Markandeyapurana 9
English (machine translation) 9
- Language
- English
Contents
- 9.33 — 2 parts
9.1
The birds said: / When Hariścandra was deposed from his kingdom and had gone to the abode of the gods, / the family priest of great splendour emerged from his residence in the water.
9.2
The sage Vasiṣṭha, who had dwelt in the Gaṅgā at the end of twelve years, / heard of the entire deed of Viśvāmitra,
9.3
and the ruin of Hariścandra, the king of noble actions, / his contact with an outcaste, and the sale of his wife and son.
9.4
Having heard [that], the most illustrious, radiant one, full of love for the ruler of the earth, / felt wrath toward the sage Viśvāmitra.
9.5
Vasiṣṭha said: / “My hundred sons were slain by that Viśvāmitra; / even then there was not such anger as is mine today,
9.6
having heard that this ruler of men has been dethroned from his own kingdom— / noble, illustrious, a worshipper of gods and brahmins,
9.7
for he was truthful in speech, peaceful, free from malice even toward an enemy, / sinless, righteous in nature, vigilant, and devoted to me.
9.8
Together with his wife, servants, and son, the king was reduced to the lowest condition; / he was deposed from the kingdom and repeatedly ruined by him.
9.9
Therefore, that evil-minded hater of brahmins, excluded by the wise, / struck down by my curse, the fool shall become a crane!”
9.10
The birds said: / Having heard the curse, the Kauśika Viśvāmitra also, of great splendour, / gave a counter-curse: “May you too become an āḍi bird!”
9.11
Through mutual curse, both of them of supreme brilliance attained animal state— / the very splendid Vasiṣṭha and the Kauśika Viśvāmitra.
9.12
Though reduced to union with another species, both of unmeasured power, / possessing great strength and prowess, fought with extreme fury.
9.13
The āḍi bird was two thousand leagues tall in measure; / the crane, O brahmin, was three thousand and ninety [leagues tall].
9.14
Those two of vast prowess, striking one another / with strokes of their wings, then caused intense fear among living beings.
9.15
Shaking his wings, the crane, with eyes rolled back and red, struck / the āḍi bird; and he, raising his neck, struck the crane with his feet.
9.16
the mountains struck by the wind of their wings fell upon the earth, / and struck by the fall of the mountains, the earth trembled.
9.17
The trembling earth made the oceans' waters surge over, / and bent down on one side, on the verge of plunging into the netherworld.
9.18
Some living beings perished from the fall of mountains, some from the ocean's water, / and some from the shaking of the earth.
9.19
Thus the entire world became terrified, wailing and unconscious, / completely bewildered, with the circle of the earth overthrown.
9.20
“Ah, child! Ah, beloved! O infant! Flee, here I stand! / Ah, darling! Beloved! This mountain is falling, flee quickly!”
9.21
When the world was thus thrown into confusion and overcome by terror, / Pitāmaha arrived, surrounded by all the gods.
9.22
And the Lord of All addressed both of them, who were exceedingly enraged: / “Let this battle cease, and let the worlds regain their composure!”
9.23
Even hearing the word of Brahmā, whose birth is unmanifest, / seized with wrath and indignation, the two fought on and did not stop.
9.24
Then the god Pitāmaha, seeing that destruction of the worlds / and seeking their welfare, dispelled their bird state.
9.25
Then, as their tamasic nature was cast off, the god Prajāpati / spoke to the two best of rṣis, Vasiṣṭha and Kauśika, restored to their former bodies:
9.26
“Cast it aside, child Vasiṣṭha, and you, best of Kauśikas! / Resorting to a tamasic state, you sought to wage such a battle.
9.27
This is the outcome of the Rājasūya of King Hariścandra, / and this conflict of yours causes the destruction of the earth.
9.28
Nor does the best of Kauśikas commit an offense against that king; / though standing in the role of an injurer, O brahmin, he brings about the attainment of heaven.
9.29
You two, who have caused an obstacle to your asceticism, fallen under the power of desire and anger, / abandon [this battle]! May good betide you; for the power of brahman is abundant.”
9.30
Addressed thus by him, both of them were ashamed, / and, embracing each other with affection, begged each other’s forgiveness.
9.31
Then Brahmā, praised by the gods, went to his own world; / Vasiṣṭha too went to his own abode, and Kauśika to his own hermitage.
9.32
Those mortals who will recount this battle of the Āḍi and Baka birds / and the story of Hariścandra, and those who hear it properly,
9.33
the mere hearing of it will dispel their sins, / and they shall never encounter any obstacles in their undertakings.
9.33.p1
Thus ends the ninth chapter, titled 'Description of the Battle between the Āḍi and the Baka,' in the venerable Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
9.33.p2
Chapter Ten
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit