Bhagavatapurana 8.23
English (machine translation) 8.23
- Language
- English
Contents
8.23.1
Śrī Śuka said:
To the Ancient Person who had spoken thus, the noble one, respected by all the virtuous,
with folded hands, his eyes flooded with drops of tears, surging with devotion, spoke in a choked voice.
8.23.2
Śrī Bali said:
Ah, even the mere effort made to bow down, intent upon the welfare of the surrendered devotee,
was accepted as such! For a favor never before attained by the guardians of the world or the immortals has been bestowed on an outcaste Asura!
8.23.3
Śrī Śuka said:
Having spoken thus and bowed to Hari, then to Brahmā along with Śiva,
Bali, liberated, gladly entered Sutala together with the Asuras.
8.23.4
Thus the Lord, having restored heaven to Indra
and fulfilled the desire of Aditi, ruled the entire universe.
8.23.5
Seeing his grandson Bali, the bearer of his lineage, freed and favored with grace,
Prahrāda, brimming with devotion, spoke this.
8.23.6
Śrī Prahrāda said:
Neither Brahmā receives this grace, nor Lakṣmī, nor Śiva, much less anyone else,
in that you, whose feet are worshipped by those worshipped by all the world, are the fortress guard for us Asuras.
8.23.6.p1
By partaking of the nectar of whose lotus feet Brahmā and the others, granting refuge, attain their opulences,
8.23.7
how have we, born of wicked origins and practicing deceits, been brought within the path of your gracious glance?
8.23.7.p1
[…]
8.23.7.p2
Ah, wondrous is your activity, of you who have brought forth the worlds in divine play by your boundless yogamāyā, who are all-skillful,
8.23.7.p3
Ah, wondrous is your activity, of you who have brought forth the worlds in divine play by your boundless yogamāyā, who are all-skillful,
8.23.8
who are the Self of all, seeing with equal vision, whose nature is impartial, yet who love your devotees, having the nature of a wish-fulfilling tree!
8.23.8.p1
[…]
8.23.9
The Lord said:
My child Prahrāda, may all be well with you; proceed to the realm of Sutala.
Rejoicing with your grandson, bring happiness to your kinsmen.
8.23.10
Constantly you will see me stationed there, mace in hand,
freed from the bonds of karma by the great bliss of beholding me.
8.23.11
Śrī Śuka said:
Receiving the Lord's command with folded hands upon his head, saying 'So be it',
O king, Prahrāda of spotless intellect, along with Bali,
8.23.12
circumambulated the Original Person, and having bowed, the commander of all the Asura host,
given leave by him, entered the great subterranean realm.
8.23.13
Then, O king, Hari, Nārāyaṇa, addressed Uśanas,
seated near the priests in the assembly of the expounders of the Veda:
8.23.14
O Brahman, make whole the defect in the ritual performed by your disciple;
that flaw which occurs in rites becomes flawless when overseen by a brahmin.
8.23.15
Śrī Śukra said:
Whence could there be a flaw in the ritual of one by whom you, the Lord of sacrifice,
the Person of sacrifice, the Lord of rites, have been worshipped with every devotional feeling?
8.23.16
Whatever flaw there may be regarding mantras, rituals, place, time, or worthy articles,
all that is rendered flawless by the continuous glorification of you.
8.23.17
Even so, O infinite Lord, as you speak, I will carry out your instruction; / for to obey your command is the highest good for mortals."
8.23.18
Śrī Śuka said: / Welcoming the command of Hari with these words, the venerable Uśanas / remedied the defect in Bali's sacrifice along with the brahmin seers.
8.23.19
Thus having begged the earth from Bali, O King, Hari as Vāmana / gave the three heavens, which had been seized by others, to his brother, the great Indra.
8.23.20
Brahmā, the lord of the lords of creatures, together with the celestial seers, the ancestors, and the earthly rulers, / headed by Dakṣa, Bhṛgu, and Aṅgiras, and with Sanatkumāra and Bhava,
8.23.21
to bring joy to Kaśyapa and Aditi and for the welfare of all beings, / made Vāmana the lord of the worlds and of the guardians of the worlds,
8.23.22
and made him the master of the Vedas, of all the gods, of dharma, fame, and fortune, / of auspicious rites, vows, heaven, and liberation.
8.23.23
He established Upendra as the master for all prosperity. / Then all beings rejoiced greatly, O King.
8.23.24
Thereupon, placing Vāmana before him, Indra, accompanied by the world-guardians / and approved by Brahmā, took him to heaven in a celestial vehicle.
8.23.25
And having regained the three worlds and being protected by the arms of Upendra, / Indra, attended by supreme splendor, rejoiced, free from fear.
8.23.26
Brahmā, Śarva, Sanatkumāra, Bhṛgu and the other sages, O King, / the ancestors, all living beings, the Siddhas, and those who ride celestial chariots,
8.23.27
singing of that most wondrous, great deed of Viṣṇu, / departed to their own realms and praised Aditi.
8.23.28
All this has been recounted by me to you, O delighter of your lineage— / the life of Urukrama, which delivers its listeners from sin.
8.23.28.p1
"A mortal who counts the particles of earth can recount the limit of the greatness of him of wide strides;
8.23.29
what mortal being born or yet to be born can reach it?"—so declared the seer who saw the hymn concerning that Supreme Person.
8.23.29.p1
[…]
8.23.30
One who hears this account of the incarnation of Hari, the God of gods, / whose deeds are wonderful, attains the supreme destination.
8.23.31
When a rite is being performed, whether divine, ancestral, or human, / wherever this is recited, the wise know that rite to be perfectly accomplished.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit