woman, unapproved in the house by her husband,
slighted like a maidservant by co-wives rich in sons!
6.14.41
What torment indeed do maidservants have, who by serving their master
constantly receive honor, whereas we unfortunate ones are like maidservants to a maidservant?”
6.14.42
Thus consuming themselves at their co-wife's fortune in having a son,
and their behavior being disregarded by the king, a fierce hatred arose in them.
6.14.43
Their minds destroyed by hatred, cruel-hearted women,
intolerant toward the king, gave poison to the child.
6.14.44
Kṛtadyuti, unaware of her co-wives' terrible sin,
thinking merely that he was asleep, looked at him and walked about the house.
6.14.45
Considering that the boy had been lying asleep for a very long time, the wise woman
urged the nurse: “Bring my son to me, good woman!”
6.14.46
Going up to the sleeping child and seeing his eyes rolled upward,
abandoned by his vital breaths, senses, and soul, she fell to the earth, crying: “I am ruined!”
6.14.47
Hearing her voice exceedingly distressed as she struck her chest loudly with both hands,
the queen entered in haste to her child and suddenly saw her young son dead.
6.14.48
She fell upon the earth in heightened grief;
her hair and garments falling away, she fainted.
6.14.49
Then the people dwelling in the king's inner apartments, both men and women, hearing the wailing,
came together, sharing the calamity, deeply afflicted; and those who had committed the crime wept falsely.
6.14.50
Hearing that his son was dead from an unseen cause of death, his sight failing, falling and stumbling on the road,
greatly swooning with grief intensified by the bond of affection, followed by his ministers, he was surrounded by the brāhmaṇas.
6.14.51
He fell at the feet of the dead child, his hair and garments disheveled;
sighing deeply, choked by a surge of tears, with throat obstructed, he could not speak.
6.14.52
Seeing her husband plunged then into vast grief, and the dead boy, her son, the sole descendant,
the chaste woman, bearing the heart-ache of her people and subjects, lamented in diverse ways:
6.14.53
Bathing her two breasts, adorned with saffron paste, with tear-drops mixed with collyrium,
scattering her hair from which garlands slipped, she grieved for her son in various sweet-sounding cries, like an osprey.
6.14.54
“Ah, Creator! You are exceedingly childish, you who endeavor in a manner contrary to your own creation!
If the death of one occurs while another lives, if there is such reversal, you are surely an enemy.
6.14.55
If indeed there is no fixed sequence of death and birth here for embodied beings, let that be through their own actions.
Yet this noose of affection made by you for the increase of your own creation—that very thing you sever!
6.14.55.p1
You ought not, darling child, to abandon me, helpless and forlorn; look at your father, scorched with sorrow.
6.14.56
Through you we would easily cross that darkness so hard for the childless to traverse; do not depart far with pitiless Yama!
6.14.56.p1
[…]
6.14.56.p2
Arise, darling child! These children, your playmates, are calling you, O prince, to play together.
6.14.56.p3
Arise, darling child! These children, your playmates, are calling you, O prince, to play together.
6.14.57
For you have slept long, and you are seized by hunger; eat, drink my breast, remove the griefs of us, your own folk!
6.14.57.p1
[…]
6.14.57.p2
My fortune ruined, O son, I do not see your lotus face with its charming smile and joyful gaze.
6.14.57.p3
My fortune ruined, O son, I do not see your lotus face with its charming smile and joyful gaze.
6.14.58
Or have you gone to another world without return, taken by the merciless one? I hear no more your sweet, inarticulate words.
6.14.58.p1
[…]
6.14.59
Śrī Śuka said:
As she was thus lamenting for her dead son with varied lamentations,
Citraketu, intensely tormented, wept aloud with open throat.
6.14.60
As the couple wailed, all their attendants,
both men and women, wept; the entire place became unconscious [with grief].
6.14.61
Knowing him thus fallen into despondency, bereft of awareness, like one without a protector,
the sage named Aṅgiras arrived accompanied by Nārada.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Commentaries (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇaṭīkā — Vaṃśīdhara 1630, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit