Matsyapurana 41

English (machine translation) 41

Language: English

41.1

Aṣṭaka said: / Which of the two attains companionship with the gods first, / like the sun and the moon, O king, when both are running their course?

41.2

Yayāti said: / Homeless among householders, self-restrained among those acting as they desire, / roaming as a mendicant in the village itself—he has gone further ahead of the two.

41.3

He who, having attained a long life unattainable by others, acts with distortion, / if he feels remorse after doing that, he should practice severe ascetic fervor thereafter.

41.4

What is cruel, they say that is wicked; he who practices righteousness with a foolish mind / has no mastery, O king. Straightforwardness is that; that is meditative absorption; that is noble.

Aṣṭaka said: / By whom were you sent down today, O king—youthful, wearing garlands, handsome, brilliant? / From where have you come? In which direction do you belong? Or is there an earthly abode [for you]?

41.6

Yayāti said: / With my merit exhausted, thrown down from the sky to enter this earthly hell, the earth, / having spoken to you, I shall fall down immediately. Let these guardians of the world of Brahmā hurry!

41.7

A fall in the company of the virtuous was chosen [by me], and all of you who have gathered are endowed with virtues. / For this boon was obtained by me from Śakra as I was about to fall to the surface of the earth, O king of men.

41.8

Aṣṭaka said: / I ask you as you fall down this precipitous fall: if there are worlds for me here, / whether in the mid-air or resting in heaven, I consider you a knower of that righteousness.

41.9

Yayāti said: / As many cattle and horses as are established on the earth, together with wild animals and birds, / just so many worlds are established for you in heaven; know this thus, O lion among kings.

41.10

Aṣṭaka said: / I give them to you; do not fall into the precipice! Whatever worlds belong to me in heaven, O king of kings, / whether resting in the mid-air or in heaven, enter upon them quickly, O slayer of foes!

41.11

Yayāti said: / One like me, not a brāhmaṇa, though a knower of the Veda, does not engage in receiving gifts, O chief of kings. / As gifts should always be given to twice-born men, so I gave [them] in the past, O king of men.

41.12

A non-brāhmaṇa should never live like a wretch, even if a brāhmaṇī were the wife of a hero. / If I were to do what has never been done before, what good would there be in that, as I seek understanding?

41.13

Pratardana said: / I ask you, whose form is enviable—I am Pratardana—if there are worlds for me, / whether heard of in the mid-air or in heaven, I consider you a knower of that righteousness.

41.14

Yayāti said: / There are many worlds for you, O king of men, even seven hundred days for each one; / dripping with honey, endowed with ghee, free from grief, they await [you], bounded by that [limit].

41.15

Pratardana said: / I give them to you as you fall, O king; whatever worlds belong to me, let them be yours. / Whether resting in the mid-air or in heaven, enter upon them quickly, free of delusion!

41.16

Yayāti said: / Being a king of equal splendor, how can I desire well-being and security from another king as his merit? / Having met with misfortune by divine decree, a wise king should never act cruelly.

41.17

Reflecting on the righteous and glorious path, he should perform ascetic fervor with regard for righteousness. / A king like me, endowed with an understanding of righteousness, would not do such a wretched thing as you say to me.

41.18

What has not been done before by others, I would not do; what good would there be in that, as I seek understanding? / To King Yayāti who was speaking thus, Vasumant, the best of kings, said:

Translations (1)

The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English

Linked texts (1)

Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit