Bhagavatapurana 8.4
English (machine translation) 8.4
- Language
- English
Contents
8.4.1
Śrī Śuka said: / Then the divine sages and Gandharvas, led by Brahmā and Īśāna, / showered flowers, praising that deed of Hari.
8.4.2
Celestial kettledrums resounded, Gandharvas danced and sang, / and the sages, Cāraṇas, and Siddhas praised the Supreme Person.
8.4.3
That crocodile immediately assumed a wondrous form: / released from Devala's curse, he was Hūhū, the foremost of Gandharvas.
8.4.4
Bowing his head to the immutable sovereign, He of highest renown, / he sang of the abode of glory, whose virtuous pastimes and qualities are worthy of glorification.
8.4.5
Favored by the Lord, he circumambulated him, bowed down, / and, freed from evil, went to his own realm before the eyes of the world.
8.4.6
By the touch of the Lord, the king of elephants was freed from the bondage of ignorance; / he obtained the form of the Lord, clad in yellow garments and four-armed.
8.4.7
In a previous life he was a Pāṇḍya king, the foremost among the Draviḍas, / known as Indradyumna, devoted to vows for Viṣṇu.
8.4.8
Once, at the time of worship, self-composed, having taken a vow of silence, an ascetic with matted hair who had bathed, / residing in his hermitage at Kulācala, he was worshiping the sovereign Hari, Acyuta.
8.4.9
By chance, the illustrious sage [Agastya], surrounded by his disciples, arrived there; / seeing him sitting silently in seclusion, without offering hospitality and honor, the sage grew angry.
8.4.10
He gave him this curse: 'This impious, wicked-minded fool, / who disrespects a brahmin today, shall enter dense darkness as an elephant, stupid-minded as he is!'
8.4.11
Śuka said:
Having cursed him thus, O king, the venerable Agastya departed along with his followers;
and Indradyumna, the royal sage, accepting that as his destiny,
8.4.12
entered an elephant's womb, which destroys remembrance of the self;
yet, through the power of his worship of Hari, memory persisted even in elephant form.
8.4.12.p1
Having thus delivered the leader of the elephant herd, the lotus-navel [Lord], joined by him who had also attained the state of an attendant,
8.4.13
while His wondrous deeds were praised in song by Gandharvas, Siddhas, and gods, went to His own abode seated upon Garuḍa.
8.4.13.p1
[…]
8.4.14
This glory of Kṛṣṇa, the liberation of the elephant king, has been related by me to you, O great king;
it brings heaven, brings fame, removes the impurities of Kali, and destroys bad dreams for those who hear it, O best of the Kurus.
8.4.15
Twice-born men desiring welfare chant this
when they rise pure in the morning, for the pacification of bad dreams and other ills.
8.4.16
Pleased, Hari, the pervasive Lord who comprises all beings, spoke this to the elephant king,
O best of the Kurus, as all beings listened:
8.4.17
The Lord said:
Those who [remember] Me and you, this lake, the mountain caves and forests,
the thickets of cane, bamboo, and reeds, the heavenly trees,
8.4.18
these peaks, the abodes of Brahmā, of Me, and of Śiva,
the Ocean of Milk, my beloved abode, and the luminous Śvetadvīpa,
8.4.19
the Śrīvatsa mark, the Kaustubha jewel, my garland, my Kaumodakī mace,
the Sudarśana disc, the Pāñcajanya conch, and Suparṇa, the king of birds,
8.4.20
Śeṣa, my subtle portion, the goddess Śrī who has taken refuge in Me,
Brahmā, the sage Nārada, Bhava, and Prahlāda,
8.4.21
the boundlessly purifying deeds performed by Me
through incarnations such as the Fish, Tortoise, and Boar, the sun, moon, and fire,
8.4.22
the syllable Om, truth, the unmanifest, cows and brāhmaṇas, the imperishable dharma,
the daughters of Dakṣa who are the wives of Dharma, as well as those of Soma and Kaśyapa,
8.4.23
the Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī, Nandā, Kālindī, the white elephant,
Dhruva, the seven divine sages, and pious men whose praise is purifying—
8.4.24
rising at the end of the last watch of the night, purified and well concentrated,
those who remember these forms of Mine are released from all sin.
8.4.25
Those who praise Me with this [hymn], my dear friend, upon awakening at the end of night,
to them I give an exalted destination at the departure of their life breaths.
8.4.26
Śuka said:
Having instructed thus, Hṛṣīkeśa, loudly blowing the finest of conches,
mounted the king of birds, gladdening the host of the gods.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit