Bhagavata Purana — Skandha 5 — Chapter 17

SB 5 17.1

_* श्री-शुक उवाच तत्र भगवतः साक्षाद् यज्ञ-लिङ्गस्य विष्णोर् विक्रमतो वाम-पादाङ्गुष्ठ-नख-निर्भिन्नोर्ध्वाण्ड-कटाह-विवरेणान्तः-प्रविष्टा या बाह्य-जल-धारा तच्-चरण-पङ्कजावनेजनारुण-किञ्जल्कोपरञ्जिताखिल-जगद्-अघ-मलापहोपस्पर्शनामला साक्षाद् भगवत्-पदीत्य् अनुपलक्षित-वचो ऽभिधीयमानाति-महता कालेन युग-सहस्रोपलक्षणेन दिवो मूर्धन्य् अवततार यत् तद् विष्णु-पदम् आहुः

_* śrī-śuka uvāca tatra bhagavataḥ sākṣād yajña-liṅgasya viṣṇor vikramato vāma-pādāṅguṣṭha-nakha-nirbhinnordhvāṇḍa-kaṭāha-vivareṇāntaḥ-praviṣṭā yā bāhya-jala-dhārā tac-caraṇa-paṅkajāvanejanāruṇa-kiñjalkoparañjitākhila-jagad-agha-malāpahopasparśanāmalā sākṣād bhagavat-padīty anupalakṣita-vaco 'bhidhīyamānāti-mahatā kālena yuga-sahasropalakṣaṇena divo mūrdhany avatatāra yat tad viṣṇu-padam āhuḥ

Śrī Śuka said: There, when Viṣṇu, the very embodiment of sacrifice, was taking his strides, the stream of water outside (the universe) entered within through the opening in the upper shell of the cosmic egg, pierced by the nail of the big toe of his left foot. Reddened by the saffron pollen from the washing of his lotus feet, it removes the taint of sin from the whole world and is so pure that a mere touch of it (purifies); it is spoken of by a name not (otherwise) accounted for, "the very foot of the Lord." After an exceedingly long time, measured by a thousand yugas, it descended upon the crown of heaven, which they call Viṣṇu's place (Viṣṇupada).

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.2

_* यत्र ह वाव वीर-व्रत औत्तानपादिः परम-भागवतो ऽस्मत्-कुल-देवता-चरणारविन्दोदकम् इति याम् अनुसवनम् उत्कृष्यमाण-भगवद्-भक्ति-योगेन दृढं क्लिद्यमानान्तर्-हृदय औत्कण्ठ्य-विवशामीलित-लोचन-युगल-कुड्मल-विगलितामल-बाष्प-कलयाभिव्यज्यमान-रोम-पुलक-कुलको ऽधुनापि परमादरेण शिरसा बिभर्ति

_* yatra ha vāva vīra-vrata auttānapādiḥ parama-bhāgavato 'smat-kula-devatā-caraṇāravindodakam iti yām anusavanam utkṛṣyamāṇa-bhagavad-bhakti-yogena dṛḍhaṃ klidyamānāntar-hṛdaya autkaṇṭhya-vivaśāmīlita-locana-yugala-kuḍmala-vigalitāmala-bāṣpa-kalayābhivyajyamāna-roma-pulaka-kulako 'dhunāpi paramādareṇa śirasā bibharti

There indeed Dhruva, the son of Uttānapāda, of heroic vow, the supreme devotee, thinking "this is the water from the lotus feet of the deity of our family," bears her even now upon his head with the highest reverence — his inmost heart drenched through by devotion to the Lord that grows at every hour, the mass of his bodily hair bristling, made manifest by the flow of clear tears from the pair of bud-like eyes closed in helpless longing.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.3

_* ततः सप्त ऋषयस् तत् प्रभावाभिज्ञा यां ननु तपस आत्यन्तिकी सिद्धिर् एतावती भगवति सर्वात्मनि वासुदेवे ऽनुपरत-भक्ति-योग-लाभेनैवोपेक्षितान्यार्थात्म-गतयो मुक्तिम् इवागतां मुमुक्षव इव सबहु-मानम् अद्यापि जटा-जूटैर् उद्वहन्ति

_* tataḥ sapta ṛṣayas tat prabhāvābhijñā yāṃ nanu tapasa ātyantikī siddhir etāvatī bhagavati sarvātmani vāsudeve 'nuparata-bhakti-yoga-lābhenaivopekṣitānyārthātma-gatayo muktim ivāgatāṃ mumukṣava iva sabahu-mānam adyāpi jaṭā-jūṭair udvahanti

Then the seven sages, who know her power, bear her even today upon their coils of matted hair with great regard — they who, having gained unceasing devotional union with the Lord Vāsudeva, the Self of all, have disregarded other aims and other courses for the self, (holding) "surely just this much is the ultimate perfection of austerity" — as though liberation itself had come, and as though they were seekers of liberation.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.4

_* ततो ऽनेक-सहस्र-कोटि-विमानानीक-सङ्कुल-देव-यानेनावतर्-अन्तीन्दु मण्डलम् आवार्य ब्रह्म-सदने निपतति

_* tato 'neka-sahasra-koṭi-vimānānīka-saṅkula-deva-yānenāvatar-antīndu maṇḍalam āvārya brahma-sadane nipatati

Then, by the path of the gods thronged with fleets of many thousands of millions of celestial cars, she descends, covering the disc of the moon, and falls into the abode of Brahmā.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.5

_* तत्र चतुर्धा भिद्यमाना चतुर्भिर् नामभिश् चतुर्-दिशम् अभिस्पन्दन्ती नद-नदी-पतिम् एवाभिनिविशति सीतालकनन्दा चक्षुर् भद्रेति

_* tatra caturdhā bhidyamānā caturbhir nāmabhiś catur-diśam abhispandantī nada-nadī-patim evābhiniviśati sītālakanandā cakṣur bhadreti

There, splitting into four, flowing forth to the four directions under four names, she enters the lord of streams and rivers (the ocean): Sītā, Alakanandā, Cakṣu, and Bhadrā.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.6

_* सीता तु ब्रह्म-सदनात् केसराचलादि-गिरि-शिखरेभ्यो ऽधो ऽधः प्रस्रवन्ती गन्धमादन-मूर्धसु पतित्वान्तरेण भद्राश्व-वर्षं प्राच्यां दिशि क्षार-समुद्रम् अभिप्रविशति

_* sītā tu brahma-sadanāt kesarācalādi-giri-śikharebhyo 'dho 'dhaḥ prasravantī gandhamādana-mūrdhasu patitvāntareṇa bhadrāśva-varṣaṃ prācyāṃ diśi kṣāra-samudram abhipraviśati

Sītā, flowing down lower and lower from the abode of Brahmā over the peaks of Kesarācala and the other mountains, and falling upon the summits of Gandhamādana, then passes through the region of Bhadrāśva and enters the salt ocean in the eastern direction.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.7

_* एवं माल्यवच्-छिखरान् निष्पतन्ती ततो ऽनुपरत-वेगा केतुमालम् अभि चक्षुः प्रतीच्यां दिशि सरित्-पतिं प्रविशति

_* evaṃ mālyavac-chikharān niṣpatantī tato 'nuparata-vegā ketumālam abhi cakṣuḥ pratīcyāṃ diśi sarit-patiṃ praviśati

Likewise Cakṣu, falling from the peak of Mālyavān and from there with unabated speed, passes over Ketumāla and enters the lord of rivers in the western direction.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.8

_* भद्रा चोत्तरतो मेरु-शिरसो निपतिता गिरि-शिखराद् गिरि-शिखरम् अतिहाय शृङ्गवतः शृङ्गाद् अवस्यन्दमाना उत्तरांस् तु कुरून् अभित उदीच्यां दिशि जलधिम् अभिप्रविशति

_* bhadrā cottarato meru-śiraso nipatitā giri-śikharād giri-śikharam atihāya śṛṅgavataḥ śṛṅgād avasyandamānā uttarāṃs tu kurūn abhita udīcyāṃ diśi jaladhim abhipraviśati

And Bhadrā, fallen to the north from the summit of Meru, leaping from mountain peak to mountain peak and streaming down from the crest of Śṛṅgavān, passes on all sides of the northern Kurus and enters the ocean in the northern direction.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.9

_* तथैवालकनन्दा दक्षिणेन ब्रह्म-सदनाद् बहूनि गिरि-कूटान्य् अतिक्रम्य हेमकूटाद् धैमकूटान्य् अति-रभसतर-रंहसा लुठयन्ती भारतम् अभिवर्षं दक्षिणस्यां दिशि जलधिम् अभिप्रविशति यस्यां स्नानार्थं चागच्छतः पुंसः पदे पदे ऽश्वमेध-राजसूयादीनां फलं न दुर्लभम् इति

_* tathaivālakanandā dakṣiṇena brahma-sadanād bahūni giri-kūṭāny atikramya hemakūṭād dhaimakūṭāny ati-rabhasatara-raṃhasā luṭhayantī bhāratam abhivarṣaṃ dakṣiṇasyāṃ diśi jaladhim abhipraviśati yasyāṃ snānārthaṃ cāgacchataḥ puṃsaḥ pade pade 'śvamedha-rājasūyādīnāṃ phalaṃ na durlabham iti

In just the same way Alakanandā, going south from the abode of Brahmā, crossing many mountain crests and, with exceedingly violent force, tumbling over the golden peaks from Hemakūṭa onward, passes through the land of Bhārata and enters the ocean in the southern direction; and for a man who comes to bathe in her, the fruit of the Aśvamedha, Rājasūya and other (sacrifices) is not hard to obtain at every step.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.10

_* अन्ये च नदा नद्यश् च वर्षे वर्षे सन्ति बहुशो मेर्व्-आदि-गिरि-दुहितरः शतशः

_* anye ca nadā nadyaś ca varṣe varṣe santi bahuśo merv-ādi-giri-duhitaraḥ śataśaḥ

And there are other rivers, male and female, many in each varṣa, hundreds of them, daughters of Meru and the other mountains.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.11

_* तत्रापि भारतम् एव वर्षं कर्म-क्षेत्रम् अन्यान्य् अष्ट वर्षाणि स्वर्गिणां पुण्य-शेषोपभोग-स्थानानि भौमानि स्वर्ग-पदानि व्यपदिशन्ति

_* tatrāpi bhāratam eva varṣaṃ karma-kṣetram anyāny aṣṭa varṣāṇi svargiṇāṃ puṇya-śeṣopabhoga-sthānāni bhaumāni svarga-padāni vyapadiśanti

Among these, Bhārata alone is the land of (fruitive) action; the other eight varṣas they designate as earthly stations of heaven, places of enjoyment for the residue of merit of those who have dwelt in heaven.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.12

_* एषु पुरुषाणाम् अयुत-पुरुषायुर्-वर्षाणां देव-कल्पानां नागायुत-प्राणानां वज्र-संहनन-बल-वयो-मोद-प्रमुदित-महा-सौरत-मिथुन-व्यवायापवर्ग-वर्ष-धृतैक-गर्भ-कलत्राणां तत्र तु त्रेता-युग-समः कालो वर्तते

_* eṣu puruṣāṇām ayuta-puruṣāyur-varṣāṇāṃ deva-kalpānāṃ nāgāyuta-prāṇānāṃ vajra-saṃhanana-bala-vayo-moda-pramudita-mahā-saurata-mithuna-vyavāyāpavarga-varṣa-dhṛtaika-garbha-kalatrāṇāṃ tatra tu tretā-yuga-samaḥ kālo vartate

In these (lands) the men live ten thousand years, are godlike, have the vitality of ten thousand elephants, are of adamantine build and delight in the joy of strength and youth; their wives conceive a single child in the year at the close of great amorous coupling. There a time equal to the Tretā age prevails.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.13

_* यत्र ह देव-पतयः स्वैः स्वैर् गण-नायकैर् विहित-महार्हणाः सर्वर्तु-कुसुम-स्तबक-फल-किसलय-श्रियानम्यमान-विटप-लता-विटपिभिर् उपशुम्भमान-रुचिर-काननाश्रमायतन-वर्ष-गिरि-द्रोणीषु तथा चामल-जलाशयेषु विकच-विविध-नव-वनरुहामोद-मुदित-राज-हंस-जल-कुक्कुट-कारण्डव-सारस-चक्रवाकादिभिर् मधुकर-निकराकृतिभिर् उपकूजितेषु जल-क्रीडादिभिर् विचित्र-विनोदैः सुललित-सुर-सुन्दरीणां काम-कलिल-विलास-हास-लीलावलोकाकृष्ट-मनो-दृष्टयः स्वैरं विहरन्ति

_* yatra ha deva-patayaḥ svaiḥ svair gaṇa-nāyakair vihita-mahārhaṇāḥ sarvartu-kusuma-stabaka-phala-kisalaya-śriyānamyamāna-viṭapa-latā-viṭapibhir upaśumbhamāna-rucira-kānanāśramāyatana-varṣa-giri-droṇīṣu tathā cāmala-jalāśayeṣu vikaca-vividha-nava-vanaruhāmoda-mudita-rāja-haṃsa-jala-kukkuṭa-kāraṇḍava-sārasa-cakravākādibhir madhukara-nikarākṛtibhir upakūjiteṣu jala-krīḍādibhir vicitra-vinodaiḥ sulalita-sura-sundarīṇāṃ kāma-kalila-vilāsa-hāsa-līlāvalokākṛṣṭa-mano-dṛṣṭayaḥ svairaṃ viharanti

There the lords of the gods, honored with great offerings by their own troop-leaders, roam at will — in charming forests, hermitages, dwellings, mountains and valleys of the varṣas made lovely by trees, creepers and boughs bent down with the beauty of blossoms, clusters, fruits and young shoots in every season, and likewise by clear lakes resounding with royal swans, water-fowl, kāraṇḍava ducks, cranes, cakravākas and the rest, gladdened by the fragrance of the various freshly opened lotuses, with swarms of bees about them — their minds and eyes drawn by the passion-laden play, laughter and sportive glances of the lovely women of the gods, amid water-sports and manifold amusements.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.14

_* नवस्व् अपि वर्षेषु भगवान् नारायणो महा-पुरुषः पुरुषाणां तद्-अनुग्रहायात्म-तत्त्व-व्यूहेनात्मनाद्यापि सन्निधीयते

_* navasv api varṣeṣu bhagavān nārāyaṇo mahā-puruṣaḥ puruṣāṇāṃ tad-anugrahāyātma-tattva-vyūhenātmanādyāpi sannidhīyate

In all nine varṣas the Lord Nārāyaṇa, the Great Person, is present even today in person, in the array of his own essential forms, out of grace toward the people.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.15

_* इलावृते तु भगवान् भव एक एव पुमान् न ह्य् अन्यस् तत्रापरो निर्विशति भवान्याः शाप-निमित्त-ज्ञो यत्-प्रवेक्ष्यतः स्त्री-भावस् तत् पश्चाद् वक्ष्यामि

_* ilāvṛte tu bhagavān bhava eka eva pumān na hy anyas tatrāparo nirviśati bhavānyāḥ śāpa-nimitta-jño yat-pravekṣyataḥ strī-bhāvas tat paścād vakṣyāmi

But in Ilāvṛta the Lord Bhava (Śiva) alone is the male; no other male enters there, for one who would enter becomes a woman, on account of a curse of Bhavānī — this I shall relate later.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.16

_* भवानीनाथैः स्त्री-गणार्बुद-सहस्रैर् अवरुध्यमानो भगवतश् चतुर्मूर्तेर् महा-पुरुषस्य तुरीयां तामसीं मूर्तिं प्रकृतिम् आत्मनः सङ्कर्षण-संज्ञाम् आत्म-समाधि-रूपेण सन्निधाप्यैतद् अभिगृणन् भव उपधावति

_* bhavānīnāthaiḥ strī-gaṇārbuda-sahasrair avarudhyamāno bhagavataś caturmūrter mahā-puruṣasya turīyāṃ tāmasīṃ mūrtiṃ prakṛtim ātmanaḥ saṅkarṣaṇa-saṃjñām ātma-samādhi-rūpeṇa sannidhāpyaitad abhigṛṇan bhava upadhāvati

Surrounded by thousands of tens of millions of women of Bhavānī's retinue, Bhava, having brought near, in the form of his own meditation, the fourth form of the fourfold Great Person, the Lord — the dark (tāmasa) form, his own material principle named Saṅkarṣaṇa — worships him, uttering this:

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.18

_* श्री-भगवान् उवाच ॐ नमो भगवते महा-पुरुषाय सर्व-गुण-सङ्ख्यानायानन्तायाव्यक्ताय नम इति ॥ भ्प्_०५।१७।०१७_१ ॥_* भजे भजन्यारण-पाद-पङ्कजं भगस्य कृत्स्नस्य परं परायणम् भक्तेष्व् अलं भावित-भूत-भावनं भवापहं त्वा भव-भावम् ईश्वरम् ॥ भ्प्_०५।१७।०१७_२ । न यस्य माया-गुण-चित्त-वृत्तिभिर् निरीक्षतो ह्य् अण्व् अपि दृष्टिर् अज्यते ईशे यथा नो ऽजित-मन्यु-रंहसां कस् तं न मन्येत जिगीषुर् आत्मनः

_* śrī-bhagavān uvāca oṃ namo bhagavate mahā-puruṣāya sarva-guṇa-saṅkhyānāyānantāyāvyaktāya nama iti // bhp_05.17.017_1 //_* bhaje bhajanyāraṇa-pāda-paṅkajaṃ bhagasya kṛtsnasya paraṃ parāyaṇam bhakteṣv alaṃ bhāvita-bhūta-bhāvanaṃ bhavāpahaṃ tvā bhava-bhāvam īśvaram // bhp_05.17.017_2 / na yasya māyā-guṇa-citta-vṛttibhir nirīkṣato hy aṇv api dṛṣṭir ajyate īśe yathā no 'jita-manyu-raṃhasāṃ kas taṃ na manyeta jigīṣur ātmanaḥ

The Lord (Śiva) said: Om! Obeisance to the Lord, the Great Person, the sum of all qualities, the endless, the unmanifest — obeisance. // I worship the lotus feet, worthy of worship and a refuge, the supreme resort of all opulence; you who amply nourish the beings meditated on among your devotees, who remove worldly existence — you, the Lord, the source of becoming. // He whose sight, as he looks on, is not stained in the least by the modes of māyā and the movements of the mind — not as with us, whose force of anger is unconquered: who that wishes to conquer himself would not honor him?

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.19

असद्-दृशो यः प्रतिभाति मायया क्षीबेव मध्व्-आसव-ताम्र-लोचनः न नाग-वध्वो ऽर्हण ईशिरे ह्रिया यत्-पादयोः स्पर्शन-धर्षितेन्द्रियाः

asad-dṛśo yaḥ pratibhāti māyayā kṣībeva madhv-āsava-tāmra-locanaḥ na nāga-vadhvo 'rhaṇa īśire hriyā yat-pādayoḥ sparśana-dharṣitendriyāḥ

He who, to those of impure vision, appears through māyā as if intoxicated, his eyes coppery with honey-wine; whose feet the Nāga maidens were unable, from shyness, to worship, their senses overcome by the touch (of them).

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.20

यम् आहुर् अस्य स्थिति-जन्म-संयमं त्रिभिर् विहीनं यम् अनन्तम् ऋषयः न वेद सिद्धार्थम् इव क्वचित् स्थितं भू-मण्डलं मूर्ध-सहस्र-धामसु

yam āhur asya sthiti-janma-saṃyamaṃ tribhir vihīnaṃ yam anantam ṛṣayaḥ na veda siddhārtham iva kvacit sthitaṃ bhū-maṇḍalaṃ mūrdha-sahasra-dhāmasu

Whom the sages call devoid of the three — the maintenance, birth and dissolution of this (world) — whom they call Ananta; upon the thousand-hooded abodes of whose heads the globe of the earth rests somewhere, unnoticed, like a mustard seed.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.21

यस्याद्य आसीद् गुण-विग्रहो महान् विज्ञान-धिष्ण्यो भगवान् अजः किल यत्-सम्भवो ऽहं त्रि-वृता स्व-तेजसा वैकारिकं तामसम् ऐन्द्रियं सृजे

yasyādya āsīd guṇa-vigraho mahān vijñāna-dhiṣṇyo bhagavān ajaḥ kila yat-sambhavo 'haṃ tri-vṛtā sva-tejasā vaikārikaṃ tāmasam aindriyaṃ sṛje

His first (manifestation) was the Mahat, the embodiment of the qualities, the seat of discriminative knowledge, the lord called Aja (the unborn); arisen from that am I (the ego), who by my own threefold energy generate the modified (sattvic), the dark (tāmasic), and the sensory (rajasic) creation.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain

SB 5 17.22

एते वयं यस्य वशे महात्मनः स्थिताः शकुन्ता इव सूत्र-यन्त्रिताः महान् अहं वैकृत-तामसेन्द्रियाः सृजाम सर्वे यद्-अनुग्रहाद् इदम्

ete vayaṃ yasya vaśe mahātmanaḥ sthitāḥ śakuntā iva sūtra-yantritāḥ mahān ahaṃ vaikṛta-tāmasendriyāḥ sṛjāma sarve yad-anugrahād idam

We stand under the control of that Great Self like birds tied by a string: the mahat, the I-principle, and the senses born of the modified (sattva) and of darkness — all of us fashion this (world) by his favour.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition

SB 5 17.23

यन्-निर्मितां कर्ह्य् अपि कर्म-पर्वणीं मायां जनो ऽयं गुण-सर्ग-मोहितः न वेद निस्तारण-योगम् अञ्जसा तस्मै नमस् ते विलयोदयात्मने

yan-nirmitāṃ karhy api karma-parvaṇīṃ māyāṃ jano 'yaṃ guṇa-sarga-mohitaḥ na veda nistāraṇa-yogam añjasā tasmai namas te vilayodayātmane

This person, bewildered by the creation of the modes, does not at all know the illusion fashioned by you, whose joints are (fruitive) acts, nor the means of crossing beyond it directly. Homage to you, whose nature is dissolution and origination.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition