On the description of the sorrows of Haris’chandra [ p. 664 ] 1-5. Vyâsa said :— O King! At this moment, the Muni Vis’vâmitra, endowed with his power of tapas, came up there, very angry as if the God of Death, to ask of his wealth. Seeing him Haris’chandra fallen thus senseless on the ground, Vis’vâmitra, then, began to sprinkle water on his body. O King! The man who is involved in a debt his troubles increase day by day. So get up and pay your promised Daksinâ. The King, thus sprinkled with water, cold as snow, regained his consciousness; but, seeing Vis’vâmitra, he fainted again. At this, the Dvîja Vis’vâmitra consoled him and angrily spoke to him thus :—
6-10. O King! If you want to maintain your steadiness, give, then my Daksinâ. Look! It is Truth that makes the Sun shine; It is the Truth that has stationed this Earth in its position; what to speak more, even the Svarga is established on Truth; so the greatest Dharma lies in Truth. If the fruit of the thousand As’vamedhas be held in one pan and Truth be held on the other pan of the balance, then Truth outweighs the thousand horse sacrifices or what need I to speak all about this! O King! If you fail to give my Daksinâ before the Sunset, I will, no doubt, curse you. Saying this, Vis’vâmitra went away. The King also became very terrified. The wealthless King was pained by the words of the Muni; but he was more troubled with the thought how he would pay him and keep to Truth.
11-13. Sûta said :— O Risis! At this time, a Brâhmin, skilled in the Vedas, with many other Brâhmins, started out of his house, at that very place. The queen, then seeing the Brâhmin ascetic close by, addressed the King in words reasonable and in accordance with the Dharma, O Lord! A Brâhmin is considered the father of the other three Varnas (i.e., Ksattriyas, Vais’yas, and S’ûdras) and a son can certainly take the father’s things; so it is my intention that you beg your wealth from this Brâhmin.
14-18. The King said :— “O One of thin waist! To beg suits the Brâhmanas; it is prohibited to the Ksattriyas; I being a Ksattriya do not wish to take anything as gift. The Brâhmins are the Gurus of all the Varnas. So they are always to be respected. It is not proper to beg from a Brâhmin; especially the Ksattriyas never ask anything from [ p. 665 ] the Brâhmins; it is totally prohibited. Offering oblations, study, gift and the governing of subjects and protecting those that take refuge is the Dharma of the Ksattriyas but they would never, never, ask any other man ‘Give, give,’ and utter these words indicative of humility O Devî! The words ‘I am giving you’ are impressed within my heart; so I will earn money from some other source and give that to the Muni.”
19-20. The Queen said :— “O King! Time keeps some men in one and the same state; again it throws others into troubles; Time it is that gives respect to one and again it is Time that gives disrespect to others. Time it is that makes one a donor and it is the same Time that makes another a beggar. So even the Risi Vis’vâmitra, learned and endowed with the strength of Tapas, becoming angry has deprived you of your kingdom and happiness and has thus done quite an irreligious act in the shape of tormenting others. You can now judge in this the wonderful workings of Time.”
21-22. The King said :— “I would rather out off my tongue into two pieces by a sharp sword than I would quit my Ksattriya pride; and I would never be able to utter the words ‘Give, give.’ O Fortunate One! I am a Ksattriya; so I never ask anything of anyone. I always say that, by the strength of my arms, I will earn money and pay off my debt.”
23-27. The Queen said :— “O King! Indra and the other Devas have given me over duly to your hands. So I am your religious (legal) wife; especially I have got education and I ought to be protected. Therefore O Luminous One! If you do not like to beg then you can sell me and pay off your Daksinâ.” The King Haris’chandra became grieved very much to hear these words and lamented, saying, “O What a painful thing is this! What a painful thing is this!” His wife again spoke :— “O King! Will we, afterwards, be burnt by the fire of curse from a Brâhmin and thus lowered very much? So keep my word now. You are selling me, not because that you are infatuated with desire for gambling nor you are deprived of all knowledge by enjoyments in worldly things nor you are selling me owing to avert the danger of your kingdom. It is that you are selling me to pay off the debt to your Guru. So nothing sinful a fault will be incurred by you. So sell me and keep to Truth and the fruits thereof.”
Here ends the Twenty-First Chapter of the Seventh Book on the description of the sorrows of Haris’chandra in the Mahâ Purânam, S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the selling of Haris’chandra’s wife [ p. 666 ] 1-6. Vyâsa said :— O King! When the Queen Madhavî requested repeatedly the King, He said :— “O Good Auspicious One! When you have not met with any scruple to utter clearly these harsh and cruel words, I will do that act now which the most ruthless persons do not dare to do.” Saying this, the King went with his wife, very distressed, to the city. Placing her on the public road, the King cried out in a voice choked with feelings and eyes full of tears :— “O Citizens! Hear you all. Do any one of you require any maidservant? This lady is dearer to me than my life. If any of you be able to offer price of her as I will declare, then let him give it out quickly.” The Pundits then said :— “Who are you? Why are you come here to sell your wife?”
7. The King said :— “Are you asking me of my introduction? Hear then; I am a heartless brute and not fit to be called a man; or I am a Râksasa; nay, I am more than that; I am prepared to do this sinful act.”
8-11. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing this, Kaus’ika suddenly assumed the form of an old man and came out and spoke to Haris’chandra :— I am master of boundless wealth; so I am able to give you the money you want; I am ready to purchase the maidservant by giving an equivalent wealth. Better give me the maidservant. My wife is exceedingly delicate; she is unable to do all the household work; so let me have the maid. But say quickly what value am I to pay? When the Brâhmin spoke this, Haris’chandra felt his heart, as it were, torn asunder; so he could not for the moment speak anything.
12-15. The Brâhmana said :— Take an equivalent amount of money according to the age, beauty, qualifications and capabilities of your wife and hand her over to me. Hear about the prices of the male and female servants as written in the Dharma S’âstras :— The price of a female servant clever, good, well-qualified and possessing thirty-two auspicious qualities is one Koti gold mohurs; and the male servant similarly qualified fetches one Arbuda gold mohurs. Haris’chandra became very much pained to hear the Brâhmin speaking thus; but he could not say anything. The Brâhmin then placed in front of the King the money over a bark and caught hold of the hair of the Queen and was ready to drag Her. [ p. 667 ] 16-21. The Queen said :— “O Ârya! Let me see once the lotus-face of my son; leave me once. O Brâhmin! Please see that it will be hard for me again to see this boy. O Son! Behold! Your mother is now a slave. So, O Prince, do not touch me. I am not fit now to be touched by you.” The boy, then, seeing the mother suddenly snatched away, cried out, “O Mother! O Mother!” and followed her with tears in his eyes. That boy tumbled at every step still he caught hold of the mother’s clothing by his hand and began to accompany her. The Brâhmin, seeing this behaviour of the boy, became impatient with anger and began to beat him. Still the boy wept, saying, “Mother! Mother!” and never quitted the hold of his mother. The Queen said :— “O Lord! Have mercy on me and purchase this boy also. Though you are purchasing me, yet without this boy I will not be able to do your work. My fate is bad; therefore this calamity has happened. Shew this favour to me.”
22-24. The Brâhmin said :— Take this money and give me the boy too. For the Wise in the Dharma S’âstras fix such to be the prices of a female and a male. The other Pundits make differences in the prices, e.g., one hundred, one thousand, one lakh, one crore and so on, according to the different qualifications. But for the female, who is skilled in all actions, modest, of good behaviour, and well qualified and, on whose body the thirty-two auspicious signs are seen, her price is one Koti gold mohurs and for a man qualified, one Arbuda gold mohurs.
25-35. Sûta said :— O King! The Brâhmin then gave over the price of the boy as decided, in gold mohurs in front of the King over a bark and then tied both the mother and son. He, then, gladly and without any delay, carried them to his home. At the time of departure, the Queen circumambulated the King and, kneeling down, bowed down to him and, in that state of humility, began to speak :— If ever I have done any charities, if ever I have poured oblations on the Fire, if ever I have satisfied the Brâhmins, then, by that virtue, Haris’chandra will again be my husband. Seeing his wife, dearer then his life, fallen on his feet, the King became very distracted and lamented, crying, “Alas! Alas! The shadow of a tree never leaves the tree; but you being verily modest and endowed with all qualifications, are now separated from me.” Speaking thus reasonably with his wife, the King said to his son :— “O Child! Where will you go, leaving me here? Where shall I go now? and who will stop my miseries?” The King, then, spoke to the Brâhmin :— “O Brâhmin! The pain that I experience in the separation from my son, I did not feel on the occasion of quitting my kingdom or on my being exiled in a forest.
[ p. 668 ]
O Auspicious One! The husband, good natured in this world, nourishes always his wife and keeps her always in comfort and happiness. But I am such a bad husband of yours, as I have left you and made you float in the sea of sorrows. Born in the Iksâku family, I inherited the kingdom and its pleasures; but, Alas! Your getting such a husband has now been reduced to slavery! O Devî! I am merged in this ocean of sorrows and troubles. Who will rescue me, by narrating this story of the Purânas!”
36-40. Sûta said :— O King! The Brâhmin, then, began to take away the queen and the boy, whipping them, in the face of the King. Seeing his wife and son being dragged away in that state, the King’s pain knew no bounds and be frequently sighed and sighed and bitterly wept aloud. Alas! My dear wife, whom the Moon, the Sun, Wind or any other body could not see ere this, has become now reduced to slavery today! Oh! How beautiful and gentle are the fingers of my child? He has been sold off today, being born in the Solar Dynasty? Alas! Fie on my foolish understanding! Oh my Dear! Oh my child Rohitâs’va! Your this wretched condition is due to my Anârya irrespectable bad maxims! Oh! Through the mockery of the Daiva, I have got this distress! Fie on Me!
41-42 Vyâsa said :— The King was lamenting thus when the Brâhmin disappeared with them, in the very tall trees and walls of palatial buildings. At this time the cruel fiendish Muni, endowed with great power of asceticism came there quickly, accompanied by his disciples.
43. Vis’vâmitra said :— “O One of mighty arm! If you think it your duty to respect Truth, then pay me the Daksinâ of Râjasûya sacrifice that you promised before.”
44. Haris’chandra said :— “O Râjarsi! I bow down to Thee. O Sinless One! Now take the Daksinâ of the Râjasûya Sacrifice that I promised to pay you before.”
45. Vis’vâmitra said :— “O King! Whence have you collected these gold Mohurs that you are now paying me as my Daksinâ. How have you earned this? Say.”
46. Haris’chandra said :— “O Dvîja! O Sinless One! What use is there in telling this to you. It will increase agony by hearing. O One of good vows!”
47. Vis’vâmitra said :— “I won’t accept money earned not rightly.
[ p. 669 ]
Give what you have acquired by rightful means. Say truly how you have acquired it.”
48. Haris’chandra spoke :— “O Brâhmin! I have sold my wife the Devî Madhavî for one Koti Gold Mohurs and my son for ten Kotis of gold Mohurs. So take this eleven Koti Gold Mohurs from me.”
49. Sûta said :— Seeing the gold collected out of the sale of wife and son very small, and seeing the King overpowered with pain and sorrow, Kaus’ika angrily spoke :—
50-52. O King! The Daksinâ of the Râjasûya Sacrifice cannot be so small; so collect quickly other money to complete it. O Vilest of Ksattriyas! If you think this much to be proper for me, see first the enormous power of mine that I possess of my tapasyâ, practised duly, of my pure Brâhmanyahood, of my violent power and of my chaste study and then you can pay my Daksinâ.
53. Haris’chandra said :— “O Bhagavân! I have sold just now my wife; and so wait for some time and I will collect more gold and will pay that to you.”
54. Vis’vâmitra said :— “O King! The fourth part of the day is now remaining; I will wait till then. After this you won’t expect any other reply from me.”
Here ends the Twenty second Chapter of the Seventh Book on the selling of Haris’chandra’s wife in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the King Haris’chandra’s acknowledging of the slavery of the Chândâla [ p. 669 ] 1-5. Vyâsa said :— O King! Speaking these harsh and cruel words to the King, the Muni took that money and went away. When Vis’vâmitra went away, the King Haris’chandra became very much perplexed with sorrows and sighed frequently. He then began to say with his face bent downwards. “Suffering from constant pain and troubles, I am now turned into a Preta; if anybody finds me serviceable, he may purchase me with value in gold as proper; but he should do this quickly before the sun sets.” Dharma, then, assuming the form of a heartless [ p. 670 ] Chândâla, came there quickly to test Haris’chandra. The body of that low mean person was of a black colour, his air looking ferocious, his belly elongated, body emitting stench odours, teeth very long, and his face, covered with beards. He had one bamboo in his hand; in his neck, the bones of the dead were hanging and his chest was very distorted.
6. The Chândâla said :— “I am in urgent need of a servant; I will keep you as my slave; say, then, quickly what is your price?”
7. Vyâsa said :— O King! When the cruel, extremely ferocious and heartless Chândâla said thus, the King Haris’chandra was surprised to see his appearance and said :— “Who are you?”
8-12. The Chândâla said :— “O King! I am the famous Chândâla, Pravîra; you will have to remain always subject to me and to collect the clothes of the dead persons.” Hearing his word, the King said, “I want to be purchased by a Brâhmin or a Ksattriya. See! The sages say, that the Dharma of good people is excellent; the Dharma of the persons intermediate is middling; and the Dharma of the mean is depressing. You belong to the low and mean class. So my Dharma cannot be observed if I remain in your house.” The Chândâla said :— “O King! This is the Dharma of yours now mentioned by you; then why did you mention that anybody can purchase you; without any previous consideration, you spoke before me. He who speaks with preconsideration attains his desired object; but, O Sinless One! You did not consider and you spoke that ordinarily. However, if I take your words that you spoke first to be true, then you are no doubt, purchased by me.”
13. Haris’chandra said :— The villain that speaks untruth, goes downright to a terrible hell; so to become a Chândâla is far better for me than to use an untrue word.
14-15. Vyâsa said :— O King! When the King was speaking thus, the ascetic Vis’vâmitra arrived there out of anger and impatience; he rolled his eyes and said :— This Chândâla is come to give you your desired money; why, then, are you not giving me the remnant of my Daksinâ!
16. Haris’chandra said :— “O Kaus’ika! Nothing is unknown to you. My this body is born for the Solar Line; how then can I accept this slavery of a Chândâla!”
17-20. Vis’vâmitra said :— If you do not sell yourself to a Chândâla, be certain that I will just now put you under my curse. Give me immediately [ p. 671 ] my Daksinâ, be it whether from a Chândâla or from a Brâhmana. There is no other purchaser at present than this Chândâla. But know this as certain that I won’t go back until I get my money. O King! If you do not give me money just now, then when half the Ghatikâ of the day is remaining, I will burn you up by my fire of anger.
2l. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing these words of Vis’vâmitra, the King became almost dead; bewildered with fear, then he clasped the feet of the Risi and said, “Be friendly, please.”
22-23. Haris’chandra said :— “O Viprarsi! I am now very humiliated and have become very afflicted and distressed. Especially I am your Bhakta, I am your servant; so be graciously pleased and free me from this painful companion of a Chândâla. O Muni! In lieu of my remnant Daksinâ, I will be your obedient slave; I will do your work and follow your commands.”
24. Visvamitra said :— “O King! You are then my slave, you will obey always my commands.”
25-26. Vyâsa said :— O King! When Vis’vâmitra said so, the King, out of joy, thought that he regained his life and said to Kaus’ika. Always I will obey your words; now order me what work I will have to do.
27-28. Vis’vâmitra, then addressed the Chândâla and said :— “O Chândâla! Come to me and give me the price for this slave. I am now handing this slave over to you; give me the price and take him. I want money; I have no need for a servant.”
29. Vyâsa said :— O King! When Vis’vâmitra spoke thus, the Chândâla, overflowed with joy, came immediately to the Risi Vis’vâmitra and said :—
30. O Dvîja! The relief that you have given me by selling this servant, for that I will give you the ten Yoyanas wide land of Prayâga Mandalam, covered over with jewels.
31-36. Vyâsa said :— O King! The Chândâla then gave one thousand gems, one thousand jewels, one thousand pearls and one thousand gold Mohurs and Vis’vâmitra took them. No signs of distraction nor unpleasantness were visible on the face of the King Haris’chandra. Rather he laid hold of his patience and thought within himself, “Vis’vâmitra is now my master; I will do any work that he puts [ p. 672 ] me in.” At this time, the incorporeal voice, the voice of the fourth dimensional space, sounded from the Heavens :— “O Fortunate One! You are freed from the Daksinâ, the debt before that you promised to give me.” A shower of flowers fell on the head of the King from the Heavens. At this time the powerful Indra and the other hosts of the Devas praised the King, saying :— “Sâdhu! Sâdhu! Well-done, Well-done.” The heart of the King was then filled with intense joy and the King then said to Kaus’ika :—
37-38. O Intelligent One! You are a greater benefactor to me than my father, mother and friend as you have freed me in a moment from my debts. So, O mighty armed one! Your words are beneficial to me. Now order what am I to do.
39. When the King said so, Vis’vâmitra then said :— Go and observe from today the words of the Chândâla. Let good befall on you! Thus saying, the Maharsi Vis’vâmitra took the money given by the Chândâla and went away to his own place.
Here ends the Twenty-third Chapter of the Seventh Book on the King Haris’chandra’s acknowledging of the slavery of the Chândâla in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the stay of Haris’chandra in the burning ground [ p. 672 ] 1. S’aunaka said :— “O Sûta! Now describe as quickly as you can in detail what the King Haris’chandra did afterwards in the house of the Chândâla.
2-14. Sûta said :— When Vis’vâmitra went away, the mind of the Chândâla was filled with joy. He already gave to Vis’vâmitra that amount of jewels; so he tied now the King and, telling him, “Do you now stand on the path of falsehood?” began to beat him with sticks. The King was already very much tired of the bereavements from his dear ones; now being beaten by the Chândâla, his senses were lost. In this state the Chândâla took him to his house and fastened him with a chain. Then the Chândâla’s troubles were over and he fell asleep. The King lived in the Chândâla’s house in that state fettered by a chain; but he did not take any food there. Incessantly he wept for his wife and son and others. “Alas! That thin lady, seeing the sad face of [ p. 673 ] her son is now remembering me with a morose face. She is now perhaps thinking, with a grieved heart, that whenever the King will get the money, he will pay off the promised money to the Brâhmin and then will free us from this yoke of slavery. Alas! When will that day come when will he see me and this crying child and speak with us. When the son will cry, saying, ‘I will go to my father; father!’ When will he come and speak with the child? That fawn eyed gentle woman does not know that I am now placed under a Chândâla. Alas! I am deprived of my kingdom, friends; and I have sold away my wife and son; now I am bound in the chain of slavery of a Chândâla. Alas! So many miseries have fallen on me all one after another.” Thus thinking incessantly about his dear consort and son, the King passed his days in the house of that Chândâla. Four days passed; and on the fifth day the Chândâla came there and rebuked the King with very harsh words and freed him from his fastenings and said, “Go to the burial ground and collect the clothings of the dead bodies. There is a wide S’masân (burial ground) on the southern part of Kâs’î; go and protect that and whatever is due to you, justly take that; do not leave it. Take this Jarjara club and go there quickly. Say to all that you are the messenger of Vîravâhu and this staff is his.”
15-33. Sûta said :— O Risis! Thus Haris’chandra became a Chândâla’s servant and was engaged in collecting the cloths of the dead persons. Thus ordered by the Chândâla, whose duty was to collect the rags of the dead bodies, the King went to the burial ground. To the south of the city Kâs’î, was situated the dreadful S’masâna, scattered over with the garlands of the dead, bad odours were emitting on all sides and it was covered all over with smoke. Hundreds of jackals were yelling there and the ground was being reverberated by their yells. Vultures, jackals and dogs were at many places dragging the dead bodies. At other places were scattered heaps of bones; the whole ground was covered with the putrid smell of the dead. At some places it seemed that from within the funeral pyre, the half-burnt dead bodies were laughing wildly with their teeth wide open from their mouths. Thus the dead bodies looked terrible when being placed under fire. Lots of dead bodies were brought there and there was a great tumultuous uproar made by the cries of their friends and relatives. Oh! My son! My friend! My relative! My brother! My child! My dear wife! Oh! My cousin! Oh! My grandfather! Oh! My father! My grandson! My acquaintance! Where hast thou gone leaving me here! Come once and let me have a sight of thee! With such dreadful sounds as these, the burial ground was being echoed. Flesh, marrow, fat all were being burnt in the [ p. 674 ] fire and a peculiar sound Son, Son was being produced there and creating voidness in the minds of the people. The fire was burning with a crackling noise. Thus the S’masâna looked very terrible as if the universe was being destroyed at the end of a Kalpa. The King Haris’chandra arrived there; and, with extreme pain, he began to give vent to his sorrows. “My ministers, servants! Where are you all now? Where is kingdom that I got by a succession of inheritance! O my Son! O my dear wife! Where are you staying now, at what a long distance, leaving me here out of the Brâhmin’s anger. Without Dharma man can never get auspicious fruits. So men should carefully earn Dharma.” The King, whose body was covered with dust and dirt, thought thus repeatedly; and at last, remembering the Chândâla’s words, went out in quest of the dead. Out of this eventful cares and anxieties, his body became lean like a stick; still he ran, to and fro, and calculated thus :— “This dead body will fetch for its price one hundred gold mohurs; out of this, this belongs to the King; this to me, and this to the Chândâla.” So he thought constantly and his state became awful. His face, arm, belly and feet and the other parts of body were all covered over with ashes and dust; the King wore a ragged cloth where hundred places were sewn over; his toes were all besmeared with all sorts of flesh, marrow, fat and other things. He began to satisfy his hunger out of the food that was prepared for all sorts of dead bodies; and, taking their garlands, he encircled his head with them. Day and night he did not sleep and always he sighed and sighed, crying, Alas! Alas! Thus one year passed away, as if it had been three hundred years.
Here ends the Twenty-fourth Chapter of the Seventh Book on the stay of Haris’chandra in the burning ground in the Mahâ Purânam, S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the quarrels between Haris’chandra and Vis**’vâmitra** [ p. 674 ] 1-12. Sûta said :— Here, on the other hand, one day the boy Rohitâs’va went out with other boys to play at some place close to Kâs’î. He first played with the his comrades; he then began to root out and collect, as far as he could, the Darbha (Kus’a) grass, with its ends and which had not deep roots. On being questioned why he was taking the Dharba grass, Rohitâ told his comrades that his master was a Brâhmin and that he was collecting them for his satisfaction. Saying this, [ p. 675 ] he began to collect carefully by his hands the sacrificial fuel (Samidha) and other fuel for the burning purposes. He collected the Palâsa wood for Homa purpose and making it into a bundle with other articles already collected, took it on his head, but at every step he seemed to be fatigued. Feeling thirsty he went to a pool of water close by and keeping his load on the ground went down to drink water. Drinking water he rested a while and then as he had kept his load on the anthill, be began to take it back on his head, a very poisonous deadly serpent came out suddenly out of that anthill at the order of Vis’vâmitra. The snake immediately bit the boy who instantly fell down and died. His comrades seeing Rohitâs’va dead went to the house of the Brâhmin. With much anxiety the boys went soon out of fear, to his mother and said :— “O Brâhmin’s maidservant! Your son went out with us to play outside; but suddenly a poisonous snake bit him and he is dead.” Rohitâ’s mother, hearing these cruel words like thunder and lightning at once fell down on the ground like a plantain tree, cut off from its roots. The Brâhmin, then, came and sprinkled water on her face. When she regained her consciousness, the Brâhmin then angrily spoke :—
13-19. O wicked One! It is very inauspicious to cry at the evening time; especially the disfavour of the Goddess Laksmî; the poverty comes to the householder, you know this; why are you then weeping? Have you not a bit of shame in your heart? She made no reply at this. Rather very much immersed in grief for her son, she wept in a pitiful voice. Her body was covered with dust, hairs were dishevelled and her face covered all over with tears from eyes. She constantly wept out of sorrow. The Brâhmin, then, became very angry and spoke to the queen :— “O Villain! O Wicked! Fie on you. I have bought you for money; yet you are hindering my luck. If you had this thought that you would not work under me, why did you take for nothing my money?” Thus repeatedly scolded by the Brâhmin, she pitifully cried and spoke to the Brâhmin in a voice choked with feelings :— “O Lord! My son has fallen into the jaws of death, being smitten by a serpent. O One of good vows! I will never be able to see him. So kindly permit me to go and see my boy.” Saying thus, that lady began again to weep in a pitiful voice. The Brâhmin became very angry and spoke thus :—
20-26. O Cheat! Your conduct is extremely blameable; you do not know how one commits a sin. The man who taking his pay from his master spoils his master’s work, he goes to the terrible hell Raurava and is being scorched there. Living in the Hell for a short while, he is born as a cock. Or it is useless for me to give you this instruction of the Dharma S’âstra, for to speak to such to an illiterate, cruel, low, hypocrite [ p. 676 ] and liar and to one addicted to sinful acts is to sow seed on an usar land and to see it fruitless. Now if you have any fear for the afterlife, come and do the household affairs. Hearing this, she said to the Brâhmin, trembling :— “O Lord! Be graciously pleased and shew your mercy on a maidservant. Only for a moment I will go to see the dead son of mine; so give me order to go there for a moment.” That lady was deeply absorbed with sorrows for her son; then she put her head on the feet of the Brâhmin and with a pitiful voice cried. The angry Brâhmin with eyes reddened then began to speak.
27-41. What purpose of mine will be served by your son? Don’t you know about my anger? Have you forgotten about my whipping? So be ready and do my household work without any delay. Hearing his words, the queen held her patience and began to do the household work. She spent half the night time, when she finished champooing his feet. When this was over, the Brâhmin spoke to her :— “You can go now to your son; but see, finish his burning ceremonies and come back quickly. See that my morning works do not suffer.” Thus getting the permission, the Queen went at that dead of night to look for her son, alone and weeping. Gradually she went out of the precincts of the city of Kâsî and there she saw her son like a poor man’s son lying on the ground over leaves and pieces of woods. Seeing her son dead, the humble Queen was very troubled with sorrow like an antelope, straying from its herd and as a cow missing her calf. The Queen Mâdhavî then began to lament, in a very pitiful tone, thus :— “O my Son! Come once before me; say why you are angry. Oh! My child! You used to come frequently to me, uttering Ma! Ma! Then why are you not coming now?” Saying thus, she tumbling went and fell over his son. She, regaining her consciousness, embraced her son and placing her face on the face of the child began to weep pitifully. “Oh! My son! Oh! My child! Oh my Kumâra! Oh! My Beautiful! and began to beat her head and her breast with her hands. O King! Where are you now? You used to look upon your son dearer than even your life. Your that son is now lying dead on the ground. Come and behold him once. It seems that the son has got back his life.” Thus thinking she looked upon his face; but when it looked dead, she fell immediately unconscious. Getting back soon her consciousness, she held his face by her hands and said :— “O Child! Rise up from your sleep; awake; now is the dreadful night time; hundreds of jackals are yelling into our ears. Even Pretas, Bhutas, Pis’âchas and Dâkinîs are roaming in packs and making terrible sounds Hum, Hum. Your comrades returned to their homes just at sunset; Why are you alone remaining here? [ p. 677 ] 42-56. Sûta said :— The thin-bodied queen, thus saying, began to lament, “Oh my Child! Oh! My son, Oh! Rohitâs’va, O Kumâra, why are you not replying to my words! Oh my Child! I am your mother; do you not recognise me; look at me once. O Child! I am deprived of my kingdom and exiled from my country; my husband has sold even his body and I am myself reduced to slavery. What man is there that can live in this state! I am living simply by seeing your lotus-face. The astrologer who cast your horoscope at your birth, calculated future events in your life; but where? none of them is fructified. They said that this child will be a hero, warrior, long-lived, very charitable man, and always ready to do the worship of the Devas, Dvîjas and the Gurus. What more than this that the child will be one paramount sovereign and with his sons and grandsons will enjoy his kingdom. This boy will be the master of his senses and will fulfil the desires of his father and mother. Oh my Son! Now all those predictions have turned out false. O Child! You have on your palms so many auspicious signs, discus, fishes, umbrella, S’rî Vatsa, Svastika, flags, Kalas’a (earthen jar), Châmara and other signs; besides these, various other auspicious omens exist on your hands. Are all these become in vain today! O Son! You are the Lord of this whole dominion; but where are your that Kingdom now, those ministers, that royal throne, that umbrella, that axe, that vast amount of riches, that Ayodhyâ city, those palatial buildings, those elephants, horses, and chariots? Where have gone your subjects! O Child! Where have you gone now, quitting all these and even me! O beloved Husband! See the condition of your son who in his early childhood used to move on all fours (the hands and feet) and get up on your broad chest, anointed with Kumkum, and spoil it with dust; O King! Come once and witness the condition of your child who used to press, out of ignorance due to his young age, the Tilak on your forehead, prepared of Mriganâbhi, (musk). Alas! Flies are now sitting on the lotus face today which I used to kiss over, covered with dirt; the insects are now stinging that. Oh! This I have got to witness now! O King! Come and see once your child is now sleeping on the ground like a poor man’s dead son. O Fate! What bad act did I commit in my past life, that I have got to suffer so much in this life and I do not get an end of them! O Child! O Son! Oh, my Kumâra! Oh! My Beautiful! Shall I not be able to see you once any more elsewhere?” The Queen Mâdhavî thus lamented very much when the warders of the city, hearing her lamentations awoke and came to her without any delay, greatly astonished. They asked her thus :— [ p. 678 ] 57-77. Who are you? Whose son is this? Where is your husband? Why are you weeping here in this dead of night, without any fear? Though thus questioned, the thin Queen did not reply anything. Being again asked, she remained silent; and in the next moment she was pained with extreme agony and began again to cry. Tears flowed incessantly from her two eyes out of her sorrow. The guards then began to suspect her and were greatly afraid. So much that hairs stood on their ends out of terror. They at once raised their arms and began to talk with each other. When this lady is not giving any sort of reply, she is then certainly not a woman; most probably she will be a Râksasî, knowing magic and destroying young children. So she should be killed with great attention. If she be not a Râksasî, then why she should stay in this dead of night outside the city? No doubt, this Râksasî has brought someone’s child to eat here. Thus saying, they, without any delay, tied her hairs closely and some caught hold of her hand and some caught hold of her neck, saying O Râksasî! where will you go now? The armed men, then dragged her perforce to the house of the Chândâla and handed her over to him. All the people said :— “O Chief of the Chândâlas! We have caught today outside the city this child eating Râksasî; so you better take her quickly on the slaughter ground and slaughter her.” The Chândâla looked at her body and said, “This Râksasî is widely celebrated in this world. I know her from before; but nobody is able to see her. This Mâyâvinî has devoured many sons of many persons. You all will acquire great merit when she will be slaughtered and your good name will be known to all and will last long. You better now go back to your own homes. The man who kills women, children, cows and Brâhmins, who burns another’s house with fire, who destroys the wayfares of others, who steals his Guru’s wife, who quarrels with saintly persons, and who drinks wine, if killed, will certainly yield merits to the man who kills him. If such a one be a female or a Brâhmin, no sin will accrue if he or she be slaughtered.
So it is my paramount duty to kill her.” Saying this, the Chândâla tied her closely and drawing her by her hairs, began to beat her with a rope. Then he told to Haris’chandra in terse language :— “O Slave! Kill her; this woman is by her very nature wicked; so do not judge anything in this matter of killing her.” Hearing these harsh words, like the falling of a thunderbolt, the King shuddered. When he came back to his nature, he fearing lest a woman be killed, said to the Chândâla :— “I am not at all able to carry this order out; so kindly make over this task to some other servant of yours. He will kill her. I will certainly carry out any other order that you would task me to do.” Thus hearing [ p. 679 ] the King, the Chândâla said :— Discard your fear and take the sword; this Mâyâvinî kills always the children; so to kill her is meritorious; in no way whatsoever ought she to be saved. The King became very sorry and said :— Women should always be protected with care, never to be killed; the more so as the religious Munis have assigned greater sin in the killing of women. The man who kills consciously or unconsciously females, certainly becomes boiled in the Mahâ Raurava hell.
78-79. The Chândâla said :— “Don’t you say this; take this sharp sword, lustrous like a lightning; where killing one engenders happiness to many, abundance of merits are acquired in doing that. This wicked fellow has eaten many children of this place; so kill her as early as possible and bring peace and happiness to the Kâsî people.”
80. The King said :— “O Chief of the Chândâlas! I have taken the difficult vow from my childhood, not to kill any woman. Therefore I cannot exert myself in this matter of killing the woman as you order.”
81-82. The Chândâla said :— “O Wicked Fellow! No work is superior which is not the master’s work. Why then are you cancelling today to carry out my order, when you are taking pay from me. The servant that spoils his master’s work, taking his money, is not freed from the hell even if he remains for ten thousand years there.”
83-86. The King said :— “O Lord of the Chândâlas! Put me to some other task that is very difficult. I will do that easily. Or if you have an enemy, specify and I will kill him no doubt within an instant. I will give you the whole earth by killing him. Even if Indra comes against you with the other Devas, or Dânavas, or Uragas, or Kinnaras, or Siddhas, or Gandharbas, I will slay him with my sharpened arrows, but I will never be able to kill a woman.” The Chândâla, then, began to tremble with anger at these words and said to the King.
87-89. You are a servant and what you have spoken is not fit for a servant. Working as a slave of a Chândâla, you are speaking the words of the gods. Therefore, O slave! hear now what I say; no need of exchanging any further words. O Shameless One! If you fear sin a bit why then did you accept the slavery in a Chândâla’s house. Take this sword and cut off her head.” Thus speaking the Chândâla gave him the axe.
Here ends the Twenty-fifth Chapter of the Seventh Book on the quarrels between Haris’chandra and Vis’vâmitra in the Mahâ Purânam, S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the narration of the sorrows of Haris’chandra [ p. 680 ] 1-3. Sûta said :— The King Haris’chandra with his face bent low thus said to the Queen :— “O Young One! I am a great sinner, otherwise why shall I be ready to do this heinous act! However now sit before me. If my hand be capable to kill you, then it will cut off your head.” Thus saying, the King took the axe and moved forward to cut her. As the King did not recognise her as His Queen, so the Queen did not recognise him as Her husband, the King. So the Queen, being very much strained with sorrow, began to utter with a view to court her death.
4-16. O Chândâla! If you like, I say something; hear my son is dead and is lying close to the outer skirts of the city. Wait till I bring my child before you and do his burning ceremonies. Next you can cut me off by your axe. The King said :— “Very well; let that be,” and gave her permission to go to her dead son. Then the Queen, emaciated and pale, her body being covered all over with dust arrived at the burning ground and taking her dead son, bitten by a serpent, on her lap cried out loudly “O Son! O my Child! O my young Son!” and referring to her husband said :— “O King! See, today, the sad condition of your son, lying on the ground, as his bed. My son went to play with other boys and, bitten by a cruel poisonous serpent, left his life.” Hearing the pitiful cry of that helpless woman, the King Haris’chandra went to the dead and took off the cover of his face. Due to the long exile and the difficulties thereof, the Queen was changed altogether in her outer form, so the King could not recognise her weeping as his wife. On the other hand the King, too, had not the curled hair on his head as before; it has turned into matted hair and his skin especially has become like the bark of a dried tree; so the Queen could not make out the King also. The King then noticed all the King making auspicious signs on the several limbs of that dead boy, poisoned all over and lying on the ground and began to think thus :— The face of the child is very beautiful like the Full Moon, nowhere there is any scar nor anything like this; the nose is high; the two cheeks are clean like a mirror and spacious; the hairs are blue, curling, similar, long and waving, the two eyes are widely expanded like a full blown lotus, the two lips are red like Bimba fruits; the chest is wide and spacious, the eyes are stretched up to the ears; the arms are extending up to the knees; the shoulders are [ p. 681 ] elevated; the legs are elongated, yet god-like like a lotus stem; the appearance is grave, the fingers are fine, yet strong enough to hold the world; the navel is deep and the region of the shoulders elevated. Certainly this boy was born in a royal family. Alas! What a pain is this! The cruel Death has reduced him to this state!
17-21. Sûta said :— Thus looking carefully that boy in the lap of his mother from his head to foot, the King Haris’chandra got back to his ancient recollections. He recognised the boy to be his and wept aloud repeating the words Oh! Oh! The tears flowed from his eyes and he said :— “This is my boy that has been reduced to this state! Oh! The cruel Fate!” Though the boy is dead, yet the King remained bewildered for a moment. The queen then spoke out of terrible pain :— “O Child! What sin is that which has caused this dire calamity, I cannot imagine!
22-27. O my Husband! O King! I am extremely worried of pains and troubles; leaving me thus, how is it and where you are passing away your time in a calm, quiet state! O Fortune! It is You that has brought about the loss of the Râjarsi Haris’chandra’s dominion, the separation from his friends and what more, you have caused his wife and son to be sold! Has he done so much mischief to you!” Hearing her cries, the King’s patience gave way and he came to recognise the Devî and the son and exclaimed, “She is my wife and the dead boy is my son. Oh! What a series of troubles, one coming after another.” Being overpowered with extreme trouble and pain, the King fell unconscious on the ground; the Queen, too, looking at the King’s state, fell motionless, and, void of senses, no sooner she recognised him as the King Haris’chandra. Some time after, the King and Queen both got back at the same time their consciousness and, with great sorrow and agony, began to lament.
28-49. The King said :—“O Child! Why my heart does not rend to thousand pieces, seeing today your gentle face pale and lifeless, that was once beautiful with curls of hairs! O Rohitâ! When will you come to me saying in a sweet voice, ‘Father! Father!’ When shall I address you affectionately, ‘Oh my child! Oh my child!’ embracing you within my breast! Whose tawny coloured dust on his knees will spoil my clothes, lap and my body! O Delightful Son! I have sold you as if an ordinary thing, though I am your father. As yet my pleasure of having a son is not satisfied. Owing to the mockery of the mean Fate, my unbounded kingdom, friends, and abundance of riches all have vanished away! Finally I had one son and that too is now in the jaws of death! Oh! With what an amount of terrible pain I am being burnt up today when I am seeing the lotus-face of my son, smitten by a serpent and [ p. 682 ] lying dead on the ground!” Thus speaking in a voice choked with feelings and with tears in his eyes, as soon as he was going to take his boy in his lap, he fell senseless on the ground. Seeing the King lying on the ground, S’aivyâ thus thought :— “Such is His voice as makes me certain that He is the King Haris’chandra, the best of men and the delighter of the learned men’s hearts. His teeth are like those of the famous Haris’chandra just like to Mukul and his nose is elevated and soft like the Tila flower. But if he be Haris’chandra, how is it that he has come to this burning ground!” Thus thinking, while she looked at the King, leaving for the moment the sorrow for his son, joy, pain and surprise attacked her heart simultaneously; and she, in that state, fell down unconscious on the ground. Then gradually regaining consciousness, she spoke in a pitiful voice :— “O Fortune! You have caused to the King who was once like an Immortal, the loss of his kingdom, friends, and even the sale of his wife and son. And now you have transformed him into a Chândâla! You are merciless, religionless, void of any justice as to what is just and what is unjust. You are shameless. So fie on you! O King! Where are gone today that royal umbrella, that throne, that Châmara, and that pair of fans on your both sides! Oh! What is this transformation caused by the Vidhâtâ (the Ordainer of Fate)! When the high-souled King used to travel, all the kings used to remove as His servants the dust of the roads by their clothings! Oh! Is He the same King of Kings, Haris’chandra who is roaming in this unholy burning ground, burdened too much by his load of sufferings! Oh! Innumerable human skulls are lying here; the small earthen pots (brought for the purification of the bodies of the dead) are lying scattered close to each; the garlands of flowers for the dead, being intertwined with the hairs of the dead, are presenting a grim spectacle! The ashes, charcoals, half-burnt dead bodies, bones, and marrows all arranged one over another make the place more hideous. The marrows of the dead bodies have come out and are dried up by the sun. At places, vultures, and S’akunîs are crying hideously and the crows and other birds, eager to eat flesh, are roaming to and fro. All the quarters of the sky are looking blue with the smoke, arising out of the burning of the dead. The Râksasas are constantly roaming hither and thither, gladly feasting on the human flesh. Is the King passing his days thus in this place? Alas! Oh! What a painful thing is this!” The daughter of the King, S’aivyâ, was overpowered with an awful sorrow; and clasping the neck of the King, began to lament again, in a pitiful voice. O King! You have spoken that you are a Chândâla. Is this a dream? Or a Reality? O King! If it be true that you are a slave of the Chândâla, then say to me; my mind is being deluded very much! (i.e., I cannot [ p. 683 ] indulge this idea). O Knower of Dharma! You have shown your great zeal towards Dharma; and, for that reason, you are displaced from your royal throne! Now if such help comes out of worshipping the Brâhmins and the Devas, then Dharma cannot stand and, along with it, the truth, simplicity and harmlessness cannot exist.
50-55. Sûta said :— Hearing these words from the thin S’aivyâ, the King took a heavy sigh and then described to her in detail with tears flowing on his neck, how he got the Chândâla state. The fearful Queen became very much pained to hear all this and heaving a deep sigh, described, as it was, how her son died. On hearing this, the King fainted and fell unconscious on the ground. Then regaining gradually his consciousness, he began to kiss, with his tongue, the face of his dead son. S’aivyâ then said in a choked voice :— “Now sever off my head and obey your master’s word. O King! You will be saved then as having kept your truth; and your master’s order would be carried out.” Hearing this, the King fainted and fell down senseless. Getting up conscious in a moment, he began to weep bitterly.
56. The King said :— “O Beloved! How have you uttered such cruel words? How can I execute that which is hard even to utter!”
57-58. S’aivyâ said :— “O Lord! I have worshipped the Devî Gaurî and other Devas and the Brâhmins; so, with their mercy, I will get you as my husband in my future birth.” Hearing this, the King again fell down instantly on the ground; getting up immediately, he was overpowered with sorrow and began to kiss the face of the dead son.
59-71. The King said :— “O Dear! I won’t be able to suffer an longer for a long time. But, O thin-bodied One! See, I am so very unfortunate that I have no command even over my heart. If I enter into the fire without the permission of the Chândâla, then I will have to become again the slave of a Chândâla in my future birth. Think it over. After that I will have to go to the hell and be tormented there. But this too I find beneficial to me. Rather I will go to the hell Mahâ Raurava and there suffer for a long time the torments of the hell, yet I do not like to live a little longer when my boy, the continuer of my family, has left his life out of the queer fancies of the Great Time and I be merged in the sorrows for my son. My body is now at the command of the Chândâla. How can I in this state quit my life without his permission. If I leave my body, I will be indebted to him and I will have to suffer in hell. Let this be so; still I will leave off my body, the receptacle of all these pains and troubles. Nowhere, in the Triloki, is any pain like [ p. 684 ] that felt in the demise of a son, not in crossing the Vaitaranî nor in the Asipatravanam! So I will now throw myself on the burning fire along with the dead body of my son. So, O Thin-bodied One! You should now excuse me (i.e., do not prevent me). O Sweet-smiling One! I now permit you to go back to the house of the Brâhmin. If ever I have given in charity riches, offered oblation to the fire, and given satisfaction to my superiors then, in the other world, I will get you and my son. But there is no such chance now in this world. O Sweet-smiling One! If ever I had given you offence while conversing or making jokes with you, now at the time of my parting, excuse them all. O Auspicious One! Never despise the Brâhmin out of your pride as a Queen. Look on your master as a Deva and try all your best to satisfy him.”
72-73. The Queen said :— “O Râjarsi! I will also throw myself on the burning fire. O Deva! I will not be able to carry on this burden, so I will accompany You. It is better for me to accompany you; so there will not be otherwise. O Giver of Honour! I will enjoy with You heaven or suffer with You in the hell.” Hearing this, the King said :— “O Chaste One! Do as you please.”
Here ends the Twenty-sixth Chapter of the Seventh Book on the narration of the sorrows of Haris’chandra in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the going of Haris’chandra to the Heavens [ p. 684 ] 1-7. Sûta said :— The King Haris’chandra then prepared the funeral pile and placed his son on it. Next he and his wife with folded palms merged themselves in the meditation of the Parames’varî, the Lady of of the Universe. That Hundred-eyed is reigning within these five Kosas (or sheaths) Annamaya, etc. She resides in the sacral plexus of the nature of Brâhman, of the Purusa composed of Anna and Rasa. And She is the Ocean of Mercy. Wearing the red robe, She is ever ready with various weapons in Her hands for the preservation of the Universe. When the King was engaged thus in meditating on Her, Indra and all the Devas with Dharma in their front came to the King Haris’chandra with no delay. They all coming up said to the King :— “O King! Hear. I am the Grand Sire and here are present Dharma Himself, the Bhagavân Visnu, the Sâdhyas, Vis’vadevâs, Maruts, the Lokapâlas, the Châranas, the Nâgas, the Gandharbas, Siddhas, Rudras, [ p. 685 ] the twin As’vins, and all the other Devas and Vis’vâmitra himself. Vis’vâmitra, who going ever the three worlds wishes to make friendship according to the law ordained by Dharma, is now himself desirous to grant you your desired objects.”
8. Dharma said :— “O King! Do not risk such an hazardous undertaking. I am Dharma; I am satisfied with your patience and forbearance, control of your senses, and the other Sâttvic qualities and have therefore come to you.”
9-10. Indra said :— “O Haris’chandra! I have also come to you. So your good fortune knows no bounds today. You with your wife and son have conquered the Eternal World. O King! What is hardly attainable by any human being, you have conquered that, by dint of your own merits. So get up to the Heavens (vibrations of the Fourth-dimensional Space) with your wife and son.”
11-16. Sûta said :— Indra then sprinkled over the dead son on the funeral piles, the nectar, destroying the fatal effect produced by unnatural death. At that time big showers of flowers were thrown on him and Dundubhis were sounded. In the meanwhile, the prince got up from the funeral pile. He got back his former beautiful body and he looked peaceful, healthy, and greatly satisfied. Haris’chandra embraced his son instantly in his bosom; the King and Queen also both regained their former beautiful appearance at that time and were decked with clothes and garlands. Their hearts were then deeply filled with great joy at their getting back their desired object and their health. Indra then said to the King :— “O Highly Fortunate One! Now ascend to the Heavens with your son and wife, by dint of your meritorious deeds and get the holy happy ends of your endeavours.”
17. Haris’chandra said :— “O King of the Devas! The Chândâla is my master; so until I get freedom from his bondage, I cannot go to the Heavens without his permission.”
18. Dharma said :— I am myself that Chândâla and had assumed that form and shewed you the city of the Chândâlas. Knowing that you will suffer.
19. What more than this, that I myself am that very Chândâla, I am that very Brâhmin and I am that very poisonous serpent who had smitten your boy. [Note: This is all the one and the same the Fourth Dimensional Space.] Indra said :— Haris’chandra! Now get up, by virtue of your own meritorious deeds to that place which is highly covetted by all the human beings that exist on earth. [ p. 686 ] 20-24. Haris’chandra said :— “O King of the Devas! I bow down to you. Kindly consider what I say now. All the inhabitants of the city Kos’ala are in mourning, due to their being separated from me. How then, can I go to the Heavens leaving my sorrow-stricken subjects here. To abandon the Bhaktas, the devotees, is to incur the great sin due to the murder of a Brâhmin, the killing of a woman, the drinking of liquors and the killing of a cow. O Indra! It is highly inadvisable to abandon a Bhakta who is always in service. How can one be happy when one abandons such devotees. So I will not go to the Heavens without them. You better go back to the Heavens. O Lord of the Devas! If my subjects can go with me, I am ready to go with them to the Heavens or to the Hell.”
25. Indra said :— “O King! Some of them are more sinful, some are more meritorious; different grades of people exist there. So, O King! How can you desire all to go simultaneously to the Heavens.”
26-29. Haris’chandra said :— “O Indra! It is through the power of the citizens that the Kings enjoy their kingdoms, perform great many sacrifices, and do many engineering works (in excavating tanks, etc.) There is no doubt in this. So I, too, have done religious acts and sacrifices through my citizens’ help. They gave me all the articles necessary for kings. So how can I now quit them so that I may get the Heavens. O Lord of the Devas! If my subjects have no such Punyams as to enable them to go up to the Heavens, then let the Punyams done by me in giving away charities, in the performance of sacrifices, and other meritorious works be divided amongst them equally. If I myself enjoy S’varga for a very long time; but, if by your favour, I can enjoy with them even one day’s residence in S’varga for my merits, that is also superior to me.”
30-33. Sûta said :— “Let that be;” saying thus Indra, the Lord of the three worlds, Vis’vâmitra, and Dharma who were very pleased went immediately to Ayodhyâ from Kâs’î by their yogic power. In an instant they reached Ayodhyâ, filled with the Brâhmanas, Ksattriyas, Vais’yas, and S’ûdras; and Indra exclaimed to them all :— “Let all the citizens come before Haris’chandra, without any delay. Today they all will go to the Heavens by virtue of the Punyams of Haris’chandra.” Thus saying, they took all the men to Haris’chandra. Then that religious King told his subjects, “Let you all now ascend with me to the Heavens.”
34-40. Sûta said :— Hearing these words of Indra and their King, they all became very glad. Then those who were engaged in their worldly desires, they handed over the charge of their worldly concerns to their own [ p. 687 ] sons, gladly became ready to go up to the Heavens. The high-minded King Haris’chandra then installed his son Rohitâs’va on the royal throne and permitted him to go to the beautiful city Ayodhyâ, filled with jolly and healthy inhabitants. Next addressing his son and friends, he took leave of them. Thus, by virtue of his own good deeds, the King Haris’chandra attained great celebrity. He then got up and took his seat in the aerial car that has no equal and that goes at will. It was beautifully adorned, very rare even to the Devas and decked with bells emitting jingling Kinkini sounds. The high-souled S’ukrâchârya, versed in the S’âstras and the Guru of the Daityas, seeing, Haris’chandra in the Vimâna, spoke thus :—
41. Oh! What is the glorious result of forbearance (Titiksâ)! What is the great fruit of charity! Oh! Due to whose influence, the King Haris’chandra today has attained the same region with Mahendra!
42-43. Sûta said :— Thus I have described to you all the doings of Haris’chandra. Any man, oppressed with sorrows and troubles, no doubt, attains constant happiness, if he hears it. What more than this, those who want S’varga get S’varga, those who want son get sons, those who want wife get wife, and those who want kingdoms get their kingdoms by hearing this incident.
Here ends the twenty-seventh Chapter of the Seventh Book on the going of Haris’chandra to the Heavens, in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the glory of the S’ataksi Devî [ p. 687 ] 1-3. Janamejaya said :— “O Risi! Wonderful is the story of the religious Râjarsi Haris’chandra that you have described, the great Bhakta of S’atâksî Devî! Why is that auspicious S’ivâ, the wife of S’iva, called S’atâksî? Explain to me, the cause of it, O Muni! And thus make my birth full of use and success. Who is there amongst the clear-minded that gets fully satisfied, when he hears the good deeds of the Devî? Each sentence, describing the good deeds of the Devî, gives the undecaying fruits of As’vamedha Sacrifice.”
4-45. Vyâsa said :— O King. Hear; I am describing the story of S’atâksî Devî. You are the great devotee of the Devî; so I have nothing that I cannot say to you. In olden times, there was a great [ p. 688 ] Dânava named Durgama: he was very cruel. He, the the son of Ruru, was born in the family of Hiranyâksa. Once be thought within himself thus :— “The Munis offer oblations by Mantras as ordained in the Vedas. And the Devas, eating the clarified butter (ghee) of these oblations, get
nurtured and strengthened. The Vedas is the strength of the Devas; if the Vedas be destroyed, the Devas also would be destroyed. Thus it is advisable to destroy the Vedas. (There is no other easy way.)” Thus thinking, he went to the Himâlayâs to perform tapasyâ. He began to meditate Brahmâ in the space of his heart, and, taking air only, passed away his time. [Mark here that all the Devas reside in space, a magnitude of the Fourth Dimension.] He practised hard tapasyâ for one thousand years and the Devas and the Asuras and all the Lokas were agitated by the power of his Tejas (fiery lustre). Then the Bhagavân, the four-faced Brahmâ, became pleased with him and mounting on his carrier, the Swan came up there to grant him the boon. Brahmâ told clearly the Demon, sitting in Samâdhi with his eyes closed, “Let all be well with you; now ask what you desire? Satisfied with your tapasyâ, I have come to grant you the boon.” Hearing thus, the Demon got up from his Samâdhi and worshipping Him duly, said :— “O Lord of the Devas! Give me all theVedas. O Mahes’vara! Let all the Vedic Mantrams, that are found in the three worlds, with the Brâhmanas and the Devas, come to me and give me such strength as would enable me to conquer the Devas.” Hearing this, the God Brahmâ, the author of the four Vedas, replied, “Let it be as you wish,” and went away. From that time, the Brâhmanas forgot all about the Vedas. So bathing, Sandhyâ, daily Homas, S’râddha, sacrifice, and Japam and other rites and performances, all became extinct. Then a cry of universal distress arose on the surface of this wide earth; the Brâhmins began to say to each other :— “How has this happened! How has this come to pass! Now what are we to do? Where the Vedas have disappeared.” Thus when great calamities befell on the earth, the Devas became gradually weaker and weaker, not getting their share of the sacrificial Havis. At this time, that Demon invested the city of Amarâvatî. And the Devas, not being able to fight with the Asura, of a thunder-like body fled to various directions. They took refuge in the caves of the mountain Sumeru and the inaccessible passes of the mountain and began to meditate on the Highest Force, the Great Goddess. O King! When oblations of clarified butter are offered to the Fire, those get transferred to the Sun (Sûryaloka) and get transformed as rains. So when the Homa ceremonies disappeared, there was the scarcity of rain. The earth became quite dry and not a drop of water was found anywhere. The wells, tanks, pools, rivers all were dried up. And this state of “no rains” lasted one hundred years. Countless people, hundreds and thou- [ p. 689 ] sands of cows, buffaloes and other beasts went to the jaws of death. The dead bodies of persons remained in heaps in every house; persons would not be found to perform their burning ceremonies. When such calamities were seen, the calm and quiet body of the Brâhmans, in their earnestness to worship the Supreme Goddess, went to the Himâlayâs. They with their whole heart and without taking any food began to worship the Devî daily with their Samâdhi, meditation and worship. O Mahes’ânî! Shew mercy on us. O Mother! It’s not praiseworthy to Thee to manifest Thy such anger on us, the low persons and guilty of all sins. So, O Deves’î! Forgive us. If Thou art angry on us for our faults, even then we may be excused, for Thou art the Internal Ruler within us all and we do whatever Thou impellest us to do. (The other Devas become pleased and give fruits when they are worshipped by Japam, and other Homa ceremonies; but that is not even possible due to the disappearance of the Vedic Mantrams from amongst us. But You are kind as mothers are towards their children whenever they remember.) So without Thee, there is no other rescue for these people. O Mahes’varî! Whatever Thou willest, Thou canst do that; so what art Thou seeing again and again? O Mahes’arî! How can we live without Water, what is called the Life. Now rescue us from this great difficulty. O Mother of the Worlds! O Mahes’varî! Be pleased. Oh the Ruler of the endless crores of Brahmândas! Obeisance to Thee! We bow down to Thee, the Unchangeable, of the nature of Intelligence. We again and again make obeisance to Thee, the Lady of the Universe and realisable by the Vedânta words (not this, not this). All the sayings of the Vedânta declare Thee, by negating (not this, not this) other transient objects as the Cause of all this Universe. We with all our hearts bow down to the Devî. When the body of the Brâhmanas thus praised and chanted the hymns of Mahes’varî, She created innumerable eyes within Her body and became visible. Her colour was dark-blue (colour of the fourth dimension, space) like heaps of collyrium (eye-paint); eyes like the blue lotuses and expanded; breasts hard, regularly elevated round and so fleshy that they touched each other; four handed; with Her right hand, holding arrows; on the under hand holding lotus; on the upper-left hand holding a great bow and on the lower hand, carrying vegetables, fruits, flower and roots with abundance of juice, destroying hunger, thirst and fever. She was the Essence of all Beauty, lovely, luminous like the thousand Suns, and the ocean of mercy. That Upholder of the Universe, showed Her form and began to shed waters from Her eyes. For nine nights continuously, the heavy rains poured down out of the waters flowing from Her eyes. Seeing the misery of all the people, out of [ p. 690 ] pity, She showered incessantly tears from Her eyes; and all the people and medicines were satisfied. What more than this, out of those tears, the rivers began to flow. The Devas that remained hidden in the mountain caves, now came out. Then the Brâhmins, united with the Devas, began to praise and sing hymns to the Devî. Thou art known by the Vedânta Mahâvâkyas. We bow down to Thee. Thou ordained everything to all the worlds by Thy Mâyâ; so again and again we bow down to Thee. Our Obeisance to Thee! Who art a Kalpa tree to the Bhaktas yielding all their desires! Thou assumest the body for the Bhaktas! Thou art always satisfied; without any equal; the Lord of the Universe! We bow down to Thee. As Thou, O Devî! hast innumerable eyes only for our welfare and peace, therefore Thou wilt be called henceforth by the name “S’atâksî.” O Mother! We are very much hungry; so we have no power to chant hymns to Thee; therefore, O Mahes’varî? Shew mercy on us and deliver to us our Vedas.
46-68. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing these words of the Devas and the Brâhmins, the Auspicious One gave them the vegetables, delicious fruits and roots to them that were on Her Hand, for their eating. After She was prayed, She gave to men sufficient quantity of various articles of juicy food and to the beasts, grass, etc., until new crops came out. O King, from that day She became famous by the name of S’âkambharî (because She nourished all by vegetables, etc.) Great tumult arose and the Demon Durgama heard all from the emissaries and started out to fight with his weapons and army. He took one thousand Aksauhinî armies with him (one Aksauhinî army equals large army consisting of 21,870 chariots, as many elephants, 65,610 horses, and 109,350 foot) and, shooting arrows, he came quickly before the Devî and invested Her and the Deva army and the Brâhmins. At this, a great tumultuous uproar arose and the Devas and the Brâhmins united exclaimed :— “O Devî! Save us; save us.” The Auspicious Devî, then, for the safety of the Devas and the Dvîjas created round them a luminous circle and She Herself remained outside. The terrible fight, then, ensued between the Devî and the Dânavas. The Sun was covered with their incessant hurling of arrows; and the shooters could not shoot accurately on account of the darkness that then prevailed. Then by the collision of the arrows of both the parties, the arrows caught fire and the battlefield again became filled with light. The quarters on all aides resounded with harsh bow sounds and nothing could be heard. At this moment, came, out of the body of the Devî, the principal S’aktis (forces incarnate) Kâlikâ, Târinî, Sodas’î, Tripurâ, Bhairabî, Kamalâ, Bagalâ, Mâtangî, Tripurâ Sundarî, Kâmâksî, Tulajâ Devî, Jambhinî, Mohinî, Chchinnamastâ, [ p. 691 ] and ten thousand armed Guhya Kâlîs and others. Thirty-two S’aktis, sixty-four S’aktis, and then innumerable S’aktis, all armed, came out of the Devî successively. When the S’aktis destroyed one hundred Aksauhinî forces, Mridangas, conch-shells, lutes and other musical instruments were sounded in the battle-field. At this time, the enemy of the Devas, Durgama, came in front and first fought with the S’aktis. The fight grew to such a terrible extent that, within ten days, all the Aksauhinî troops were destroyed. So much so as the blood of the dead soldiers began to flow in torrents like rivers. When the fatal eleventh day arrive the Dânava, wearing red clothes on his waist, red garlands on his neck and annointing his body all over with red sandal paste, celebrated a very grand festivity and mounted on his chariot and went out to fight. With the strenuous effort, he defeated all the S’aktis and placed his chariot before the Devî. Then a terrible fight ensued for two Praharas (six hours). The hearts of all shivered with horror. At this time, the Devî shot fifteen very awful arrows at the Dânava. His four horses (Vâhanas) were pierced by Her four arrows; the charioteer was pierced by one arrow; his two eyes were pierced by two arrows; his arms by two arrows, his flag by one arrow and his heart was pierced by five arrows. He then left his body before the Devî, vomitting blood. The vital spirit, the luminous counterpart, emitting from his body, merged in the space-like body of the Devî. The three worlds, then, assumed a peaceful appearance when that greatly powerful Dânava was killed. Then Hari, Hara, Brahmâ and the other Devas began to praise and chant hymns to the World Mother with great devotion and in voices, choked with feelings.
69-73. The Devas said :— “O Auspicious One! Thou art the only Cause of this Illusion of this world, presenting an unreal appearance (while Brahmâ is the Only Reality). So Thou art the Lady of all the beings (otherwise why it would be that Thou hast nourished all the beings with vegetables, etc). So, Obeisance to Thee, the S’âkambharî! Hundred-eyed! O Auspicious One! Thou art sung in all the Upanisadas; The Destroyer of the Durgama Asura! We bow down to Thee, the Lord of Mâyâ, the Dweller in the five sheaths Anna, Rasa, etc. We meditate upon Thee, the Lady of the universe, as demonstrated by Pranava Aum, whom the chief Munis meditate with their Nirvikalpa hearts (hearts free from any Vikalpa, doubts or ignorance). Thou art the Mother of the endless crores of universe! Thou assumest the Divine Bodies at times for our welfare! Thou art the Mother of Brahmâ, Visnu and others; we bow down to Thee with all our heart.
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Thou art the Mother of all; so, out of mercy, Thou hast shed tears from the hundred eyes, to remove the miseries of the low humble persons. Thou art the Ruler of all!”
74-80. Vyâsa said :— O King! Thus when Brahmâ, Visnu, Hara and the other Devas praised and chanted various hymns to the Devî and worshipped Her with various excellent articles, She became instantly pleased. Then the Devî, graciously pleased, handed over the Vedas to the Brâhmanas. At last, She, the Cuckoo-voiced, made a special address to them. “These Vedas are the excellent parts of My body. So preserve these with your greatest care. The more so, when you all have seen with your own eyes what a great calamity befell on you when these Vedas went away out of your hands! You should all worship and serve Me (the Controller of the Space) always; there is no other thing higher than this that I can advise you for your welfare. Read always these My excellent glorious deeds. I will be pleased thereby and will destroy all your bad calamities and misfortunes. My name is Durgâ, because I have killed this demon Durgama; so he, who will take My name Durgâ and S’atâksî, he will be able to unveil my Mâyâ and walk freely. No use in telling more than this that I tell you now, O Devas, the Essence of all essences :— Both the Suras and the Asuras would always serve Me and Me, alone.”
81-83. Vyâsa said :— O King! Thus giving pleasures to the Devas by these words, the Devî of the nature of Existence, Intelligence and Bliss disappeared before them. O King! This Grand Mystery I have described to you in detail; but this is the source of good to all; so keep it secret with every care. The person that hears daily with great devotion this Chapter, gets all that he wants and at last gets the worship in the Devî Loka.
Here ends the Twenty-eighth Chapter of the Seventh Book on the glory of the S’ataksi Devî in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the birth of the Bhagavatî in the house of Daksa [ p. 692 ] 1-19. Vyâsa said :— O King! Thus I have described the glory of the Devî. Now I will narrate, as far as I can, the excellent lives of the kings of the the Solar and the Lunar dynasties respectively. They [ p. 693 ] all attained their excellent glories, simply because they were favoured by the Grace of the Highest S’akti; they were all the great devotees of the Supreme Deity. All their prowess, bravery, prosperity and all their glory, know that those all were derived from the mere parts of the Parâ S’akti. O King! Those Kings and others as well were able to out off the Tree of this World by the Axe of their Knowledge, simply because they were the devotees of the Parâ S’akti. So with all the care possible, the Lady of the Universe is to be worshipped and served. Men should avoid worshipping any other gods, as people avoid the husk to get the grain inside. O King! By churning the ocean of the Vedas, I have got the jewel as the lotus-feet of the Parâ S’akti; and I think that I have discharged all my duties and think myself satisfied and successful. Brahmâ, Visnu Rudra, and Is’vara are the four feet and Sadâ S’iva is the plank overhead; thus these five form the seat on which the Devî is seated. There is no other deity superior to Her. To show this (to the ordinary ignorant people) the Mahâ Devî has taken this seat composed of the five Brahmâ, Visnu, Rudra, Is’vara and Sadâ S’iva. Superior to these five, what is stated in the Vedas as Vyaktam and in which all this Universe is sewn, as it were, crosswise and lengthwise, lying in and through, that is Bhuvanes’varî, the Goddess of the Universe.
[Note: Brahmâ, Visnu, Rudra, Is’vara and Sadâ S’iva are the Regents or the presiding Deities of earth, water, fire, air and Âkâs’a]. No man can be free unless he until the Goddess. When men will be able to encircle the Âkâs’a, of the fourth dimension, as if it were an antelope skin, then they will be able to root out the miseries of the world, without knowing the nature of the Devî (i.e., impossible). Thus the S’vetâs’vataropanisada says :— “Those that were engaged in meditation, Dhyâna Yoga, they saw the Devî covered by the Gunas Sâttva, Râjas and Tâmas and the forces incarnate respectively of the several Devas.” So to make the human birth a success, first avoid all companies, be it out of shame, or fear, or devotion, or out of love; then bring the mind and keep it steady in your heart and then be devoted to Her and consider Her as the Supreme. This is the Vedânta Dindima (the declaration of the Vedânta). Whoever takes the name of the Devî, either in sleeping, going or resting or in any other condition, he is certainly freed from the bondage of the world, no doubt. O King! So worship the Mâhes’varî with all the care that you can. Go on step by step; first worship Her Virât Rûpa (cosmic form); then Sûksma Rûpa (subtle form) and then her Antaryâmî Rûpa (inner form, ruling within). Thus when your heart is purified, worship the Parâ S’akti, of the nature of Brahmâ, beyond this Mâyâ, this Prapancha Ullâsa, of the nature of Existence,
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Intelligence and Bliss. When the Chitta (heart) melts in Parâ S’akti, then comes the real Ârâdhanâ (the real worship). So dilute your heart in Her. O King! Thus I have described to you the sanctifying deeds of the extremely devoted kings of the Parâ S’akti, who were noble minded and religious. One who will hear this will acquire fame, dharma, intelligence, good end, and merits that have no equal. Now what else do you like to hear?
20-22. Janamejaya said :— “O Bhagavân! In olden times, the World mother Parâ S’akti handed over Gaurî to Hara, Laksmî to Hari, and Sarasvatî to Brahmâ, born of the lotus from the navel of Hari. Now I hear that Gaurî is the daughter of Himâlayâ as well of Daksa; and Mahâ Laksmî is the daughter of the Ksiroda ocean (ocean of milk). They were all originated from the Prime Devî; how, then, Gaurî and Laksmî came to be the daughters of others? O great Muni! This is next to impossible; so my doubt arises. O Bhagavân! You are quite competent to cut off all my doubts; so by your axe of knowledge, cut off my present doubt.”
23-44. Veda Vyâsa said :— O King! Hear. I am telling you this wonderful secret. You are greatly devoted to the Devî; so nothing there can be that I cannot disclose to you. Since the time the Great Mother gave over to Hara, Hari and Brahmâ, Gaurî, Laksmî and and Sarasvatî, respectively, these three Devas, Hara, etc. were performing their tasks, preserving, etc. O King! Once on a time, certain Dânavas, named Halâhalas were born. In time, they became very powerful and in a short time conquered the three worlds. What more than this, that they being elated with the boon granted to them by Brahmâ, took their forces and invested the Mount Kailâs’a and the Vaikuntha regions!
Seeing this, Mahâ Deva and Visnu both made preparations for war. A terrible fight ensued between both the parties. For sixty thousand years the battle lasted incessantly but the result was stalemate. Gradually there was a great cry of consternation in the two parties. When S’iva and Visnu with great effort destroyed the Dânavas. O King! S’iva and Visnu then returned to their own houses and began to brag of their powers before their own S’aktis Gaurî and Laksmî; whereas the Demons were killed on account of the S’aktis of Gaurî and Laksmî. Seeing them boast, Gaurî and Laksmî laughed not sincerely whereon the two gods were very much angry. They under the magic spell of the Prime Mâyâ insulted them and even used offensive languages. Gaurî and Laksmî quitted them and disappeared. A great uproar then arose in the worlds.
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Both Hari and Hara became lustreless due to their insulting the two S’aktis. They become powerless and unconscious and turned out mad. Seeing this Brahmâ became very anxious. Hari and Hara are the two chief Deities; how then these two have become unable to perform the actions of the world! What is the cause? Why this calamity has sprung up out of season? Will there be a Pralaya (a general dissolution) of the world out of some offence, when no actions are being done! I know nothing about this. So how can I find a remedy! Being thus very distressed, he began to meditate with his eyes closed in the fourth dimensional space in the heart. O King! The Lotus born Brahmâ then found out by his meditation that this calamity was brought about by the great wrath of the Parâ S’akti. He then tried to find out the remedy until Hari and Hara did not regain the former natural position. Brahmâ began by his own S’akti to carry on the functions of them both, viz., that of preservation and destruction for some time. The religious-minded Prajâpati quickly called his son Manu and Sanaka, etc., the Risis, for bringing peace on the two great Gods! When they came to him, the great ascetic four-faced Brahmâ told them :— “I am now busy with many more works; so I am unable carry on my tapasyâ? By the wrath of the Highest Force, Hari and Hara have become somewhat distracted; so for the satisfaction of the Parâ S’akti I am performing the three functions, i.e., those of Creation, Preservation and Destruction. So you both practise this hard tapasyâ with the greatest devotion and bring about Her satisfaction. O sons! Do such as Hari and Hara gain their former states and then be united with their own S’aktis respectively. Your fame will increase thereby, no doubt. Rather that family where the two S’aktis will take their birth, will purify the whole world and that man himself will be crowned with success.”
45. Vyâsa said :— O King! The pure-hearted Daksa and other mind-born sons of Brahmâ, hearing the words of the Grandsire expressed their desire to worship the Parâ S’akti and went to the forest.
Here ends the Twenty-ninth Chapter of the Seventh Book on birth of the Bhagavatî in the house of Daksa in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the birth of Gaurî, the seats of the Deity, and the distraction of S’iva [ p. 695 ] 1-12. Vyâsa said :—O King! They went to the forest and fixed their seats on the slope of the Himâlayân mountain and engaged them- [ p. 696 ] selves in repeating silently the seed Mantra of Mahâ Mâyâ and thus practised their austerities. O King! One hundred thousand years passed in the meditation of the Parâ S’akti. The Devî, pleased, became visible to them. Her form was three-eyed, and of the form of Existence, Intelligence and Bliss (Sachhidânanda); She was filled with mercy. In Her one hand there was the noose, in another hand, goad; in another hand there was the sign bidding her devotees discard all fear, and in the other hand She was ready to offer boons. The good-natured Munis, seeing this Form of the World Mother began to praise Her. “O Devî! Thou art existing separately in every gross body; we bow down to Thee. Thou art existing wholly (cosmically) in all the gross bodies; we bow down to Thee. O Parames’varî! Thou art existing separately in every subtle body; we bow down to Thee; Thou art existing universally in all the subtle bodies; we bow down to Thee, Thou art existing separately in all the causal bodies wherein all the Linga Dehas (subtle bodies) are interwoven; we bow down to Thee. Thou art existing universally in all the causal bodies; we bow down to Thee. Thou art of the nature of the unchangeable Brahmâ, the receptacle of all the Jîvas and thus residest in all the bodies; so we bow down to Thee. Thou art of the nature of Âtman, the Goal of all the beings; we bow again and spin to Thee.” Thus the pure-natured Daksa and the other Munis praised Her with voice, choked with feelings of intense devotion and bowed down to Her feet. Then the Devî, pleased, spoke to them in a cuckoo voice. “O Highly Fortunate Ones! I am ever ready to grant boons; so ask what you desire.” O King! Hearing thus, they asked that Hari and Hara both regain their former natural states and be united respectively with their S’aktis, Laksmî and Gaurî. Daksa again asked :— “O Devî! Let your birth be in my family. O Mother! I will, no doubt, consider myself as having then realised the fulfilment of my life. So, O Parames’varî! Speak by Thy own mouth how Thy worship, Japam, meditation will be conducted as well the various fit places where they would be performed.”
13-16. The Devî said :— “The insult shown towards my S’aktis has led to this calamitous state of Hari and Hara. So they should not repeat such crime. Now, by My favour, they will regain their health and, of the two S’aktis, one will be born in your family and the other will take Her birth in the Ksiroda Sâgara, the ocean of milk. Hari and Hara will get back their S’aktis, when I will send them the chief Mantra. The chief Mantra of Mine is the said Mantra of Mâyâ; this is always sweet to Me; so worship this Mantra and make Japam of this. The Form that you are seeing before you, this is My Bhuvanes’varî form (that of the Goddess [ p. 697 ] of the Universe), or worship My Virât (cosmic) form; or Sachchidânanda form. The whole world is my place of worship; so you can meditate on Me and worship Me always and in all places.”
17-23. Vyâsa said :— When the Bhuvanes’varî Devî living in the Mani Dvîpa thus giving Her reply, went away, Daksa and other Munis all went to Brahmâ and informed him with great earnestness of everything that happened. O King! Thus Hari and Hara both became devoid of their haughtiness and got back their previous natures by the Grace of the Supreme Deity and were thus enabled to perform their functions as before. Then, on a certain time, the Devî Bhagavatî, the Fiery Nature of the Parâ S’akti, took Her birth in the house of the Prajâpati Daksa. O King! Everywhere in the Trilokas, great festivities were held. All the Devas became glad and showered flowers. The Dundubhis of the Devas were sounded by the hands and made very grave sounds. The pure-minded saints were gladdened; the Sun’s rays looked purer and cleaner; the rivers were elated with joy and began to flow in their channels. When the World-auspicious Devî, the Destroyer of the birth and death of the Jîvas took Her birth, everything looked propitious. The wise Munis named Her “Satî” as She was of the nature of Parâ Brahmâ and Truth Herself. The Prajâpati Daksa handed over the Devî, who was before the S’akti of Mahâdeva, to that Deva of the Devas, Mahâdeva. Due to the misfortune of Daksa, the daughter of Daksa burnt Herself in a blazing fire.
24-25. Janamejaya said :— “O Munis! You have made me now hear a very inauspicious word. How can such a great thing of the nature of the Highest Intelligence come to be burnt up in a fire! The mere recollecting of Whose Name dispels the terrible danger of the burning up by the fire of Samsâra, how can She be burnt up by fire, I am extremely eager to hear; kindly describe that to me in detail.”
26-37. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hear. I am describing to you the ancient history of the burning of Satî. Once on a time, the famous Risi Durvâsâ went to the bank of the river Jambû and saw the Devî there. There he remained with his senses controlled and began to repeat silently the root Mantra of Mâyâ. Then the Goddess of the Immortals, the Bhagavatî was pleased and gave the Muni a beautiful garland as Her Prasâda that was on Her neck, that emitted the sweet fragrance of Makaranda (juice of flowers; Jasamine). Whereon the bees were about to cluster. The Maharsi took it quickly and placed it on his head. He then hurriedly went to see the Mother to the place where Satî’s Father, [ p. 698 ] the Prajâpati Daksa was staying and bowed down to the feet of the Satî. The Prajâpati then asked him :— “O Lord! Whose extraordinary garland is this? How have you got this enchanting garland, rare to the mortals on this earth!” The eloquent Maharsi Durvâsâ then spoke to him with tears of love flowing from his eyes :— “O Prajâpati! I have got this beautiful garland that has no equal, as the Prasâda (favour) of the Devî.” The Prajâpati asked that garland then from him. He, too, thinking that there was nothing in the three worlds that cannot be given to the devotee of the S’akti, gave that garland to the Prajâpati. He took that on his head; then placed it on the nice bed that was prepared in the bed-room of the couple. Being excited by the sweet fragrant smell of that garland in the night, the Prajâpati engaged in a sexual intercourse! O King! Due to that animal action, the bitter enmity arose in his mind towards S’ankara and His Satî. He then began to abuse S’iva. O King! For that offence, the Satî resolved to quit her body that was born of Daksa, to preserve the prestige of the Sanâtan Darma of devotion to Her Husband and burnt Her body by the fire arising out of Yoga.
38. Janamejaya said :— “O Muni! What did Mahâ Deva do, thus pained by the bereavement from His consort dearer than His life, when the Satî’s body was thus consumed.”
39-50. Vyâsa said :— O King! I am unable to describe what happened afterwards. O King! Out of the fire of anger of S’iva, the Pralaya seemed to threaten the three worlds. Vîrabhadra came into existence with hosts of Bhadra Kâlîs, ready to destroy the three worlds. Brahmâ and the other Devas took refuge to S’ankara. Though Mahâdeva lost everything on Satî’s departure, He, the Ocean of Mercy, destroyed the sacrifice of Daksa, cut off his head and instead placed the head of a goat, brought him back to life and thus made the Gods free from all fears. He, the Deva of the Devas, then became very much distressed and going to the place of sacrifice, began to weep in great sorrow. He saw that the body of the Intelligent Satî was being burnt in the fire of the Chitâ. He cried aloud :— Oh my Satî! Oh My Satî! And taking Her body on His neck, began to roam in different countries, like a mad man. Seeing that, Brahmâ and the other Devas became very anxious and Bhagavân Visnu cut off the body to pieces by His arrows. Wherever the parts fell, S’ankara remained there in so many different forms. He then said to the Devas :— Whoever will worship, with deep devotion in these places, the Bhagavatî, will have nothing left unattained. The Highest Mother will remain close to them there. The persons that will make Puras’charana (the repetition) of the Mantrams, especially the Mâyâ Vîja (the root Mantra of Mâyâ), their Mantrams will become, no [ p. 699 ] doubt, fructified and become incarnate. O King! Thus saying, the Mahâdeva, being very much distressed for Satî’s departure, passed His time in those places, making Japam, Dhyânam and taking to Samâdhi.
51-52. Janamejaya said :— Where, in what places the several parts of the Satî fell? What are the names of those Siddhapîthas? And what is their number? Kindly describe these in detail, O Great Muni! No doubt I will highly consider myself blessed by hearing these words from your blessed mouth.
53-102. Vyâsa said :— O King! I will now describe those Pîthas (Sacred places), the mere hearing of which destroys all the sins of men. Hear. I describe duly those places where the persons desiring to get lordly powers and to attain success ought to worship and meditate on the Devî. O Mahârâja! The face of Gaurî fell in Kâs’î; She is well known there by the name Vis’âlâksî; that which fell in Naimisâranya became known by the name of Linga Dhârinî. This Mahâ Mâyâ is known in Prayâg (Allahabad) by the name of Lalitâ Devî; in Gandha Mâdan, by the name of Kâmukî; in the southern Mânasa, by Kumudâ; in the northern Mânasa, by Visvakâmâ, the Yielder of all desires; in Gomanta, by Gomatî and in the mountain of Mandara, She became known by the name of Kâmachârinî. The Devî is known in Chaitraratha, by the name of of Madotkatâ; in Hastinâpura, by Jayantî; in Kânyakubja by the name of Gaurî; in the Malaya Mountain, by Rambhâ; in the Ekâmrapîtha, by Kîrtimatî, in Vis’ve, by the name of Vis’ves’varî; in Puskara, by the name of Puruhûtâ. She is known as Sanmârga Dâyinî in the Kedâra Pîtha; as Mandâ, in the top of the Himâlayâs; and as Bhadrakarnikâ in Gokarna. She is known as Bhavânî in Sthanes’vara, as Vilvapatrikâ in Vilvake; as Mâdhavi in S’rîs’aila; as Bhadrâ in Bhadres’vara. She is known as Jarâ in Varâha S’aila; as Kamalâ in Kamalâlaya; as Rudranî in Rudra Kotî; as Kâlî in Kâlanjara; She is known as Mahâ Devî in S’âlagrâma, as Jalapriyâ in S’ivalingam; as Kapilâ in Mahâlingam, as Mukutes’varî in Mâkota. As Kumarî in Mâyâpurî, as Lalitâmbikâ in Santânâ; as Mangalâ in Gayâ Ksetra, as Vimalâ in Purusottama. As Utpalâksî in Sahasrâksa; as Mahotpalâ in Hiranyâksa; as Amoghâksî in the Vipâsâ river; as Pâtalâ in Pundra Vardhana. As Nârâyanî in Supârs’va, as Rudra Sundarî in Trikûta; as Vipulâ Devî in Vipulâ; as Kalyânî in Malayâchala. As Ekavîrâ, in Sahyâdri; as Chandrikâ in Haris’chandra; as Ramanâ in Râma Tîrtha; as Mrigâvatî in the Yamunâ. As Kotivî in [ p. 700 ] Kotatîrtha; as Sugandhâ in Mâdhavavana; as Trisandhyâ in the Godâvarî; as Ratipriyâ in Gangâdvâra. As S’ubhânandâ in S’iva Kundam, as Nandinî in Devîkâtata; as Rukminî in Dvâravatî; as Râdhâ in Brindâvana. As Devakî in Mathurâ; as Parames’varî in Pâtâla; as Sîtâ in Chitrakuta; as Vindhyâdhivâsinî in the Vindhyâ range. O King! As Mahâlaksmî in the sacred place of Karavîra, as Umâ Devî in Vinâyaka; as Ârogyâ in Vaidyânâtha; as Mahes’varî in Mahâkâla. As Abhayâ in all the Usna tîrthas, as Nitambâ in the Vindhyâ mountain; as Mândavî in Mândavya; as Svâhâ in Mâhes’varîpûra. As Prachandâ in Chhagalanda, as Chandikâ in Amarakantaka; as Varârohâ in Somes’vara; as Puskarâvatî in Prabhâsa. As Devamâtâ in Sarasvatî; as Parâvârâ in Samudrtata; as Mahâbhâgâ in Mahâlayâ, as Pingales’varî in Payosnî. As Simhikâ in Kritas’aucha; as Atis’ânkârî in Kârtika; as Lolâ in Utpalâvartaka; as Subhadrâ in S’ona Sangam. As the Mother Laksmî in Siddhavana; as Anangâ in Bhâratâs’rama; as Vis’vamukhî in Jâlandhara; as Târâ in the Kiskindhya mountain. As Pustî in Devadâru Vana; as Medhâ in Kâs’mîramandalam; as Bhîmâ in Himâdri; as Tustîi in Vis’ves’vara Ksetra. As S’uddhî in Kapâlamochana; as Mâtâ in Kâyâvarohana; as Dharâ in S’ankhoddhâra; as Dhritî in Pindâraka; as Kalâ in Chandrabhâgâ river; as S’ivadhârinî in Achchoda; as Amritâ in Venâ; as Urvas’î in Vadarî. As medicines in Uttara Kuru; as Kus’odakâ in Kus’advîpa; as Manmathâ in Hemakûta; as Satyavâdinî in Kumuda. As Vandanîyâ in As’vattha; as Nidhi in the Vais’ravanâlaya; as Gâyatrî in the mouth of the Vedas; as Pârvatî near to S’iva. As Indrâni in the Devalokas; as Sarasvatî in the face of Brahmâ; as Prabhâ (lustre) in the Solar disc; as Vaisnavî with the Mâtrikâs. She is celebrated as Arundhatî amongst the Satîs, the chaste women and as Tilottamâ in the midst of the Râmâs. Again this Mahâdevî of the nature of the Great Intelligence (Samvid) is always existent in the form of S’akti named Brahmakalâ in the hearts of all the embodied beings. O Janamejaya! Thus I have mentioned to you the one hundred and eight pîthas (sacred places or seats of the Deity) and as many Devîs. Thus are mentioned all the seats of the Devîs and along with that, the chief places in India (the world). He who hears these excellent one hundred and eight names of the Devî as well as Her seats, gets himself freed from all sins and goes to the Loka of the Devî. O Janamejaya! His heart gets purified and is rendered blessed, no doubt, who duly makes jâtrâ (sojourn) to all these seats of the Deity, performs S’râddhas, offers peace-offerings to the Pitris and worships with the highest devotion the Goddess and asks frequently the pardon of the World Mother. O King! After worship, one should [ p. 701 ] feed the Brâhmanas, well dressed virgins (Kumârîs) and Vatukas with good eatables. All the tribes whether they be Chândâlas, know them all to be of the nature of the Devî and therefore they should be worshipped. Never one is to accept any donation or gifts (Pratigrahas) in these seats of the Devî. The saintly persons should make Purascharanas (repeat the names of their own deities, attended with burnt offerings, oblations, etc.) of their own Mantrams with all their might in all these places and should never be miserly in their expenses on this account. He who starts to these sacred places, with devoted hearts filled with love, finds his Pitris in the higher and greater Brahmâ Loka for one thousand Kalpas and he gets the highest knowledge, crosses the ocean of the world and becomes free. Many a people have attained success by repeating these one hundred and eight names of the Deity. Any place wherein are kept those names, embodied in a book, becomes free from such dangers as plague, cholera or any misapprehensions from planetary Deities and so forth. Nothing remains to be attained by these persons who repeat these one hundred and eight names. That man, devoted to the Devî, certainly attains blessedness. That saintly person becomes of the nature of the Devî. The Devas bow down and worship him when they behold him! What then need be said that the saints would worship him! The Pitris become pleased and get their good ends when these one hundred and eight names are read with devotion. These places are, as it were, Intelligence personified (Chinmaya) and places ready to yield freedom from bondage. Therefore, O King! Intelligent men should take their shelter in these places. O King! Whatever secrets and other deeper secrets about the Great Goddess you asked to know from me, I described to you. What more do you want to hear. Say.
Here ends the Thirtieth Chapter of the Seventh Book on the birth of Gaurî, the seats of the Deity, and the distraction of S’iva in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Note :— The number one hundred and eight is a holy number, got by taking the half of 216,000, the number of breaths inhaled by a child in the womb who promises to take the name of God at his every breath or by taking one-eighth of 864,000, the number of seconds in a day. The two zeros are then dropped. Thus the number signifies the one who fulfils one’s promise.