Matsyapurana 139
English (machine translation) 139
- Language
- English
139.1
Sūta said:
When the one named Tāraka was slain in battle, Maya drove back the Pramathas
and spoke again and again to the Dānavas who were overwhelmed by fear:
139.2
"O lords of Asuras, now listen all to what is spoken,
to what must be done by me and by you of great strength.
139.3
At that time the moon will join with Puṣya, O you whose faces resemble the moon,
when the entire Tripura will become one for a single moment.
139.4
Act fearlessly at that time, and with the cuckoo's call;
that time of conjunction with Puṣya has been designated by me for the city.
139.5
Whatever god perceives the conjunction in the city at that time,
that powerful one might reduce it to powder with a single arrow.
139.6
Whatever life-breath is yours, whatever strength, and whatever enmity you have, O Asuras,
holding that in your hearts, protect this city!
139.7
With all your might turn back that single, terrifying chariot of Maheśvara,
so that he does not release his arrow!
139.8
Then, when we have thus accomplished the protection of Tripura,
the helpless gods will wait in vain for the conjunction with Puṣya."
139.9
Hearing those words of Maya, the Dānavas dwelling in Tripura,
roaring repeatedly like lions, equal to Yama, spoke to Maya:
139.10
"With all effort we shall do what you have spoken.
We shall act in such a way that Rudra will not release his arrow upon the city.
139.11
Today we will enter the battle, eager to slay that Rudra!"
So said the sons of Diti, joyful, their hair standing on end.
139.12
"Either Tripura, situated in the sky, shall stand eternal and firm for a kalpa,
or the three realms of Nārāyaṇa will become devoid of Dānavas!
139.13
We shall not abandon our duty, to which you, lord, will direct us.
Human beings shall see the world either without gods or without Daityas!"
139.14
Having deliberated thus, joyful, those enemies of the gods within the city,
becoming cheerful at dusk, engaged in the ways of Love.
139.15
Constantly rising anew, wandering to the summit of the mountain of dawn, a great jewel,
dispelling the darkness, the blessed moon spread across the sky,
139.16
Like a swan in a wide lake adorned with white water-lilies,
and like a great lion seated on a peak of lapis lazuli,
139.17
And like a necklace resting on the broad chest of Viṣṇu,
so, plunged into the sky, the moon, born from the eye of Atri,
shone, illuminating the worlds, forcibly pouring out the essence of moonlight.
139.18
When the cool-rayed moon had risen and the city was filled with moonlight,
at dusk the Asuras adorned their houses and themselves.
139.19
In the lanes, on the royal highways, in the mansions, and in the houses,
lamps resembling campaka flowers were lit with no small amount of oil.
139.20
Then in the halls those lamps, full of oil, blazed;
the houses, wealthy and made of every kind of gem,
illuminated the burning lamps like the planets at moonrise.
139.21
Shining with the rays of the moon, well-illuminated within by lamps,
the darkness in Tripura was swallowed up like a family by calamities.
139.22
In that city, in the early dusk, with the early dusk resounding with the moon's broad laughter,
the Danujas, desiring amorous pleasure, sported for a long time in their homes with their women.
139.23
Those five arrows of the alligator-bannered [god of love] that were dispelled by the bull-bannered [god]
now fell on the Asuras, the bulls among Asuras, and their own women's bodies were covered with sweat.
139.24
In the melodious prattle of the Dānava women, in the swelling melodies of the vīṇās,
and in the passionate cries of the cuckoos, Madana, equipped with bow and arrow, agitated them.
139.25
Swiftly destroying the nocturnal darkness, spreading across the world with an awning of moonlight,
and meeting in the sky that beloved of his, Rohiṇī, the moon exercised his sovereignty with his beams.
139.26
Standing at the feet of her lover, a certain fair woman applied
a very charming mark on the curve of her own cheek, and with it embellished her face.
139.27
Seeing her face reflected in a round mirror, whispering, “Great radiance is born from my face!”
and recalling the words spoken by her lover, the woman of excellent limbs attained delight in that very feeling.
139.28
Overcome by passion, other women, with fine limbs bristling with gooseflesh, drawn to youth through longing for love,
swiftly went of their own accord to their lovers, like night at the end of the sun's day.
139.29
One, permeated with intense passion, drank repeatedly; another, sought out by her beloved, became pleased;
a certain woman became appeased after a very long time, and took pleasure in the sweet whispers of her beloved.
139.30
With eyes anointed with cosmetic paste of gośīrṣa and yellow sandalwood,
the fair Asura women of charming form became beautiful like golden jars full of nectar.
139.31
With wounded lower lips, reddened by passionate faults, the Daityas, attached to their darlings, indulged in love;
attached to the murmurs of lute strings in Tripura, they were yet captivated by the sweet talk of women.
139.32
Here and there sweet singing arose, an excellent repository of the arrows of Kāma;
in the drinking places they then executed singing that was readily understood and full of delight.
139.33
They refined the singing that had commenced, and some then pleased their beloveds;
some were awakening their beloveds now, and having awakened them again and again, they took delight in them.
139.34
When the sun had set, there arose in Tripura an exquisite fragrance born of shaken blossoms;
and the rustling sound of anklets and waistbands rivalled [the notes of] the cuckoos.
139.35
Embracing her lover and embraced by her beloved, a woman with hair standing on end
was like the earth sprinkled with fresh water, bearing fair shoots and sprouts of tears [of joy].
139.36
In the excellent mansions adorned by the moon's rays,
the loud sounds of the noble women, whose very ornaments were sweetness, resembled [the sounds of] the god of love.
139.37
"Exhausted by excessive drinking, my beloved, why do you smell my cheek?
Climb onto this broad, plump, high hip of mine, rich with a golden girdle."
139.38
In the streets illumined by the rise of the moon and along the broad highways of the lord of the gods,
the women of the Daityas walking in groups shone like the stars of the moon at the close of day.
139.39
Amidst loud bursts of laughter, moving chowries, and on swings, others, longing with passion,
swung themselves, laughing softly; the girdle with its subtle sound of strings chimed in.
139.40
This was the turns of the joyous beauties adorned with unfading garlands;
their words were heard like silver, while in the step-wells sounded the calls of royal swans.
139.41
The cluster of girdles together with body cosmetics, and the amorous sentiments produced on the swings,
pierced the abodes of the lovers of those Asura women like the arrows of the god of love.
139.42
With variegated garments and loosened masses of hair, the Asura women being swung shone forth;
endowed with very charming dress and ornaments, [they were] like the moon, a light amidst the hosts of stars.
139.43
With the jewels scattered from broken threads and fallen from the girdles that heaved in the swinging,
the swing-ground shone variegated, like [the sky] near the moon.
139.44
In the moonlit dusk accompanied by parks and amidst the calls of flocks of cuckoos,
having found a target in the city of the Asuras, the god of love moved about, his arrows spent.
139.45
Thus in that city of the enemies of the gods, this was indeed their final autumn moon festival;
for those who were soon to be defeated at the forefront of battle, destroyed by the horses of Bhava, enemies [of the gods].
139.46
Then the moon, possessing the color of a garland of kunda flowers, deprived of its canopy of moonlight, having the color of a cloud,
attaining lusterlessness, did not shine; just so a wealthy man becomes pale when his fortune is lost.
139.47
Overcoming the moon's light with the dawn as his charioteer, his disc resembling a heated golden chariot wheel,
standing on the crest of the eastern mountain, the manifold sun shone in the sky, intending to cross the river carrying darkness-water.
Translations (1)
- The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English
Linked texts (1)
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit