Matsyapurana 11
English (machine translation) 11
- Language
- English
11.1
The sages said: / Speak the entire solar lineage in order, O Sūta, / and, O knower of reality, you should also recount the lunar lineage properly.
11.2
Sūta said: / Formerly, Vivasvat was born from Kaśyapa as a son to Aditi. / He likewise had three wives: Saṃjñā, Rājñī, and Prabhā.
11.3
Rājñī, daughter of Raivata, gave birth to a son, Revata; / Prabhā gave birth to Prabhāta, and Tvaṣṭṛ’s daughter Saṃjñā to Manu,
11.4
and Yama and Yamunā were twins. / Then, unable to endure that radiant form of Vivasvat,
11.5
the passionate daughter of Tvaṣṭṛ produced from her own body a blameless woman / of identical appearance to her own, named Chāyā.
11.6
Seeing her standing before her, Saṃjñā addressed her: / “O Chāyā, attend to that husband of ours, O fair-faced one!
11.7
Protect my children with motherly affection.” / Having said “So be it,” that virtuous woman departed somewhere, leaving the god.
11.8
The god too desired her with affection, thinking: “This is Saṃjñā.” / And upon her he begot a son who took the form of a Manu.
11.9
Because of having the same appearance (savarṇa) as Manu Vaivasvata, he was called Sāvarṇi. / Then [he begot] Śani, Tapatī, and Viṣṭi in due order.
11.10
The sun begot them upon Chāyā, thinking: “This is Saṃjñā.” / Chāyā showed greater affection to her own son, Manu.
11.11
The elder Manu endured it, but Yama, overpowered by anger, / threatened her then, raising his right foot.
11.12
And Chāyā cursed Yama: “With a wound and infested with worms, / this one foot of yours shall stream with pus and blood.”
11.13
Indignant on account of the curse, Yama reported it to his father: / “O god, I was cursed without reason by my mother in anger.
11.14
Out of childishness my foot was slightly raised just once; / though held back by Manu, she gave me a curse, O lord!
11.15
Surely she is not our mother, since I was stricken by a curse.” / The god also said again to Yama: “What can I do, O wise one?
11.16
To whom would sorrow not come through foolishness? Or the succession of past deeds / is inevitable even for Bhava; what to speak of other creatures?
11.17
A cock is given by me, which will eat the worms, / and it will carry away the moisture and the blood, my child.”
11.18
Thus spoken to, the far-famed Yama practiced severe austerities / at the sacred bathing place of Gokarṇa out of detachment, eating fruits, leaves, and air,
11.19
worshiping Mahādeva for ten thousand times ten thousand years. / Then the trident-bearing Mahādeva, well-pleased, granted him a boon.
11.20
He chose the status of a world-guardian, the royal abode in the world of the ancestors, / and the examination of the world consisting of righteousness and unrighteousness.
11.21
Thus, O sinless one, he attained the status of a world protector from the Trident-bearer, / as well as the lordship over the ancestors and over righteousness and unrighteousness.
11.22
Then Vivasvant, learning of that conduct and deed of Saṃjñā, / went to Tvaṣṭṛ and, full of wrath, spoke to him.
11.23
Then Tvaṣṭṛ spoke to him soothingly, O best of the twice-born: / “O Lord, unable to endure your intense, darkness-dispelling splendour,
11.24
she assumed the form of a mare and came here into my presence. / She was turned away by me, O sun, for your sake indeed.
11.25
[I told her:] ‘Because you have come into my presence here unrecognized, / therefore you ought not to enter my abode.’
11.26
Having been spoken to thus, the blameless woman then went to the Maru region; / assuming the form of a mare, she has taken up her abode on the surface of the earth.
11.27
Therefore, grant me your favour, if I am worthy of your grace: / I shall place you upon an engine and strip away your brilliance, O sun.
11.28
I shall make your form delightful to the world, O lord.” / Addressed with ‘So be it’ by the Sun, he placed the sun on the lathe,
11.29
and pared away that brilliance. He fashioned the discus of Viṣṇu, / and the trident of Rudra, and the thunderbolt of Indra in greater measure,
11.30
which destroys the Daityas and Dānavas; and out of the thousand-rayed one's [brilliance] / Tvaṣṭṛ fashioned an incomparable and grand form, except for the feet.
11.31
He was unable then to look upon that form of the Sun's feet; / therefore, even in images, no one should ever have feet made [for him].
11.32
He who makes [them] attains the most sinful and reproached destination; / in this world he contracts leprosy and is beset with sorrow.
11.33
Therefore, one who seeks righteousness and desire should never, in paintings or temples, / have feet fashioned for the wise god of gods.
11.34
Then the lord, the ruler of the immortals, the sun, having gone to the mortal world, / stricken with desire, mated [with her] through her mouth alone.
11.35
He was in the form of a horse, surrounded by great splendour; / and Saṃjñā experienced agitation in her mind, distraught with fear.
11.36
Suspecting, ‘This is a stranger,’ it was discharged through her two nostrils; / from that semen the two Aśvins were born, so it is determined.
11.37
They became known as the Dasras because they were born as sons, and Nāsatyas from the tip of the nose. / Recognizing that god after a long time, she felt supreme contentment.
11.38
Together with her husband, filled with joy, she went to heaven by aerial chariot. / Sāvarṇa Manu also, whose wealth is asceticism, dwells on Mount Meru even today; / and Śani, through the power of his asceticism, thereafter attained equality with the planets.
11.39
Yamunā and Tapatī became rivers once again, / and the terrible Viṣṭi likewise was established as [a portion of] Time.
11.40
Manu Vaivasvata had ten sons of great might; / of them, Ila was born first in a sacrifice for obtaining male offspring.
11.41
Ikṣvāku, Kuśanābha, Ariṣṭa, and Dhṛṣṭa, / Nariṣyanta, Karūṣa, and the mighty Śaryāti, / Pṛṣadhra, and Nābhāga—all of them were divine mortals.
11.42
Having consecrated his eldest, righteous son Ila, / Manu went again to the abode of the forest of Mahendra to practice asceticism.
11.43
Then, to accomplish the conquest of the quarters, Ila set forth across this earth, / wandering through all the continents, subduing kings.
11.44
Drawn by his horse, the glorious one went to the pleasure grove of Śambhu, / the great grove called Śaravaṇa, filled with wishing trees and creepers,
11.45
where the lord of the gods, Śambhu, bearing the crescent moon as his crest, takes his delight. / An agreement was made there in Śaravaṇa formerly with Umā:
11.46
‘Any creature bearing a male name that enters your grove / shall all turn into a female within the circle of ten yojanas.’
11.47
King Ila, unaware of this agreement, in ancient times in the Śaravaṇa, / became a woman the moment he entered, and his horse then became a mare.
11.48
With all his masculinity stripped away, the king was astonished at his female form; / that [king] became a woman named Ilā, with full, elevated, and firm breasts,
11.49
with high hips and buttocks, eyes long as lotus petals, / a face like the full moon, slender-waisted, her eyes bright with charm,
11.50
with arms tapering from high shoulders, dark curled hair, / delicate bodily hair, fine teeth, speaking softly and deeply,
11.51
with a dusky-fair complexion, walking like a swan or an elephant, / endowed with a pair of bow-like eyebrows, with small, coppery fingernails.
11.52
Wandering in that forest, the beautiful woman reflected: / ‘Who might be my father or my brother, and who might be my mother here?
11.53
To which husband was I given? How long shall I dwell upon the earth?’ / While she was thus reflecting, that woman was seen by the son of Soma.
11.54
His mind captivated by the beauty of Ilā of excellent complexion, / Budha, tormented by desire, made an effort to win her.
11.55
Bearing a distinguished appearance, holding a staff, carrying a water pot and a manuscript, / having a threefold bundle of many purifying blades of grass attached to a bamboo staff,
11.56
appearing as a twice-born, with a tuft of hair, reciting the Veda, wearing ear-rings, / accompanied by young disciples equipped with firewood, flowers, kuśa grass, and water,
11.57
as if searching in that forest, he did not call out to that Ilā directly, / but remained hidden within a circle of trees outside the grove.
11.58
Suddenly, with feigned agitation, he spoke to her as if with reproach: / ‘Having abandoned service to the sacred fire, where did you go from my house?
11.59
This time for your recreation is now slipping away. / Come, come, O woman of broad and lovely hips! For what reason are you bewildered?
11.60
This evening time is here for recreation. / Having smeared [the floor], adorn my house with flowers!’
11.61
She, however, said: ‘I have forgotten all of this, O one whose wealth is asceticism! / Tell me of myself, of you, my husband, and my family, O sinless one!’
11.62
Budha said to that slender woman: ‘You are Ilā of excellent complexion, / and I am your lover named Budha, known to possess manifold knowledge,
11.63
born in the family of the radiant one; my father is the lord of brāhmaṇas.’ / Thus, at his word, she entered Budha's dwelling,
11.64
fitted with jewelled pillars, created by divine illusory power. / Dwelling in that mansion, Ilā considered herself fulfilled:
11.65
‘Ah, what noble conduct! Ah, what beauty! Ah, what wealth! Ah, what a lineage! / And ah, what supreme charm belongs to me and to this husband of mine!’
11.66
Then Ilā took delight with him for a long time, / in that house replete with all pleasures, just as in the abode of Indra.
Translations (1)
- The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English
Linked texts (1)
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit