8. Chapter 8

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । इति चित्तविलासेन चिरमुत्प्रेक्षितैः प्रियैः । प्रणयैर्भार्गवस्यासीत्तुष्टये सुसमागमः ॥ १ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | iti cittavilāsena ciramutprekṣitaiḥ priyaiḥ | praṇayairbhārgavasyāsīttuṣṭaye susamāgamaḥ || 1 ||

Vasishtha related:—Thus the son of Bhrigu, believed himself to be in the enjoyment of heavenly pleasures, in his ideal reveries.

मन्दारमालाकलया विबुधासवमत्तया । तदा तेन तया सार्धं द्वितीयेनामलेन्दुना ॥ २ ॥

mandāramālākalayā vibudhāsavamattayā | tadā tena tayā sārdhaṃ dvitīyenāmalendunā || 2 ||

He thought of enjoying the company of his beloved, bedecked with garlands of mandara flowers, and inebriated with the drink of ambrosial draughts, like the full-moon accompanied by the evening star.

विहृतं मत्तहंसासु हेमपङ्कजिनीषु च । तटीष्वमरवाहिन्याः सह चारणकिंनरैः ॥ ३ ॥

vihṛtaṃ mattahaṃsāsu hemapaṅkajinīṣu ca | taṭīṣvamaravāhinyāḥ saha cāraṇakiṃnaraiḥ || 3 ||

He roved about the ideal lake of heaven (Manas Sarovara), filled with golden lotuses, and frequented by the giddy swans and gabbling geese or hansas of heaven; and roamed beside the bank of the celestial river (Mandakini), in company with the choristers.

पीतमिन्दुदलस्यन्दैर्देवैः सह रसायनम् । पारिजातलताजालनिलयेषु विलासिना ॥ ४ ॥

pītamindudalasyandairdevaiḥ saha rasāyanam | pārijātalatājālanilayeṣu vilāsinā || 4 ||

He drank the sweet nectarious juice beaming as moonbeams in company with the gods; and reposed under the arbours of the groves, formed by the shaking branches of parijata plants.

चारुचैत्ररथोद्यानलतालोलासुदोलया । चिरं विलसितं व्यग्रैः सह विद्याधरीगणैः ॥ ५ ॥

cārucaitrarathodyānalatālolāsudolayā | ciraṃ vilasitaṃ vyagraiḥ saha vidyādharīgaṇaiḥ || 5 ||

He amused himself with his favourite Vidyadharis, in swinging himself in the hanging cradles, formed by the shady creepers of the arbour, and screening him from the vernal sunbeams.

नन्दनोपवनाभोगो मन्दरेणेव वारिधिः । भृशमालोड्यतां नीतः प्रथमैः सह शाम्भवैः ॥ ६ ॥

nandanopavanābhogo mandareṇeva vāridhiḥ | bhṛśamāloḍyatāṃ nītaḥ prathamaiḥ saha śāmbhavaiḥ || 6 ||

The parterres of Nandana gardens were trodden down under the feet of the fellow followers of Siva, as when the ocean was churned by the Mandara mountain.

बालहेमलताजालजटालासु नदीषु च । भ्रान्तमुन्मत्तनागेन मैरवीष्वज्जिनीष्विव ॥ ७ ॥

bālahemalatājālajaṭālāsu nadīṣu ca | bhrāntamunmattanāgena mairavīṣvajjinīṣviva || 7 ||

The tender weeds and willows growing as golden shrubberies, and tangled bushes in the beach of the river, were trampled under the legs of heated elephants, as when they infest the lotus lakes on Meru.

कैलासवनकुञ्जेषु तया सह विलासिना । हरेन्दुधवला रात्र्यः क्षिपिता गणगीतिभिः ॥ ८ ॥

kailāsavanakuñjeṣu tayā saha vilāsinā | harendudhavalā rātryaḥ kṣipitā gaṇagītibhiḥ || 8 ||

Associated by his sweet-heart, he passed the moonlight nights in the forest groves of Kailasa, attending to the songs and music of heavenly choristers.

गन्धमादनशैलस्य विश्रम्योपरि सानुषु । सा तेन कनकाम्भोजैरापादमभिमण्डिता ॥ ९ ॥

gandhamādanaśailasya viśramyopari sānuṣu | sā tena kanakāmbhojairāpādamabhimaṇḍitā || 9 ||

Roaming on the table-lands of Gandhamadana mountain, he decorated his beloved with lotus-garlands from her head to foot.

लोकालोकतटान्तेषु विचित्राश्चर्यहारिषु । क्रीडितं कृतहासेन राम तेन तया सह ॥ १० ॥

lokālokataṭānteṣu vicitrāścaryahāriṣu | krīḍitaṃ kṛtahāsena rāma tena tayā saha || 10 ||

He roved with her to the polar mountain which is full of wonders, as having darkness on one side and lighted on the other. Here they sported together with their tender smiles and fond caresses and embrace.

मन्दरान्तरकच्छेषु सार्धं हरिणशावकैः । अवसत्स समाः षष्टिं कल्पितामरमन्दिरे ॥ ११ ॥

mandarāntarakaccheṣu sārdhaṃ hariṇaśāvakaiḥ | avasatsa samāḥ ṣaṣṭiṃ kalpitāmaramandire || 11 ||

He thought he remained in a celestial abode beside the marshy lands of Mandara, for a period of full sixty years; and passed his time in the company of the fawns of the place.

क्षीरार्णवतटीष्वस्य वनितासहचारिणः । क्षीणं कृतयुगादर्धं श्वेतद्वीपजनैः सह ॥ १२ ॥

kṣīrārṇavataṭīṣvasya vanitāsahacāriṇaḥ | kṣīṇaṃ kṛtayugādardhaṃ śvetadvīpajanaiḥ saha || 12 ||

He believed he passed half a yuga with his helpmate, on the border of the milky ocean, and associated with the maritime people and islanders of that ocean.

गन्धर्वनगरोद्यानलीलाविरचनैरसौ । स्रष्टानन्तजगत्सृष्टेः कालस्यानुकृतिं गतः ॥ १३ ॥

gandharvanagarodyānalīlāviracanairasau | sraṣṭānantajagatsṛṣṭeḥ kālasyānukṛtiṃ gataḥ || 13 ||

He next thought to live in a garden at the city of the Gandharvas, where he believed to have lived for an immeasurable period like the genius of Time himself, who is the producer of an infinity of worlds.

अथावसदसौ शुक्रः पुरन्दरपुरे पुनः । सुखं चतुर्युगान्यष्टौ हरिणेक्षणया सह ॥ १४ ॥

athāvasadasau śukraḥ purandarapure punaḥ | sukhaṃ caturyugānyaṣṭau hariṇekṣaṇayā saha || 14 ||

He was again translated to the celestial seat of Indra, where he believed to have resided for many cycles of the quadruple yuga ages with his mistress.

पुण्यक्षयानुसंधानात्ततश्चावनिमण्डले । तयैव सह मानिन्या पपातोपहताकृतिः ॥ १५ ॥

puṇyakṣayānusaṃdhānāttataścāvanimaṇḍale | tayaiva saha māninyā papātopahatākṛtiḥ || 15 ||

It was at the end of the merit of their acts that they were doomed to return on earth, shorn of their heavenly beauty and the fine features of their persons.

परालूनसमस्ताङ्गो हृतस्यन्दननन्दनः । चिन्तापरवशो ध्वस्तः समितीव हतो भटः ॥ १६ ॥

parālūnasamastāṅgo hṛtasyandananandanaḥ | cintāparavaśo dhvastaḥ samitīva hato bhaṭaḥ || 16 ||

Being deprived of his heavenly seat and vehicle, and bereft of his godlike form and features; Sukra was overcome by deep sorrow, like a hero falling in the field of warfare.

पतितस्यावनौ तस्य चिन्तया सह दीर्घया । शरीरं शतधा जातं शिलापातीव निर्झरः ॥ १७ ॥

patitasyāvanau tasya cintayā saha dīrghayā | śarīraṃ śatadhā jātaṃ śilāpātīva nirjharaḥ || 17 ||

His great grief at his fall from heaven to earth, broke his frame as it were into a hundred fragments; like a waterfall falling on the stony ground, and breaking into a hundred rills below.

संशीर्णयोर्देहकयोश्चित्तके व्यसनाविले । विचेरतुस्तयोर्व्योम्नि निर्नीडौ विहगौ यथा ॥ १८ ॥

saṃśīrṇayordehakayościttake vyasanāvile | viceratustayorvyomni nirnīḍau vihagau yathā || 18 ||

They with their emaciated bodies and sorrowful minds, wandered about in the air, like birds without their nest.

तत्राविविशतुश्चान्द्रं ते चित्ते रश्मिजालकम् । प्रालेयतामुपेत्याशु शालितामथ जग्मतुः ॥ १९ ॥

tatrāviviśatuścāndraṃ te citte raśmijālakam | prāleyatāmupetyāśu śālitāmatha jagmatuḥ || 19 ||

Afterwards their disembodied minds entered into the network of lunar beams, and then in the form of molten frost or rain water, they grew the vegetables on earth.

शालींस्तान्भुक्तवान्पक्वान्दशार्णेषु द्विजोत्तमः । स शुक्रः शुक्रतामेत्य तद्भार्यातनयोऽभवत् ॥ २० ॥

śālīṃstānbhuktavānpakvāndaśārṇeṣu dvijottamaḥ | sa śukraḥ śukratāmetya tadbhāryātanayo'bhavat || 20 ||

Some of these vegetables were concocted, and then eaten by a Brahman in the land of Dasarna or confluence of the ten streams. The substance of Sukra was changed to the semen of the Brahman, and then conceived as a son by his wife.

ततो मुनीनां संसर्गात्तपस्युग्रे व्यवस्थितः । अवसन्मेरुगहने मन्वन्तरमनिन्दितः ॥ २१ ॥

tato munīnāṃ saṃsargāttapasyugre vyavasthitaḥ | avasanmerugahane manvantaramaninditaḥ || 21 ||

The boy was trained up in the society of the munis to the practice of rigorous austerities, and he dwelt in the forests of Meru for a whole manwantara, observant of his holy rites.

तत्र तस्य समुत्पन्नो मृग्याः पुत्रो नराकृतिः । तत्स्नेहेन परं मोहं पुनरप्याययौ क्षणात् ॥ २२ ॥

tatra tasya samutpanno mṛgyāḥ putro narākṛtiḥ | tatsnehena paraṃ mohaṃ punarapyāyayau kṣaṇāt || 22 ||

There he gave birth to a male child of human figure in a doe (to which his mistress was transformed in her next birth), and became exceedingly fond of the boy, to the neglect of his sacred duties.

पुत्रस्यास्य धनं मेऽस्तु गुणाश्चायुश्च शाश्वतम् । इत्यनारतचिन्ताभिर्जहौ सत्यामवस्थितिम् ॥ २३ ॥

putrasyāsya dhanaṃ me'stu guṇāścāyuśca śāśvatam | ityanāratacintābhirjahau satyāmavasthitim || 23 ||

He constantly prayed for the long life, wealth and learning of his darling, and thus forsook the constancy of his faith and reliance in Providence.

धर्मचिन्तापरिभ्रंशात्पुत्रार्थं भोगचिन्तया । क्षीणायुषं तमहरन्मृत्युः सर्प इवानिलम् ॥ २४ ॥

dharmacintāparibhraṃśātputrārthaṃ bhogacintayā | kṣīṇāyuṣaṃ tamaharanmṛtyuḥ sarpa ivānilam || 24 ||

Thus his falling off from the thought of heaven, to those of the earthly aggrandizement of his son, made his shortened life an easy prey to death, as the inhaling of air by the serpent.

भोगैकचिन्तया सार्धं सममुत्क्रान्तचेतनः । प्राप्य मद्रेशपुत्रत्वमासीन्मद्रमहीपतिः ॥ २५ ॥

bhogaikacintayā sārdhaṃ samamutkrāntacetanaḥ | prāpya madreśaputratvamāsīnmadramahīpatiḥ || 25 ||

His worldly thoughts having vitiated his understanding, caused him to be reborn as the son of the Madra king, and succeed to him in the kingdom of the Madras.

मद्रदेशे चिरं कृत्वा राज्यमुत्सन्नशात्रवम् । जरामभ्याजगामात्र हिमाशनिरिवाम्बुजम् ॥ २६ ॥

madradeśe ciraṃ kṛtvā rājyamutsannaśātravam | jarāmabhyājagāmātra himāśanirivāmbujam || 26 ||

Having long reigned in his kingdom of Madras by extirpation of all his enemies, he was overtaken at last by old age, as the lotus-flower is stunted by the frost.

मद्रराजतनुं चारुं तपोवासनया सह । तत्याज तेन जातोऽसौ तपस्वी तापसात्मजः ॥ २७ ॥

madrarājatanuṃ cāruṃ tapovāsanayā saha | tatyāja tena jāto'sau tapasvī tāpasātmajaḥ || 27 ||

The king of Madras, was released of his kingly person by his desire of asceticism; whereby he became the son of an anchorite in next-birth, in order to perform his austerities.

समङ्गाया महानद्यास्तटमासाद्य तापसः । तपस्तेपे महाबुद्धिः स राम विगतज्वरः ॥ २८ ॥

samaṅgāyā mahānadyāstaṭamāsādya tāpasaḥ | tapastepe mahābuddhiḥ sa rāma vigatajvaraḥ || 28 ||

He retired to the bank of the meandering river of the Ganges, and there betook himself to his devotion; being devoid of all his worldly anxieties and cares.

विविधजन्मदशां विविधाशयः समनुभूय शरीरपरम्पराः । सुखमतिष्ठदसौ भृगुनन्दनो वरनदीसुतटे दृढवृक्षवत् ॥ २९ ॥

vividhajanmadaśāṃ vividhāśayaḥ samanubhūya śarīraparamparāḥ | sukhamatiṣṭhadasau bhṛgunandano varanadīsutaṭe dṛḍhavṛkṣavat || 29 ||

Thus the son of Bhrigu, having passed in various forms in his successive births, according to the desires of his heart; remained at last as a fixed arbour on the bank of a running stream.