Markandeyapurana 65
English (machine translation) 65
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- English
Contents
- 65.26 — 1 part
65.1
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, accompanied by those wives, he, radiant like an immortal, / took his pleasure on that lord of mountains, filled with delightful groves and waterfalls.
65.2
The treasures, obedient to Padminī, / brought forth gems for every enjoyment and sweet honeys,
65.3
garlands, garments, ornaments, and richly fragrant unguents, / very bright golden seats according to their wish,
65.4
golden water-pots, O fortunate one, and vessels, / and various couches furnished with celestial coverings.
65.5
Thus, accompanied by them, he, radiating his own brilliance, / took his pleasure on the excellent mountain, perfumed with celestial fragrances and illuminated by radiance.
65.6
And they too, taking pleasure with him on that mountain, / experienced supreme joy, just as in heaven.
65.7
A female goose, longing for the delightful relationship / between him and them, said to a female cakravāka duck resting on the water:
65.8
'Blessed is this man, exceedingly meritorious, who, in the domain of youth, / enjoys longed-for pleasures together with these beloved wives!
65.9
There are praiseworthy young men whose wives are not very handsome; / on earth, wives are few whose husbands are exceedingly handsome.
65.10
To one man a wife is dear, to another a husband is desired; / married life rich in mutual love is exceedingly rare.
65.11
Blessed is this man who is dear to his beloveds, and these women are exceedingly dear to him; / for mutual love arises only among the blessed.'
65.12
Hearing these words spoken by the female goose, / the female cakravāka duck, her mind not at all astonished, spoke to her:
65.13
'This man is not blessed, since there is no shame in approaching another woman; / he enjoys another woman, yet his mind is not upon all of them.
65.14
Since, my friend, the heart's affection rests in one single place, / how can he truly be loving toward [all his] wives?
65.15
These women are not beloved to their husband, nor is their husband beloved to them; / they are merely a diversion, like any other attendants.
65.16
And if he is desired by them, why does he not give up his life, / when he embraces another beloved while being contemplated by another beloved?
65.17
For he has been bought like a servant by the price of the transmission of lore, / and acts accordingly; indeed, love does not dwell equally among many.
65.18
O female goose, my husband is blessed, and blessed am I, / whose mind rests long in one female, and whose mind rests in one alone.'
65.19
The unconquered Svarocis, who understood the speech of all living creatures, / heard this, felt ashamed, and reflected: 'This is indeed true, not false.'
65.20
Then, after a hundred years had passed as he was sporting on the great mountain, / sporting together with them, he saw a deer in front of him,
65.21
having sleek and stout limbs, roaming with a herd of deer, / surrounded by scented, beautiful does.
65.22
To those does who were drawing in their nostrils and sniffing him, / that deer said: 'Women, depart, casting aside shame!
65.23
I am not Svarocis, nor of his character, O fair-eyed ones! / There are many shameless ones like that; go there!
65.24
Just as a single woman followed by many is an object of ridicule among people, / so too is a single man looked upon by many with eyes of pleasure.
65.25
Day after day occurs the loss of religious rites for him / who is attached to one wife after another and is constantly obsessed with different desires.'
65.26
Desire someone else of that kind, of such a character, who turns his back on the next world; good fortune to you! I am not equal to Svarocis.
65.26.p1
Thus ends the sixty-fifth chapter in the Svārociṣa Manvantara of the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit