Matsyapurana 3

English (machine translation) 3

Language: English

3.1

Manu said: / "Why did Pitāmaha of the worlds attain the state of having four faces? / And how did Brahmā, the best of knowers of the sacred word, create the worlds?"

3.2

Matsya said: / "First, the Pitāmaha of the immortals performed austerities; / likewise the Vedas manifested, with limbs, auxiliary limbs, and word sequences.

3.3

First among all sacred treatises, the Purāṇa was remembered by Brahmā, / eternal, made of sound, holy, extending to a hundred crores [of verses].

3.4

Immediately after, the Vedas issued forth from his mouths, / and the disciplines of Mīmāṃsā and Nyāya, endowed with the eight means of valid knowledge.

3.5

For him devoted to the study of the Vedas, desiring offspring, mind-born [sons arose]; / because they were born from the mind, created previously, therefore they are called mind-born.

3.6

Marīci came into being first; then the venerable sage Atri; / Aṅgiras came into being afterward; immediately after him, Pulastya.

3.7

Then indeed one named Pulaha; then Kratu was born; / and Pracetas was then a son, and Vasiṣṭha came into being next.

3.8

A son Bhṛgu was born likewise; Nārada also arose soon after. / Brahmā fathered these ten sages, his mind-born sons.

3.9

Next I shall declare the bodily ones of the lord of progeny, born without a mother. / From the right thumb Dakṣa, the lord of progeny, was born.

3.10

Dharma arose from the space between the breasts; from the heart, the one armed with flowers; / from between the brows arose Anger; and Greed originated from the lower lip.

3.11

From intellect Delusion was produced; from egoism came Pride; / and Joy arose from the throat; Death from the eye, O king; / from the middle of the hand then Bharata was born as a son of Brahmā.

3.12

These are nine sons, O king, and a daughter again, the tenth; / known as body-born, the tenth is the daughter of Brahmā.

3.13

Manu said: / "Regarding what was proclaimed: 'From intellect Delusion was produced, / Egoism is remembered, Anger'—what is that called intellect?"

3.14

Matsya said: / "Sattva, rajas, and tamas are declared to be the three gunas. / The state of equilibrium of these is proclaimed as prakṛti.

3.15

Some call it pradhāna; others declare it to be unmanifest. / This very [entity] creates the creation of beings and transforms it.

3.16

From the gunas becoming agitated, three gods were born: / one form with three parts—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara.

3.17

From pradhāna undergoing transformation, the principle of mahat is born; / since the renown 'great' (mahān) always arises among the worlds.

3.18

And from mahat, egoism is born, increasing pride. / Next I shall state the five sense faculties subject to intellect; / and others also appear that are subject to action:

3.19

Ear, skin, the two eyes, tongue, and nose, in proper order; / anus, genitals, hands and feet, and speech comprise the set of faculties.

3.20

Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell as the fifth; / excretion, pleasure, grasping, movement, and speech are their respective functions."

3.21

The eleventh among them is the mind, endowed with the qualities of action and intellect. / Wise men say that the subtle components of the sense faculties constitute its form,

3.22

Because the subtle elements rest in it, it is known as the body (śarīra). / Through association with a body, the living being is also called ‘embodied’ by the wise.

3.23

Impelled by the desire to create, the mind undergoes transformation for creation. / From the subtle element of sound arose space, whose nature is the quality of sound.

3.24

From the transformation of space arose wind, possessing the qualities of sound and touch. / And from wind, through the subtle element of touch, fire then appeared,

3.25

Possessing three qualities by its transformation: it has sound, touch, and form. / From the transformation of fire arose water, O king, having four qualities,

3.26

Produced from the subtle element of taste, predominantly consisting of the quality of taste. / Earth, however, arose from the subtle element of smell, endowed with five qualities,

3.27

Predominantly possessing the quality of smell. This intellect is superior [to these]. / The twenty-fifth, the Puruṣa, enjoys what is produced by these.

3.28

Subject to the will of the Lord, he too is called the individual soul (jīvātman) by the wise. / Thus, O son of Manu, the body here is declared to be the twenty-sixth.

3.29

And because of its enumerative nature, it is called Sāṃkhya by Kapila and others. / Having made the world consist of these principles, the Creator brought it forth.

3.30

Placing Sāvitrī in his heart for the sake of creating the world, he remained steady. / Then, as he was chanting prayers, having divided his stainless body,

3.31

He made half of it female in form, and half male in form. / She is renowned as Śatarūpā, and is also called Sāvitrī,

3.32

Sarasvatī, then Gāyatrī, and Brahmāṇī, O scorcher of foes! / Then, because she was born from his own body, he regarded her as his daughter.

3.33

Beholding her, the sovereign was at once agitated, afflicted by the arrows of desire. / And the lord of progeny said: ‘Ah, what beauty! Ah, what beauty!’

3.34

Then [his sons] headed by Vasiṣṭha cried out: ‘She is our sister!’ / Brahmā saw nothing except looking at her face.

3.35

‘Ah, what beauty! Ah, what beauty!’ he said again and again. / Then he looked once more upon her as she bowed down in reverence.

3.36

Then that fair-complexioned woman circumambulated her father. / Ashamed before his sons, out of a desire to look upon her form,

3.37

A right face with pale cheeks appeared there on him. / Then a western face arose, its lips trembling in wonder.

3.38

A fourth, northern face then appeared, distressed by the arrows of desire. / Then another face arose on him through the distress of desire, in the same way,

3.39

Out of curiosity to behold her form as she sprang upward into the air. / The supreme, austere ascetic penance that he had performed for the sake of creation—

3.40

All of that perished through his desire to approach his own daughter. / Therefore, an upward-facing fifth face appeared on that wise one, / and the Lord covered that face with emerging matted locks.

3.41

Then Brahmā spoke to those sons born from his own self: / ‘Create offspring all around, including gods, Asuras, and mortals.’

3.42

Being addressed thus, they all created various offspring. / When they had departed for the purpose of creation, the soul of all

Married this blameless Śatarūpā, who was bowed down in salutation. / The sovereign, exceedingly stricken with passion, united with her; / the god made love to the bashful woman in the abode that was the interior of a lotus,

3.44

For a hundred celestial years, like an ordinary mortal man. / Then, after a long time, a son was born to her: Manu,

3.45

Known as Svāyambhuva; he is Virāj, as we have heard. / Because of commonality with his form and qualities, he is called the Supreme Person.

3.46

In his lineage were born those many Vairājas of praiseworthy vows, / the highly fortunate descendants of Svāyambhuva, and likewise seven other groups of seven,

3.47

Beginning with Svārociṣa, all having forms equal to Brahmā, / likewise those headed by Auttami, among whom you are now the seventh.

Translations (1)

The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English

Linked texts (1)

Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit