Bhagavatapurana 9.4

English (machine translation) 9.4

Language: English

9.4.1

Śrī Śuka said: / Nābhāga was the son of Nabhaga; his elder brothers divided the inheritance / while he, the youngest and wise, was away living as a celibate student.

9.4.2

"Brothers, what have you allotted to me?" "We allot your father to you." / "My brothers have allotted you to me, father." "Do not take that seriously, my son.

9.4.3

These highly intelligent descendants of Aṅgiras are performing a sacrificial session today. / Reaching every sixth day, O wise one, they become bewildered in the ritual.

9.4.4

Make those great souls recite the two hymns to the Viśvedevas. / When going to heaven, they will give their wealth that remains from the sacrificial session

9.4.5

to you. Go to them at once." He did so in that very way. / Having given him the remainder of the sacrificial session, they departed for heaven.

9.4.6

As he was about to take possession of it, a man of dark appearance / approached from the north and said, "This wealth belonging to the sacrificial ground is mine."

9.4.7

"This was given to me by the sages," said the descendant of Manu then. / "Let the inquiry between us be put to your father." Just as [suggested], he questioned his father.

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"Indeed, whatever remnant is left on the sacrificial site, the sages / have assigned as the share for Rudra. That god is entitled to everything."

9.4.9

Nābhāga bowed to him and said: "O Lord, this belonging to the ground is indeed yours; / so said my father, O divine one. I appease you with my head."

9.4.10

"Because your father spoke the dharma and you speak the truth, / I grant to you, a seer of mantras, the knowledge of the eternal Brahman.

9.4.11

Accept this wealth that has been offered, the remainder of my sacrificial session." / Having spoken thus, the Lord Rudra, who loves dharma, disappeared.

9.4.12

Whoever remembers this morning and evening with a fully composed mind / becomes a wise seer knowing the mantras and attains his own true goal.

9.4.13

From Nābhāga was born Ambarīṣa, an exalted devotee and accomplished sage, / whom even a brāhmaṇa's curse, which is never thwarted anywhere, could not touch.

9.4.14

The King said: / O Lord, I wish to hear of that wise royal sage, / against whom the staff of a brāhmaṇa, unleashed and difficult to overcome, had no power.

9.4.15

Śrī Śuka said: / The fortunate Ambarīṣa, having obtained the earth with its seven continents, / imperishable sovereignty, and peerless wealth in this world,

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considered all that—though exceedingly difficult for mortals to attain—like a dream, / knowing that the end of power is darkness into which a man enters.

9.4.17

He attained supreme devotional emotion toward the Lord Vāsudeva and toward His virtuous devotees, / by which this entire universe was regarded by him like a clod of earth.

He fixed his mind upon Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, his words upon praising the qualities of Vaikuṇṭha, / his two hands upon sweeping the temple of Hari and other tasks, and his ears upon listening to the exalted stories of Acyuta;

9.4.19

his two eyes upon gazing at the images and temples of Mukunda, his body in touching the limbs of His servants, / his sense of smell upon the fragrance of the auspicious tulasī at His lotus feet, and his tongue upon what is offered to Him;

9.4.20

his two feet upon walking to the pilgrimage places of Hari, his head upon bowing to Hṛṣīkeśa's feet, / and his desire upon servitude, never for the sake of selfish desires—in order that loving attachment directed to the followers of He of highest renown might grow.

9.4.21

Thus offering the entire host of his actions constantly to the Supreme, the Lord of sacrifice, Adhokṣaja, / and cultivating devotion of his whole being, he ruled this earth guided by brāhmaṇas devoted to Him.

9.4.22

He worshipped the Lord, the master of sacrifice, with horse sacrifices where abundant gifts were given, / conducted by Vasiṣṭha, Asita, Gautama, and others along the Sarasvatī flowing through the desert.

9.4.23

At his sacrifices, the members of the assembly and the priests appeared in form / like gods—unblinking and splendidly dressed.

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Heaven, dear even to the immortals, was not desired by his people, / who were listening to and singing of the deeds of He of highest renown.

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For what desires, nourished by sovereign dominion, / could be hard to attain for one who sees Mukunda in his heart, even among perfected beings?

9.4.26

In this way, by the yoga of devotion joined with austerity, / pleasing Hari through his own dharma, the king gradually renounced all desires.

9.4.27

Regarding his home, wife, sons, and relatives, fine elephants, chariots, and horses, / imperishable jewel ornaments, garments, and boundless treasuries, he considered them worthless.

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To him Hari gave His discus, which strikes terror into adversaries / and protects His devotees, being pleased with his unalloyed devotional emotion.

9.4.29

Desiring to worship Kṛṣṇa, the heroic king, accompanied by his queen / of equal disposition, observed the vow of Dvādaśī for one year.

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At the conclusion of the vow in the month of Kārtika, having fasted for three nights / and bathed in the Kālindī, he once worshipped Hari in Madhuvana.

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Bathing Him according to the ritual of the great ablution with all abundant ingredients, / adorning Him with garments, ornaments, fragrances, garlands, and offerings of reverence,

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he worshipped Keśava with his heart absorbed in Him, / and also, with devotion, the fortunate brāhmaṇas who had attained all their desires.

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Having cows with gold-plated horns, silver hooves, and fine coverings, / rich in milk, gentle temper, youth, beauty, and adorned with their calves,

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he sent sixty billion of them to the houses of virtuous brāhmaṇas, / after first feeding the twice-born with delicious, most excellent food.

9.4.35

Given leave by [the brāhmaṇas] whose desires were fulfilled, he was about to break his fast, / when just then the divine lord Durvāsā arrived as his guest.

9.4.36

The king honored the guest with rising to greet him, offering a seat, and gifts of hospitality; / having approached his feet, he requested him to take his meal.

9.4.37

Welcoming that request, he went to perform his obligatory duties; / he plunged into the auspicious waters of the Yamunā, meditating on the Supreme [Brahman].

9.4.38

With only half a muhūrta remaining of the Dvādaśī for breaking the fast, / he who knew dharma deliberated with the brāhmaṇas over that conflict of duties:

9.4.39

“There is fault in transgressing against a brāhmaṇa, and fault if the Dvādaśī is not broken. / What may I do that would be good for me, or that adharma would not touch me?

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Therefore, I shall break the vow with water alone. / For brāhmaṇas say that drinking water is both eaten and not eaten.”

9.4.41

Having thus sipped water, the royal sage, meditating in his mind on Acyuta, / waited, O best of Kurus, for the arrival of the brāhmaṇa alone.

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Having performed his obligatory duties, Durvāsā returned from the bank of the Yamunā. / Welcomed by the king, he understood his act by his intellect.

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With his limbs trembling in anger and his face contorted with knitted brows, / being exceedingly hungry, he spoke to him who stood with folded hands:

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“Ah, look at the transgression of dharma by this cruel man, intoxicated by wealth, / no devotee of Viṣṇu, imagining himself to be the lord!

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Having invited me, a guest who arrived, with hospitality, / he has eaten without giving to me; I shall immediately show you the fruit of that!”

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Speaking thus, blazing with rage, he tore out a matted lock of hair; / with it he created against him a female demon resembling the fire of cosmic dissolution.

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Seeing her rushing forward blazing, sword in hand, / making the earth tremble with her footsteps, the king did not budge an inch.

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Commissioned previously by the supreme Puruṣa to protect His servant, / the discus burned that demoness as fire burns an enraged snake.

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Seeing it rushing toward him and his own effort frustrated, / Durvāsā fled in terror in all directions, desiring to save his life.

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The Lord’s discus pursued him, like a forest fire with billowing flames chasing a snake; / seeing it clinging so close, the sage, seeking to enter a cave, fled toward Mount Meru.

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He went to the directions, the sky, the earth, subterranean chasms, the oceans, / the worlds with their guardians, and heaven; wherever he fled, he saw the unbearable Sudarśana.

9.4.52

Finding no protector anywhere, his heart thoroughly terrified, seeking shelter, / he approached god Brahmā: “O Creator, O Self-born, save me from the splendor of the Invincible!”

9.4.53

Śrī Brahmā said:
“My abode, along with this universe, at the end of the divine play called two parārdhas, / will surely disappear by the mere knitting of His brows, when He, the embodiment of Time, desires to burn it up.

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I, Śiva, Dakṣa, Bhṛgu and other leaders, the lords of creatures, of spirits, and of gods— / all of us, having surrendered to His command, carry on our heads [His bidding] for the welfare of the world.”

9.4.55

Turned away by Brahmā, tormented by Viṣṇu’s discus, / Durvāsā went for refuge to Śarva, who dwells on Kailāsa.

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Śrī Śaṅkara said:
“My dear, we have no power over the Infinite, the Supreme, in whom these and other cosmic eggs / appear and disappear in time by the thousands, and in which we wander.

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I, Sanatkumāra, Nārada, the divine unborn Brahmā, / Kapila, Apāntaratamas, Devala, Dharma, Āsuri,

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Marīci and the other chief masters of spiritual perfections, who see beyond— / veiled by His creative power, none of us knows His creative power.

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This weapon belongs to that Lord of the universe, and is indeed unbearable to us. / Go to Him alone for refuge; Hari will bestow peace upon you.”

9.4.60

Then, bereft of hope, Durvāsā went to the realm of the Lord / named Vaikuṇṭha, where Śrīnivāsa dwells along with Śrī.

9.4.61

Being scorched by the fire of the Invincible’s weapon, he fell trembling at His feet, / crying: “O Acyuta! O Infinite One! O Object of the virtuous devotees’ desire! O Lord! Protect me, a wrongdoer, O Creator of the universe!

9.4.62

Not knowing Your supreme majesty, an offense was committed by me against Your dear devotees. / Grant pardon for it, O Ordainer, upon the utterance of whose name even a denizen of hell is freed.”

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The Lord said:
“I am dependent on My devotees, as if not free, O twice-born one; / My heart is captured by the virtuous devotees, and, dear to the devotees, I am [devoted] to My devotees.

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I do not desire My own self without My virtuous devotees, / nor supreme fortune, O brāhmaṇa, for those to whom I am the supreme goal.

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How can I bear to abandon those who, having renounced wife, home, children, kinsmen, / life-breath, and wealth, in this world and the next, have taken refuge in Me?

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Virtuous devotees of equal vision, whose hearts are bound to Me, / bring Me under their control by devotion, just as chaste wives do a good husband.

9.4.67

Content through My service, they do not even desire the fourfold liberation beginning with sālokya / that is attained through service to Me; how then anything else that is ravaged by Time?

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The virtuous devotees are My heart, and I alone am the heart of virtuous devotees; / they know none other than Me, nor do I know anything apart from them in the least.

9.4.69

I will tell you the remedy, O brāhmaṇa; listen to it: / for this was an act of harm against yourself; go without delay to him from whom it arose. / Splendor directed against the virtuous devotees brings misfortune to the attacker.

9.4.70

Austerity and learning are both conducive to the highest good for brāhmaṇas; / but in an ill-behaved person, they turn out otherwise for their possessor.

9.4.71

Therefore go, O brāhmaṇa—blessing be upon you—to the king, the son of Nābhāga; / beg the forgiveness of that fortunate soul, and then there will be peace.”

Translations (1)

The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English

Linked texts (1)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit