Matsyapurana 143
English (machine translation) 143
- Language
- English
143.1
The ṛṣis said: / How did the institution of sacrifice take place at the beginning of the Tretā Yuga / in the former creation of Svāyambhuva? Tell us duly.
143.2
When the twilight had disappeared together with the Kṛta Yuga, / and the [yuga] designated by time had begun, the Tretā Yuga having then arrived,
143.3
and when herbs had sprung up, rainfall had commenced, / and livelihoods were established in villages and cities,
143.4
after establishing the social classes and stages of life with those mantras once more, / and having properly compiled the collections [of hymns], how was sacrifice instituted? / Having heard this, the Sūta said: Hear that which you have asked.
143.5
The Sūta said: / Having applied the mantras to rites concerning this world and the next, / Indra Viśvabhuj, the lord, instituted the sacrifice.
143.6
Assembling together with the deities and equipped with every implement, / when his horse-sacrifice was laid out, the great ṛṣis arrived.
143.7
The priests engaged in the sacrificial rite, performing the rites at the forefront, / as manifold oblations were poured into the divine offering fire;
143.8
when the gods were pleased, the Sāman-singers sang in melodious voice, / and the adhvaryu priests and attendants moved about swiftly;
143.9
and in the midst, when the herds of sacrificial animals were seized, / and the gods who partake of sacrifice were summoned, then,
143.10
the gods who are of the nature of the senses and partake of the sacrificial share— / the gods who belong to the morning [libation] and other rites—were worshipped.
143.11
Then, at the time of the adhvaryu's call, the ṛṣis arose; / and seeing those miserable herds of animals, the great ṛṣis / questioned Viśvabhuj: "What is this sacrificial procedure of yours?
143.12
This is a grave unrighteousness, violence committed out of a desire for righteousness; / a novel animal-sacrifice procedure has been desired in your sacrifice, O best of gods!
143.13
Unrighteousness has been undertaken by you with animals for the destruction of righteousness. / This is not righteousness; it is unrighteousness, for violence is not called righteousness. / May you perform righteousness according to tradition, if you so desire,
143.14
through a sacrifice seen in canonical precept, through uncorrupted righteousness, / with sacrificial seeds, O best of gods, that do not deprive the three goals of life.
143.15
This is the great sacrifice ordained of old by Svayambhū." / Though spoken to thus by the truth-seeing ṛṣis, Indra Viśvabhuj, / filled with pride and delusion, did not accept [their counsel].
143.16
A very great dispute arose between them—Indra and the great ṛṣis: / "Should one sacrifice with mobile beings or with immobile beings?" they asked.
143.17
Wearied by the dispute, the great ṛṣis, endowed with power, / made an agreement with Indra and asked Vasu, who moved through the sky:
143.18
The ṛṣis said: / O great in wisdom, king, how have you seen the sacrificial procedure? / O son of Uttānapāda, speak; dispel our doubt, O lord!
143.19
The Sūta said: / Having heard their words, without weighing the strength and weakness, / remembering the Veda and the treatises, Vasu spoke the truth of sacrifice:
143.20
"One should sacrifice with whatever has been brought near," so said the king; / "one should sacrifice with animals fit for sacrifice, or even with roots and fruits.
143.21
Violence is the nature of sacrifice—such is the traditional teaching of my view; / likewise, these mantras indicating violence were realized by the great ṛṣis,
143.22
who were endowed with long austerity and perceived the stars and other luminaries. / That which is authoritative has been stated by me; therefore, you ought to be appeased.
143.23
If your own mantra-texts are an authority, O twice-born, / then let the sacrifice proceed accordingly; otherwise, my word is not false."
143.24
Answered thus, the [ṛṣis], fixing their minds with intellect, / seeing that it was inevitable, cursed him down [to the earth].
143.25
The moment this was said, the king entered Rasātala; / having been a king moving on high, he became one who moves in Rasātala.
143.26
Because of that utterance, he became an earthbound dweller; / King Vasu, the resolver of doubts concerning duties, fell downward.
143.27
Therefore, a doubt should not be decided by one person alone, even if learned; / for the course of duty, having many doors, is subtle and difficult to follow.
143.28
Therefore, no one can speak of duty with certainty, / taking together the gods and the ṛṣis, except for Manu Svāyambhuva.
143.29
Therefore, there should be no violence in sacrifice, as was said by the ṛṣis of old; / thousands of crores of ṛṣis have gone to heaven through their own austerities.
143.30
Therefore, the great ṛṣis do not praise a sacrifice involving violence; / with gleaned grains, roots, fruits, vegetables, and a vessel of water, those rich in austerity,
143.31
having given this according to their means, are established in heaven. / Non-malice, absence of greed, self-restraint, compassion for living beings, tranquility,
143.32
chastity, austerity, purity, tenderness, forbearance, and firmness: / this is the very foundation of eternal duty, hard to attain.
143.33
Sacrifice consists of material oblations and mantras, while austerity consists of equanimity; / through sacrifices one attains the gods, but through austerity the realm of Virāj.
143.34
From renunciation of ritual actions [one attains] Brahmā; from detachment, dissolution into primordial matter; / from knowledge one attains absolute liberation: these five destinations are taught.
143.35
Such was the very great dispute that occurred regarding the performance of sacrifice / between the ṛṣis and the deities in the former epoch of Svāyambhuva.
143.36
Then those ṛṣis, seeing that duty was seized by force, / disregarded the words of Vasu and went back as they had come.
143.37
When the assemblies of ṛṣis had departed, the gods performed the sacrifice. / Indeed, kings who attained perfection through austerity, beginning with Brahmins and Kṣatriyas, are heard of:
143.38
Priyavrata, Uttānapāda, Dhruva, Medhātithi, Vasu, / Sudhāman, Virajas, Śaṅkhapād, and Rajas.
143.39
Prācīnabarhis, Parjanya, kings such as Havirdhāna, / and these and many others went to heaven by their austerities.
143.40
Those great-souled royal sages whose fame is established— / therefore austerity is superior to sacrifice for all reasons.
143.41
This entire universe was created formerly by Brahmā through austerity; / therefore one does not obtain it through sacrifice; this [universe] is remembered as having austerity as its root.
143.42
Thus indeed the initiation of sacrifice occurred in the epoch of Svāyambhuva; / from that time onward, this sacrifice proceeded along with the cosmic ages.
Translations (1)
- The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English
Linked texts (1)
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit