by Tulsidas
They, too, were great tricksters.
(133)
The crowd in which the muni seated himself,
His heart full of conceit over his beauty,
There the two servants of Mahesh also sat down—
In their Brahman disguise, no one paid them any attention.
They made disparaging and sarcastic jokes, speaking so that Narad might hear—
‘Hari has truly given him such good looks!
Gazing upon his beauty, the princess will be delighted
And will choose him to be her husband, thinking him to be “hari” in truth!’57
The muni was infatuated, his heart in the hands of another,58
And Shambhu’s attendants laughed with delight at the sight.
Even though the muni heard their nonsensical chatter,
He did not understand it, his mind steeped in delusion.
No one could see the change in him,
Except the king’s daughter, who saw his hideous form—
Perceiving his monkey face and ugly body,
Her heart filled with revulsion.
With her friends and handmaidens, the princess
Walked away, as graceful as a swan,
Observing and surveying the assembled kings—
In her lotus hands she held the garland with which she would signal her choice.
(134)
She refused to glance again, even inadvertently,
At Narad swelling with conceit.
Again and again the muni would jump up, anxious and agitated,
And seeing his condition, Har’s attendants laughed.
Then, assuming a kingly body, the compassionate Lord, too, went there—
The princess rejoiced and placed the garland round his neck.
Thus Lakshmi’s lord carried off the bride,
And the assembled kings were left, despairing and disappointed.
The muni, his reason overcome by his infatuation, was distraught,
Like one who has lost a precious jewel he had securely tied in a knot at the end of his robe.
Then Har’s attendants, grinning, said,
‘Go look at your face in a mirror!’
So saying, the two fled away in fear.
The muni looked at his reflection in the water—
Seeing his transformed appearance, he was furious
And immediately pronounced a most dreadful curse:
‘Go, be reborn as night-wandering demons,
You wicked and deceitful pair of sinners—
You laughed at me, so reap the fruit of that.
Dare you laugh again at a muni!’
(135)
He looked again into the water and saw that he had regained his own form,
Even so, his heart was not content—
His lips trembling with fury, his mind filled with rage,
He set off at once in pursuit of Kamla’s lord.lviii
‘I will either curse him or I will die,
For he has made me an object of derision in the world!’
On the way he met that enemy of the Danavs, the Lord himself—
With him were the goddess Ramaa and the same princess.
The Lord of gods spoke in sweet tones,
‘Muni, where are you off to in such distress?’
Hearing these words, Narad was overcome by fury—
For his mind, completely in maya’s grip, had become bereft of reason.
‘You have never been able to stomach another’s prosperity,
Your jealousy and deceit are extraordinary!
Upon the churning of the ocean, you made a fool of Rudra,
And induced the gods to make him drink poison.
You gave liquor to the demons, poison to Shankar,
And took Ramaa and the beautiful Kaustubh jewel for yourself!
You are crooked and wily, and look only to accomplish your own interest,
You behaviour is always deceitful!
(136)
You are supremely self-willed, there is no one above you to whom you are accountable,
You do whatever comes into your mind,
You debase the good and make good the base
And hold neither regret nor joy in your heart.
Constantly cheating and duping everyone, you have become used to such tricks.
You are completely unafraid, and your heart is full of enthusiasm for your pranks,
Neither good nor bad deeds impede your actions,
And till now no one has set you straight.
This time you have sent your gift of deceit to a worthy adversary,
And you will receive the fruit of your doings!
The body that you took on to cheat me—
I curse you—go assume that same form of a man!
You made me look like a monkey,
So monkeys will be your helpers.
You did me great mischief,
And for that you will suffer the grief of separation from a woman.’
Gladly accepting the curse,
The Lord apologized profusely to Narad.
The compassionate one then withdrew
The force of his own maya.
(137)
When Hari withdrew his maya,
Neither Ramaa nor the princess were to be seen.
Then the muni, greatly afraid, fell at Hari’s feet,
‘Save me, you who removes the suffering of the humble!
Let not my curse come true, compassionate one!’
‘It is my will,’ replied the merciful Lord.
‘I uttered many vile and evil words—
For those,’ asked the muni, ‘how will my sin be wiped off?’
‘Go and chant the hundred names of Shankar,
And your heart will at once find peace.
There is no one as dear to me as Shiv—
Do not abandon this belief even by mistake.
One on whom Purari does not bestow his grace,
Muni, never finds faith in me.
Hold this firmly in your heart, and go wander the earth—
My maya will now never overwhelm you again.’
Thus reassuring the muni in many ways
The Lord disappeared.
Narad set off for Brahma’s abode,
Singing the praises of Ram.
(138)
Now, Har’s attendants saw the muni passing by on the road,
His mind free of delusion, and joyful and happy.
In great fear, they came up to Narad,
And clasping his feet, they spoke in piteous tones, words of deep distress:
‘We are Har’s attendants, not Brahmans, great muni!
We committed a grave offence and received our just reward—
But now, compassionate one, we beg you, free us of your curse.’
Narad, ever merciful to the humble, replied,
‘Go, both of you, become night-wandering demons!
Great power, majesty and splendour will be yours!
When, by the strength of your arms, you will have conquered the world,
Vishnu will take on the body of a man.
Your deaths will be in battle at the hands of Hari,
So you will attain liberation and never have to be born in this world again.’
The pair bowed their heads to the muni and left,
And in due course were reborn as demons of the night.
In one kalpa, it was for this reason
That all-powerful Hari became incarnate as a man—
To gladden the gods, comfort the virtuous
And lighten the earth’s burden.
(139)
Thus Hari’s births and deeds are many,
All pleasing, beneficent and wonderful.
In every cycle of creation, the Lord descends to earth,
And performs beautiful deeds in many ways.
And at each descent, the munis sing his story
Composing narratives most pure and perfect,
&
nbsp; With diverse events and incidents incomparably described,
Which the wise hear without wonder.
Hari is without end, without end is Hari’s story,
Told and heard in many ways by all the saints.
Ramchandra’s deeds are pleasing and charming
And cannot be sung even in countless kalpas.
I have related this incident, Bhavani,
To show that Hari’s maya can delude even enlightened munis.
The Lord is playful, but benevolent towards the humble,
Easily accessible to his servants, and the destroyer of all sorrow.
God or man or muni, there is none
Whom the Lord’s powerful maya cannot beguile—
Reflect upon this in your mind
And worship the master of this mighty maya.
(140)
Now listen, daughter of the mountain, to another reason for his descent—
I will relate this extraordinary tale at length,
Explaining why the uncreated, unqualified and formless
All-pervading Spirit of the Universe became the king of Koshal,
The Lord whom you saw wandering in the forest
With his brother, both in the garb of ascetics,
And seeing whose deeds, Bhavani,
You, in Sati’s body, became so bewildered that
Even today the shadow of that madness has not left you.
Listen to his story, which cures the malady of doubt,
And the playful and wondrous acts that he performed in that incarnation—
I will relate them all according to my understanding.
Bharadvaj, when she heard Shankar’s words,
Uma smiled, abashed but full of love.
Brishketu then began to relate
The reason for that particular incarnation.
All of that I will now tell you,
Listen attentively, greatest of munis—
Ram’s story removes the impurities of the age of Kali,
Brings bliss and felicity, and is most pleasing.
(141)
Svayambhuva Manu and Satarupa,59
From whom was born the human race,
Were a couple whose conduct and behaviour were virtuous and good,
And of whose righteous nature, the Vedas sing even now.
The king Uttanapad was their son,
Whose son, Dhruv, became Hari’s devotee;
Their younger son was called Priyavrat,
Whom the Vedas and the Puranas praise.
Then they had a daughter, Devahuti,
Who was the beloved wife of Muni Kardam.
She bore in her womb the first god,
The compassionate and merciful Kapil,
The divine sage skilled in the analysis of essential truths,
Who made manifest and expounded the Sankhya Shastra.60
That Manu ruled for many ages,
Observing, in every way, every directive of the Lord.
‘The fourth stage of life has come upon me while I am still living in my palace,
I have not yet attained detachment from the senses.’
And his heart was filled with grief when he considered that
His birth had passed without true devotion to Hari.
(142)
Thus compelled, he gave his kingdom to his son
And left for the forest with his wife.
Amongst places of pilgrimage, the forest of Naimish is renowned—
Especially sacred, it grants success to all those who seek spiritual achievement.
A community of munis and siddhas lives there,
And there King Manu went, great gladness in his heart.
As they passed along the path, the royal couple of steadfast minds were so full of grace and beauty,
It seemed as though wisdom and devotion had assumed bodily form.
They reached the bank of the river Dhenumati,lix
And bathed joyfully in its pure water.
Siddhas, munis and learned men came to meet them,
Recognizing the royal sage as a strong and mighty upholder of dharma.
The munis took them with reverence
To all the sacred and beautiful places of pilgrimage.
Their spare bodies clad in bark, like hermits,
They listened every day to the Puranas in the company of the sages.
Then, repeatedly chanting with great love
The twelve-lettered mantra,
The couple’s hearts became deeply devoted
To the lotus feet of Vaasudev.61
(143)
They ate leaves, fruits and roots
And meditated upon the Supreme Spirit, who is existence, thought and bliss in one.
Then, in the hope of attaining Hari, they began to practice penance,
Living on water as their only nourishment, and giving up roots and fruits.
In their hearts was the endless desire
To see with their own eyes the Supreme Lord,
Without attributes, indivisible, infinite, without beginning or end,
Upon whom meditate those who seek the highest truth,
Whom the Vedas describe as ‘Not this, not this’,
Who is without form, without name, bliss inherent, incomparable,
And from a particle of whose being were born,
In a multitude of forms, the gods Shambhu, Viranchi and Vishnu.
‘Even such a Lord is subject to his servants
And for the benefit of his devotees, assumes a body his playful wonders to perform—
If this is true, as the Vedas declare,
Our yearning will be fulfilled.’
In this way, six thousand years went by,
While they consumed only water;
And for seven thousand years more,
They subsisted only on air.
(144)
Then, for ten thousand years, they gave up even that,
And stood still, each on one leg.
Seeing their endless penance, Vidhi, Hari and Har
Came again and again to Manu.
‘Ask us for a boon,’ they said, tempting him in many ways.
Despite their attempts, the royal couple, supremely steadfast, remained unmoved.
Though their bodies were reduced to skeletons,
In their hearts and minds there was no distress.
The all-wise omniscient Lord now knew them to be his servants,
The ascetic king and queen, who sought no other refuge but him—
A voice, deep and profound, and steeped in the nectar of compassion,
Was heard in the sky. ‘Ask, ask for a boon!’ it cried.
This voice was so pleasing that it could infuse the dead with life.
When, through their ears, it entered their hearts,
Their bodies grew so strong and beautiful,
It seemed as though they had just come from their palace.
Hearing the voice that was as nectar to the ears,
Their bodies thrilled with joy.
Prostrating himself upon the ground,
His heart overflowing with love, Manu spoke.
(145)
‘You are the wish-fulfilling tree and the wish-granting cow to your servants,
Vidhi, Hari and Har pay homage to the dust of your feet,
Easily attained by those who serve you, you grant all happiness
And are the protector of your devotees, Lord of all beings.
Protector of the unprotected, if you have any love for us,
Grant us your favour and give us this boon:
The form in which you dwell in Shiv’s heart,
That munis strive to attain,
Which is the swan upon the Manas lake of Bhushundi’s heart,
And which the Vedas praise as both with attributes and without—
Grant us your grace and let us behold that form with our own eyes,
You who deliver all suppliants from distress.’
Great
ly pleased by the royal couple’s words,
So sweet and humble, and steeped in love,
The compassionate Lord, devoted to his devotees,
God himself, who pervades the whole universe, manifested himself.
His form was dark, as a blue lotus, a blue sapphire,
And a rain-bearing black cloud.
Seeing the splendour of his body,
Countless Kamdevs blushed.
(146)
His face, as radiant as the full moon in autumn, was the very epitome of beauty,
With lovely cheeks and chin, and conch-like neck with three fine lines behind,
With lips as red as the dawn, and lovely teeth, and shapely nose,
And a smile that put the moonbeams to shame;
His eyes were as lustrous as newly blooming lotuses,
And his glance charmed and enchanted the heart;
His brows stole the beauty of Kamdev’s bow,
And upon his forehead glittered a sandalwood tilak.
Makar-shaped ornaments hung in his ears, a shining crown adorned his head,
His curly hair was like a swarm of bees,
Upon his breast was the Shrivatsa,62 a beautiful garland of wild, forest flowers,
And necklaces interwoven with gems and precious stones.
Upon his shoulders, as strong as a lion’s, gleamed a sacred thread,
The ornaments that encircled his arms were fine and elegant,
While his shapely and muscular arms resembled an elephant’s trunk;
At his waist hung a quiver and in his hands he held a bow and arrows.
His gold-hued garments put the lightning to shame,
Upon his stomach were three auspicious folds,
And his navel was so heart-enchanting that
It robbed the whirlpools in the River Jamuna of their splendour.
(147)
His lotus feet, upon which the minds of munis
Dwell like so many bees, cannot be described.
Upon his left side, shining with a radiance that matches his own,
Is primal energy personified, the accumulation of all splendour, and from whom originates the world,
From a particle of whom spring forth the receptacles of virtue,
Lakshmi, Uma and Brahmanilx in countless forms,
And from the play of whose eyebrows the world is created—
It is her, Sita, on Ram’s left side.