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Shreemad
Bhagavatam
Canto
4
Chapters 1 to 5
Chapter One Genealogical Table of the Daughters of Manu
1. Sri Maitreya said: Svayambhuva Manu begot three daughters in his wife Satarupa, and their names were Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti.
2. Akuti had two brothers, but in spite of her brothers, King Svayambhuva Manu handed her over to Prajapati Ruci on the condition that the son born of her be returned to Manu as his son. This he did in consultation with his wife, Satarupa.
3. Ruci, who was very powerful in his brahminical qualifications and was appointed one of the progenitors of the living entities, begot one son and one daughter by his wife, Akuti.
4. Of the two children born of Akuti, the male child was directly an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His name was Yajna, which is another name of Lord Visnu. The female child was a partial incarnation of Laksmi, the goddess of fortune, the eternal consort of Lord Visnu.
5. Svayambhuva Manu very gladly brought home the beautiful boy named Yajna, and Ruci, his son-in-law, kept with him the daughter, Daksina.
6. The Lord of the ritualistic performance of yajna later married Daksina, who was anxious to have the Personality of Godhead as her husband, and in this wife the Lord was also very much pleased to beget twelve children.
7. The twelve boys born of Yajna and Daksina were named Tosa, Pratosa, Santosa, Bhadra, Santi, Idaspati, Idhma, Kavi, Vibhu, Svahna, Sudeva and Rocana.
8. During the time of Svayambhuva Manu, these sons all became the demigods collectively named the Tusitas. Marici became the head of the seven rsis, and Yajna became the king of the demigods, Indra.
9. Svayambhuva Manu’s two sons, Priyavrata and Uttanapada, became very powerful kings, and their sons and grandsons spread all over the three worlds during that period.
10. My dear son, Svayambhuva Manu handed over his very dear daughter Devahuti to Kardama Muni. I have already spoken to you about them, and you have heard about them almost in full.
11. Svayambhuva Manu handed over his daughter Prasuti to the son of Brahma named Daksa, who was also one of the progenitors of the living entities. The descendants of Daksa are spread throughout the three worlds.
12. You have already been informed about the nine daughters of Kardama Muni, who were handed over to nine different sages. I shall now describe the descendants of those nine daughters. Please hear from me.
13. Kardama Muni’s daughter Kala, who was married to Marici, gave birth to two children, whose names were Kasyapa and Purnima. Their descendants are spread all over the world.
14. My dear Vidura, of the two sons, Kasyapa and Purnima, Purnima begot three children, namely Viraja, Visvaga and Devakulya. Of these three, Devakulya was the water which washed the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead and which later on transformed into the Ganges of the heavenly planets.
15. Anasuya, the wife of Atri Muni, gave birth to three very famous sons—Soma, Dattatreya and Durvasa—who were partial representations of Lord Visnu, Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. Soma was a partial representation of Lord Brahma, Dattatreya was a partial representation of Lord Visnu, and Durvasa was a partial representation of Lord Siva.
16. After hearing this, Vidura inquired from Maitreya: My dear master, how is it that the three deities Brahma, Visnu and Siva, who are the creator, maintainer and destroyer of the whole creation, became the offspring of the wife of Atri Muni?
17. Maitreya said: When Lord Brahma ordered Atri Muni to create generations after marrying Anasuya, Atri Muni and his wife went to perform severe austerities in the valley of the mountain known as Rksa.
18. In that mountain valley flows a river named Nirvindhya. On the bank of the river are many asoka trees and other plants full of palasa flowers, and there is always the sweet sound of water flowing from a waterfall. The husband and wife reached that beautiful place.
19. There the great sage concentrated his mind by the yogic breathing exercises, and thereby controlling all attachment, he remained standing on one leg only, eating nothing but air, and stood there on one leg for one hundred years.
20. He was thinking: May the Lord of the universe, of whom I have taken shelter, kindly he pleased to offer me a son exactly like Him.
21. While Atri Muni was engaged in these severe austerities, a blazing fire came out of his head by virtue of his breathing exercise, and that fire was seen by the three principal deities of the three worlds.
22. At that time, the three deities approached the hermitage of Atri Muni, accompanied by the denizens of the heavenly planets, such as the celestial beauties, the Gandharvas, the Siddhas, the Vidyadharas and the Nagas. Thus they entered the asrama of the great sage, who had become famous by his austerities.
23. The sage was standing on one leg, but as soon as he saw that the three deities had appeared before him, he was so pleased to see them all together that despite great difficulty he approached them on one leg.
24. Thereafter he began to offer prayers to the three deities, who were seated on different carriers—a bull, a swan and Garuda—and who held in their hands a drum, kusa grass and a discus. The sage offered them his respects by falling down like a stick.
25. Atri Muni was greatly pleased to see that the three devas were gracious towards him. His eyes were dazzled by the effulgence of their bodies, and therefore he closed his eyes for the time being.
26-27. But since his heart was already attracted by the deities, somehow or other he gathered his senses, and with folded hands and sweet words he began to offer prayers to the predominating deities of the universe. The great sage Atri said: O Lord Brahma, Lord Visnu and Lord Siva, you have divided yourself into three bodies by accepting the three modes of material nature, as you do in every millennium for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all of you and beg to inquire whom of you three I have called by my prayer.
28. I called for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, desiring a son like Him, and I thought of Him only. But although He is far beyond the mental speculation of man, all three of you have come here. Kindly let me know how you have come, for I am greatly bewildered about this.
29. The great sage Maitreya continued: Upon hearing Atri Muni speak in that way, the three great deities smiled, and they replied in the following sweet words.
30. The three deities told Atri Muni: Dear brahmana, you are perfect in your determination, and therefore as you have decided, so it will happen; it will not happen otherwise. We are all the same person upon whom you were meditating, and therefore we have all come to you.
31. You will have sons who will represent a partial manifestation of our potency, and because we desire all good fortune for you, those sons will glorify your reputation throughout the world.
32. Thus, while the couple looked on, the three deities Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara disappeared from that place after bestowing upon Atri Muni the benediction.
33. Thereafter, from the partial representation of Brahma, the moon-god was born of them; from the partial representation of Visnu, the great mystic Dattatreya was born; and from the partial representation of Sankara [Lord Siva], Durvasa was born. Now you may hear from me of the many sons of Angira.
34. Angira’s wife, Sraddha, gave birth to four daughters, named Sinivali, Kuhu, Raka and Anumati.
35. Besides these four daughters, she also had another two sons. One of them was known as Utathya, and the other was the learned scholar Brhaspati.
36. Pulastya begot in his wife, Havirbhu, one son of the name Agastya, who in his next birth became Dahragni. Besides him, Pulastya begot another very great and saintly son, whose name was Visrava.
37. Visrava had two wives. The first wife was Idavida, from whom Kuvera, the master of all Yaksas, was born, and the next wife was named Kesini, from whom three sons were born—Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vihhisana.
38. Gati, the wife of the sage Pulaha, gave birth to three sons, named Karmarestha, Variyan and Sahisnu, and all of them were great sages.
39. Kratu’s wife, Kriya, gave birth to sixty thousand great sages, named the Valakhilyas. All these sages were greatly advanced in spiritual knowledge, and their bodies were illuminated by such knowledge.
40. The great sage Vasistha begot in his wife, Urja, sometimes called Arundhati, seven spotlessly great sages, headed by the sage named Citraketu.
41. The names of these seven sages are as follows: Citraketu, Suroci, Viraja, Mitra, Ulbana, Vasubhrdyana and Dyuman. Some other very competent sons were born from Vasistha’s other wife.
42. Citti, wife of the sage Atharva, gave birth to a son named Asvasira by accepting a great vow called Dadhyanca. Now you may hear from me about the descendants of the sage Bhrgu.
43. The sage Bhrgu was highly fortunate. In his wife, known as Khyati, he begot two sons, named Dhata and Vidhata, and one daughter, named Sri, who was very much devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
44. The sage Meru had two daughters, named Ayati and Niyati, whom he gave in charity to Dhata and Vidhata. Ayati and Niyati gave birth to two sons, Mrkanda and Prana.
45. From Mrkanda, Markandeya Muni was born, and from Prana the sage Vedaira, whose son was Usana [Sukracarya], also known as Kavi. Thus Kavi also belonged to the descendants of the Bhrgu dynasty.
46-47. My dear Vidura, the population of the universe was thus increased by the descendants of these sages and the daughters of Kardama. Anyone who hears the descriptions of this dynasty with faith will be relieved from all sinful reactions. Another of Manu’s daughters, known as Prasuti, married the son of Brahma named Daksa.
48. Daksa begot sixteen very beautiful daughters with lotuslike eyes in his wife Prasuti. Of these sixteen daughters, thirteen were given in marriage to Dharma, and one daughter was given to Agni.
49-52. One of the remaining two daughters was given in charity to the Pitrloka, where she resides very amicably, and the other was given to Lord Siva, who is the deliverer of sinful persons from material entanglement. The names of the thirteen daughters of Daksa who were given to Dharma are Sraddha, Maitri, Daya, Santi, Tusti, Pusti, Kriya, Unnati, Buddhi, Medha, Titiksa, Hri and Murti. These thirteen daughters produced the following sons: Sraddha gave birth to Subha, Maitri produced Prasada, Daya gave birth to Abhaya, Santi gave birth to Sukha, Tusti gave birth to Muda, Pusti gave birth to Smaya, Kriya gave birth to Yoga, Unnati gave birth to Barpa, Buddhi gave birth to Artha, Medha gave birth to Smrti, Titiksa gave birth to Ksema, and Hri gave birth to Praraya. Murti, a reservoir of all respectable qualities, gave birth to Sri Nara-Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
53. On the occasion of the appearance of Nara-Narayana, the entire world was full of joy. Everyone’s mind became tranquil, and thus in all directions the air, the rivers and the mountains became pleasant.
54-55. In the heavenly planets, hands began to play, and they showered flowers from the sky. The pacified sages chanted Vedic prayers, the denizens of heaven known as the Gandharvas and Kinnaras sang, the beautiful damsels of the heavenly planets danced, and in this way, at the time of the appearance of Nara-Narayana, all signs of good fortune were visible. Just at that time, great demigods like Brahma also offered their respectful prayers.
56. The demigods said: Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the transcendental Personality of Godhead, who created as His external energy this cosmic manifestation, which is situated in Him as the air and clouds are situated in space, and who has now appeared in the form of Nara-Narayana Rsi in the house of Dharma.
57. Let that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is understood by truly authorized Vedic literature and who has created peace and prosperity to destroy all calamities of the created world, be kind enough to bestow His glance upon the demigods. His merciful glance can supersede the beauty of the spotless lotus flower which is the home of the goddess of fortune.
58. [Maitreya said:] O Vidura, thus the demigods worshiped with prayers the Supreme Personality of Godhead appearing as the sage Nara-Narayana. The Lord glanced upon them with mercy and then departed for Gandhamadana Hill.
59. That Nara-Narayana Rsi, who is a partial expansion of Krishna, has now appeared in the dynasties of Yadu and Kuru, in the forms of Krishna and Arjuna respectively, to mitigate the burden of the world.
60. The predominating deity of fire begot in his wife, Svaha, three children, named Pavaka, Pavamana and Suci, who exist by eating the oblations offered to the fire of sacrifice.
61. From those three sons another forty-five descendants were generated, who are also fire-gods. The total number of fire-gods is therefore forty-nine, including the fathers and the grandfather.
62. These forty-nine fire-gods are the beneficiaries of the oblations offered in the Vedic sacrificial fire by impersonalist brahmanas.
63. The Agnisvattas, the Barhisadas, the Saumyas and the Ajyapas are the Pitas. They are either sagnika or niragnika. The wife of all these Pitas is Svadha, who is the daughter of King Daksa.
64. Svadha, who was offered to the Pitas, begot two daughters named Vayuna and Dharini, both of whom were impersonalists and were expert in transcendental and Vedic knowledge.
65. The sixteenth daughter, whose name was Sati, was the wife of Lord Siva. She could not produce a child, although she always faithfully engaged in the service of her husband.
66. The reason is that Sati’s father, Daksa, used to rebuke Lord Siva in spite of Siva’s faultlessness. Consequently, before attaining a mature age, Sati gave up her body by dint of yogic mystic power.
Chapter Two Daksa Curses Lord Siva
1. Vidura inquired: Why was Daksa, who was so affectionate towards his daughter, envious of Lord Siva, who is the best among the gentle? Why did he neglect his daughter Sati?
2. Lord Siva, the spiritual master of the entire world, is free from enmity, is a peaceful personality, and is always satisfied in himself. He is the greatest among the demigods. How is it possible that Daksa could be inimical towards such an auspicious personality?
3. My dear Maitreya, to part with one’s life is very difficult. Would you kindly explain to me how such a son-in-law and father-in-law could quarrel so bitterly that the great goddess Sati could give up her life?
4. The sage Maitreya said: In a former time, the leaders of the universal creation performed a great sacrifice in which all the great sages, philosophers, demigods and fire-gods assembled with their followers.
5. When Daksa, the leader of the Prajapatis, entered that assembly, his personal bodily luster as bright as the effulgence of the sun, the entire assembly was illuminated, and all the assembled personalities became insignificant in his presence.
6. Influenced by his personal bodily luster, all the fire-gods and other participants in that great assembly, with the exceptions of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, gave up their own sitting places and stood in respect for Daksa.
7. Daksa was adequately welcomed by the president of the great assembly, Lord Brahma. After offering Lord Brahma respect, Daksa, by the order of Brahma, properly took his seat.
8. Before taking his seat, however, Daksa was very much offended to see Lord Siva sitting and not showing him any respect. At that time, Daksa became greatly angry, and, his eyes glowing, he began to speak very strongly against Lord Siva.
9. All sages, brahmanas and fire-gods present, please hear me with attention, for I speak about the manners of gentle persons. I do not speak out of ignorance or envy.
10. Siva has spoiled the name and fame of the governors of the universe and has polluted the path of gentle manners. Because he is shameless, he does not know how to act.
11. He has already accepted himself as my subordinate by marrying my daughter in the presence of fire and brahmanas. He has married my daughter, who is equal to Gayatri, and has pretended to be just like an honest person.
12. He has eyes like a monkey’s, yet he has married my daughter, whose eyes are just like those of a deer cub. Nevertheless he did not stand up to receive me, nor did he think it fit to welcome me with sweet words.
13. I had no desire to give my daughter to this person, who has broken all rules of civility. Because of not observing the required rules and regulations, he is impure, but I was obliged to hand over my daughter to him just as one teaches the messages of the Vedas to a sudra.
14-15. He lives in filthy places like crematoriums, and his companions are the ghosts and demons. Naked like a madman, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying, he smears crematorium ashes all over his body. He does not bathe regularly, and he ornaments his body with a garland of skulls and bones. Therefore only in name is he Siva, or auspicious; actually, he is the most mad and inauspicious creature. Thus he is very dear to crazy beings in the gross mode of ignorance, and he is their leader.
16. On the request of Lord Brahma I handed over my chaste daughter to him, although he is devoid of all cleanliness and his heart is filled with nasty things.
17. The sage Maitreya continued: Thus Daksa, seeing Lord Siva sitting as if against him, washed his hands and mouth and cursed him in the following words.
18. The demigods are eligible to share in the oblations of sacrifice, but Lord Siva, who is the lowest of all the demigods, should not have a share.
19. Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, in spite of the requests of all the members of the sacrificial assembly, Daksa, in great anger, cursed Lord Siva and then left the assembly and went back to his home.
20. Upon understanding that Lord Siva had been cursed, Nandisvara, one of Lord Siva’s principal associates, became greatly angry. His eyes became red, and he prepared to curse Daksa and all the brahmanas present there who had tolerated Daksa’s cursing Siva in harsh words.
21. Anyone who has accepted Daksa as the most important personality and neglected Lord Siva because of envy is less intelligent and, because of visualizing in duality, will be bereft of transcendental knowledge.
22. Pretentiously religious householder life, in which one is attracted to material happiness and thus also attracted to the superficial explanation of the Vedas, robs one of all intelligence and attaches one to fruitive activities as all in all.
23. Daksa has accepted the body as all in all. Therefore, since he has forgotten the visnu-pada, or visnu-gati, and is attached to sex life only, within a short time he will have the face of a goat.
24. Those who have become as dull as matter by cultivating materialistic education and intelligence are nesciently involved in fruitive activities. Such men have purposely insulted Lord Siva. May they continue in the cycle of repeated birth and death.
25. May those who are envious of Lord Siva, being attracted by the flowery language of the enchanting Vedic promises, and who have thus become dull, always remain attached to fruitive activities.
26. These brahmanas take to education, austerity and vows only for the purpose of maintaining the body. They shall be devoid of discrimination between what to eat and what not to eat. They will acquire money, begging from door to door, simply for the satisfaction of the body.
27. When all the hereditary brahmanas were thus cursed by Nandisvara, the sage Bhrgu, as a reaction, condemned the followers of Lord Siva with this very strong brahminical curse.
28. One who takes a vow to satisfy Lord Siva or who follows such principles will certainly become an atheist and be diverted from transcendental scriptural injunctions.
29. Those who vow to worship Lord Siva are so foolish that they imitate him by keeping long hair on their heads. When initiated into worship of Lord Siva, they prefer to live on wine, flesh and other such things.
30. Bhrgu Muni continued: Since you blaspheme the Vedas and the brahmanas, who are followers of the Vedic principles, it is understood that you have already taken shelter of the doctrine of atheism.
31. The Vedas give the eternal regulative principles for auspicious advancement in human civilization which have been rigidly followed in the past. The strong evidence of this principle is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is called Janardana, the well-wisher of all living entities.
32. By blaspheming the principles of the Vedas, which are the pure and supreme path of the saintly persons, certainly you followers of Bhutapati, Lord Siva, will descend to the standard of atheism without a doubt.
33. The sage Maitreya said: When such cursing and countercursing was going on between Lord Siva’s followers and the parties of Daksa and Bhrgu, Lord Siva became very morose. Not saying anything, he left the arena of the sacrifice, followed by his disciples.
34. The sage Maitreya continued: O Vidura, all the progenitors of the universal population thus executed a sacrifice for thousands of years, for sacrifice is the best way to worship the Supreme Lord, Hari, the Personality of Godhead.
35. My dear Vidura, carrier of bows and arrows, all the demigods who were performing the sacrifice took their bath at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna after completing the yajna performance. Such a bath is called avabhrtha-snana. After thus becoming purified in heart, they departed for their respective abodes.
Chapter Three Talks Between Lord Siva and Sati
1. Maitreya continued: In this manner the tension between the father-in-law and son-in-law, Daksa and Lord Siva, continued for a considerably long period.
2. When Lord Brahma appointed Daksa the chief of all the Prajapatis, the progenitors of population, Daksa became very much puffed up.
3. Daksa began a sacrifice named vajapeya, and he became excessively confident of his support by Lord Brahma, He then performed another great sacrifice, named brhaspati-sava.
4. While the sacrifice was being performed, many brahmarsis, great sages, ancestral demigods and other demigods, their wives all very nicely decorated with ornaments, attended from different parts of the universe.
5-7. The chaste lady Sati, the daughter of Daksa, heard the heavenly denizens flying in the sky conversing about the great sacrifice being performed by her father. When she saw that from all directions the beautiful wives of the heavenly denizens, their eyes very beautifully glittering, were near her residence and were going to the sacrifice dressed in fine clothing and ornamented with earrings and necklaces with lockets, she approached her husband, the master of the bhutas, in great anxiety, and spoke as follows.
8. Sati said: My dear Lord Siva, your father-in-law is now executing great sacrifices, and all the demigods, having been invited by him, are going there. If you desire, we may also go.
9. I think that all my sisters must have gone to this great sacrificial ceremony with their husbands just to see their relatives. I also desire to decorate myself with the ornaments given to me by my father and go there with you to participate in that assemble.
10. My sisters, my mother’s sisters and their husbands, and other affectionate relatives must be assembled there, so if I go I shall be able to see them, and I shall be able to see the flapping flags and the performance of the sacrifice by the great sages. For these reasons, my dear husband, I am very much anxious to go.
11. This manifested cosmos is a wonderful creation of the interaction of the three material modes, or the external energy of the Supreme Lord. This truth is fully known to you. Yet I am but a poor woman, and, as you know, I am not conversant with the truth. Therefore I wish to see my birthplace once more.
12. O never-born, O blue-throated one, not only my relatives but also other women, dressed in nice clothes and decorated with ornaments, are going there with their husbands and friends. Just see how their flocks of white airplanes have made the entire sky very beautiful.
13. O best of the demigods, how can the body of a daughter remain undisturbed when she hears that some festive event is taking place in her father’s house? Even though you may be considering that I have not been invited, there is no harm if one goes to the house of one’s friend, husband, spiritual master or father without invitation.
14. O immortal Siva, please be kind towards me and fulfill my desire. You have accepted me as half of your body; therefore please show kindness towards me and accept my request.
15. The great sage Maitreya said: Lord Siva, the deliverer of the hill Kailasa, having thus been addressed by his dear wife, replied smilingly, although at the same time he remembered the malicious, heart-piercing speeches delivered by Daksa before the guardians of the universal affairs.
16. The great lord replied: My dear beautiful wife, you have said that one may go to a friend’s house without being invited, and this is true, provided such a friend does not find fault with the guest because of bodily identification and thereby become angry towards him.
17. Although the six qualities education, austerity, wealth, beauty, youth and heritage are for the highly elevated, one who is proud of possessing them becomes blind, and thus he loses his good sense and cannot appreciate the glories of great personalities.
18. One should not go to anyone’s house, even on the consideration of his being a relative or a friend, when the man is disturbed in his mind and looks upon the guest with raised eyebrows and angry eyes.
19. Lord Siva continued: If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief continues to rend one’s heart day and night.
20. My dear white-complexioned wife, it is clear that of the many daughters of Daksa you are the pet, yet you will not be honored at his house because of your being my wife. Rather, you will be sorry that you are connected with me.
21. One who is conducted by false ego and thus always distressed, both mentally and sensually, cannot tolerate the opulence of self-realized persons. Being unable to rise to the standard of self-realization, he envies such persons as much as demons envy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
22. My dear young wife, certainly friends and relatives offer mutual greetings by standing up, welcoming one another and offering obeisances. But those who are elevated to the transcendental platform, being intelligent, offer such respects to the Supersoul, who is sitting within the body, not to the person who identifies with the body.
23. I am always engaged in offering obeisances to Lord Vasudeva in pure Krna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is always pure consciousness, in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead, known as Vasudeva, is revealed without any covering.
24. Therefore you should not see your father, although he is the giver of your body, because he and his followers are envious of me. Because of his envy, O most worshipful one, he has insulted me with cruel words although I am innocent.
25. If in spite of this instruction you decide to go, neglecting my words, the future will not be good for you. You are most respectable, and when you are insulted by your relative, this insult will immediately be equal to death.
Chapter Four Sati Quits Her Body
1. The sage Maitreya said: Lord Siva was silent after speaking to Sati, seeing her between decisions. Sati was very much anxious to see her relatives at her father’s house, but at the same time she was afraid of Lord Siva’s warning. Her mind unsettled, she moved in and out of the room as a swing moves this way and that.
2. Sati felt very sorry at being forbidden to go see her relatives at her father’s house, and due to affection for them, tears fell from her eyes. Shaking and very much afflicted, she looked at her uncommon husband, Lord Siva, as if she were going to blast him with her vision.
3. Thereafter Sati left her husband, Lord Siva, who had given her half his body due to affection. Breathing very heavily because of anger and bereavement, she went to the house of her father. This less intelligent act was due to her being a weak woman.
4. When they saw Sati leaving alone very rapidly, thousands of Lord Siva’s disciples, headed by Maniman and Mada, quickly followed her with his bull Nandi in front and accompanied by the Yaksas.
5. The disciples of Lord Siva arranged for Sati to be seated on the back of a bull and gave her the bird which was her pet. They bore a lotus flower, a mirror and all such paraphernalia for her enjoyment and covered her with a great canopy. Followed by a singing party with drums, conchshells and bugles, the entire procession was as pompous as a royal parade.
6. She then reached her father’s house, where the sacrifice was being performed, and entered the arena where everyone was chanting the Vedic hymns. The great sages, brahmanas and demigods were all assembled there, and there were many sacrificial animals, as well as pots made of clay, stone, gold, grass and skin, which were all requisite for the sacrifice.
7. When Sati, with her followers, reached the arena, because all the people assembled were afraid of Daksa, none of them received her well. No one welcomed her but her mother and sisters, who, with tears in their eyes and with glad faces, welcomed her and talked with her very pleasingly.
8. Although she was received by her sisters and mother, she did not reply to their words of reception, and although she was offered a seat and presents, she did not accept anything, for her father neither talked with her nor welcomed her by asking about her welfare.
9. Present in the arena of sacrifice, Sati saw that there were no oblations for her husband, Lord Siva. Next she realized that not only had her father failed to invite Lord Siva, but when he saw Lord Siva’s exalted wife, Daksa did not receive her either. Thus she became greatly angry, so much so that she looked at her father as if she were going to burn him with her eyes.
10. The followers of Lord Siva, the ghosts, were ready to injure or kill Daksa, but Sati stopped them by her order. She was very angry and sorrowful, and in that mood she began to condemn the process of sacrificial fruitive activities and persons who are very proud of such unnecessary and troublesome sacrifices. She especially condemned her father, speaking against him in the presence of all.
11. The blessed goddess said: Lord Siva is the most beloved of all living entities. He has no rival. No one is very dear to him, and no one is his enemy. No one but you could be envious of such a universal being, who is free from all enmity.
12. Twice-born Daksa, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of others. Lord Siva, however, not only finds no faults with others’ qualities, but if someone has a little good quality, he magnifies it greatly. Unfortunately, you have found fault with such a great soul.
13. It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down. They are diminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities.
14. Sati continued: My dear father, you are committing the greatest offense by envying Lord Siva, whose very name, consisting of two syllables, si and va, purifies one of all sinful activities. His order is never neglected. Lord Siva is always pure, and no one but you envies him.
15. You are envious of Lord Siva, who is the friend of all living entities within the three worlds. For the common man he fulfills all desires, and because of their engagement in thinking of his lotus feet, he also blesses higher personalities who are seeking after brahmananda [transcendental bliss].
16. Do you think that greater, more respectable personalities than you, such as Lord Brahma, do not know this inauspicious person who goes under the name Lord Siva? He associates with the demons in the crematorium, his locks of hair are scattered all over his body, he is garlanded with human skulls and smeared with ashes from the crematorium, but in spite of all these inauspicious qualities, great personalities like Brahma honor him by accepting the flowers offered to his lotus feet and placing them with great respect on their heads.
17. Sati continued: If one hears an irresponsible person blaspheme the master and controller of religion, one should block his ears and go away if unable to punish him. But if one is able to kill, then one should by force cut out the blasphemer’s tongue and kill the offender, and after that one should give up his own life.
18. Therefore I shall no longer bear this unworthy body, which has been received from you, who have blasphemed Lord Siva. If someone has taken food which is poisonous, the best treatment is to vomit.
19. It is better to execute one’s own occupational duty than to criticize others’. Elevated transcendentalists may sometimes forgo the rules and regulations of the Vedas, since they do not need to follow them, just as the demigods travel in space whereas ordinary men travel on the surface of the earth.
20. In the Vedas there are directions for two kinds of activities—activities for those who are attached to material enjoyment and activities for those who are materially detached. In consideration of these two kinds of activities, there are two kinds of people, who have different symptoms. If one wants to see two kinds of activities in one person, that is contradictory. But both kinds of activities may be neglected by a person who is transcendentally situated.
21. My dear father, the opulence we possess is impossible for either you or your flatterers to imagine, for persons who engage in fruitive activities by performing great sacrifices are concerned with satisfying their bodily necessities by eating foodstuff offered as a sacrifice. We can exhibit our opulences simply by desiring to do so. This can be achieved only by great personalities who are renounced, self-realized souls.
22. You are an offender at the lotus feet of Lord Siva, and unfortunately I have a body produced from yours. I am very much ashamed of our bodily relationship, and I condemn myself because my body is contaminated by a relationship with a person who is an offender at the lotus feet of the greatest personality.
23. Because of our family relationship, when Lord Siva addresses me as Daksayani I at once become morose, and my jolliness and my smile at once disappear. I feel very much sorry that my body, which is just like a bag, has been produced by you. I shall therefore give it up.
24. Maitreya the sage told Vidura: O annihilator of enemies, while thus speaking to her father in the arena of sacrifice, Sati sat down on the ground and faced north. Dressed in saffron garments, she sanctified herself with water and closed her eyes to absorb herself in the process of mystic yoga.
25. First of all she sat in the required sitting posture, and then she carried the life air upwards and placed it in the position of equilibrium near the navel. Then she raised her life air, mixed with intelligence, to the heart and then gradually towards the pulmonary passage and from there to between her eyebrows.
26. Thus, in order to give up her body, which had been so respectfully and affectionately seated on the lap of Lord Siva, who is worshiped by great sages and saints, Sati, due to anger towards her father, began to meditate on the fiery air within the body.
27. Sati concentrated all her meditation on the holy lotus feet of her husband, Lord Siva, who is the supreme spiritual master of all the world. Thus she became completely cleansed of all taints of sin and quit her body in a blazing fire by meditation on the fiery elements.
28. When Sati annihilated her body in anger, there was a tumultuous roar all over the universe. Why had Sati, the wife of the most respectable demigod, Lord Siva, quit her body in such a manner?
29. It was astonishing that Daksa, who was Prajapati, the maintainer of all living entities, was so disrespectful to his own daughter, Sati, who was not only chaste but was also a great soul, that she gave up her body because of his neglect.
30. Daksa, who is so hardhearted that he is unworthy to be a brahmana, will gain extensive ill fame because of his offenses to his daughter, because of not having prevented her death, and because of his great envy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
31. While people were talking among themselves about the wonderful voluntary death of Sati, the attendants who had come with her readied themselves to kill Daksa with their weapons.
32. They came forward forcibly, but Bhrgu Muni saw the danger and, offering oblations into the southern side of the sacrificial fire, immediately uttered mantric hymns from the Yajur Veda by which the destroyers of yajnic performances could be killed immediately.
33. When Bhrgu Muni offered oblations in the fire, immediately many thousands of demigods named Rbhus became manifested. All of them were powerful, having achieved strength from Soma, the moon.
34. When the Rbhu demigods attacked the ghosts and Guhyakas with half-burned fuel from the yajna fire, all these attendants of Sati fled in different directions and disappeared. This was possible simply because of brahma-tejas, brahminical power.
Chapter Five Frustration of the Sacrifice of Daksa
1. Maitreya said: When Lord Siva heard from Narada that Sati, his wife, was now dead because of Prajapati Daksa’s insult to her and that his soldiers had been driven away by the Rbhu demigods, he became greatly angry.
2. Thus Lord Siva, being extremely angry, pressed his lips with his teeth and immediately snatched from his head a strand of hair which blazed like electricity or fire. He stood up at once, laughing like a madman, and dashed the hair to the ground.
3. A fearful black demon as high as the sky and as bright as three suns combined was thereby created, his teeth very fearful and the hairs on his head like burning fire. He had thousands of arms, equipped with various weapons, and he was garlanded with the heads of men.
4. When that gigantic demon asked with folded hands, “What shall I do, my lord?” Lord Siva, who is known as Bhutanatha, directly ordered, “Because you are born from my body, you are the chief of all my associates. Therefore, kill Daksa and his soldiers at the sacrifice.”
5. Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, that black person was the personified anger of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he was prepared to execute the orders of Lord Siva. Thus, considering himself capable of coping with any power offered against him, he circumambulated Lord Siva.
6. Many other soldiers of Lord Siva followed the fierce personality in a tumultuous uproar. He carried a great trident, fearful enough to kill even death, and on his legs he wore bangles which seemed to roar.
7. At that time, all the persons assembled in the sacrificial arena—the priests, the chief of the sacrificial performance, and the brahmanas and their wives—wondered where the darkness was coming from. Later they could understand that it was a dust storm, and all of them were full of anxiety.
8. Conjecturing on the origin of the storm, they said: There is no wind blowing, and no cows are passing, nor is it possible that this dust storm could be raised by plunderers, for there is still the strong King Barhi, who would punish them. Where is this dust storm blowing from? Is the dissolution of the planet now to occur?
9. Prasuti, the wife of Daksa, along with the other women assembled, became very anxious and said: This danger has been created by Daksa because of the death of Sati, who, even though completely innocent, quit her body as her sisters looked on.
10. At the time of dissolution, Lord Siva’s hair is scattered, and he pierces the rulers of the different directions with his trident. He laughs and dances proudly, scattering their hands like flags, as thunder scatters the clouds all over the world.
11. The gigantic black man bared his fearful teeth. By the movements of his brows he scattered the luminmies all over the sky, and he covered them with his strong, piercing effulgence. Because of the misbehavior of Daksa, even Lord Brahma, Daksa’s father, could not have been saved from the great exhibition of anger.
12. While all the people talked amongst themselves, Daksa saw dangerous omens from all sides, from the earth and from the sky.
13. My dear Vidura, all the followers of Lord Siva surrounded the arena of sacrifice. They were of short stature and were equipped with various kinds of weapons; their bodies appeared to be like those of sharks, blackish and yellowish. They ran all around the sacrificial arena and thus began to create disturbances.
14. Some of the soldiers pulled down the pillars which were supporting the pandal of sacrifice, some of them entered the female quarters, some began destroying the sacrificial arena, and some entered the kitchen and the residential quarters.
15. They broke all the pots made for use in the sacrifice, and some of them began to extinguish the sacrificial fire. Some tore down the boundary line of the sacrificial arena, and some passed urine on the arena.
16. Some blocked the way of the fleeing sages, some threatened the women assembled there, and some arrested the demigods who were fleeing the pandal.
17. Maniman, one of the followers of Lord Siva, arrested Bhrgu Muni, and Virabhadra, the black demon, arrested Prajapati Daksa. Another follower, who was named Candesa, arrested Pusa. Nandisvara arrested the demigod Bhaga.
18. There was a continuous shower of stones, and all the priests and other members assembled at the sacrifice were put into immense misery. For fear of their lives, they dispersed in different directions.
19. Virabhadra tore off the mustache of Bhrgu, who was offering the sacrificial oblations with his hands in the fire.
20. Virabhadra immediately caught Bhaga, who had been moving his eyebrows during Bhrgu’s cursing of Lord Siva, and out of great anger thrust him to the ground and forcibly put out his eyes.
21. Just as Baladeva knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the King of Kalinga, during the gambling match at the marriage ceremony of Aniruddha, Virabhadra knocked out the teeth of both Daksa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Siva, and Pusa, who by smiling sympathetically had also shown his teeth.
22. Then Virabhadra, the giantlike personality, sat on the chest of Daksa and tried to separate his head from his body with sharp weapons, but was unsuccessful.
23. He tried to cut the head of Daksa with hymns as well as weapons, but still it was hard to cut even the surface of the skin of Daksa’s head. Thus Virabhadra was exceedingly bewildered.
24. Then Virabhadra saw the wooden device in the sacrificial arena by which the animals were to have been killed. He took the opportunity of this facility to behead Daksa.
25. Upon seeing the action of Virabhadra, the party of Lord Siva was pleased and cried out joyfully, and all the bhutas, ghosts and demons that had come made a tumultuous sound. On the other hand, the brahmanas in charge of the sacrifice cried out in grief at the death of Daksa.
26. Virabhadra then took the head and with great anger threw it into the southern side of the sacrificial fire, offering it as an oblation. In this way the followers of Lord Siva devastated all the arrangements for sacrifice. After setting fire to the whole arena, they departed for their master’s abode, Kailasa.
Chapter Six Brahma Satisfies Lord Siva
Canto 4 Chapters 6 to 10 >
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