The Bhagavata Purana 2

by Bibek Debroy

  This ends the Eighth Skandha.

  Ninth Skandha

  Chapter 9(1): 42 shlokas

  Chapter 9(2): 36 shlokas

  Chapter 9(3): 36 shlokas

  Chapter 9(4): 72 shlokas

  Chapter 9(5): 27 shlokas

  Chapter 9(6): 56 shlokas

  Chapter 9(7): 26 shlokas

  Chapter 9(8): 31 shlokas

  Chapter 9(9): 49 shlokas

  Chapter 9(10): 57 shlokas

  Chapter 9(11): 36 shlokas

  Chapter 9(12): 16 shlokas

  Chapter 9(13): 27 shlokas

  Chapter 9(14): 49 shlokas

  Chapter 9(15): 41 shlokas

  Chapter 9(16): 36 shlokas

  Chapter 9(17): 17 shlokas

  Chapter 9(18): 51 shlokas

  Chapter 9(19): 29 shlokas

  Chapter 9(20): 40 shlokas

  Chapter 9(21): 36 shlokas

  Chapter 9(22): 48 shlokas

  Chapter 9(23): 39 shlokas

  Chapter 9(24): 65 shlokas

  Chapter 9(1)

  The king said, ‘I have heard what you have said about all the manvantaras and the glorious deeds that the infinitely valorous Hari undertook in those. There was a royal sage named Satyavrata, the lord of the Dravidas. At the end of the last kalpa, by serving Purusha, he obtained knowledge. I have heard that this son of Vivasvat became a Manu. You have also said that Ikshvaku and the other foremost kings were his sons. O brahmana! O immensely fortunate one! We are always eager to hear. Please tell us about their separate lineages and the conduct of those who belonged to those lineages. Tell us everything about their sacred deeds and valour, about those who were there in the past, about those who will be there in the future and about those who are there in the present.’

  Suta said, ‘In the assembly of those who knew about the brahman, King Parikshit thus asked the illustrious Shuka, who knew about supreme dharma.’

  Shri-Shuka replied, ‘O scorcher of enemies! Hear from me the main aspects about Manu’s lineage. Even if I speak for one hundred years, I am incapable of stating it in detail. The supreme Purusha is in the atmans of all creatures, superior and inferior. At the end of the kalpa, the universe did not exist. Nor was there anything else. A golden lotus with a filament sprouted from his navel. O great king! Svayambhu, with the four faces, was generated from this. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Marichi was born from his mental powers. Kashyapa was born from Marichi. Through Daksha’s daughter, Aditi, Vivasvat was born as Kashyapa’s son. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Manu Shraddhadeva was born from Vivasvat and Samjna. Through Shraddha, 1069 Shraddhadeva, who knew about the atman, had ten sons—Ikshvaku, Nriga, Sharyati, Dishta, Dhrishta, Karusha, Narishyanta, Prishadhra, Nabhaga and the lord Kavi. Earlier, when Manu did not have any offspring, for the sake of offspring, the lord made the illustrious Vasishtha perform a sacrifice to Mitra and Varuna. Manu’s wife, Shraddha, was observing payovrata. For the sake of a daughter, she approached the hotri and bowed down before him. 1070 Asked by the advaryu, the hotri controlled himself and picked up the oblations. The brahmana offered these to the chant of vashatkara. However, because of the hotri’s transgression, a daughter named Ila resulted. 1071 On seeing her, Manu was dissatisfied in his mind and spoke to his preceptor. “O illustrious one! All of you know about the brahman. How has she been born then? Alas! This is a calamity and when a rite is being performed in the name of the brahman, this transgression should not have happened. All of you know about the brahman and are full of austerities. You have burnt down all your sins. Like the gods, your pronouncements are never false. What is the cause behind this deviation in your determination?” Hearing these words, the illustrious great-grandfather 1072 got to know about the hotri’s transgression. He spoke to Ravi’s son. 1073 “This is because the hotri committed a transgression. There has been a consequent deviation in the determination. However, using my own energy, I shall ensure that you have an excellent son.” O king! The illustrious and extremely famous one made this decision. Desiring a son, he prayed to the original Purusha so that Ila might become a man. The illustrious lord, Hari, was satisfied and granted him the desired boon. Because of that boon, Ila became Sudyumna, bull among men. O great king! Once, he was wandering around in the forest on a hunt. He was astride a horse from the Sindhu region 1074 and was surrounded by a few advisers. He seized a beautiful bow and extremely wonderful arrows and was armoured. Following a deer, the valiant one headed in a northern direction. He entered a beautiful forest on the foothills of Meru. With Uma, the illustrious Sharva was sporting himself there. Sudyumna, the slayer of enemy heroes, entered that spot. O king! He saw that he himself had become a woman and his horse had become a mare. All his followers also saw that their genders had got changed. They were dejected in their minds and glanced at each other.’

  The king asked, ‘O illustrious one! How did that region come to possess such qualities and who brought this about? Please answer this question. We have a great curiosity.’

  Shri-Shuka replied, ‘Once, the rishis, excellent in their vows, went there to see Girisha. They arrived there, illuminating all the directions with their radiance. The goddess Ambika was nude then and was extremely ashamed to see them. She arose from her husband’s lap and quickly covered herself with her lower garment. On seeing that the two of them were engaged in sexual pleasures, the rishis withdrew and went to the hermitage of Nara and Narayana. Desiring to bring pleasure to his beloved, the illustrious one spoke to his beloved. “Anyone who enters this place will become a woman.” Since that time, every man has avoided that forest. However, followed by her advisers, she 1075 roamed around, from that forest to another forest. The illustrious Budha saw that excellent woman roaming around near his hermitage, surrounded by women, and was smitten by desire. The one with the excellent eyebrows also wanted to have the son of King Soma as her husband. Through her, he gave birth to a son named Pururava. O king! We have heard that having become a woman, Manu’s son, Sudyumna, remembered Vasishtha, the preceptor of their lineage. He saw her in that difficult state and was filled with great compassion. Desiring that Sudyumna should become a man again, he worshipped Shankara. O lord of the earth! Satisfied with the rishi, the illustrious one wanted to give him pleasure, but he did not wish to render his own words false. He said, “Sudyumna, who has been descended from your gotra, will be a man for one month and a woman for another month. In this way, as he wills, let him protect the earth.” Through this means and through his preceptor’s favours, he fulfilled his desire of becoming a man. He ruled the world, though the subjects did not like the idea. O king! He had three sons, Utkala, Gaya and Vimala. They were devoted to dharma and became kinds of dakshinapatha. 1076 When he aged, the lord who was the king of Pratishthana 1077 left for the forest, handing over the earth to his son, Pururava.’

  Chapter 9(2)

  Shri-Shuka said, ‘When his son Sudyumna left in this way, Vaivasvata Manu 1078 desired sons. On the banks of the Yamuna, he tormented himself through austerities for one hundred years. For the sake of offspring, he worshipped the divinity, lord Hari, and obtained ten sons who were just like him. Ikshvaku was the eldest. His preceptor asked Manu’s son, Prishadhra, to look after the cattle. Thus, he would spend the night in the vow of virasana, 1079 tending to the cattle. Once, in the night, when it was raining, a tiger entered the pen meant for cattle. The cows that were asleep were terrified and it got them running around here and there in the area. The powerful one 1080 seized a cow and, afflicted by fear, it started to shriek. Hearing the scream, Prishadhra followed the sound. When the stars were covered by clouds, in the night, he quickly seized his sword. In his ignorance, taking the cow’s head to be that of the tiger’s, he severed it. However, the tiger’s ear was also lopped off by the sharp sword. It fled in great fear, shedding drops of blood along the path. Prishadhra, the slayer of enemy heroes, thought that he had killed the tiger. However, when the night was over, he saw that he had killed the cow and was miserable. Although he had com
mited the crime innocently, the preceptor of the lineage 1081 cursed him. “Because of this sin, you won’t be reborn as a kshatra-bandhu, but as a shudra.” When he was cursed by his preceptor in this way, he accepted it, with his hands joined in salutation. The brave one adopted the vow of holding up his seed, so loved by sages. With all his soul, he was devoted to the illustrious one who is in all atmans and is supreme and unblemished. He was full of single-minded faith towards him. He was impartial and a friend towards all creatures. He was free of attachment and tranquil in his atman. He was restrained in vision and did not accept anything from anyone. He sustained himself on the basis of whatever came to him, of its own accord. He fixed his atman on the atman. 1082 He was controlled and content in his knowledge. Assuming the form of a person who was blind, deaf and dumb, he roamed around on earth. Conducting himself in this way, he went to a forest and saw that a forest conflagration was raging. The sage took this as an opportunity to burn himself up and obtained the supreme brahman. The youngest, Kavi, was indifferent towards material objects. He gave up the kingdom, and with his relatives, retired to the forest. He immersed his mind in the self-luminiscent Purusha. Though he had still not attained youth, he obtained the supreme.

  ‘From Karusha, Manu’s son, were born the Karusha kshatriyas. They were devoted to brahmanas and dharma and protected uttarapatha. 1083 The Dhrishtas were born from Dhrishta. Though they were born as kshatriyas, they became brahmanas on earth. Sumati was born in Nriga’s lineage. Sumati’s son was Bhutajyoti and Bhutajyoti’s son was Vasu. Vasu’s son was Pratika and Pratika’s son was Oghavan. Oghavan was the father of Oghavat and a daughter named Oghavati, who was married to Sudarshana. Narishyanta’s son was Chitrasena and Chitrasena had a son named Riksha. Riksha’s son was Midhvan, Midhvan’s son was Kurcha and Kurcha’s son was Indrasena. Indrasena’s son was Vitihotra and Vitihotra’s son was Satyashrava. Satyashrava’s son was Urushrava and Urushrava’s son was Devadatta. Devadatta’s son was Agniveshya, who was none other than the illustrious Agni himself. This great rishi was also famous as Kanina and Jatukarnya. O king! The brahmana lineage known as Agniveshyana was descended from Agniveshya. I have spoken about Narishyanta’s descendants. Now hear about Dishta’s lineage. Nabhaga was Dishta’s son. However, because he followed a different kind of conduct, he became a vaishya. His son was Bhalandana and Bhalandana’s son was Vatsapriti. Vatsapriti’s son was Pramshu and Pramshu’s son was known as Pramati. Pramati’s son was Khanitra, Khanitra’s son was Chakshusha and Chakshusha’s son was Vivimshati. Vivimshati’s son was Rambha and Rambha’s son was Khaninetra, devoted to dharma. O great king! O king! Karandhama was Khaninetra’s son. Karandhama’s son was Avikshit and Avikshit’s son was Marutta, who became an emperor. 1084 The great yogi, Samvarta, the son of Angiras made him undertake a sacrifice. No one else has ever undertaken a sacrifice like that of Marutta. Every object was made out of gold. Everything was beautiful. Having drunk a lot of soma, Indra was intoxicated. The brahmanas were satisfied with dakshina. Marutta offered food to all the Vishvadevas who were part of the assembly. Marutta’s son was Dama and Dama’s son was Rajyavardhana. His son was Sudhriti and Nara was born as Sudhriti’s son. Nara’s son was Kevala, Kevala’s son was Bandhuman and Banduman’s son was Vegavan. Bandhu was Vegavan’s son and Bandhu’s son was King Trinabindu. As a store of qualities, he deserved to be worshipped. Therefore, the divine apsara, Alambusha, served him and gave birth to sons. She also had Ilavila as a daughter. Through her, Vishrava had Dhanada 1085 as a son. From his father, the supreme rishi who was the lord of yoga, he 1086 obtained knowledge. His 1087 sons were Vishala, Shunyabandhu and Dhumraketu. King Vishala set up the lineage of Vishala and constructed the city of Vaishali. His 1088 son was Hemachandra and Hemachandra’s son was Dhumraksha. Dhumraksha’s son was Samyama and Samyama’s sons were Krishashva and Devaja. Somadatta was Krishashva’s son. He was a king who performed horse sacrifices and worshipped the foremost Purusha, the lord of yoga, obtaining the supreme destination. Somadatta’s son was Sumati and Sumati’s son was Janamejaya. The kings of Vishala were the ones who sustained Trinabindu’s fame.’

  Chapter 9(3)

  Shri-Shuka continued, ‘King Sharyati, Manu’s son, was full of knowledge about the brahman. In a sacrifice performed by those of the Angiras lineage, he is the one who explained the rituals to be followed on the second day of the sacrifice. He had a lotus-eyed daughter named Sukanya. Having gone to the forest with her, he went to Chyavana’s hermitage. Surrounded by her friends, she searched amongst the trees in the forest. In a termite hill, she saw two holes that gleamed like fireflies. Goaded by destiny, the maiden poked those shining holes with a thorn. When she pierced them in her ignorance, blood flowed out. 1089 Immediately, all the soldiers could no longer pass urine or excrement. On seeing that his men were in this state, the royal sage was surprised. He asked, “Has anyone among you caused any harm to the one from Bhrigu’s lineage? It is evident that someone must have defiled his hermitage.” Sukanya was scared and told her father, “I have done something. There were two shining objects. In my ignorance, I pierced them with a thorn.” Hearing his daughter’s words, Sharyati was terrified. The sage was inside the termite hill and he tried to gently assuage him. Understanding what the sage wanted, he bestowed his daughter on him. Having been freed from his hardship in this way, he took his 1090 permission and returned to his city. Sukanya obtained Chyavana, who was extremely prone to anger, as her husband. She pleased him and understanding his wishes, always followed him, without getting distracted.

  ‘After some time, the two Nasatyas 1091 arrived in the hermitage. After worshipping them, he said, “O lords! Grant me young age. Though you are not entitled to drink soma at sacrifices, I will give you a pot full of soma. But grant me the youth and beauty that women desire.” Those two excellent physicians honoured the brahmana and agreed. They said, “Immerse yourself in this lake. It has been constructed by the Siddhas.” He was old and his veins were visible. His skin was shrivelled and his hair was grey. The two Ashvins seized this body and immersed it in the lake. Three handsome men arose, with forms loved by women. They wore garlands of lotuses and earrings. They were attired in excellent garments and they were identical to each other in form. They were as radiant as the sun and similar in beauty. On seeing them, the beautiful and virtuous lady could not identify her husband. She sought refuge with the two Ashvins. Satisfied with her devotion to her husband, they pointed out her husband to her. Taking leave of the rishi, they went to heaven in a vimana. Wishing to perform a sacrifice, Sharyati went to Chyavana’s hermitage. He saw his daughter, alongside a man who was as radiant as the sun. When his daughter honoured his feet, the king did not offer her blessings. Instead, he seemed to be displeased with her. “What do you want to do? Your husband is a sage who is revered by the worlds, but you have cheated him. O evil one! Because he was old and not attractive, you have abandoned him and are serving a lover you picked up along the way. You have been born in a noble and virtuous lineage! How can you harbour such intentions? You have acted in a perverse way and have defiled the lineage. You are shamelessly serving a lover. You have flung downwards the lineages of your father and your husband.” Addressed by her father in this way, the one with the beautiful smiles smiled. She said, “O father! This is your son-in-law, the descendant of the Bhrigu lineage.” She told her father everything about how he had got back his youth and beauty. He was astounded and with great affection, embraced his daughter. Chyavana made the brave one perform a soma sacrifice. The two Ashvins were not meant to drink soma. However, using his own energy, he gave them a pot of soma. Indra became filled with rage and intolerance and instantly raised his vajra, so as to kill him. But Bhargava paralysed his arm, along with the vajra. The two Ashvins were physicians and had formerly been barred from obtaining a share of the soma oblations. However, thereafter, everyone granted them a pot of soma.