Markandeyapurana 24
English (machine translation) 24
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Contents
24.1
The dull one said: / When the sovereign of the high-souled air-eaters had finished his meal, / his two sons and the king's son waited upon him.
24.2
With fitting conversation, that high-souled serpent / generated delight and said to his sons' friend:
24.3
"Welcome to you, good sir! Speak without reserve of what should be done / for one who has come to my house, just as a son does toward a father.
24.4
Whether silver, or gold, or clothing, or a conveyance, or a seat, / or whatever else is exceedingly desired and hard to obtain, choose that from me!"
24.5
Kuvalayāśva said: / "O lord, by your grace there is gold and the like in my father's house; / even today I have no need for any such thing.
24.6
While my father rules this earth for thousands of years, / and you likewise the netherworld, my mind is not inclined to begging.
24.7
Fitted for heaven and exceedingly meritorious are those who, while a father lives, / regard tens of millions of wealth as equal to a blade of grass because of their youth.
24.8
My friends are of equal learning, likewise my body is free from disease, / my father is alive, there is wealth, and youth—what indeed do I lack?
24.9
When wealth is lacking, men's minds become inclined to begging; / when all is present, how will my tongue utter a plea?
24.10
Those who do not have to think whether any wealth is in their house or not, / having taken shelter in the shade of the tree of their father's arm, are happy indeed.
24.11
But those householders who from childhood have been without a father / are, I think, cheated by the Creator himself of the taste of happiness.
24.12
Therefore, by your grace, we constantly give away at will / stores of wealth, gems, and other things released by our father to those who ask.
24.13
All has been obtained here, in that your two feet / have been touched by my crest-jewel, and that I have attained touch with your body."
24.14
The dull one said: / Addressed with such an expansive speech, the best of serpents / affectionately spoke to the king's son, the benefactor of his two sons.
24.15
The nāga said: / "If your mind does not wish to obtain gems, gold, and the like from me, / speak of whatever else would delight your mind, and I will grant it."
24.16
Kuvalayāśva said: / "O lord, by your grace, everything that might be desired is in my house, / and especially has it all been obtained by seeing you.
24.17
I have accomplished my purpose, and my life has borne fruit, / since I, a mortal, have attained an embrace of the body of your divinity.
24.18
Since an abode has been made here upon my head by the dust of your feet, / what, by that alone, have I not obtained, O lord of serpents?
24.19
If, however, a boon desired by me must certainly be given, / then may the mental disposition for meritorious action never depart from my heart.
24.20
Gold, jewels, gems, and the like, conveyances, houses, seats, / women, food, drink, and sons, lovely garlands and ointments,
24.21
and these various objects of desire, and whatever singing, instrumental music, and the like— / all this, I hold, is the fruit of the tree of merit.
24.22
Therefore, effort based on that should be made by a disciplined man; / for those devoted to merit, nothing on earth is difficult to attain."
24.23
Aśvatara said: / "So shall it be, O wise one! Your mind shall be devoted to dharma; / and this is all true, that all is the fruit of dharma, as you have spoken.
24.24
Even so, having now come to my house, you must certainly accept / that which you deem difficult to obtain in the world of men."
24.25
The dull one said: / Having heard this speech of his, that son of the king / then looked at the faces of the two sons of the lord of serpents.
24.26
Then the two heroes, having bowed down, clearly told their father / all that was in the prince's mind.
24.26.p1
The two sons said:
24.27
"Then his beloved wife, hearing that he had been struck down, / abandoned her dear life-breaths, deceived by a wicked person,
24.28
an evil-minded Dānava who had made an enmity [with him]; / she was the daughter of the Gandharva king, famed by the name Madālasā.
24.29
Grateful as he is, O father, he then made this vow: / 'No other woman shall become my wife, with the exception of Madālasā.'
24.30
This heroic Ṛtadhvaja desires to see her of fair limbs in all respects, / O father! If this is done, it will be an act accomplished."
24.31
Aśvatara said: / "A reunion of those separated from living beings, of such kind with such a one— / how could this be, without a dream or an illusion raised by Śambara?"
24.32
The dull one said: / Then, having bowed to the lord of serpents, Śatrujit's son, / filled with love and modesty, replied to the high-souled one:
24.33
"O father, if you show me even an illusory Madālasā now, / I will consider it the greatest favor done to me."
24.34
Aśvatara said: / "Therefore behold her here, my child, if you wish to see an illusion; / you deserve to be favored, for one who has come to my house, even if a child, is an elder."
24.35
The dull one said: / The lord of serpents brought forth Madālasā, who was concealed in the house, / and to bewilder them, he then spoke clearly,
24.36
and then showed that auspicious woman to the prince: / 'Is this your wife Madālasā, O prince, or not?'
24.37
The dull one said: / Seeing that slender woman, he instantly lost all shame / and, crying out 'My beloved!', rushed toward her; / but the serpent Aśvatara quickly held him back.
24.38
Aśvatara said: / "This is an illusion, my son! Do not touch her, as I told you before; / an illusion vanishes quickly through contact and the like."
24.39
Then, overwhelmed by fainting, he fell to the ground, / and saying 'Ah, my beloved!', he thought of the beautiful woman.
24.40
[Aśvatara thought:] "Ah, the affection of this king! His mind is steadfastly fixed on her, / because he, the feller of enemies, has been felled without a weapon!
24.41
She was shown by me as an illusion, so that it would be clear that she was a false illusion, / by the activity of wind, water, fire, earth, and space."
24.42
The dull one said: / Then, comforting Kuvalayāśva, the serpent / told him all that had happened, beginning with the revival of the dead.
24.43
Then, delighted at recovering his beloved,
he bowed to the serpent and departed,
gleaming brilliantly, riding to his city that horse
which had arrived as soon as it was thought of.
24.43.p1
Thus ends the twenty-fourth chapter, named “The Attainment of Madālasā”, in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
24.43.p2
Chapter Twenty-Five
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit