Markandeyapurana 4
English (machine translation) 4
- Language
- English
Contents
- 4.59 — 2 parts
4.1
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / In this way those sons of Droṇa became wise birds / and dwell on the Vindhya mountain; attend upon them and ask them.
4.2
Having heard this speech of the sage Mārkaṇḍeya, Jaimini / went to the peak of the Vindhya where those birds of dharma were.
4.3
Having approached that mountain, he then heard the sound of recitation; / and having heard it, filled with wonder, Jaimini reflected:
4.4
"Endowed with excellence of articulation, with controlled breath, without fatigue, / clearly and faultlessly, it is recited by the best of the twice-born!
4.5
Though having entered an animal womb, these sons of the sage— / I consider this a wonder—Sarasvatī does not abandon them!
4.6
Kinsmen, a friend, and whatever else is dear in the house— / abandoning all that, one departs; Sarasvatī does not abandon one."
4.7
While thus reflecting, he entered a mountain cave; / and having entered, he saw the birds situated on a stone slab.
4.8
Observing them reciting, free from speech defects, / he then, with both grief and joy, addressed them all:
4.9
"May there be well-being to you, O best of the twice-born! Know me to be Jaimini, / the disciple of Vyāsa who has arrived, eager for your sight.
4.10
Indeed, resentment should not be harbored that, out of excessive anger by your father, / you were cursed and attained the state of birds; in every way, that was simply destiny.
4.11
Certain wise men born in families of abundant wealth, / when their wealth was lost, those best of the twice-born were well comforted by a Śabara.
4.12
Men having given, then beg; others having killed, are killed; / and having caused others to fall, they themselves are cast down through the exhaustion of their tapas.
4.13
This and many other reversals have been seen by me; / the world is continually agitated by creations, destructions, and dissolutions.
4.14
Reflecting thus in your mind, you ought not to grieve; / this is the measure of knowledge: invulnerability to grief and joy."
4.15
Then they all honored Jaimini with water for the feet and guest-offerings, / and, bowing down, asked after the health of the great sage.
4.16
Then all the birds addressed the disciple of Vyāsa, a treasure of asceticism, / who was seated comfortably, rested, his fatigue dispelled by the wind of their wings.
4.17
The birds said: / "Today our birth has borne fruit, and our life is well-lived, / since we behold your pair of lotus feet, worthy of worship by the gods.
4.18
The fire of our father's wrath that arose, which exists in our bodies, / has today been extinguished, O brahmin, by the water of seeing you.
4.19
Is it well with your hermitage, O holy one, with the beasts and birds, / with the trees, creepers, shrubs, bamboos, and species of grass?
4.20
Or rather, this was not properly spoken by us in our reverence; / for those who have union with you, whence could there be adversity?"
4.21
Jaimini said: / Listen, O tigers among twice-born, to the reason why I have come here / to the charming cave of the Vindhya, sprinkled with drops of Revā’s water: / I went to ask about those doubts concerning the treatise of the Bhārata.
4.22
Having previously approached the high-souled Mārkaṇḍeya, an upholder of the lineage of Bhṛgu, / I questioned him regarding doubts about the Bhārata.
4.23
And he, questioned by me, said: 'On the great mountain Vindhya reside / the high-souled sons of Droṇa; they will tell you the details of the meaning.'
4.24
And urged by his word, I have come to this great mountain. / Hear this entirely, and having heard, be pleased to explain it.
4.25
The birds said: / If it falls within our scope, we will speak; hear it without hesitation. / How would we not speak of that which is within the range of our intellect?
4.26
For in the four Vedas, and in the treatises on dharma, / in all the limbs [of the Veda], and in whatever else is equal to the Veda,
4.27
in these lies the scope of our intellect, O best of brahmins; / nevertheless, we cannot make an absolute pledge.
4.28
Therefore speak with confidence whatever is doubted in the Bhārata; / we will speak to you, O knower of dharma, if there is no delusion in us.
4.29
Jaimini said: / The subjects regarding the Bhārata about which I have doubts here, / hear them, O spotless ones, and having heard, be pleased to explain them.
4.30
Why did Janārdana attain human state, even though he is devoid of qualities, / Vāsudeva, the support of all, the cause of all causes?
4.31
And why was that daughter of Drupada, Kṛṣṇā, the single queen / of the five sons of Pāṇḍu? On this point there is very great doubt.
4.32
Why did Baladeva of great strength, Halāyudha, / perform a remedy for the killing of a brahmin under the pretext of a pilgrimage?
4.33
And how did those sons of Draupadī, great car-warriors who had not taken wives, / high-souled, whose protectors were the Pāṇḍus, meet death like orphans?
4.34
Tell me all this which is doubted regarding the Bhārata, / so that, having attained my purpose, I may happily go to my own hermitage.
4.35
The birds said: / Having bowed to Viṣṇu, the lord of gods, the all-powerful, / to the Puruṣa, the immeasurable, the eternal, and the imperishable,
4.36
to him whose self is the four emanations, who has the three qualities and is devoid of qualities, / to the most excellent, the weightiest, the most desirable, and the immortal;
4.37
than whom there is nothing more subtle, than whom there is nothing greater, / by whom this universe is pervaded, the unborn, the origin of the world;
4.38
of whom they say that this [world] is created with the characteristics of appearance and disappearance, the seen and the unseen, / and likewise at the end it is withdrawn;
4.39
and having bowed in contemplation to Brahmā, the primal deity, / who purifies the three worlds as he pours out the Ṛg and Sāman hymns with his mouths;
4.40
and having prostrated to the Lord, by whom the hosts of asuras were vanquished with a single arrow / so that the sacrifices of sacrificers are not destroyed—
4.41
we will declare the entire opinion of Vyāsa of wondrous deeds, / by whom, in reference to the Bhārata, dharma and the other [aims of life] were revealed.
4.42
Waters are called 'nārāḥ' by sages who see the truth; / they were formerly his dwelling (ayana); therefore he is remembered as Nārāyaṇa.
4.43
Pervading everything, that divine Lord, the all-pervading Nārāyaṇa, / abides in four ways, O brahmin, endowed with qualities and devoid of qualities.
4.44
One form is indefinable; the wise see it as white, / its limbs enveloped in wreaths of flame; that is the supreme goal of yogins.
4.45
Far away and near at hand, it is to be known as transcending the qualities; / called Vāsudeva, it is seen through freedom from possessiveness.
4.46
Its states such as form and color are not products of imagination; / it always exists indeed as pure, established firmly, of a single form.
4.47
The second, named Śeṣa, supports the earth below on its head; / it is declared to be characterized by tamas, having assumed an animal nature.
4.48
The third performs action, intent on protecting creatures; / it is to be known as characterized by an excess of sattva, establishing dharma.
4.49
The fourth, resting in the midst of the waters, lies on the serpent bed; / its quality is rajas; it constantly performs creation.
4.50
That third form of Hari, which is intent on protecting creatures, / constantly maintains the order of dharma on earth.
4.51
It slays the haughty asuras who bring about the destruction of dharma; / it protects the gods and other good people who are dedicated to guarding dharma.
4.52
Whenever indeed there is a decline of dharma, O Jaimini, / and a rise of unrighteousness, then it creates itself.
4.53
In ancient times, having become a boar and tossed away the waters with his snout, / the earth was raised up by a single tusk, like a lotus plant.
4.54
And having assumed the form of a man-lion, Hiraṇyakaśipu was slain, / and other dānavas headed by Vipracitti were struck down.
4.55
Likewise, [the forms of] Vāmana and the rest—I am unable to enumerate here / all the incarnations of his in this world; this present one, however, is of Mathurā.
4.56
Thus that form consisting of sattva makes incarnations; / and it is renowned as Pradyumna, abiding in the work of protection.
4.57
Existing in the state of a god, or of a human, or in animal wombs, / it always takes on that nature through the will of Vāsudeva.
4.58
Thus this has been declared to you: how the Lord Viṣṇu, although accomplished in purpose, / attained a human state. Listen now to the answer to this [next question].
4.59
Thus ends the second chapter, named 'The Incarnations of the Four Emanations,' in the venerable Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
4.59.p1
Fifth Chapter
4.59.p2
The birds said: / Formerly, when the son of Tvaṣṭṛ was slain, O brahmin, a great loss / happened to the fiery splendor of Indra, who was overcome by the killing of a brahmin.
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit