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Devi Bhagavatam (Devi
Puranam)
Chapter XVI
On the incidents preliminary to the Haihaya and Bhārgava affairs
1-5. Janamejaya said :-- In whose family were born those Ksattriya Haihayas
that killed in ancient times the Bhārgavas, disregardless of the sin
incurred in killing a Brāhmin? O Grandsire! Never do the good persons become
angry without a serious cause; therefore kindly state why they got angry.
How was the enmity caused between them and the priests? As far as I can
think, the cause is not so simple a one as led to this enmity between the
Ksattriyas and the priests. Otherwise why then would they slay the
offenseless Brāhmins, fit to be worshipped; and how was it that the
Ksattriyas, though they were so very powerful, did not fear to commit a sin.
O Muni! Can any Ksattriya Chief kill a Brāhmin, worthy of the highest
respect, merely on a trifling cause! Describe to me, then, how this
happened. A great doubt has thus arisen in my mind.
6. Sūta said :-- O Risis! Vyāsa, the son of Satyavatī, became very pleased
when he was asked this question by Janamejaya, and, recollecting the whole
course of events regarding the Haihayas, began to narrate it.
7-22. Vyāsa said :-- O son of Pariksit! I will now narrate that wonderful
story of old that I know fully; now hear this very attentively. In ancient
times there was a King named Kārtavīryārjuna of the family of Haihaya. He
was of thousand hands, powerful, and always ready to observe religious
duties. He was the incarnation of Hari, and the disciple of Maharsi
Dattātreya and the worshipper of the Supreme Force (Ādyā Sakti). He was
well known as a perfect adept in the Yoga practices and of a very charitable
disposition. But this King was the client of the Brāhmins of the Bhārgava
clan. He was always devoted to performing sacrifices, exceedingly religious,
and always engaged in making gifts. So many a time did he perform the great
sacrifices and gave a profuse quantity of wealth to the Bhārgavas. Due to
the gifts and presents of Kārta Vīrya, the Bhārgava priests became possessed
of many horses, and gems and jewels and so became wealthy and prosperous on
the surface of this earth. O King! When Kārtavīryārjuna, the best of Kings,
left the mortal coil and got up to Heavens, his descendants became entirely
void of any wealth by the indomitable influence of Time. Now, on a certain
occasion, the Haihayas had to perform certain actions which necessitated a
vast sum of money; they came to the Bhārgavas and humbly prayed for a very
large amount of wealth. But the Brāhmins, out of their greed of money,
replied they had no money and thus they did not give any money whatsoever.
Rather the Bhārgavas thought that the Haihayas would perforce take their
wealth, and, fearing thus, some of them buried all their valuables
underneath the ground; and others gave as charities to the Brāhmanas. The
greedy Bhārgavas, bewildered with fear, thus transferred all their
properties elsewhere, quitted their homes and fled away to mountains and
other places. The greedy Brāhmins did not give any wealth to their Yajamānas
(their clients) though they saw them very much distressed; but they fled
away out of fear to mountains and fastnesses where they found shelter. At
last the Haihayas, the best of the Ksattriyas, became very sorry till, at
last, for the sake of their good actions, they went to the Bhārgavas houses
for the sake of money and found they had quitted their homes and fled away;
their homes were all vacant. Then they began to dig underneath their houses
for money and some got the money thus. Then the Ksattriyas began to labour
hard and got hordes of money from underneath the ground. Next they raided
upon other Brāhmanas houses and dug and excavated and searched for more
money. The Brāhmins were helpless and, crying, all took their refuge, out of
fear, under the Bhārgavas.
23-42. The Ksattriyas made an exhaustive search of the Brāhmanas houses and
got lots of money. They then charged the Brāhmanas as having had spoken
falsehood and they became very angry, and killed the Brāhmanas with arrows
who took their refuge. O King! The Haihayas were so very angry at that time
that they went wherever the Bhārgavas took their shelter and cut asunder the
foetus in the wombs of their Bhārgavas wives and thus they roamed all over
on the surface of the earth. Wherever they saw any Bhārgava, be he a minor,
or a youth or a old man, at once they killed him with sharp arrows,
disregarding the sin Brahmahattyā. When the Bhārgavas were thus all killed,
then they caught hold of their wives that were pregnant and destroyed their
wombs. When the vicious Ksattriyas thus destroyed the lives in their wombs,
the helpless women began to cry like the awe-stricken ewe. Then the other
Munis, the inhabitants of the sacred places of pilgrimages, seeing the
Haihaya Ksattriyas inflamed with anger, said :-- O Ksattriyas! Quit your
terrible anger towards the Brāhmins. Being the best of the Ksattriyas, you
are killing the foetus in the wombs of the pregnant Brāhmana ladies! You are
doing, no doubt, a very vicious and unjustifiable act! You should know that
an act, very bad or very good, bears fruit in this life; therefore those
that seek their welfare should entirely omit this exceedingly hateful and
vicious act. Then the exceedingly angry Haihayas told the merciful ascetics
:-- You all are saints; therefore you do not know the real import of what
are called vicious acts. Those Bhārgavas, thoroughly dexterous in cunning
pursuits, deceived our largehearted forefathers and stole away all their
gold and jewels, as thieves do with a passerby on a road. These Bhārgavas
are cheats, vain persons and their persuasions are like herons. A great act
had to be done by us and we wanted money at 25 per cent interest with all
the becoming humility; yet they did not give us the money; rather seeing on
their face their clients distressed and sorrowful they spoke that they had
no money, no money and then they remained silent. True, they got all their
money from Kārtavīrya; but it may be questioned why they stored it? Why did
not they perform sacrifices with that? Why did not they give sufficient
money to the other priests (Yāyakas) that did the sacrifices. Never should
any Brāhmin hoard his money; he should give that in charity and enjoy at his
pleasure. O Twice-born! In amassing wealth, there exist three fears :-- Fear
from the thieves and robbers, fear from the King, fear from dreadful fire
accidents, and especially great terrible fear from the cheats. This is the
nature of wealth; it leaves its preserver. See, moreover, when a hoarder of
money dies, he certainly has to quit it. If a wealthy man, before dying,
performs sacrifices and other good pious acts by his earned money, then he
gets certainly good states in future; otherwise, he quits his wealth, to no
purpose and earns a bad state in his future life; there is no doubt in this.
We humbly wanted to pay a quarter interest and asked money for the
performance of a great act; yet they, the greedy ones, were doubtful about
our promise; and though our priests, they did not give us the money. O
Maharsis! Gift, enjoyment and destruction, these are the three courses which
any wealth has to pass through; those persons that have done good deeds,
enjoy their wealth and give as charities and thus they make a good and real
use of their money; and of those that are vicious, their wealth goes away in
ruin and to no purpose. He who does not enjoy nor give in charities but is
only clever in hoarding and who is a miser, the Kings punish him by all
means, that man who cheats himself and who suffers only pains and miseries.
For that reason, we are now ready to kill those Brāhmins, the vilest of men,
the cheats, though they are our Gurus. O Maharsis! You are great persons;
therefore you do not be angry after you have come to know all these.
43-51. Vyāsa said :-- Thus consoling the Munis, with reasonable words, the
Haihayas began to roam about, in search of the wives of the Bhārgavas. The
Bhārgava wives were very much distressed with fear and became very lean and
thin. They fled away to the Himālayān Mountain weeping, and crying, and
trembling with fear. Thus the Bhārgavas were being killed by those vicious
greedy Haihayas, infuriated with anger, and as they liked. O King! This
greed is the greatest enemy of a man, residing in his own body; this greed
is the root of all evils, of all sins. Life is in danger due to this
covetousness. It is due to this greed that quarrels ensue amongst the
several castes, the Brāhmins, etc., and that the human beings are very much
troubled with thirst after worldly enjoyments. This greed makes a man
forsake all his religious rites and long existing customs and observances of
his family; and it is due to this avarice of gold that men kill their
fathers, mothers, brothers, friends, Gurus, sons, acquaintances, sisters,
and sisters-in-law and others. Really when a man is bent on avarice, nothing
heinous remains to him that cannot be done by him. This greed is a more
powerful enemy than anger, lust and egoism. O King! Men abandon their lives
for their greed; what more can be said than this? So one should be always
alert on this. O King! Your forefathers, the Pāndavas and Kauravas, were all
religious and they followed the path of virtue and goodness. Yet they all
were ruined simply for this greed. See! The dreadful fight and separation
amongst the relatives took place where there were the high-souled persons
like Bhīsma, Drona, Kripāchārya, Karna, Vahlika, Bhīmasena, Yudhisthira,
Arjuna, and Kesava, only through the avaricious feelings. In this battle
Bhīsma, Drona and the sons of Pāndavas were all slain; the brothers and
fathers were all slain in battle. Thus what improper acts and mischiefs can
there be that cannot be committed when the human minds are overpowered by
this greed? O King! The vicious Haihayas slew the Bhārgavas all through this
avarice.
Here ends the Sixteenth Chapter in the Sixth Book on the incidents
preliminary to the Haihaya and Bhārgava affairs in the Mahāpurānam Srī Mad
Devī Bhāgavatam by Maharsi Veda Vyāsa.
Chapter XVII
On the continuance of the family of Bhrigu
1-3. Janamejaya said :-- Munis! How did the Bhārgava wives cross this
endless sea of troubles and how was the family of Bhrigu re-established on
the surface of this earth? And what did the greedy Haihayas, the vilest of
the Ksattriyas, do after they killed the Bhārgavas? Describe all these in
detail and satisfy my curiosity. O Thou, Ocean of austerities! I am not
satisfied with the drink of your nectar like words, very holy and leading to
happiness in this world and to good merits in the next.
4-28. Vyāsa said :-- O King! I will now narrate to you the sin destroying
virtuous story how the Bhārgava wives crossed their great hardships and the
ocean of troubles, very difficult to cross. The Bhārgava wives, when they
were very much harassed by the Haihayas, went to the Himālayās, overwhelmed
with terror and disappointment. There on that mountain they erected an
earthen image of Srī Gaurī Devī by the banks of the Ganges and worshipped
Her and, firmly resolved to die, began to fast. The Devī Jagadambikā
appeared to those religious women in their dreams and said :-- A son will
be born of My essence to one of you from one of her thighs; that son will
redress all your wants. Thus speaking, the Devī Bhagavatī disappeared.
Those women when they woke up were very glad; one of them that appeared very
clever, becoming very much anxious out of the fear of the Ksattriyas;
preserved the foetus in one of her thighs for the propagation of the family.
Her body became luminous; she then fled, overwhelmed with terror. The
Ksattriyas, seeing that Brāhmanī, came quickly upon her and said :-- See!
This pregnant Bhārgava wife is flying away hastily; seize her and take away
her life. Thus saying, all of them raised their axes, and pursued her. Then
that woman seeing them coming, wept out of fear. She cried, out of terror,
for the preservation of the child in her womb; and the child seeing her
mother helpless and distressed, trembling with fear and with tears in her
eyes having no one to protect her and awfully oppressed by the Ksattriyas as
if a pregnant deer has been attacked by a lion and is crying about, angrily
burst out of the thigh of his mother, and quickly came out like a second
Sun. That good looking boy took away the power of sight of those Ksattriyas
by his brilliant lustrous light; no sooner the Haihayas saw that boy than
they got blind. Like those that are born blind; they then began to roam in
the caves of mountains and thought within themselves, what an evil turn of
Fate had overtaken them! They thought thus :-- Oh! The mere sight of that
boy has turned us blind; what a great wonder is this! Certainly this is due
to the influence of the Brāhminī wife; this is, no doubt, the great effect
of her virtue of chastity. We have greatly oppressed the Bhārgava women.
They have become very sorry and distressed; now we cannot tell what more
evils do these women, of true resolve, inflict on us! Thus pondering, those
Ksattriyas deprived of their eyes, helpless, and their minds bewildered,
took refuge of those Brāhmin ladies. The ladies, seeing them again come,
were the more terrified; but those Ksattriyas bowed down before them with
folded hands for the restoration of their sights and said :-- O Mother! We
are your servants. Be gracious unto us. O Auspicious Ones! We are vicious
Ksattriyas; O Mothers! What an amount of offence we have committed to you. O
Beautiful Ones! We have become blind, no sooner we have seen you. O Angry
Ones! No more we can see your lotus-like faces, as if we are born blind; O
Mother! The spirit of your asceticism is so very wonderful! We are sinners;
therefore by no means we can get our sight; therefore we have taken refuge
unto you all; better give us back our eyesight and preserve our honour. O
Mother! Blindness is more dreadful than death; therefore do you show your
mercy on us. Be pleased unto us and restore our eyesights and make us your
slaves; no sooner we get back our sights, we will cease from these vicious
acts and go to our homes. In future, we will never commit such heinous acts;
from today we all become servants of the Bhārgavas and we will serve them.
Forgive all our sins that we committed unconsciously; we promise that, in
future, there will no more be any enmity between the Bhārgavas and
Ksattriyas. O good-looking Ones! You pass your days happily with your sons;
we ever bow down before you. O Auspicious Ones! Be graciously pleased unto
us; no more we will cherish any inimical feelings towards you.
29-44. Vyāsa said :-- O King! The Bhārgava lady heard their words and was
thunderstruck and seeing those Ksattriyas bowing down before her, blind and
distressed, consoled them and said, O Ksattriyas! I have not taken away
your sights nor am I displeased in any way with you. Now hear what is the
real cause. This child of Bhārgava, born of my thigh, is exceedingly angry
towards you and has therefore made your eyesight still and to no purpose.
For the greed of wealth, you have slain the close relatives of this boy,
those that were quite innocent and virtuous ascetics and you have slain
their children that were in their mothers wombs; this boy has come to know
all those things. O children! When you were slaying the children of the
Bhārgavas in their mothers wombs, I then bore within my thighs this child
for one hundred years. This son of mine though as yet in the womb, has
mastered all the Vedas within so very short a time for the propagation of
the Bhārgava clan. Now this Bhārgava son is infuriated with anger for your
slaying his father and is now ready to kill you all. My son! Whose divine
effulgence has destroyed your eyesights, is born of grace of the Highest
Goddess, the Bhagavatī Bhuvanesvarī; therefore do not consider this boy as
an ordinary being. Now bow down with humility before this my son Aurvya
(born from the thighs); this son may be pleased by your bowing down and may
restore you your eyesight.
Vyāsa said :-- O King! Hearing thus the words of the Brāhmin lady, the
Haihayas began to praise the boy with hymns. With great humility, they bowed
down to the best of the Munis, born of the thighs. The Risi Aurvya, then,
became pleased and spoke thus to the Haihayas who were deprived of their
eyesights :-- Better go back to your own homes. O Kings! And read these
following words derived from my this story. Whatever is inevitable and
created by the hands of gods must come to pass. Knowing this, no one ought
to be sorrowful on any such matters. Let you all regain your eyesights as
before and forego your anger and go to your own homes respectively at your
own will. Let the Risis, too, get peace and happiness as before. When the
Maharsi Aurvya ordered thus, the Haihayas got back their eyesights and went
at their leisure to their own homes; on the other hand the Brāhmin lady went
to her own hermitage, with her Divine-spirited child and began to nourish
him. O King! Thus I have described to you the story of the killing of the
Bhārgavas and how the Ksattriyas, actuated by greed, did so very vicious
acts.
45-48. Janamejaya said :-- O Ascetic! Hearing this exceedingly
heart-rending act of the Ksattriyas, I come to know, that greed is the sole
cause of it and both the parties had suffered so much, simply out of this
insatiable greed. O King of Munis! I want to ask you one more question in
regard to this point. How the sons of the Kings came to be known Haihayas in
this world? Amongst the Ksattriyas, some are called Yādavas for they ware
descended from the family of Yadu; some were known as Bhārata, for they were
descended from Bhārata. But was some king named Haihaya born before in their
family or were they known as such on account of other actions? I desire to
hear of it. Kindly describe this to me and oblige.
49-56. Vyāsa said :-- O King! I am describing in detail to you of the origin
of the Haihayas. Hear. The sins are destroyed and the merits accrue on
hearing this story. O King! Once on a time Revanta, the son of the Sun, very
beautiful and of boundless lustre, was going to Visnu in Vaikuntha, mounted
on the beautiful Uchchaisrava, the jewel of the horses. When he was going
on horseback with a desire to see the God Visnu, the Goddess Laksmī saw that
child of the Sun. The Goddess Laksmī, born out of the churning of the ocean,
on looking at the beautiful appearance of her brother Horse, also born out
of the churning of the ocean, became very much astonished and steadily gazed
on him. The Bhagavān Visnu, capable to show both favour and disfavour, saw
the beautiful Revanta, of good figure, coming on horseback; and lovingly
asked Laksmī :-- O Beautiful One! Who is coming here on horseback, as it
were, enchanting to the three worlds! At that time, the Goddess Laksmī was
accidentally looking intently on the horse; so she did not reply, though
repeatedly asked by the Bhagavān.
57-68. The Laksmī Devī, always restless, was very much intent on the horse
and was enchanted and She was looking steadily with great affection on the
horse. Seeing this, the Bhagavān became angry and said :-- O Beautiful-eyed
One! What you are looking at so intently? Are you so much enchanted with the
sight of the horse that you are not speaking to me a single word, though I
am repeatedly asking you so often! You lovingly dwell on all the objects;
hence your name is Ramā; your mind is also very restless, therefore you
would be known as Chanchalā Devī (the restless Devī). O Auspicious One! You
are restless like ordinary women; you can never stay steadily for a certain
time at any one place. While sitting before Me, you are enchanted with the
sight of a horse; then you be born as a mare in that world of men, full of
dreadful troubles, on the surface of the earth. The Goddess Laksmī became
very much affrightened at the sudden curse given by Hari, a matter as it
were ordained by the Devas, and began to cry aloud, shuddering with pain and
sorrows. Laksmī Devī, then of sweet smiles, frightened, bowed down with
great humility to her own lord Nārāyana and said thus :-- O Deva of the
Devas! O Govinda! You are the Lord of this world and the Ocean of mercy. O
Kesava! Why have you inflicted on me so dreadful a curse for such a minor
fault of mine! O Lord! I never saw you before so very angry; Alas! Where has
now gone that affection, so natural and undying, that you showed towards me!
O Lord! It is not proper to hurl a thunderbolt on ones own relations; but
it is advisable to cast it on the enemies. I am always fit for receiving
boons from you. Why have you made me now an object, fit for curse. O Govinda!
I will quit this life in Your presence. I will never be able to live,
separated from You. O Lord! Be graciously pleased and say when shall I be
free from this dreadful curse and regain Your happy companion?
69. The Bhagavān said :-- O Devī! When you will get a son in the world like
me, you will no doubt come again to be my companion.
Here ends the Seventeenth Chapter on the continuance of the family of Bhrigu
in the Sixth Book in the Mahāpurānam, Srī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam of 18,000
verses by Maharsi Veda Vyāsa.
Chapter XVIII
On the origin of the Haihaya Dynasty
1-5. Janamejaya said :-- How did the Goddess Laksmī, the daughter of the
ocean, come to be born as a mare, when cursed by the Bhagavān in His moment
of anger, and what did Revanta do at that time? In what country was the Devī
born as a mare and how did She pass Her time alone like one whose husband
had gone abroad. O Muni! How long and in what forest unfrequented by persons
did she pass her time, thus deprived of the companion of her husband and
what did she do at that time? When was she reconciled with her husband
Vāsudeva? and how did she get a son, when she lived in a state of separation
from her husband. O best of Āryas! I am very curious to hear this excellent
story. So describe this in full details to me.
6. Sūta said :-- O Risis! Thus questioned by Janamejaya, the Dvaipāyan Muni
began to recite the story in its full details.
7-24. Vyāsa said :--O King! I will now describe to you the pleasing story of
the Purānas in a clear distinct language; hear. Revanta, the son of the Sun,
became terrified to see Vāsudeva, the Deva of the Devas cursing the Laksmī
Devī and, after bowing down to Janārdan, the Lord of the world, went off.
Seeing the anger of Visnu, the Lord of the world, he went quickly to his
father and informed him of the curse delivered by Nārāyana to the Goddess
Laksmī. And the Laksmī Devī, the lotus-eyed, thus cursed, got the permission
of Nārāyana and with a grieved heart bowed down to him and came down to the
world of mortals. She took the form of a mare and went to the spot where the
wife of the Sun (named Chchāyā) practised her asceticism in ancient times.
The place was the confluence of the river Kālindi and the Tamasā, and
decorated with lovely forests and trees situated north of the mountain named
Suparnāksa, yielding all desires. There she meditated with her whole heart
the auspicious Mahādeva Sankara, the Giver of all desires, thus :-- That
Mahādeva is holding the Trisūla (the trident) on his arms; His forehead is
adorned with beautiful cooling semi-Moon; He has five faces, each face
having three eyes; His throat is coloured blue; He has ten arms; His body is
white like camphor; He wears a tigers skin; His upper garment is of
elephants skin; and snakes are his holy thread; He is holding the one-half
of the body of Gaurī and his neck is adorned with garlands of human skulls.
The Goddess Laksmī, the daughter of the ocean, assuming the form of a mare,
thus practised severe asceticism in that place of pilgrimage. O King! With a
feeling of intense dispassion (Vairāgyam) towards the worldly things, She
spent the divine one thousand years in the meditation of Mahādeva, the God
of the Gods. After that period, the Highest Lord Mahādeva, mounting on His
bull, came there with His consort Pārvatī and appeared before the Laksmī
Devī, perceptible by his eyes. Appearing thus with His host of His own
persons, He then spoke to Laksmī, dear to Hari, now practising ascetism in
the form of a mare, O Auspicious One! You are the Mother of this whole
Universe and your Husband is the Creator of these worlds and is capable to
give all desires. Why are You, then, practising asceticism, when He is
present? What is the cause of this? O Devī! Why are You praising hymns to
me, instead of to Vāsudeva Srī Hari, Who is capable to yield enjoyments and
final liberation, and Who is the Preserver and the Lord of this world. O
Devī! Work should be done according to the authority of the Vedas; it is
stated in the Vedas that the husband is the lord of a woman; therefore it is
never advisable to fix ones mind entirely on another person. The eternal
Dharma of women is to serve their husbands; whether the husband be a saint
or a sinner, the woman, desirous of her welfare, should serve her husband in
every way. O Daughter of the Ocean! Your husband Nārāyana is fit to be
served by all and He is capable to yield all desires. Why are you then
worshipping Me, and leaving the Lord of the Goloka, the Deva of the Devas.
25-32. Laksmī said :-- O Deva of the Devas! O Seat of Auspiciousness! I know
that You are soon pleased with Your servant. My husband has cursed me. O
Ocean of mercy! Kindly save me from this curse. O Sambhu! When I informed
my husband of my mental agonies, graciously and mercifully He then pointed
out how I might be freed of this curse thus :-- O Kamale! When Your son
will be born, then You will be freed of this curse and will, no doubt, come
back and live in this Heaven of Vaikuntha. Thus spoken, I have come in this
hermitage to make tapas and to worship Thee, knowing that Thou art the
Bhagavān, the Lord of Bhavanī, the Lord of all and the Giver of all desires.
O Lord of the Devas! How can I get a son without the intercourse of My
husband? Though I am guiltless, my husband has forsaken me and is living in
Vaikuntha. O Mahesvara! Thou art doing good to all persons; and if Thou art
pleased with me, then grant me a boon. O Lord! I know full well that there
is no distinction between Him and Thee. O Lord of Girījā! This truth I have
come to learn from my husband. O Hara! You are the same thing that He is and
what is He is the same as You; there is not the least doubt in this. O Thou,
full of auspiciousness! Recognising the Sameness without any distinction
between Him and Thee, I am meditating on Thee. Had it been otherwise, then I
would certainly have been guilty when I take Thy refuge and meditate on
Thee.
33-36. Sankara said :-- O Devī, the daughter of the Ocean! Tell truly
before me how you have been able to realise the identity between Him and Me.
The Devas, Munis and the Maharsis, versed in the Vedas, get their
understandings baffled by wrong argumentations and never realise the
identity without any difference between us. Almost everywhere you will
perceive that many of my devotees blame me. Specially in this Kālī Yuga due
to the influence of Time, this happens to a very great extent in many cases.
O Auspicious One! Let that go! How have you come to know this matter, which
is difficult even for the liberal-minded persons to comprehend. Know that
this perception of the identity between me and Hari is very rare.
37-38. Vyāsa said :-- O King! When Mahādeva asked thus with great pleasure,
the Devī Kamalā, the darling of Hari, gladly replied the essence of the
matter to Mahādeva.
39-43. Laksmī said :-- O Deva of the Devas! One day Bhagavān Visnu, seated
in the Padmāsana posture, was immersed in deep meditation. I was very much
astonished at this. When His meditation was over and when He was in a
pleasant mood, I asked Him with great humility, O Deva of the Devas! I know
that You are the Lord of the world and Master of this whole Universe; when
Brahmā and the other Devas were united and churned the great ocean, I came
out of the waters and looked all around to know who is the superior one whom
I can select as my husband and then, thinking You as the superior to all the
Devas, I accepted You as my husband. Now whose meditation You are doing
again? A great doubt has thus occurred in my mind. O Lord! You are my most
Beloved; now disclose to me your innermost desire and thought.
44-49. Visnu said :-- O Beloved! Hear now, whom I am meditating. I am
meditating in the lotus of My heart that Mahādeva Mahesvara, the Highest of
all the Devas. Mahādeva, the Deva of the Devas, of indomitable prowess,
sometimes meditates on Me and sometimes I meditate on the Lord of the Deva,
Sankara, the Destroyer of Tripurā. I am dear to Siva as his life is dear
to him and Sankara is similarly dear to me. The hearts of us both are
attached to each other in the most secret way possible; therefore there is
not the least difference betwixt us both. O large-eyed One! Those men who
being my devotees hate Sankara, certainly go to hell. I speak this very
truly unto you. O Mahesvara! When I asked him this question when he was
all alone, that Deva of the Devas, the Highest Visnu thus said to me.
Therefore I am meditating on You, knowing that You are His beloved. O
Mahesa! Now find out means by which I can mix with My husband.
50-59. Vyāsa said :-- O King! Mahādeva, skilled in speech, hearing thus the
words of Laksmī, consoled Her with sweet words and said :-- O Beautiful! Be
peaceful; I am pleased with Your tapasyā; soon You will come in contact with
Your husband. There is not the least doubt in this. When I will send the
Bhagavān, the Lord of the world, He will come before you in the shape of a
horse, to satisfy your desires. I will send the Madhusūdana, the Deva of the
Devas, in such a manner, as he will come in the form of a horse,
passionately attached to you. O One of good eye brows! Thus you will get a
son equivalent to Nārāyana; and the son will be the King on this earth and
will be undoubtedly worshipped by all. O fortunate One! After you get your
son, you will go to Vaikuntha with Nārāyana and will reside there as His
Beloved. Your son will be famed by the name of Ekavīra; and from him will
propagate the Haihaya dynasty on the earth. O Kamale! You were blind by
prosperity, and, becoming passionate, you forgot the Devī Paramesvarī,
residing in your heart. Therefore you have experienced such a result.
Therefore, to expiate that sin, take Her refuge by all means. O Devī! If
your heart remained attached to the Highest Devī the blissful Bhagavatī,
your heart would never have got attached to the Uchchaisravā horse. Vyāsa
said :-- O King! Thus granting boons to Laksmī Devī, He with his consort Umā
vanished away in her presence.
60-62. Kamalā Devī, lovely in all respects, whose toe nails are always
rubbed by the gems on the coronets of the Devas, began to meditate on the
lotus-feet of Ambikā and in expectation of his beloved Hari, in the shape of
a horse, praised and chanted hymns frequently to the Highest Goddess, in
words choked with feelings of intense love.
Here ends the Eighteenth Chapter of the Sixth Book on the origin of the
Haihaya Dynasty in the Mahāpurānam Srī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam of 18,000 verses
by Maharsi Veda Vyāsa.
Chapter XIX
On the origin of Haihayas from a mare
1-3. Vyāsa said :-- O King! Thus granting the boon to the Goddess Laksmī,
Sambhu quickly returned to the lovely Kailāsa, adorned with Apsarās
(celestial nymphs) and frequented and served by the Gods. He then despatched
his expert attendant Chitrarūpa to Vaikuntha to bring the purpose of Laksmī
to a successful issue. He said to him thus :-- O Chitrarūpa! Go to Hari and
speak to him on my behalf that He would go and remove the sorrows of His
distressed and bereaved wife and thus make Her comfortable.
4-9. Thus ordered, Chitrarūpa started immediately and reached at once
Vaikuntha, the highest place, covered all over by the Vaisnavas. The place
was diversified with lots of various trees, with hundreds of lovely lakes,
and echoed with sweet lovely sounds of swans, Kārandavas, peacocks, parrots,
cuckoos and various other birds and adorned with beautiful places, decked
with flags and banners. It was filled with charming dancings, music and
other artistic things. There were the lovely Bakula, Asoka, Tilaka,
Champaka and other trees; and the beautiful tree Mandāra looked beautiful
and shed all around the sweet fragrance of its sweet flowers for a long
distance. Thus seeing the lovely nice palace of Visnu and the two
doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya standing with canes in their hands, Chitraratha
bowed down to them and said :-- Well! You go quickly and inform the Supreme
Soul Hari that a messenger has come under the orders of the Bhagavān
Sūlapānī and is now waiting at His doors.
10-18. Hearing his words, the intelligent Jaya went to Hari and, with folded
hands, said :-- O Thou Ocean of Mercy! O Kesava! O Lord of Ramā! O Deva of
the Devas! A messenger has come from the Lord of Bhavānī and is waiting at
the doors. I do not not know on what important business he has come. Please
order whether I will bring him before You or not. On hearing the Jayas
words, Hari, aware of the inner feelings, knew at once the cause and said
:-- O Jaya! Bring before me the messenger come from Rudra. Thus hearing,
Jaya called the Sivas servant, of a graceful form, and brought him to the
presence of Janārdana. Chitrarūpa, of variegated appearance, prostrated
himself flat before Him in the form of a stick and stood up and remained
with folded hands. The Bhagavān Nārāyana, Whose carrier is Garuda, saw that
servant of Siva, of variegated appearance and full of all humility, and
became very much astonished. The Lord of Kamalā then smiled and asked
Chitrarūpa :-- O Pure One! Is it all well with Mahādeva, the Lord of the
Devas and his other families and attendants? On what business has He sent
you here? What does He want me to do? Or tell me if I have to do any other
business of the gods.
19-34. The messenger said :-- O Thou, the Knower of all that is within
ones heart! There is nothing in this world hidden from Your knowledge; when
is that which I will say unknown to you! O Thou, the Knower of present, past
and future! I am now saying to you what Sambhu has told me to inform You.
He has said :-- O Lord! The Goddess Laksmī is Your dear consort. She, the
daughter of the Ocean, and the Bestower of all success, though an object fit
to be meditated by Yaksas, Kinnaras, Naras and Immortals, is now undergoing
severe penance at the confluence of Kalindī (the Jumnā, the daughter of
Kalinda) and the Tamasā. What is there in the three worlds that can be happy
without that Mother of the worlds and the Giver of all desires? O Lotus-eyed
One! What pleasure do You feel in abandoning Her? O All-pervading One! Even
he who has no riches or who is very weak maintains his wife; then why have
You, being the Lord of the worlds, forsaken your wife, without any offence,
Who is worshipped by the whole universe. O Lord of the world! What advice
shall I give to You? He whose wife suffers in the world, is blamed by his
enemies. O Omnipresent One! Fie on his such a life! O Lord of the worlds!
Your enemies desires are satisfied when they see Her very miserable. They
are laughing and mocking and saying :-- O Devī, Kesava has now forsaken
you; you can spend happily your time with us now. Therefore, O Lord of the
Devas! Bring that Lady back unto your palace and place Her unto your lap,
Who is of good demeanour, beautiful, par excellence and endowed with all
auspicious signs. O Deva! Accept, please, your sweet-smiling wife and be
happy. Though I am at present not in bereavement of my dear wife, yet when I
remember my former state of bereavement, I feel very much trouble. O
Lotus-eyed One! When Satī Devī, my beloved Wife, quitted Her life, in
Daksas house, I felt unbearable pain, O Kesava! Let no other body in this
world suffer such pain, I now remember only the suffering and mental agonies
that I felt on Her bereavement; I do not give it out to others. After a long
time, practising severe Tapasyā (asceticism) I got Her back in the form of
Girijā, who felt herself burnt up as it were by the anger She felt on
account of censure cast on Me in the Daksas house and thus quitted Her
life. O Murāri! What happiness you have felt in forsaking your dear wife and
in remaining thus alone for one thousand years. Console your fortunate young
wife with good teeth and bring her back to your place. O Bhagavān! Lastly,
the Lord Bhavānī, the Originatrix of these worlds, told me to speak thus to
you :-- O Destroyer of Kamsa! Let nobody remain even, for a moment, without
Laksmī, the Highest Goddess. O Long-lived One! You better assume the form of
a horse and go and worship her. Then have a child of yours in the womb of
your sweet-smiling wife and bring her back to your house.
35-42. Vyāsa said :-- O Ornament of Bhāratas race! Hearing thus the words
of Chitrarūpa, Bhagavān Hari told that he would do what Sankara had told
him to do and thus sent the messenger back to Sankara. The messenger
departing, Hari assumed the form of a beautiful horse and immediately left
Vaikuntha with a passionate intent for the place where Laksmī was staying in
the form of a mare and practising her austerities. Coming there, he saw that
the Devī Bimalā was staying in the form of a mare. The mare, too, seeing the
horse form of her husband Govinda, recognised him and, chaste as she was,
remained there with astonishment and tears in her eyes. Then those two
copulated on the famous confluence. The wife of Hari, in the shape of a
mare, became pregnant and, in due time, gave birth to a beautiful well
qualified child. The Bhagavān then graciously smiled on her and spoke in
words suited to the time, O Dear! Now quit this mare form and assume your
former appearance. O Lovely-eyed One! Let both of us assume our own forms
and go to Vaikuntha; and let your child remain in this place.
43-48. Laksmī said :-- O Lord! How can I go leaving here this child, born
of my womb. It is very difficult to quit the attachments for ones own
child. Know this, O Lord! O High-souled One! This child is young and of
small body; therefore it is quite incapable to protect itself. If I forsake
it on the bank of this river, it will be an orphan, what will happen to it
then? O Lotus-eyed One! My mind is now in full attachment towards it. How
can I quit this helpless child and go? When Laksmī and Nārāyana resumed
their divine bodies and mounted on the excellent Vimānas, the Devas began to
praise them with hymns. When Nārāyana expressed his desire to go, Kamalā
said :-- O Lord! You better take this child; I am unable to forsake it. O
Lord! O Slayer of Madhu! This child is dearer to me than my life; see its
body resembles exactly like you. Therefore we would take this child with us
to Vaikuntha.
49-54. Hari spoke :-- O Dear! You need not be sorry; let this child remain
here happily; I have arranged for its preservation and safety. O Beautiful
One! There is a great act to do in this world. That will be executed by your
child. For this reason I am leaving it here. I am now describing to you the
above story. The famous King Yayāti had a son named Turvasu; his father kept
his name as Hari Varmā; he is known by this name. That king is now
practising asceticism for getting a son for one hundred years in a place of
pilgrimage. O Laksmī! I have begot this son for him. I will go there and
send the King here. O Beautiful-faced One! I will give this son to that
King, desirous of an issue. He will take this son and go back to his house.
55. Vyāsa said :-- O King! Thus consoling his beloved, whose abode is in the
Lotus and placing the child there in that position, He mounted on an
excellent car with Laksmī and went to Vaikuntha.
Here ends the Nineteenth Chapter in the Sixth Book on the origin of Haihayas
from a mare in the Mahāpurānam Srī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam of 18,000 verses by
Maharsi Veda Vyāsa.
Chapter XX
On the son born of mare by Hari
1-2. Janamejaya said :-- O Bhagavān! A great doubt has arisen in my mind on
this subject. Who was it that took away that son, when both Laksmī and
Nārāyana left it, in that forlorn state, in a forest without any person
there to look after?
3-11. Vyāsa said :-- O King! No sooner Laksmī and Nārāyana departed from
that place, one Vidyādhara, named Champaka, mounting on a beautiful
celestial car came there at his free will, sporting with a woman named
Madanālasā. There they saw that one lovely child, exquisitely beautiful like
a Devas son, was playing alone as it liked. They then, quickly descended
from their chariot and picked it up. Vidyādhara became very glad as a beggar
becomes glad, when he gets a hoard of jewels. On taking that newly born
beautiful child like a Cupid, Champaka gave it to the Devī Madanālasā.
Madanālasā took it and became very much astonished; and her hairs stood at
their ends. She clasped it to her bosom and kissed it frequently. O Bhārata!
Taking that child on her lap as if her own child, Madanālasā embraced it and
kissed it and got the highest happiness. Then both of them took that child
and mounted on the car. The lean Madanālasā then laughingly queried :-- O
Lord! Whose child is this? Who has left it in this forest? It seems to me
Mahā Deva, desirous to give me a son, has given it unto me.
12-18. Champaka said :-- I will just now go and ask the all-knowing Indra
whose child is this, whether it is of a Deva, Dānava or Gandharva. If he
orders, I will purify this child found thus in this forest by the Veda
Mantrams and then accept it as my own. It is not advisable to do a thing
suddenly without knowing all the details. Thus saying to his wife Madanālasā,
Champaka went with a gladdened heart hurriedly to the city of Indra with
that child in his arms. Champaka gladly bowed down at the feet of Indra and
gave him all the information he knew about the child and stood at one side
with folded hands and spoke, O Lord of the Devas! I have got this child,
beautiful as Cupid, in the sacred place of pilgrimage at the confluence of
the Jumnā and the Tamasā. O Lord of Sachī! Whose child is this? and why did
they forsake it there? If you kindly permit, I will take this child as my
own son. This child is very beautiful and liked very much by my wife; it is
also the rule laid down in the Sāstras that one can accept any child as the
Kritrima son. Therefore it is my earnest desire that I purify this child by
the Veda Mantrams and take it legally as my own son.
19-24. Indra said :-- O Highly Fortunate One! Bhagavān Vāsudeva, assuming
the form of a horse, has produced this child out of the womb of Kamalā in
the form of a mare. He intends to give over the child, capable to destroy
enemies to Turvasu, the son of Yayāti, and thus will get a great purpose
achieved by the child. That King, very religious, will be sent by Hari today
and he will come for the child in that beautiful sacred place of pilgrimage.
You better go back as early as possible and keep the child there as it was
before till that king comes to that spot at the instance of the Devadeva
Visnu. Do not waste a minute more. The King will be very sorry if he does
not find the child there. Therefore O Champaka! Quit the attachment that you
have for this child. You should know that this child will be famous in this
earth as Ekavīra (only one hero).
25-30. Vyāsa said :-- O King! Thus hearing the Indras words, Champaka took
the child and went back immediately to the spot whence he picked it up and
keeping the child there as it laid, mounted on his car and went to his
abode. At that instant, the husband of Laksmī, the Lord of the three worlds,
went to the King, mounted on His car, beaming with effulgent rays. When the
Bhagavān was descending from His aerial car, the King Turvasu was very glad
to see Him and bowed down and laid himself prostrate on the ground. The
Bhagavān, then, comforted the King, his own devotee, and said, Get up, my
child! Do away with your mental distress. The King also eagerly and full of
devotion, began to utter verses in praise of the Bhagavān. O Lord of Ramā!
You are the presiding Deity of the Devas; Lord of the whole worlds, Ocean of
Mercy and Giver of advice to all men. O Lord! Your sight is very rare even
to the Yogis; being myself of a very slow dull intellect; I have been
fortunate enough to see you. O Lord! This shews Your mercy.
31-54. Vyāsa said :-- O Bhagavān! O Infinite One! Those who are free from
any desires and free from any attachment to worldly things, they alone are
entitled to see Thee. O Deva of the Devas! I am bound in thousand and one
desires. I am quite unfit to see Thee. There is no doubt in this. When
Turvasu, the best of the kings, praised thus, Bhagavān Visnu became pleased
and began to speak in the following pleasant words :-- O King! I am pleased
with your asceticism; now ask your desired boon; I will grant it
immediately. The King bowed down again to the feet of Visnu and said :-- O
Murāri! For the sake of a son, I have practised this tapasyā; grant me a son
like my Self. Nārāyana, the First-born of the Devas, hearing this Kings
request spoke to him in infallible words :-- O son of Yayāti! Go to the
confluence of the Yamunā and Tamasā. For you I have kept there today a son
as you like and of indomitable prowess. O King! That child is begotten by me
in the womb of Laksmī. The King became very glad to hear the sweet pure
words of the Bhagavān. Thus granting him the boon, Visnu went with Ramā to
Vaikuntha. The King Turvasu, the son of Yayāti, hearing these words, became
exceedingly gladdened in his heart and mounting on a chariot, whose speed
cannot be checked, went to the spot where lay the child. The king, of
extraordinary genius, went there and saw that the exceedingly beautiful
child, catching hold of his toe by one of his soft hands was sucking it by
his mouth and was playing on the ground. The child was born of Nārāyana out
of the womb of Kamalā. Therefore it resembled like Him. On looking at that
beautiful lovely child, the famous King Harivarmās face got cheered up with
the intensest delight. The King took it up with both of his hands and got
merged in the Ocean of Bliss and taking gladly the scent of its head
embraced it happily. On looking at the beautiful lotus-face of the child,
the King, choked with tears from his eyes and with feelings of joy said :--
O Child! Nārāyana has given me, the child jewel in you; so save me from the
terrors of the hell named Put. O Child! For full one hundred years I have
practised a very hard tapasyā for the sake of you. Pleased with that, the
Lord of Kamalā has given you to me for the happiness of my worldly career.
Your Mother Ramā Devī has forsaken Her own child for the sake of me and has
gone away with Hari. O Child! That Mother is blessed whose face beams with
joy by seeing the smiles in your lotus-face. O Delighter of my heart! The
Lord of Ramā, the Deva of the Devas, has made you, as it were, to serve as a
boat for me for crossing to the other side of this Ocean of World. Thus
saying, the King took the child and gladly went home. Knowing that the King
had come very close to his city, the Kings Minister and the city people,
the subjects came forward with the priest and many other presents and
offerings. The bards, singers and Sūtas came in front of the King. The King
as he entered into his city looked affectionately on his subjects and
gladdened their spirits by enquiries of welfare. Then worshipped by the
citizens, the King entered into the city with his child. As the King went
along the royal road, the subjects showered on his head the flowers and
fried rice. Then taking the child by his two arms, the King entered into his
prosperous palace with his ministers.
The king next handed over the newly-born lovely child, as beautiful as
Cupid, to the hands of his queen. The good queen took the child and asked
the king :-- O King! Whence have you got this new born child as fascinating
as the God of Love? Who has given this child to you? O Lord! Speak quickly.
This child has stolen away my mind. The King gladly replied :-- O Beloved!
The Lord of Kamalā, the Ocean of Mercy has given me this child; O Quick-eyed
One! This child is born of Nārāyanas part and out of the womb of Kamalā. O
Devī! This child has strength, energy, patience, gravity and all other good
qualities. Then the queen took the child in her arms and got the unbounded
bliss. Great festivities began to be performed in the palace of the King
Turvasu. Charities were given to those that wanted; music and singing of
various sorts were performed. In this ceremony for the sake of his child,
the king Turvasu put the name of the child as Ekavīra. Getting thus the
child equivalent in form and qualities to Hari, the powerful Indra-like king
became happy and freed from his debt due to his family line, became very
cheerful and glad. O King! The king, powerful like his enemies, began to
enjoy in his own palace with his all-qualified child, that was given to him
by Nārāyana, the Lord of all the Devas. He was always served by his dear
wife and all sorts of pleasures and he felt himself enjoying as a King would
do.
Here ends the Twentieth Chapter in the Sixth Book on the son born of mare by
Hari, in the Mahāpurānam in Srī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam of 18,000 verses by
Maharsi Veda Vyāsa.
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