Vishnupurana 4.15.19
Viṣṇupurāṇa 4.15.19
- Language
- Sanskrit
4.15.19
jātena ca tenākhilam evaitat sanmārgavarti jagad akriyata |
bhagavato 'py atra martyaloke 'vatīrṇasya ṣoḍaśasahasrāṇy ekottaraśatādhikāni bhāryāṇām abhavan |
tāsāṃ ca rukmiṇīsatyabhāmājāmbavatīcāruhāsinīpramukhā hy aṣṭau patnyaḥ pradhānā |
tāsu cāṣṭāyutāni lakṣaṃ ca putrāṇāṃ bhagavān akhilamūrtir anādimān ajanayat ||
When Devakí was pregnant the seventh time, Yoganidrá (the sleep of devotion), sent by Vishńu, extricated the embryo from its maternal womb at midnight, and transferred it to that of Rohińí; and from having been thus taken away, the child (who was Balaráma) received the name of Sankarshańa. Next, the divine Vishńu himself, the root of the vast universal tree, inscrutable by the understandings of all gods, demons, sages, and men, past, present, or to come, adored by Brahmá and all the deities, he who is without beginning, middle, or end, being moved to relieve the earth of her load, descended into the womb of Devakí, and was born as her son Vásudeva. Yoganidrá, proud to execute his orders, removed the embryo to Yasodá, the wife of Nanda the cowherd. At his birth the earth was relieved from all iniquity; the sun, moon, and planets shone with unclouded splendour; all fear of calamitous portents was dispelled; and universal happiness prevailed. From the moment he appeared, all mankind were led into the righteous path in him.
Whilst this powerful being resided in this world of mortals, he had sixteen thousand and one hundred wives; of these the principal were Rukminí, Satyabhámá, Jámbavatí, Játahaśiní, and four others. By these the universal form, who is without beginning, begot a hundred and eighty thousand sons, of whom thirteen are most renowned, Pradyumna, Chárudeshńa, Sámba, and others. Pradyumna married Kakudwatí, the daughter of Rukmin, and had by her Aniruddha. Aniruddha married Subhadrá, the granddaughter of the same Rukmin, and she bore him a son named Vajra. The son of Vajra was Báhu; and his son was Sucháru.
Translations (2)
- The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, English
- A Prose English Translation of Vishnupuranam — Manmatha Nath Dutt 1896, English