Matsyapurana 48

English (machine translation) 48

Language: English

48.1

Sūta said: / The son of Turvasu was Garbha, and Gobhānu was his son. / Gobhānu’s son was the heroic, undefeated Trisāri.

48.2

The son of Trisāri was Karaṃdhama, and his son was Bharata. / Duṣyanta, also a descendant of Pūru, was his stainless son.

48.3

Thus, formerly, because of the curse of Yayāti concerning the transfer of old age, / [the line of] Turvasu indeed entered into the Paurava lineage in ancient times.

48.4

The heir of Duṣyanta was the king named Varūtha; / from Varūtha came Aṇḍīra, and Saṃdhāna was his son.

48.5

Then [his sons were] Pāṇḍya, Kerala, Cola, and Karṇa; / their realms are prosperous: the Pāṇḍyas, Colas, and Keralas.

48.6

The two heroic sons of Druhyu were Setu and Ketu; / Setu’s son was Śaradvant, and Gandhāra was his son.

48.7

By his name that great realm of Gandhāra is renowned; / born in the country of Āraṭṭa, his horses are the finest of steeds.

48.8

The son of Gandhāra was Dharma, and Ghṛta was his son; / from the wise Ghṛta was born Pracetas, and his son [was also born].

48.9

Pracetas had one hundred sons, all of them kings, / all rulers over barbarian realms, who dwelt in the northern direction.

48.10

And Anu had three heroic, supremely righteous sons: / Sabhānara, Cākṣuṣa, and Parameṣu.

48.11

Sabhānara’s son was the wise king Kolāhala; / Kolāhala’s righteous son was renowned by the name Saṃjaya.

48.12

Saṃjaya’s son was the hero named Puraṃjaya; / Janamejaya, O great king, was the son of Puraṃjaya.

48.13

The royal sage Janamejaya had a son, Mahāśāla; / he was a king equal to Indra, whose fame was established.

48.14

The righteous Mahāmanas was the son of that Mahāśāla; / Mahāmanas was born a universal emperor, lord of the seven continents.

48.15

Mahāmanas fathered two famous sons, / both knowers of dharma: Uśīnara and Titikṣu.

48.16

The wives of Uśīnara were five, born of royal sages: / Bhṛśā, Kṛśā, Navā, Darśā, and Queen Dṛṣadvatī.

48.17

Uśīnara’s sons, upbuilders of the lineage, were born of them; / by great asceticism those righteous sons were born to him in his old age.

48.18

The son of Bhṛśā was Nṛga, and of Navā, Nava; / of Kṛśā, Kṛśa was born, and of Darśā was Suvrata; / and the son of Dṛṣadvatī was King Śibi Auśīnara.

48.19

Śibi had four sons, renowned throughout the world, the Śibis: / Pṛthudarbha, Suvīra, Kekaya, and Bhadraka.

48.20

Their realms are prosperous: the Kekayas, the Bhadrakas, / the Sauvīras, and the city dwellers; and Nṛga had the Kekayas.

48.21

To Suvrata belonged the city Ambaṣṭhā, to Kṛśa the city Vṛṣalā, / and to Nava the kingdom Navarāṣṭra. Now hear the offspring of Titikṣu.

48.22

Titikṣu became a famous king in the eastern direction; / his son was Bṛhadratha, and his son was Sena.

48.23

To Sena was born Sutapas, and Sutapas’s son was Bali; / he was born in a human womb when the lineage waned, out of a desire for offspring.

48.24

That Bali, a great yogin, bound by bonds by that great-souled one, / begot five kings as sons on his wife [by another].

48.25

He begot Aṅga, Vaṅga, and Suhma, / and Puṇḍra and Kaliṅga; this is called the realm of Bali. / The brāhmaṇas of Bali are the continuators of his lineage, O lord.

48.26

And Brahmā, being pleased, granted a boon to the wise Bali: / the state of a great yogin and a lifespan the duration of a kalpa.

48.27

And invincibility in battle, supreme intelligence in dharma, / and direct vision of the three times, and pre-eminence in offspring;

48.28

and peerless victory in war, vision of the true meaning of dharma: / he, the capable one, would surely establish the four social classes permanently.

48.29

And their five heirs were the Vaṅgas, Aṅgas, and Suhmas, / the Puṇḍras and Kaliṅgas; now learn about Aṅga:

48.30

*The sages said: / How were the five sons born to that great-souled Bali? / What was the name of his chief queen, and who was the sage who fathered them?

48.31

And how were they begotten by him? Tell that to us who ask; / speak fully of that greatness and majesty.

48.32

*Sūta said: / Formerly, there was a learned sage known as Uśija; / and this great-souled one had a wife named Mamatā.

48.33

Bṛhaspati of great splendor, the younger brother of Uśija, / desired his brother’s wife, approaching Mamatā out of lust.

48.34

The fair-complexioned Mamatā said to her brother-in-law: / “I am pregnant by your elder brother; desist!

48.35

This fetus of mine, O illustrious one, would become angry, O Bṛhaspati— / the son of Uśija, your brother's child, reciting the Veda with its ancillary sciences.

48.36

Moreover, your semen is unfailing, and you should not enjoy me / when such a time has arrived—or however you consider it proper, O lord.”

48.37

Though addressed thus rightly, Bṛhaspati of great splendor, / possessed by desire, great-souled though he was, did not restrain his mind.

48.38

That righteous one united with her against her will; / but as he was discharging the semen, the fetus spoke these words:

48.39

“O father, master of speech! There is no room here for two; / your semen is unfailing, and I arrived here first.”

48.40

Then, being spoken to in this way, the wrathful Bṛhaspati, the venerable sage, / cursed the son of his elder brother who was staying in the womb:

48.41

“Because you, though dwelling in the womb, forbid me at such a time / and have spoken to me thus, therefore you will enter a long darkness.”

48.42

Then, from that curse, the sage named Dīrghatamas was born, / a portion of him, of great renown, like Bṛhaspati in vigor.

48.43

Then, chaste from childhood, he lived in his brother’s hermitage; / then he heard the customs of cattle from a bull.

48.44

His brother and uncle supported him then; / and while he was living there, by chance a bull,

48.45

a son of Surabhi, grazed upon the darbha grass brought for the sacrifice. / Dīrghatamas seized that quadruped by the horns.

48.46

Held fast by him, it did not move a step from that spot. / Then the bull said to him: “Release me, O best of the strong!

Never have I encountered anyone as strong as you, dear friend, / nor is there any other equal to me in reckoning of strength. / Release me, dear friend!” and again: “I am pleased with you; choose a boon!”

48.48

Thus addressed, he said to it: “Where will you go alive from me? / I will not release you, a quadruped that eats another's property.”

48.49

*The bull said: / “Dear friend, for us there is no sin or theft, / nor that which is edible or inedible, nor that which is drinkable or undrinkable.

48.50

For these many [rules] belong to two-footed beings; this is remembered as the dharma of cattle: / there is no duty or non-duty, nor any unlawful cohabitation.”

48.51

*Sūta said: / Having heard the dharma of cattle, he was astonished, and letting it go, / he propitiated the lord of cattle by offering food and drink according to his means.

48.52

When it was appeased and gone, he, devoted to the dharma of cattle, / meditated upon it in his mind, dedicated to it and intent upon it.

48.53

Then he approached the wife of his younger [relative], Gautama; / considering her proud, he, like an oxen, was not restrained.

48.54

Deeming the dharma of cattle to be supreme, he approached that daughter-in-law. / Having rebuked him and restrained him, seizing him with her two arms,

48.55

and knowing through her majesty what was fated, she said to him: / “Having attained perversion, you behave like an ox!

48.56

You do not know who is fit for intercourse and who is not, desiring a daughter due to the dharma of cattle. / Today I abandon you, an evil-doer; go according to your own deeds!”

48.57

Casting him into a wooden chest, she threw him into the waters of the Gaṅgā: / “Because you are blind, old, and difficult to maintain.”

48.58

As he was carried away by the force of the current, the righteous Bali, / the son of Virocana, coming near, seized him then.

48.59

He protected him in the inner apartments, satisfying him with various foods and delicacies, / and, pleased, he offered Bali a boon.

48.60

And the bull among Dānavas chose a boon from him for the sake of sons: / “For the sake of progeny upon my wife, O great-souled one, granter of honor, / you should beget sons who know the reality of dharma and artha.”

48.61

Thus addressed, the divine sage, the lord, said, “So be it.” / The king sent his own wife, named Sudeṣṇā, to him; / but knowing him to be blind and old, the queen did not go.

48.62

Instead, she sent a Śūdra nurse’s daughter to the blind man then; / on her, in a Śūdra womb, the self-controlled sage,

48.63

righteous in nature, begot Kakṣīvant and the others, who were Śūdras. / Seeing Kakṣīvant and the others, King Bali said to him:

48.64

*The king said: / “[These are] skilled in the dharma of sages, masters, speakers of the Veda, / learned, perceivers of dharma directly, intelligent, having good conduct, pure;

48.65

and they are mine!” Bali said to Dīrghatamas. / The sage did not agree with him, but said: “They are mine alone.

48.66

They were born in a Śūdra womb according to your wishes, O best of Suras! / Knowing me to be blind and old, Sudeṣṇā, your queen, / out of disrespect for me, sent a Śūdra nurse’s daughter, O king.”

48.67

Then Bali propitiated that best of sages; / and the Dānava Bali rebuked that wife, Sudeṣṇā.

48.68

And having adorned her again, he presented her to the sage. / Then Dīrghatamas [said] to that queen who acted accordingly:

48.69

“Anointed with curd mixed with salt and with mahuā flowers, / lick me without disgust from the soles of my feet to my head; / then, O queen, you will obtain the sons desired by your mind.”

48.70

The queen then did all those words of his; / but reaching his anus, the queen avoided it then.

48.71

Then he said to her: “Because of that which you avoided, auspicious one, / you shall give birth to an eldest son without an anus.”

48.72

Sudeṣṇā said: / “Illustrious one, you ought not to give me such a son. / I have pleased you to the best of my ability; be gracious to me, lord!”

48.73

Dīrghatamas said: / “Because of your misconduct, O queen, it cannot be otherwise, auspicious lady. / Your son shall give no fruit, but your grandsons indeed shall give fruit.

48.74

And even without an anus, he will be capable.” / Therefore Dīrghatamas, having touched his limbs and her womb, said this:

48.75

“Whatever limbs were tasted, and not the private parts, O lady of radiant smile, / by that power they reside within your womb like the lord of stars on the full-moon night.

48.76

There will be five sons, equal to the sons of gods, / radiant, well-conducted, sacrificers, and righteous.”

48.77

Sūta said: / Then by his portion Sudeṣṇā’s eldest son was born, / [named] Aṅga, and also Kaliṅga, Puṇḍra, and likewise Suhma,

48.78

and the king of Vaṅga—these five were sons of Bali born of his wife. / Thus these sons were given to Bali by Dīrghatamas.

48.79

Indeed, causing them to attain status and conferring brahminhood on them, / he then fathered offspring in human wombs.

48.80

Then Surabhi said to Dīrghatamas: / “Because you have considered the way of cows and made it an authority, O mighty one,

48.81

and [acted] toward us with undivided capacity, therefore I am pleased with you, sinless one. / Hence, smelling you, I shall remove your long darkness.

48.82

This sin originating from Bṛhaspati indeed resides in you. / Smelling you, I remove old age, death, and darkness from you.”

48.83

Instantly upon being smelled, that best of sages, Asita, / became long-lived, handsome, and endowed with sight.

48.84

When his darkness was struck away by the cow, he then became Gautama. / Then Kākṣīvant, having gone with his father to Girivraja,

48.85

having seen and touched his father, sat down for long austerity. / Then in the course of a long time, refined by austerity,

48.86

having cast off his maternal body, the powerful one attained brahminhood. / Then his father said to him: “I am made a father of a true son through you.

48.87

With an excellent son, righteous and glorious, my purpose is fulfilled.” / Then, having liberated himself, he attained the abode of Brahmā.

48.88

Having attained brahminhood, Kākṣīvant fathered a thousand sons. / The sons of Kākṣīvant are remembered as Kauṣmāṇḍa Gautamas.

48.89

Thus this meeting of Dīrghatamas and Bali, son of Virocana, / has been recounted to you, and the progeny of both.

48.90

Bali, having greeted those five faultless sons, / felt fulfilled, righteous-souled, and enveloped himself in yogic power.

48.91

Invisible to all beings, that lord waits for his time. / In that [lineage], the heir of Aṅga was King Dadhivāhana.

48.92

The son of Dadhivāhana is remembered as King Diviratha. / The offspring of Diviratha was the wise king Dharmaratha.

48.93

Indeed, that illustrious Dharmaratha—by him on the mountain Viṣṇupada / the soma was drunk together with King Śukra, the high-souled one.

48.94

Then Dharmaratha had a son named Citraratha, it is said. / His son was Satyaratha; from him was Daśaratha, it is said,

48.95

known as Lomapāda; his daughter was Śāntā. / Then the son of Daśaratha was the heroic Caturaṅga of great fame,

48.96

born through the favor of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, expanding his family. / The son of Caturaṅga is remembered as Pṛthulākṣa.

48.97

And the son of Pṛthulākṣa was named Campa. / The city of Campa was previously Mālinī.

48.98

Through the favor of Pūrṇabhadra, Haryaṅga became his son. / And at his sacrifice, through Vibhāṇḍaka, an elephant, a repeller of enemies,

48.99

brought down to the earth by mantras, became the excellent mount. / The heir of Haryaṅga was born as Bhadraratha, it is said.

48.100

Then Bhadraratha had [a son], Bṛhatkarman, lord of people. / His son was Bṛhadbhānu; from him was born a high-minded son.

48.101

King Bṛhadbhānu fathered a son / named Jayadratha; from him came King Bṛhadratha.

48.102

And from Bṛhadratha came Viśvajit Janamejaya. / His heir was Aṅga, and from him was born King Karṇa.

48.103

Karṇa’s sons were Vṛṣasena and Pṛthusena. / All these kings, sons of Aṅga, have been proclaimed by me / in detail and in succession; now hear about Pūru, O twice-born!

48.104

The sages said: / “How is Karṇa the son of a charioteer, and how is he the son of Aṅga? / This we wish to hear, for you are exceptionally skilled.”

48.105

Sūta said: / The son of Bṛhadbhānu was born as a king named Bṛhanmanas. / He had two wives, both daughters of Śaibya: / Yaśodevī and Satyā; hear their lineage from me.

48.106

Yaśodevī gave birth to King Jayadratha. / Satyā, [wife] of Bṛhanmanas, [gave birth to] the famous Vijaya.

48.107

Vijaya’s son was Bṛhat; his son was Bṛhadratha. / The son of Bṛhadratha was the high-minded Satyakarma.

48.108

Satyakarman’s son was Adhiratha, and Adhiratha is remembered as a sūta. / He who adopted Karṇa—by that [connection] Karṇa was the son of a sūta. / And thus all this regarding Karṇa has been related as told.

Translations (1)

The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English

Linked texts (1)

Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit