Matsyapurana 124

English (machine translation) 124

Language: English

124.1

Sūta said: / Hereafter I shall declare the course of the sun and the moon. / As far as these two, the sun and the moon, shine,

124.2

so far the extent of the seven continents and oceans shines. / Half the extent of the earth would be elsewhere, on the outside.

124.3

The moon and the sun illuminate the measure of the circumference; / and by that measure of the circumference, it is considered by the wise to be equal to heaven.

124.4

Equally with respect to the three worlds, the sun moves without delay; / because he illuminates quickly and because he protects, he is called Ravi.

124.5

Again and again I shall declare the size of the moon and the sun; / on account of its greatness, the word 'great' is spoken in this sense.

124.6

Equal in extent to the diameter of this Bhāratavarṣa / is the orb of the sun; now learn it in yojanas:

124.7

The diameter of the orb is nine thousand yojanas; / and the circumference in this orb is three times the diameter.

124.8

In diameter and orb the moon is twice that of the sun. / Next I shall state again the measure of the earth in yojanas,

124.9

the diameter of the circle having the seven continents and oceans. / Thus this has been reckoned here in the Purāṇa according to measure.

124.10

I shall state that, calculating [it] according to the presiding deities of the present; / for the presiding deities who have passed were equal to those of the present here,

124.11

gods with gods of the past, both in forms and in names; / therefore I shall describe the surface of the earth in terms of the present gods.

124.12

The whole arrangement of the divine [realm] is indeed through the present ones. / The entire earth is held to extend to fifty crores [of yojanas].

124.13

Half of its measure extends northward from Meru; / in each direction from the middle of Meru it is held to be one crore,

124.14

and eighty-nine hundred-thousands / and fifty thousand besides is the extent of half the earth.

124.15

Understand in yojanas the full extent of the earth: / three crores by extent are reckoned in the four directions,

124.16

and seventy-nine hundred-thousands are declared; / that is the extent of the earth possessing the seven continents and oceans.

124.17

And three times the diameter is the inner circle of the earth; / calculated in yojanas, it is stated to be eleven crores,

124.18

with thirty-seven hundred-thousands more; / thus indeed is reckoned the inner circle of the earth.

124.19

As great as is the circle of the constellations arranged in heaven, / just so great is the circle of the earth fully laid out.

124.20

The measure of the circumference of the earth is held to be equal to heaven. / On the eastern side of Meru, on the summit of Mānasottara,

124.21

is Vastvekasārā, the holy city of Mahendra, adorned with gold; / then to the south of Meru, on the ridge of Mānasa,

124.22

dwells Yama Vaivasvata in the city Saṃyamana; / and on the western side of Meru, on the summit of Mānasa,

124.23

is the delightful city named Suṣā, belonging to the wise Varuṇa; / in the northern quarter from Meru, on the summit of Mānasa,

124.24

is Soma's Vibhāvarī, equal even to the city of Mahendra. / On the ridge of Mānasottara, the world-protectors stand in the four directions,

124.25

stationed for the maintenance of cosmic order and for the protection of the worlds. / Above the world-protectors, everywhere during the southern solstice,

124.26

learn there the course of the sun as it reaches the extreme limit: / at the beginning of its southern course the sun glides like a released arrow;

124.27

taking the wheel of the luminous bodies, it revolves continuously. / When the sun is at the zenith in Amarāvatī,

124.28

the sun is seen rising in Vaivasvata's Saṃyamana, / it is midnight in Suṣā, and it sets in Vibhāvarī.

124.29

When the sun is at midday in Vaivasvata's Saṃyamana, / it is seen rising in Suṣā of Varuṇa,

124.30

it is midnight in Vibhāvarī, and it sets in the city of Mahendra. / And when the sun is at midday in Suṣā of Varuṇa,

124.31

the sun rises in Vibhāvarī, the city of Soma; / the sun reaches its zenith in Amarāvatī of Mahendra,

124.32

it is midnight in Saṃyamana, and it sets in the city of Varuṇa. / The sun indeed revolves swiftly like a whirling firebrand.

124.33

Revolving, the sun moves among the revolving constellations; / in this manner it glides along the four southern quarters.

124.34

At dawn and dusk it rises again and again; / in the forenoon and afternoon [it illumines] two abodes of the gods at a time,

124.35

but at midday it falls upon only one with its shining rays; / having risen, the sun burns at midday with expanding rays.

124.36

Thereafter it goes to its setting with diminishing beams; / and by sunrise and sunset, east and west are recognized.

124.37

Just as it shines in front, so it shines behind and on the flanks; / wherever its rising is seen, for them that is called sunrise,

124.38

and wherever it disappears, for them that is called sunset. / Meru is to the north of all, and to the south of Lokāloka.

124.39

Because of the remoteness of the sun and because the earth has gone [between], / since the rays do not reach [there], on that account it is not seen at night.

124.40

Standing high above, the thousand-rayed one is seen there; / thus, when the sun is in the middle of Puṣkara,

124.41

it traverses a thirtieth part of the earth in a muhūrta. / Learn this calculation in thousands of yojanas:

124.42

It is stated to be thirty-one full hundred-thousands, / and fifty thousand more besides.

124.43

This is ordained as the sun's speed per muhūrta; / and by this order of progression, when towards the southern quarter,

124.44

that sun travels for a month from the day of the northern quarter, / he then wanders through the middle of Puṣkara in his southern course.

124.45

The interval between Mānasottara and Meru is traditionally known to be threefold; / learn of it all around in the southern quarter:

124.46

The circumference is calculated as ninety million yojanas, / and forty-five hundred thousand besides.

124.47

This speed of the sun is ordained for a day and night; / when that sun, having turned from the southern direction, stands at the equinox,

124.48

moving in the direction north of the ocean of milk, / learn the equinoctial circuit in yojanas:

124.49

The circuit of the equinox is indeed a full thirty million [yojanas], / and twenty-one hundred thousand more.

124.50

And when the sun is in the northern quarter in [the month of] Śrāvaṇa, / moving in the northern direction in the further continent of Gomeda,

124.51

the measure of the northern quarter’s circuit— / one should know those [circuits] of south, north, and middle in their due order:

124.52

The realm of Jaradgava is in the middle, and Airāvata is the uppermost [in the north]; / Vaiśvānara in the south is correctly declared here.

124.53

The Nāgavīthi is the northern path, and the Ajavīthi is the southern; / both Āṣāḍhās and Mūla are the three belonging to the Ajavīthi.

124.54

Abhijit eastward to Svātī are the three northern [asterisms] of the Nāgavīthi; / Aśvinī, Kṛttikā, and Yāmyā (Bharaṇī) are recorded as the three of the Nāgavīthi.

124.55

Rohiṇī, Ārdrā, and Mṛgaśiras are recorded as the Nāgavīthi; / while Puṣyā, Āśleṣā, and Punarvasū are considered the Airāvatī path.

124.56

These three paths are called the northern course; / Pūrvaphālgunī, Uttaraphālgunī, and Maghā are of the Ārṣabhī path.

124.57

Pūrvaproṣṭhapadā, Uttaraproṣṭhapadā, and Revatī are recorded as the Govīthi; / Śravaṇa, Dhaniṣṭhā, and the Vāruṇa [nakṣatra] (Śatabhiṣaj) are the Jaradgavī path.

124.58

These three paths are called the middle course; / Hasta, Citrā, and Svātī are recorded as the Ajavīthi.

124.59

Jyeṣṭhā, Viśākhā, and the Maitra [nakṣatra] (Anurādhā) are called the Mṛgavīthi; / Mūla, Pūrvāṣāḍhā, and Uttarāṣāḍhā are the Vaiśvānarī path.

124.60

These three paths are recorded in the southern course; / next, the interval between the two quarters will be declared in yojanas:

124.61

It is recorded as thirty-one hundred thousand, / and three hundred and thirty-three besides.

124.62

This is proclaimed as the interval in yojanas between the two quarters, / and between the two boundary-lines in the southern and northern solstitial courses.

124.63

I shall declare them to you by calculating in yojanas, understand them: / each interval likewise consists of these, [each] accompanied by seven [yojanas],

124.64

and exceeding [that] by one thousand and another twenty-five. / Moving between the two boundary-lines and quarters, outer and inner,

124.65

he traverses the inner circles in the northern solstitial course, / and continually traverses the solar circle on the outside in the southern.

124.66

Moving in the north across one hundred and eighty circles, / he traverses the inside, stepping through the circles.

124.67

Learn also the measure of the circle in yojanas: / it is recorded as eighteen thousand yojanas,

124.68

with fifty-eight yojanas more besides; / that is ordained as the cross-diameter of the circle.

124.69

In a day, the sun moves in order through the circle from the hub; / just like the edge of a potter's wheel, so do the moon and the sun [move].

124.70

In the south, the sun turns swiftly like a wheel; / therefore he traverses an extended distance of ground in a short time.

124.71

In the southern solstitial course, the sun swiftly travels through the circle / in the midst of thirteen and a half asterisms in twelve muhūrtas.

124.72

Moving through those asterisms by night in eighteen muhūrtas, / just as one positioned at the center of a potter's wheel creeps slowly,

124.73

so in the northern course the sun creeps with slow pace; / therefore he creeps over a small [measure of] ground in a long time.

124.74

In the northern course the sun moves by day in eighteen muhūrtas / through the midst of thirteen asterisms; / traversing those asterisms by night in twelve muhūrtas.

124.75

The wheel [of asterisms], however, rotates even more slowly than the two of them; / and Dhruva, positioned at the center like a lump of clay, rotates in the same way.

124.76

Wandering around the earth thus in thirty muhūrtas of day and night, / he rotates through the circles between the two quarters.

124.77

In the sun’s northern course, his speed by day is traditionally held to be slow, / and the speed of that same sun by night is swift.

124.78

Or in the southern course, his speed by day is ordained as swift, / and his speed by night is ordained as slow.

124.79

Thus dividing days and nights by the difference in speed, / [he is] in the southern Ajavīthi, to the north of the Lokāloka [mountain].

124.80

For outside of the Vaiśvānara path from the extent of the inhabited world, / as far as the solar light of dawn extends from Puṣkara,

124.81

so far on the outer sides is the Lokāloka mountain, / a mountain raised upward to ten thousand yojanas.

124.82

The mountain is circular, having both light and darkness; / the asterisms, moon, sun, and planets, along with hosts of stars,

124.83

shine on the inner side of the Lokāloka mountain; / only so far extends the illuminated world (loka), and beyond that is the non-illuminated (nirāloka).

124.84

The root loka means 'to see', and nirāloka is the absence of visibility; / because the sun, revolving, joins the seen world and the unseen,

124.85

therefore they call it saṃdhyā (twilight), as the interval between dawn (uṣas) and morning daylight (vyuṣṭi); / uṣas is recorded by the wise as night, and vyuṣṭi is recorded as day.

124.86

A muhūrta consists of thirty kalās, and the daytime of fifteen [muhūrtas]; / the decrease and increase of the days occur through the divisions of the daytime,

124.87

save for the increase and decrease during the single muhūrta of twilight. / When three muhūrtas have passed from the horizon when the sun [rises],

124.88

that time is known as prātaḥ (early morning); and they declare five divisions [of the day]; / after that time of prātaḥ has elapsed, the three muhūrtas are saṃgava (forenoon).

124.89

Immediately after that time, madhyāhna (midday) consists of three muhūrtas; / after that midday time, [the period] is recorded as aparāhṇa (afternoon).

124.90

This period is recorded by the wise as consisting of just three muhūrtas; / and the time after the afternoon has passed is called sāya (evening).

124.91

The day has fifteen muhūrtas, and [the evening] has three muhūrtas; / indeed, the day is declared to be fifteen muhūrtas at the equinox.

124.92

From that [point] onward it increases or decreases during the southern and northern solstices: / the day swallows the night, and the night swallows the day.

124.93

The midpoint between autumn and spring is designated as the equinox; / the world is known to end at illumination, and beyond the world is called non-illumination.

124.94

There in the midst of Lokāloka stand the world-protectors; / they, four great-souled ones, remain until the dissolution of all beings:

124.95

Sudhāman the Vairāja, and Kardama the lord of progeny, / Hiraṇyaroman, Parjanya, and Ketumant the Rājasa.

124.96

Free from dualities, free from pride, free from indolence, free from possessions, / these world-protectors stand in the four directions on Lokāloka.

124.97

The peak of Agastya, frequented by celestial sages, which is to the north: / outside the path of Vaiśvānara, that is traditionally known as the path of the ancestors.

124.98

There dwell the Agnihotra-practicing sages desiring offspring; / continuing the lineage of the world, they stand on the path of the ancestors.

124.99

Rites undertaken for material existence, and benedictions, O ruler of subjects— / those desiring the worlds undertake these; theirs is that southern path.

124.100

Age after age, they re-establish the wavering dharma / by their intensely practiced asceticism, by ordinances, and by sacred learning.

124.101

Being born, indeed, the earlier ones in the houses of the later ones, / and the later ones are born in the houses of the earlier ones at their deaths here.

124.102

Revolving in this manner, they remain until the dissolution of all beings— / eighty-eight thousand householder sages,

124.103

taking recourse to the southern path of the sun until the dissolution of all beings. / This is the reckoning of those performers of rites who have attained the cremation grounds,

124.104

for the sake of worldly transactions, by acts originating from material existence, / and from devotion to desire and hatred, and through engaging in sexual intercourse,

124.105

as well as by what is caused by passion here, and through the pursuit of sensory objects; / by these reasons, accomplished ones have here attained the cremation grounds.

124.106

The seven sages who were the seekers of progeny were born here in the Dvāparas; / they loathed lineage, and therefore death was conquered by them.

124.107

Of those with celibate chaste life, there are also eighty-eight thousand, / who take recourse to the northern path without boundary until the dissolution of all beings.

124.108

Through non-attachment to the world, and by renouncing sexual union, / by turning away from envy and hatred, and by abandoning acts originating from material existence,

124.109

and from discerning the fault in contact with another's desire, sound, and the like: / by these pure reasons, they indeed attained immortality.

124.110

The immortality of those who remain until the dissolution of all beings is known: / it is the duration of the three worlds, for they do not go on the path of death again.

124.111

Higher than what resembles the sins and merits of abortion, horse-sacrifice, and the like, / but at the end of the dissolution of all beings, the celibates too perish.

124.112

Above and to the north of the sages, where Dhruva is situated— / this is the divine third step of Viṣṇu, radiant in the sky.

124.113

Having gone where they do not grieve: that is the supreme abode of Viṣṇu. / Those who desire the world remain in the duty of Dhruva.

Translations (1)

The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English

Linked texts (1)

Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit