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Bhagavatapurana 6.17

English (machine translation) 6.17

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6.17.1

Śrī Śuka said: / Having bowed to that direction in which Ananta had disappeared, / the Vidyādhara Citraketu moved about, traveling in the sky.

6.17.2

For a hundred thousand years, with unimpeded strength and senses, / praised by sages, Siddhas, and Cāraṇas, the great yogin

6.17.3

rejoiced with Vidyādhara women in the valleys of the great mountain ranges / where various wishes were realized, having them sing of Hari, the Lord.

6.17.4

Once, traveling in a radiant aerial vehicle given by Viṣṇu, / he saw Giriśa surrounded by Siddhas and Cāraṇas.

6.17.5

In the assembly of sages, holding the goddess placed on his lap with his arm, / as the goddess was listening, he spoke, laughing aloud nearby:

6.17.6

Citraketu said: / Here is the spiritual master of the world in person, who proclaims dharma to embodied beings; / yet he sits as the leader in an assembly, united with his wife!

6.17.7

Wearing matted hair, practicing severe austerity, the leader of the assembly of knowers of Brahman / sits placing a woman on his lap, shameless like an ordinary person!

6.17.8

Ordinary men usually embrace a woman in secret; / this keeper of great vows embraces a woman in an assembly!

6.17.9

Śrī Śuka said: / Hearing that, O king, the Lord, his intellect unfathomable, smiled and / became silent in the assembly, and the assembly members followed his lead.

6.17.10

As he spoke thus, uttering many improper words without knowing his power, / the goddess spoke in anger to that insolent man who prided himself on having conquered his self:

6.17.11

Śrī Pārvatī said: / Has this man now become the ruler, the wielder of the rod, the master in the world, / to punish people like us, who are wicked and shameless?

6.17.12

Does the lotus-born [Brahmā] not know dharma, nor Brahmā's sons headed by Bhṛgu and Nārada, / nor Kumāra, Kapila, and Manu, that they do not restrain Hara who oversteps the bounds?

6.17.13

He whose pair of lotus feet they meditate upon, the teacher of the universe, himself the blessing of blessings— / the wretched kṣatriya who insults the wise and presumes to chastise him, is indeed worthy of punishment.

6.17.14

This conceited, insolent man does not deserve / to approach the feet of Vaikuṇṭha, which are worshipped by the virtuous devotees.

6.17.15

Therefore, O fool, go to a most wretched, demoniac womb, / so that here in this world, my son, you will never again commit an offense against exalted devotees.

6.17.16

Śrī Śuka said: / Having been cursed in this way, Citraketu descended from his aerial car, / and with his head bowed down, O descendant of Bharata, propitiated Satī.

6.17.17

Citraketu said: / I accept your curse, O mother, with my hands joined in reverence for myself; / for whatever is proclaimed by the gods to a mortal is indeed ordained beforehand for him.

6.17.18

In this cycle of rebirth, a creature deluded by ignorance / wanders about, experiencing happiness and sorrow everywhere and at all times.

6.17.19

Neither oneself nor another can be the cause of happiness and sorrow; / but in this world the ignorant man considers himself or another to be the cause.

6.17.20

In this flow of the qualities of nature, what is a curse and what is a blessing? / What is heaven, or what is hell? What is happiness, or even sorrow?

6.17.21

The one Lord, indivisible, creates living beings through his own creative power; / he creates their bondage and liberation, their happiness and sorrow.

6.17.22

To him no one is dear, no one an adversary, no one a kinsman or friend, no one a stranger, nor one's own; / to him who is equal everywhere and taintless, there is no attachment to pleasure—whence then could there be wrath?

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Nevertheless, the discharge of his power serves to bring about happiness and sorrow, good and ill, / bondage and liberation, death and birth, and transmigration for embodied beings.

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Yet I do not appease you for release from the curse, O angry lady; / whatever was spoken improperly by me, may that be forgiven, O virtuous lady.

6.17.25

Śrī Śuka said: / Having thus appeased the lord and lady of the mountain, Citraketu, O slayer of foes, / departed in his aerial car, while both looked on smiling.

6.17.26

Then the Lord Rudra spoke this to Rudrāṇī, / while the celestial sages, Daityas, Siddhas, and his attendants listened:

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Śrī Rudra said: / Have you seen, O fair-hipped lady, the greatness of the servants of the servants / of Hari of wondrous deeds—of those great-souled ones free from desire?

6.17.28

Those wholly devoted to Nārāyaṇa fear nothing at all; / seeing equal value, they regard heaven, liberation, and hell as the same.

6.17.29

By the divine play of the Supreme Lord, through the embodiment's union with a body, the pairs of opposites arise: / happiness and sorrow, death and birth, and curse and blessing.

6.17.30

The distinction of values in the self is caused by a man's lack of discrimination, / as is the distinction between virtue and fault—just as the appearance of a snake is superimposed on a garland.

6.17.31

For human beings who bear devotion to the Lord Vāsudeva, / whose strength is knowledge and dispassion, there is no other refuge at all.

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Neither I, nor Viriñca, nor Kumāra and Nārada, nor Brahmā's sons, the sages, and the chiefs of the gods— / partial expansions of his expansions, deeming ourselves independent lords—know his purpose or his true nature.

6.17.33

Indeed, no one is dear to him, nor is anyone unpleasing, nor one's own, nor a stranger; / because he is the self of all beings, Hari is dear to all beings.

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And this highly fortunate Citraketu is his dear follower, / seeing equally everywhere and tranquil; and I too am dear to Acyuta.

6.17.35

Therefore, no wonder should be felt regarding great-souled men, / devotees of the Supreme Person, who are peaceful and see all with an equal eye.

6.17.36

Śrī Śuka said: / Having heard this spoken by the Lord Śiva, O king, / the goddess Umā became tranquil in mind, her astonishment gone.

6.17.37

Thus the Bhāgavata, though fully capable of cursing the goddess in return, / accepted the curse with his head bowed down; such is the mark of a virtuous devotee.

6.17.38

Taking birth in a demoniac womb from Tvaṣṭṛ's southern sacrificial fire, / he became renowned as Vṛtra, endowed with knowledge and realized wisdom.

6.17.39

All this has been related to you, which you asked me about— / the cause of Vṛtra's birth as a demon, and of his mind being fixed on the Lord.

6.17.40

Having heard this sacred historical account of the great-souled Citraketu, / this greatness of Viṣṇu's devotees, one is freed from bondage.

6.17.41

Whoever, having risen early in the morning, reads this historical account with faith, / restraining speech and remembering Hari, reaches the supreme destination.

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