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Markandeyapurana 77

English (machine translation) 77

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English

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77.1

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / O noble one, the wife of the sun, Mārtaṇḍa, was the daughter of Viśvakarman / named Saṃjñā; on her the sun begot

77.2

a Manu of renowned fame who had crossed to the far shore of diverse knowledge; / and because he was the son of Vivasvat, he was called Vaivasvata.

77.3

Whenever looked at by the sun, Saṃjñā would close her eyes; / because of that, the sun became angry and spoke harsh words to Saṃjñā:

77.4

'Since whenever I look at you, you always restrain your eyes, / therefore, foolish woman, you shall give birth to Yama, the restrainer of creatures.'

77.5

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, agitated with fear, the goddess cast a trembling gaze. / Seeing her unsettled gaze, the sun spoke to her again:

77.6

'Since your gaze was unsettled just now when I looked at you, / therefore you shall give birth to a daughter, a fickle river.'

77.7

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then from her, through that curse of her husband, were born / Yama and Yamunā, the celebrated, very great river.

77.8

The lovely woman, however, endured the fiery brilliance of the sun with difficulty; / and unable to bear that fiery brilliance, she then pondered:

77.9

'What shall I do? Where can I go? Where going may I find peace, / and how will the sun, my husband, not fall into wrath?'

77.10

Pondering thus in many ways, the daughter of the Prajāpati, / the illustrious lady, highly esteemed seeking refuge with her father alone.

77.11

Then, having made up her mind to go to her father's house, the renowned lady / fashioned from shadow a bodily form of herself, beloved by the sun.

77.12

And she said to her: 'You must dwell here in the sun's abode just as I did; / you must behave toward the children and toward the sun properly, as I have done.

77.13

[Saṃjñā said to Chāyā:] "Even if asked, this departure of mine must not be told by you. / These words must always be spoken: 'I am that very Saṃjñā by name.'"

77.13.p1

Chāyā-Saṃjñā said:

77.14

'O goddess, until my hair is seized, or until a curse [is threatened], / I will do as you say; I will reveal what happened [only] when under the duress of a curse.'

77.15

Having been thus addressed, that goddess then went to her father's abode; / there she saw Tvaṣṭṛ, whose sins had been shaken off by austerity.

77.16

Honored with great respect by Viśvakarman, / the blameless lady dwelt for some time in her father's house.

77.17

Then, after she had resided there for not very long, her father, having praised his daughter / with affection and great respect, spoke to the fair-limbed woman:

77.18

'Child, while I look at you, even very many days / seem like half a muhūrta; but dharma is violated.

77.19

A prolonged stay among relatives does not bring renown to women; / the desire of relatives is that a woman remain in her husband's home.

77.20

United with a husband who is the lord of the three worlds, the sun, / you ought not, O daughter, to dwell for a long time in your father's home.

77.21

Go to your husband's home; I am pleased, and you have been honored by me. / You should return, O auspicious one, to see me.'

77.22

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Being thus addressed by her father, O sage, she said, 'So be it'; / having worshiped her father, she then went to the Northern Kurus.

77.23

Not wishing for the scorching heat of the sun and fearing his fiery brilliance, / she performed austerity even there, assuming the form of a mare.

77.24

Believing that this was Saṃjñā, the lord of day / begot on the second woman two sons and one delightful daughter.

77.25

Chāyā-Saṃjñā, however, while exceedingly affectionate toward her own offspring, / did not behave in the same manner toward the daughter and two sons of Saṃjñā.

77.26

Manu endured that partiality day after day / in fondling and enjoyments; but Yama did not endure it from her.

77.27

And indeed, in anger his foot was raised by him to strike her, / but possessed of forbearance, he did not bring it down upon her body.

77.28

Then, in anger, Chāyā-Saṃjñā cursed Yama, O twice-born, / her lip slightly trembling and her leaf-like hand shaking:

77.29

'Since you insolently threaten me, your father's wife, with your foot, / therefore this foot of yours shall fall to the earth this very day.'

77.30

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hearing this curse given by his mother, Yama, overcome with fear, / approached his father and spoke, preceded by a prostration:

77.31

Yama said: / 'Father, this is a great wonder; it has not been seen by anyone / that a mother, casting aside affection, bestows a curse on her son.

77.32

As Manu has told me, she is not my mother; / even toward sons devoid of merit, a mother does not become destitute of affection.'

77.33

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hearing these words of Yama, the blessed dispeller of darkness / summoned Chāyā-Saṃjñā and asked, 'Where has she gone?'

77.34

And she said: 'I am Saṃjñā, the daughter of Tvaṣṭṛ, O dispeller of darkness, / your wife, and these offspring have been begotten by you on me.'

77.35

When, though asked repeatedly by Vivasvat, she did not / confess in this manner, the radiant Sun became angry and prepared to curse her.

77.36

Then she told Vivasvat what had actually happened. / Having learned the matter, the Lord went to the abode of Tvaṣṭṛ.

77.37

Then [Tvaṣṭṛ] worshipped the radiant Sun, revered in the three worlds, / who had arrived at his home, with supreme devotion.

77.38

Asked then about Saṃjñā, the maker of all said to him: / "Indeed, having arrived here at my house, she was sent back by you."

77.39

The Day-Maker, seated in deep meditation, saw her in the Northern Kurus / performing austerities, bearing the form of a mare.

77.40

And the Day-Maker understood the purpose of her austerities: / "May my husband become gentle of form and auspicious in appearance!"

77.41

The Sun said to that Viśvakarman, Saṃjñā's father, O twice-born: / "Let the paring down of my brilliance be done today."

77.42

Then Viśvakarman, on the revolving wheel of the year, pared down the brilliance / of that Sun, while being praised by the deities.

77.42.p1

Thus ends the seventy-seventh chapter in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, in the Vaivasvata Manvantara.

77.42.p2

Seventy-eighth chapter: 78

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