Markandeyapurana 19
English (machine translation) 19
- Language
- English
Contents
- 19.37 — 1 part
19.1
The son said: / Hearing this speech of the sage, Kārtavīrya, the lord of men, / went to the hermitage of Dattātreya and worshiped him with devotion,
19.2
by massaging his feet and other services, by bringing honey and other offerings, / and by fetching garlands, sandalwood paste, fragrant water, fruits, and the like,
19.3
as well as by preparing his food and removing the remnants of his meal. / Greatly pleased, that sage said to the king just as [he had before]:
19.4
Just as the gods had been told previously: "Despicable is the enjoyment of liquor and the like, / and this woman stands at my side; therefore, from this indulgence, [I am] contemptible.
19.5
I am always [thus]; you ought not to attend upon me in this manner. / I am incapable of doing good; worship one who is capable, O sir!"
19.6
Jaḍa said: / Addressed thus by the sage, and remembering that word of Garga, / Kārtavīryārjuna then bowed to him and replied:
19.7
Arjuna said: / "Why do you delude me, O Lord, relying on your own illusive power? / You are sinless, and so is this goddess, the kindler of all existence."
19.8
Addressed thus, the pleased Lord then spoke / to the illustrious Kārtavīrya, who had subdued the earth:
19.9
"Choose a boon! Because you have spoken my secret, / supreme pleasure in you has arisen in me today, O ruler of the earth!
19.10
And whatever men shall worship me with perfumes, garlands, and the like, / with offerings of meat and wine, and with sweet foods mixed with clarified butter,
19.11
together with Lakṣmī, with songs and worship by brahmins, / and with delightful instruments such as the lute, the flute, and the conch,
19.12
to them I shall grant supreme satisfaction, sons, wives, wealth, and more; / and I shall destroy misfortune and strike down those who despise [them].
19.13
Therefore, choose—may good betide you—the boon desired by your mind! / I am favorably disposed toward you because of your proclaiming my secret nature."
19.14
Kārtavīrya said: / "If, O Lord, you are pleased, then grant me supreme prosperity / by which I may protect the subjects and not incur unrighteousness.
19.15
May I have knowledge of the thoughts of others, unrivaled prowess in battle, / and I wish to obtain a thousand arms endowed with lightness.
19.16
Let my movements be unhindered upon mountains, in the sky, water, and the earth, / and throughout all the netherworlds; and let my death be only from a superior man.
19.17
And whenever I set out upon the wrong path, may there be a guide to the good path; / may I have praiseworthy guests, and let my giving of wealth be inexhaustible;
19.18
and may there be no loss of property in the realm by the mere remembrance of me; / and may I ever have unwavering devotion toward you alone."
19.19
Dattātreya said: / "All those boons which you have enumerated, you shall obtain; / and by my grace, you shall become a sovereign emperor."
19.20
Jaḍa said: / Having bowed down to Dattātreya, that Arjuna, / having summoned his subjects properly, received consecration.
19.21
Then, established in his kingdom, endowed with supreme power, / having obtained the highest prosperity from Dattātreya, that Haihaya proclaimed:
19.22
"From this day onward, whoever other than me takes up an arm, / he shall be slain by me as a robber, even if he is intent on causing injury!"
19.23
Because of this command, no man in his realm bore a weapon / except that tiger among men of mighty prowess.
19.24
He alone was the protector of the village, he alone was the protector of cattle, / he alone was the protector of fields, and the protector of the twice-born.
19.25
He was the protector of ascetics, and the protector of merchant caravans; / against perils from thieves, wild beasts, fire, weapons, and the like, and for those drowning in the ocean,
19.26
and for those plunged into other misfortunes, that slayer of enemy heroes, / remembered by men, immediately became their rescuer.
19.27
And there was no loss of property while that earthly ruler reigned; / by him sacrifices were performed with many rites ending in generous sacrificial gifts.
19.28
By him alone was asceticism practiced, and great deeds were performed in battles; / seeing his prosperity and excessive renown, the sage Aṅgiras said:
19.29
"Surely, earthly kings will never attain to the state of Kārtavīrya / by sacrifices, gifts, austerities, or exceedingly great deeds in battle."
19.30
On whichever day that lord of men had obtained his prosperity from Dattātreya, / on each such day he performed a sacrifice to Dattātreya.
19.31
There indeed all the subjects of that king, on that same day, / seeing his supreme prosperity, performed sacrifices with full concentration.
19.32
Such is the majesty of that wise Dattātreya, / of Viṣṇu, the preceptor of the moving and unmoving, the infinite, the Great Self.
19.33
The manifestations of the bowman of Śārṅga, / the infinite, the immeasurable, bearer of the conch, discus, and mace, are related in the Purāṇas.
19.34
Whatever man meditates upon this supreme form of his, / he becomes happy, and shall soon cross over from the cycle of worldly existence.
19.35
"I am always easily accessible through devotion to Vaiṣṇavas, O sir!"— / how should a person not take refuge in him whose words are indeed such?
19.36
For the destruction of unrighteousness and solely for the sake of the practice of dharma, / the Lord who is without beginning and without end preserves the cosmic order.
19.37
In like manner the birth of Alarka has been related, and I shall tell you; / and thus yoga was taught by Dattātreya to him, / to the high-souled royal sage Alarka, devoted to his father.
19.37.p1
Thus ends the nineteenth chapter, dealing with Dattātreya, in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
Twentieth Chapter
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit