Matsyapurana 129

English (machine translation) 129

Language: English

129.1

The sages said: / How did the blessed Maheśvara become the enemy of Tripura, / and how did the god burn [it]? Tell us that in detail.

129.2

We all ask you again and again out of great respect. / How that Tripura, a fortress fashioned by Maya's illusory power, / was burned by the god with a single arrow—tell us that, O bestower of honor!

129.3

Sūta said: / Hear how the god Bhava destroyed Tripura. / An Asura named Maya, of great illusory power, the progenitor of illusions,

129.4

having been defeated in battle, performed supreme austerities. / While he was performing austerities, O brāhmaṇas, two other Daityas, out of devotion,

129.5

undertook supreme austerities for the sake of his purpose: / Vidyunmālin, the mighty, and the valiant one named Tāraka.

129.6

Permeated by Maya's splendor, they performed austerities beside Maya, / like three worlds incarnate, or like the three fires.

129.7

Tormenting the three worlds, those Dānavas performed austerities: / in winter lying on watery beds, and in summer with five fires,

129.8

and in the rains exposed to the open sky, wasting their dear bodies, / consuming fruits, roots, flowers, and water,

129.9

at other times taking food, their bark garments smeared with mud, / submerged in moss and mud, both clean and unclean.

129.10

Then they became fleshless, emaciated, covered with veins. / By the power of their austerities, the whole world, as if shaken by power,

129.11

became lustreless and shone only faintly, / while the worlds were being scorched by those three fires of Dānavas.

129.12

Before them Pitāmaha, the friend of the universe, appeared. / Then those performers of daring deeds addressed him who had arrived suddenly.

129.13

The Daityas indeed praised their own Pitāmaha. / Then Brahmā spoke to those Dānavas, glowing with the splendor of the sun by their austerity,

129.14

with eyes full of joy and a face full of joy at that time: / 'I am the giver of boons to you, children, pleased by your austerities, and I have come.

129.15

Choose whatever is desired, and let that which is wished for be spoken.' / While they were being addressed thus, to Pitāmaha who had consented...

129.16

Maya, the architect of the Asuras, his eyes blooming with great joy, said: / 'O god, formerly the Daityas were, in the battle of Tārakāmaya, by the gods

129.17

conquered, beaten, and struck down with weapons; / and pursued by the gods bearing enduring enmity, they fled, trembling with fear.

129.18

Seeking refuge, we know neither shelter nor peace. / So, through the power of ascetic heat and likewise through devotion to you,

129.19

I desire to build a fortress that is impassable even to the gods. / And in that fortress of Tripura, fashioned by me, O best of the skilled,

129.20

to earthly beings, to water-born beings, to curses arising from the fiery brilliance of sages, / to the weapons of the gods, and to the gods and the lord of progeny,

129.21

let Tripura be unassailable, if it pleases you.' / When the architect of the Asuras had thus spoken, the lord of creation, the architect of the universe,

129.22

smiling, addressed this speech to Maya, the lord of the Daitya host: / 'Complete immortality is never granted to one whose conduct is unrighteous, O Dānava.

129.23

Therefore, let the design of the fortress indeed be fashioned in an instant.' / Hearing the words of Pitāmaha, the Dānava Maya then

129.24

with folded hands again addressed Brahmā, who was born of a lotus: / 'Whoever can burn down that fortress with a single arrow released at one time,

129.25

he alone may destroy it all at once in battle; otherwise let it be invulnerable.' / Saying 'So be it,' the divine Pitāmaha

129.26

disappeared right there, like wealth obtained in a dream. / When Pitāmaha had departed, the Daityas, shining with the radiance of Maya and the sun,

129.27

gleamed with ascetic heat and great strength on account of the granting of the boon. / But that Maya, of great intellect, the best bull among the Dānavas,

129.28

resolved to construct the fortress, and then thought: / 'How indeed might that fortress of Tripura be made by me?

129.29

That celestial city will be inhabited by none other than my people; there is no doubt. / And so that this city may not be destroyed by that single arrow

129.30

by the gods, I must exercise careful deliberation. / The extent of each single city [shall be] a hundred yojanas,

129.31

and their diameter is to be made a hundred yojanas each. / The construction of the cities shall take place during the conjunction of Puṣya,

129.32

and during the conjunction of Puṣya they shall come together in the sky. / Whoever shall attack them when united under the conjunction of Puṣya,

129.33

he will destroy the hundreds of cities with a single blow. / The iron city will be on the surface of the earth, but the silver one in the sky,

129.34

and above the silver one shall be the golden city. / Thus, endowed with three cities, it will become Tripura, / difficult of approach, with intervals having a diameter of a hundred yojanas,

shining splendidly with watchtowers and hundreds of mechanical missile-launchers, with discs, tridents, and boulder-hurlers, / with gates resembling great Mounts Mandara and Meru, and with pinnacled ramparts,

129.36

guarded by the one named Tāraka, protected by Maya, and securely guarded also by Taḍinmālin. / Who indeed could be capable of destroying Tripura, except the one divine Three-Eyed Lord?'

Translations (1)

The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English

Linked texts (1)

Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit