Bhagavatapurana 9.3

English (machine translation) 9.3

Language: English

9.3.1

Śrī Śuka said:
Śaryāti, the son of Manu, was a king exceedingly devoted to Brahman,
who indeed recited the second day of the sacrificial session of the Aṅgirases.

9.3.2

He had a lotus-eyed daughter named Sukanyā.
Accompanied by her, he went to the forest and arrived at the hermitage of Cyavana.

9.3.3

Surrounded by her female companions, examining the trees in the forest,
she saw within an anthill two lights resembling fireflies.

9.3.4

Impelled by fate, the young girl pierced those two lights with a thorn
in her childish innocence; blood then flowed out from there.

9.3.5

Instantly there occurred a stoppage of stool and urine among the soldiers.
Noticing that, the royal sage, filled with wonder, said to his men:

9.3.6

"Has no wrong been committed by you against the descendant of Bhṛgu?
Clearly, an offense has been done to his hermitage by someone among us."

9.3.7

Terrified, Sukanyā said to her father, "Something was done by me:
not knowing, I pierced two glowing lights with a thorn."

9.3.8

Hearing these words of his daughter, Śaryāti was seized with fear
and gently appeased the sage concealed within the anthill.

9.3.9

Knowing his intent, he gave his daughter to the sage;
released from difficulty, he took leave of him and returned to his city with composed mind.

9.3.10

Having obtained Cyavana, an exceedingly wrathful husband,
Sukanyā, understanding his mind, pleased him with vigilant and devoted service.

9.3.11

Then, after some time, the two Nāsatyas came to the hermitage;
honoring them, he said, "Grant me youth, O two lords.

9.3.12

I will take a cup of soma for the two of you at the sacrifice, even though you do not drink soma;
let such youth and beauty be made for me as is desired by women."

9.3.13

"Very well," said the two best of physicians, congratulating the brahmin;
"let your honor dive into this pond created by the Siddhas."

9.3.14

Thus addressed, his body seized by old age, covered with veins,
his form wrinkled and gray-haired, he was led into the pool by the two Aśvins.

9.3.15

Three men emerged, exceedingly handsome and charming to women,
wearing lotus garlands and earrings, of identical form and splendidly dressed.

9.3.16

Seeing them identical in form and radiant as the sun, the fair-hipped woman,
not knowing her husband, the chaste wife took refuge with the Aśvins.

9.3.17

Having shown her husband to her, pleased by her devotion to her husband,
they took leave of the sage and departed in an aerial chariot for heaven.

9.3.18

Now Śaryāti, wishing to perform a sacrifice, went to Cyavana's hermitage
and saw beside his daughter a man radiant as the sun.

9.3.19

The king said to his daughter, who had bowed at his feet,
not bestowing blessings upon her, as though displeased in his heart:

"What is this that you intended to do? Your husband, the sage honored by the world, has been betrayed by you,
in that you have abandoned him, seized by old age and regarded as untruthful, to consort with this paramour, a traveler on the road!

9.3.21

How has your mind strayed from the path of the virtuous? Born in an exalted lineage, this is a stain upon the family!
Because you shamelessly maintain a paramour, you are dragging down both your father's and your husband's family to the lowest darkness!"

9.3.22

To her father who was speaking thus, smiling with a pure smile,
she said, "Father, this son of Bhṛgu is your son-in-law."

9.3.23

She related everything to her father—the obtaining of youth and beauty;
astonished and exceedingly delighted, he embraced his daughter.

9.3.24

Making the heroic king sacrifice with soma, Cyavana took a draught of soma
by his own spiritual power, even for the two Aśvins who did not drink soma.

9.3.25

Intolerant and immediately enraged, Indra raised the thunderbolt to slay him;
with the thunderbolt [in hand], the descendant of Bhṛgu paralyzed Indra's arm.

9.3.26

Thereupon all of them consented to a draught of soma for the two Aśvins as well,
who had previously been excluded from the soma offering on the ground that they were physicians.

9.3.27

Uttānabarhis, Ānarta, and Bhūriṣeṇa were the three / sons born to Śaryāti. From Ānarta came Revata.

9.3.28

He built the city of Kuśasthalī within the ocean / and, dwelling there, ruled over the regions of Ānarta and others, O subduer of foes.

9.3.29

A hundred sons were born to him, of whom Kakudmin was the eldest and best. / Taking his daughter Revatī, Kakudmin went to the Lord [Brahmā],

9.3.30

to Brahmaloka, which is uninhibited, in order to ask for a groom for his daughter. / As a Gandharva musical performance was underway, he waited for a moment, finding no opportunity.

9.3.31

At its end, bowing down to the primeval Lord, he made his intention known. / Hearing that, the Lord Brahmā laughed and said to him:

9.3.32

"O King, those whom you held in your heart have all been destroyed by time. / We do not even hear the names of the lineages of their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons.

9.3.33

A span of time measured by twenty-seven sets of four yugas has passed away. / Therefore go; Baladeva, possessing great might, is a portion of the God of gods.

9.3.34

O King, give this jewel of a maiden to that jewel among men. / For the purpose of lifting the earth's burden, the Lord, creator of all beings,

9.3.35

whose hearing and glorification are purifying, has descended with His own portion." / Having been thus instructed, the king bowed to the unborn [Brahmā] and returned to his city, / which had been abandoned by his brothers who had dispersed in all directions out of fear of Yakṣas.

9.3.36

Having given his daughter of flawless limbs to the mighty Bala, / the king went to Nārāyaṇa's hermitage named Badarī to perform austerities.

Translations (1)

The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English

Linked texts (1)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit