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Markandeyapurana 81

English (machine translation) 81

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English

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81.1

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Sāvarṇi, the son of the Sun, is spoken of as the eighth Manu. / Listen in detail as I describe his origin:

81.2

how that fortunate Sāvarṇi, son of the Sun, / became ruler of a manvantara by the majesty of Mahāmāyā.

81.3

Formerly, in the Svārociṣa period, born of the Caitra dynasty, / there was a king named Suratha over the entire circle of the earth.

81.4

As he protected his subjects properly, as if they were his own bodily sons, / kings known as the Kolāvidhvaṃsins became his enemies.

81.5

There was a battle between him, who had a very powerful army, and them; / and though they were fewer in number, he was defeated in battle by those Kolāvidhvaṃsins.

81.6

Then, having returned to his own city, he remained the ruler of his own territory; / but he, the fortunate one, was then attacked by those powerful enemies.

81.7

Then, even there in his own city, the treasury and army of him, now weakened, / were seized by powerful, wicked, and evil-minded ministers.

81.8

Then, deprived of his sovereignty under the pretext of hunting, / that king mounted a horse and went alone into the dense forest.

81.9

There he saw the hermitage of Medhas, the best of the twice-born, / crowded with tranquil beasts of prey and graced by disciples of the muni.

81.10

Welcomed with hospitality by that muni, he stayed there for some time, / wandering here and there in that hermitage of the excellent muni.

81.11

Then, his mind drawn away by possessiveness, he pondered there:
'Formerly ruled by my ancestors, that city is indeed bereft of me;
is it being ruled righteously or not by those wicked servants of mine?

81.12

I do not know what treatment my chief elephant, valiant and constantly in rut,
has met with, now that he has fallen under the power of my enemies.

81.13

Those who were continually devoted to me with gifts of favor, wealth, and food—
surely they now render service to other kings.

81.14

By those accustomed to improper spending, constantly dissipating it,
that treasury amassed with great hardship will go to ruin.'

81.15

Pondering this and other matters incessantly, the king
saw a vaiśya in the vicinity of the brahmin's hermitage.

81.16

He was asked by him: 'Who are you, sir? And what is the reason for your coming here?
Why do you appear as though filled with grief, as though dejected in mind?'

81.17

Hearing this speech of the king, spoken with friendliness,
the vaiśya bowed in humility and replied to the king:

81.18

The vaiśya said:
'I am a vaiśya named Samādhi, born into a wealthy family;
and I have been cast out by my sons and wife, who are wicked out of greed for wealth.

81.19

Deprived of riches and wife, my sons having taken my wealth,
cast out by trusted kinsmen, I have come to the forest in misery.

81.20

Remaining here, I do not know
the good or ill condition of my sons, my kinsmen, and my wife.

81.21

Is there now well-being in their home, or is there misfortune?
How are they? Are my sons well-behaved, or are they ill-behaved?'

81.21.p1

The king said:

81.22

'Towards those greedy ones, your sons, wife, and others, by whom you were cast out of your wealth,
why does your mind still bind affection?'

81.23

The vaiśya said:
'This word concerning me which you have spoken is just so.
What can I do? My mind does not adopt harshness.

81.24

By those who, greedy for wealth, discarded fatherly affection
and cast me out, along with love for a husband and kin—towards them alone my heart feels affection.

81.25

Though knowing it, O highly intelligent one, I do not understand this:
why is my mind inclined to love even towards worthless kinsmen?

81.26

Sighs and dejection arise in me for their sake;
what shall I do, since my mind is not harsh towards those devoid of affection?'

81.27

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then both of them, O brahmin, approached that sage together—
that vaiśya named Samādhi and that best of kings.

81.28

Having duly and fittingly shown respect to him,
the vaiśya and the king sat down and engaged in some conversations.

81.29

The king said:
'O venerable one, I wish to ask you one thing; tell me that,
since without control over my own mind it causes my mind distress.

81.30

Though I have lost my kingdom, my possessiveness extends to all the limbs of the realm,
even while I know [better], like an ignorant man. What is this, O best of sages?

81.31

And this man was humiliated by his sons and wife, abandoned by his servants,
and cast out by his kinsmen; yet his affection towards them is immense.

81.32

Thus he and I, both exceedingly miserable,
have minds drawn by possessiveness even towards an object whose flaws are seen.

81.33

Then what is this, O illustrious one, that delusion occurs even to us two who have knowledge,
and this foolishness of one blind to discernment belongs to me and to him?'

81.34

The sage said:
'Knowledge exists for every living being in the domain of sense objects;
and sense objects, O illustrious one, present themselves thus distinctly.

81.35

Some living beings are blind by day, and others are blind at night;
some living beings have equal vision by day and by night.

81.36

It is true that men have knowledge, but they are not the only ones;
for beasts, birds, deer, and others all possess knowledge.

81.37

And the knowledge which human beings have, deer and birds also have;
and that which belongs to them belongs to humans; the other is likewise equal to both.

81.38

Even though possessing knowledge, see these birds, though tormented by hunger,
eager out of delusion to drop morsels into the beaks of their young!

81.39

Human beings, O tiger among men, have longing towards their sons
out of greed for reciprocal assistance; do you not indeed see them?

81.40

Even so, they are cast into the whirlpool of possessiveness, the pit of delusion,
by the power of Mahāmāyā, who brings about the maintenance of worldly existence.

81.41

Therefore no wonder should be felt here; she is the yogic sleep of the Lord of the universe,
and by this Mahāmāyā of Hari, the world is thus utterly deluded.

81.42

For that divine goddess Mahāmāyā,
forcibly drawing away the minds of even the wise, consigns them to delusion.

81.43

By her is created this entire universe of moving and unmoving beings;
it is she who, when pleased and granting boons, leads men to liberation.

81.44

She is supreme knowledge, eternal, the cause of liberation,
and she is the cause of bondage to worldly existence; she alone is the ruler over all lords.'

81.44.p1

The king said:

81.45

'Venerable one, who indeed is that goddess whom you call Mahāmāyā?
How did she arise, and what is her deed, O twice-born one?

81.46

What is that goddess's inherent nature, what is her form, and from what did she originate?
All that I wish to hear from you, O best of knowers of brahman.'

81.47

The sage said:
'She is eternal, with the cosmos as her form; by her all this is pervaded.
Nevertheless, hear from me of her origin in various ways.

81.48

When she appears for the accomplishment of the work of the gods,
then in the world she is said to be born, even though she is eternal.

81.49

When the Lord Viṣṇu, the master, at the end of a kalpa,
spreading out Śeṣa, resorted to yogic sleep when the universe was turned into a single ocean,

81.50

then two terrible demons, known as Madhu and Kaiṭabha,
arisen from the earwax of Viṣṇu, strove to kill Brahmā.

81.51

Brahmā, the lord of creatures, seated in the navel-lotus of Viṣṇu,
seeing those two fierce demons and Janārdana asleep,

81.52

with fixed concentration in his heart praised that yogic sleep
whose dwelling is the eyes of Hari, in order to awaken Hari:

81.52.p1

Brahmā said:

81.53

[The lord praised] the supreme goddess, the sleep of Viṣṇu, incomparable in splendor,
the ruler of the universe, the Jagaddhātrī, the agent of maintenance and destruction:

81.54

'You are Svāhā, you are Svadhā, you indeed are the vaṣaṭ-call, having sound as your essence;
you are the nectar of immortality, in the eternal syllable [oṃ] residing with the nature of the three morae.

81.55

You reside eternally as the half-mora which cannot be pronounced in particular;
you alone are Sandhyā, Sāvitrī; you, O goddess, are the supreme Mother.

81.56

By you alone is everything supported, by you this world is created; / by you this is protected, O goddess, and you always devour it at the end.

81.57

At creation you have the form of creation, and in preservation the form of maintenance, / and likewise at the end you have the form of destruction of this world, O you who are identical with the universe!

81.58

You are the great knowledge, the great illusion, the great intellect, the great memory, / and the great delusion, the great goddess, the great sovereign.

81.59

You are the primordial nature of everything, bringing forth the triad of qualities; / you are the night of time, the great night, and the terrible night of delusion.

81.60

You are fortune, you are the sovereign ruler, you are modesty, you are intellect characterized by comprehension, / bashfulness, nourishment, and contentment; you are tranquility and forbearance indeed.

81.61

Armed with a sword, armed with a trident, terrible, armed with a mace and a discus, / armed with a conch, armed with a bow, with arrows, a bhuśuṇḍī, and a club as weapons,

81.62

pleasing, more pleasing than all pleasing things, exceedingly beautiful; / you are supreme among the high and the low, the supreme sovereign indeed.

81.63

Whatever thing exists anywhere, whether real or unreal, O soul of all, / the power of all that is you; how then can you be praised?

81.64

When even he who creates the universe, protects the universe, and consumes the universe / is brought under the sway of sleep by you, who here is capable of praising you?

81.65

Since Viṣṇu, myself, and Īśāna / have been made to take on bodies by you, who could have the power to praise you?

81.66

Thus praised for your own lofty powers, O goddess, / delude these two unassailable asuras, Madhu and Kaiṭabha!

81.67

And let the lord of the universe, Acyuta, be awakened swiftly, / and let his mind be directed toward slaying these two great asuras!

81.68

The sage said: / Thus praised then by the Creator, the goddess of darkness, / in order to awaken Viṣṇu so that he might slay Madhu and Kaiṭabha,

81.69

came forth from the eyes, mouth, nose, arms, heart, and chest, / and stood in the sight of Brahmā, whose birth is unmanifest.

81.70

And released by her, the lord of the universe, Janārdana, arose / from his serpent-couch upon the cosmic ocean; and then he saw those two,

81.71

Madhu and Kaiṭabha, evil-minded, of extraordinary strength and valor, / with eyes red with rage, making an effort to devour Brahmā.

81.72

Rising up then, the blessed Lord Hari fought with the two, / the all-pervading one using his arms as weapons for five thousand years.

81.73

They too, frantic with immense power and utterly deluded by the Great Illusion, / said to Keśava: "Choose a boon from us!"

81.74

The Blessed One said: / "If you two are pleased with me today, both of you are to be slain by me! / What need is there of any other boon here? Just this much is chosen by me."

81.75

The sage said: / Deceived in this manner, and seeing the entire world consisting only of water, / the two spoke to the lotus-eyed Blessed One:

81.76

"Slay us where the earth is not flooded with water. / We are pleased with your fighting; you are a praiseworthy death for us."

81.77

The sage said: / Saying "So be it," the Blessed One, the bearer of the conch, discus, and mace, / placed their heads on his loins and cut them off with his discus.

81.78

In this way she arose, praised by Brahmā himself; / hear further, and I shall tell you of the power of this goddess.

81.78.p1

Thus ends the eighty-first chapter, named 'The Slaying of Madhu and Kaiṭabha,' in the Devīmāhātmya of the Sāvarṇi manvantara in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.

81.78.p2

Eighty-second chapter - 82

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