Markandeyapurana 3
English (machine translation) 3
- Language
- English
Contents
- 3.85 — 2 parts
3.1
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Day after day, O foremost of brahmins, that best of sages / nurtured them with food, water, and protection.
3.2
In merely a month, they flew up into the path of the sun's chariot, / watched by the young sons of sages with eyes restless with curiosity.
3.3
Seeing the earth with its cities, oceans, and noble rivers / reduced to the size of a chariot wheel, they returned again to the hermitage.
3.4
Weary at heart from their exertion, the noble ones born from a non-human womb / manifested their wisdom through the sage's power.
3.5
While the sage was speaking on the determination of dharma out of compassion for his disciples, / they all circumambulated him and paid homage to his feet,
3.6
and said: "We have been delivered from terrible death by you, O sage! / You are the giver of shelter, food, and water to us, our father and guru.
3.7
While we were in the womb, our mother died; and we were not cared for by our father. / Life was given to us by you, by whom we were protected as infants.
3.8
You of uninjured splendour on this earth, lifting up the elephant's bell, / dispelled the distress of us who were withering away like worms.
3.9
'How will these weak ones grow? When will I see them in the sky? / When will I see them reach a tree from the ground, or go from one tree to another?
3.10
When will my natural lustre be obliterated by the dust / raised by the wind of their wings as they move about near me?'
3.11
Thus thinking, O father, you maintained us. / Now we are fully grown and awakened; what shall we do?"
3.12
Hearing their words, clear and cultured, / the sage, surrounded by all his disciples together with his son Śṛṅgin,
3.13
was overcome with curiosity, his body covered with horripilation, / and said: "Tell me truly the cause of the emergence of your speech.
3.14
By whose curse has this extraordinary transformation / of your form and speech been incurred? You ought to tell me that."
3.15
The birds said:
Formerly there was a foremost sage renowned as Vipulasvan.
Two sons were born to him: Sukṛṣa and Tumburu.
3.16
We are the four sons of the self-restrained Sukṛṣa,
always indeed humble in devotion, proper conduct, and humility toward that sage.
3.17
As he was devoted to the performance of asceticism and kept his senses subdued,
whatever he desired was then provided by us:
3.18
sacrificial wood, flowers, and all other things, as well as food.
Thus, while he and we were dwelling there in the forest,
3.19
the lord of the gods, having assumed the form of a bird of immense body,
with broken wings, stricken by old age, with reddish eyes and a drooping body, arrived
3.20
in order to test that best of sages, whose conduct was truth, purity, and forbearance,
and whose mind was exceedingly noble, and to bring about our curse.
3.21
The bird said:
Foremost of the twice-born, you ought to rescue me here, overcome by hunger.
I have come in search of food, fortunate one; be my peerless refuge.
3.22
While perched on a peak of the Vindhya [mountains], fortunate one,
I was cast down by a swift-moving gale stirred up by the wings of [other] birds.
3.23
Senseless, I lay unconscious on the ground for seven days;
there, on the eighth day, I regained consciousness.
3.24
Having regained consciousness, overcome by hunger, in need of food,
deprived of joy, I have approached you for refuge with an agonizing heart.
3.25
Therefore, O pure-minded one, make a firm resolve to protect me;
O brahmin-sage, give me food capable of sustaining my life.
3.26
Addressed thus, he said to Indra who had taken the form of a bird:
“I will give you the desired food for the sake of sustaining your life.”
3.27
Having spoken thus, that best of the twice-born asked him again:
“What food should be prepared by me for your sake?”
And he said: “My supreme satisfaction comes from human flesh.”
3.28
The sage said:
Your childhood has passed, and your youth is gone;
surely the decline of your age is upon you, O bird.
3.29
In that [stage], in which all desires cease for all men,
why are you exceedingly cruel-natured even in old age?
3.30
Where is human flesh, and where is your final stage of life?
Under no circumstances is pacification possible for the wicked-minded.
3.31
Or rather, what purpose of mine is served by saying this?
Our mind is resolved: ‘Having promised, one must always give.’
3.32
Having spoken thus to him, that best of brahmins resolved, “So be it”; having quickly summoned us and praised us for our virtues,
3.33
the sage, with an agitated heart, spoke very harsh words
to all of us who were bowed in humility, full of devotion, with hands folded in reverence:
3.34
“O best of the twice-born, cultivated souls, bound by debts with me,
excellent offspring were born to you, just as you, O twice-born, are mine.
3.35
If a father is considered by you to be the supreme guru to be revered,
then carry out my word with an ungrudging heart.”
3.36
And at the same time as those words, we said respectfully:
“Whatever you shall say, consider that indeed already done.”
3.37
The sage said:
“This bird, stricken by hunger and thirst, has sought refuge with me;
so that his satisfaction may come for a moment through your flesh,
3.38
and the quenching of thirst through your blood, let that be done quickly.”
Then, deeply distressed, trembling with rising dread,
we said, “Alas! Alas!” and spoke: “We will not do this.
3.39
How could a wise man destroy or cause to be slain his own body
for the sake of another’s body? For a son is the same as oneself.
3.40
A son repays those debts that are declared
toward the ancestors, gods, and humans; a son is not an offerer of his own body.
3.41
Therefore we will not do this, which was not practiced by the ancients.
Living, one attains blessings; living, one performs merit.
3.42
For the dead, there is the destruction of the body and the cessation of dharma and the like;
those who know dharma declare that the self is to be protected in every way.”
3.43
Hearing this speech of ours, the sage, as if blazing with anger,
spoke to us again, as if burning us with his eyes:
3.44
“Since you will not carry out what was promised to me,
therefore, consumed by my curse, you will go to the womb of animals!”
3.45
Having spoken thus to us then, he then said to that bird:
“Having performed my own funeral rites and the post-death rituals according to scripture,
3.46
eat me here with full confidence, O best of birds!
This body of mine is here made food for you.
3.47
Only so far is the brahminhood of a brahmin declared,
O foremost of the bird species, as far as the keeping of his own truth.
3.48
That great merit is not attained by brahmins through sacrifices accompanied by priestly gifts,
nor through any other ritual action, as through the preservation of truth.”
3.49
Hearing this speech of the sage, Śakra, filled with inner astonishment,
then bearing the form of a bird, replied to the sage:
3.50
“Having resorted to yoga, O foremost of brahmins, abandon this your own body;
for, O foremost of brahmins, I never eat a living creature.”
3.51
Hearing that word of his, the sage became engaged in yoga.
Knowing his resolve, Śakra also, assuming his own form, said:
3.52
“O foremost of brahmins, awaken through intellect to what ought to be known, O wise one!
This offense was committed by me against you for the sake of a test, sinless one.
3.53
Therefore forgive me, O pure-minded one! What wish of yours may be fulfilled?
Due to the preservation of your truthful word, my pleasure in you is supreme.
3.54
From this day forth, knowledge pertaining to Indra will manifest in you;
and no obstacle will arise for you in asceticism or in dharma.”
3.55
When Śakra had departed after speaking thus, our father, filled with anger,
was addressed by us with bowed heads, [saying] this to the great sage:
3.56
“O father, O great-minded one, you ought to forgive us,
wretched and afraid of death; for dear to us is life!
3.57
In this collection of skin, bone, and flesh, filled with pus and blood,
in which no attachment should be formed, there is this attachment of ours.
3.58
And listen, fortunate one, how the world is bewildered,
helpless against the powerful enemies such as desire and anger:
3.59
Equipped with the ramparts of consciousness, with pillars of bone, exceedingly great,
with a great barrier for the walls of skin, plastered with flesh and blood,
3.60
having nine gates, of great extent, bound round on all sides with sinews,
the person, endowed with consciousness, resides there as king.
3.61
His two ministers, intellect and mind, are mutually opposed; / both strive to destroy each other through enmity.
3.62
Four enemies desire that king's destruction: / desire, anger, greed, and delusion is another enemy.
3.63
When, however, that king remains covering those gates, / he is always steadfast in strength and free from distress;
3.64
he gains devotion and is not overcome by enemies.
3.65
When, however, he leaves all the gates open, / then the enemy named attachment enters through the gates of the eyes and others.
3.66
All-pervading, of great extent, entering through the five gates, / following behind his path, that terrible triad of enemies indeed enters.
3.67
Then, having entered there through the gates called the senses, / attachment enters into union with the mind and the others.
3.68
Bringing the senses and the mind under control, that unassailable one, / and having subdued the gates, then destroys the rampart.
3.69
Seeing the mind subjected to him, the intellect perishes at that very moment; / bereft of ministers there and abandoned by the host of citizens,
3.70
an opening having been found by the enemies, that king meets his destruction. / Thus attachment, delusion, greed, and anger—
3.71
the wicked ones operate, destroying human memory. / From attachment arises anger; from anger, greed is born;
3.72
from greed arises delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory; / from ruin of memory, destruction of intellect; from destruction of intellect, one perishes.
3.73
Thus, towards those whose intellect is destroyed, who pursue attachment and greed, / and who are greedy for life, grant grace, O best of men!
3.74
May this curse, which has been given by the venerable one, not be so; / may we not go to a wretched, dark destiny, O best of sages!"
3.75
[The father said:] "What has been spoken by me will never prove false; / until today my speech has not uttered an untruth, O sons!
3.76
I consider fate supreme here; fie upon useless human effort, / by which I was compelled by force to do an unconsidered, wrongful deed!
3.77
And since I have been propitiated by you falling at my feet, / therefore, though having attained the state of animals, you will obtain supreme knowledge.
3.78
Having the path shown by knowledge, with the impurity of afflictions washed away, / by my grace, without doubt, you will attain supreme perfection."
3.79
[The birds said:] "Thus cursed in the past by our father through the force of fate, O venerable one, / then after a long time we entered another womb.
3.80
Born in the midst of battle, we were protected by you; / in this way, O best of twice-born, we reached the state of birds. / There is no one in this world of transmigration who is not afflicted by destiny."
3.81
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Having heard these words of theirs, the venerable sage Śamīka, / of great fortune, replied to the brahmins who stood near him:
3.82
"Already earlier in your presence this was said by me: / 'These are not ordinary birds; who are these best of the twice-born / that were not killed even in a battle beyond human measure?'"
3.83
Then, granted leave by that high-souled, affectionate one, / they went to the best of mountains, the Vindhya, filled with trees and creepers.
3.84
Even to this day those birds of dharma remain on that mountain, / devoted to austerities and Vedic recitation, steadfast in contemplation.
3.85
Thus, having received respect from the best of sages, / those sons of the sage, having arrived at the state of birds, / dwell on the ridge of the Vindhya, where waters are most sacred, / in the thicket of the excellent mountain, with restrained minds.
3.85.p1
Thus ends the third chapter, named 'Reaching the Vindhya', in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
3.85.p2
Chapter Four
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit